3 . The Best National Parks to Visit in Winter

While most parks tend to draw families in the summer and fall, there are also ideal spots for adventurous winter trips.

The country’s oldest and best-known national park takes on an almost otherworldly atmosphere in winter: the air filled with rolling steam, the strong colors of hot springs, the surrounding white landscapes, let alone the impressive wildlife during this time, like bison, wolves, and playful red foxes. Just book a guided hiking tour to get a ranger’s perspective on the park and local people.

With its giant red rocks and unique trees, you’ll feel like stepping onto a foreign planet as you spend hours hiking the Panorama Loop or Maze Loop. The park is recognized as an International Dark Sky Park, featuring virtually zero light pollution and the country’s best views of a starry sky.

A significantly lower number of visitors in winter means you can take in unblocked views of the South Rim, and get to see the rare beauty of the Grand Canyon dusted with snow. For those adventurous and daring, it is recommended to hike the Bright Angel Trail and take the chance to see the canyon’s wintertime wildlife, including mule deer, elk, and bald eagles.

Surprise! Not all wintertime national park trips need to involve snow. Virgin Islands National Park is most famous for its white-sand beaches. You can also hike inland to visit old sugar plantations, or venture out to the water to swim along with sea turtles and manta rays. You will definitely enjoy a different winter here.

Citizen scientists don't     1     （usual）need special training or equipment. It may not even matter where they live. Often, projects are open to people of all     2     （age）. Many participants（参与者）are kids.

“This is an important, real way for young people to take part in science     3     is useful and important,” Darlene Cavalier says. She founded a website     4     （call）SeiStarter. It helps people find projects they might like to take part in.

For NASA's GLOBE Observer program, volunteers use     5     app on a mobile device（设备）to submit（提交）cloud observations. While satellites photograph clouds     6     above, volunteers study them from below. “By     7     （combine）the two, we get a more complete picture," says Jessica Taylor, of NASA. Researchers use the information       8     （learn）about weather and climate change.

There are thousands of citizen science projects to choose from. You can measure light     9     （pollute）, study the diet of ants, or locate bees. Sometimes, volunteers gather information from their own backyard. Other projects happen online. One     10     （provide）underwater images of beluga whales（白鲸）. Volunteers then tell things like each whale's age and gender.

In December 2018, a bunch of friends and I went to Europe to travel. Upon arrival in Vienna, we got the keys to the house from its owner. The     1     (decorate) of the house was quite good.

In Vienna, if anyone wants to copy a key, he or she is expected     2     (prove) their ownership of the property (房产) the key is for. It’s also really expensive. An ordinary key usually costs 150 euros (1.170 yuan). As the person in charge of the keys, I had a great responsibility.

    3     next day, we went everywhere, including the Sisi Museum and a coffee shop in the city center,     4     had dinner in a fancy restaurant. We felt quite relaxed. While we     5     (enjoy) dinner, my friends came up to me, asking for the keys so they could leave early. It was then that I realized that I’d lost them.

The host asked us to give him 300 euros to cover the cost of a new set of keys. We made a complaint about it but we had to pay the money. So, hoping to get our money back, we decided to do some detective work     6     our own.

I wrote an email to the Sisi Museum in the middle of the night, wondering whether the staff had found them. Early in the morning, I received their reply, saying that they had not.

    7     (fortunate) in the end, the keys were found in a souvenir shop. The host even said congratulations to us.

Though we saw many great     8     (sight) in Europe, the most     9     (value) thing about my trip was this lesson I learned: Never lose your keys in Vienna. Your keys ought to     10     (take) good care of.

8 . I live in a town near Prague(布拉格), the capital of the Czech Republic. Besides cars, bikes are the most important _________ of transportation(运输). As it _________ you to go almost anywhere you want, cycling is a big _________ for Czech people. On weekends, you can see cyclists _________ through the towns wearing helmets (头盔) and cycling clothes.

Some people _________ that living in a town is inconvenient (不便利的), including me. _________, I find life in towns much more _________ than that in big cities after living here for a while. I was _________ given a bicycle by my host family. _________ it is only an ordinary bike, I was still __________ and couldn’t wait to take a cycling trip alone.

One sunny Sunday afternoon, I took my first cycling trip to a village nearby. I cycled for a while, alongside a river. But then, something happened: One of my tires __________. There was no choice but to __________ my bike back home, which took an hour.

I didn’t give up though: One week later, I __________ again. This time, however, there was__________ wrong with my tires. It was a very beautiful town, with a typical Czech castle and a park full of peacocks. People were taking part in a marathon that day. There were also stands selling __________ Czech foods and drinks, such as potato pancakes and beer.

It was already sunset when I __________ to head home, and I saw almost no one on the way back. As the warm breeze softly stroked (轻抚) my face. I felt very __________ and happy.

I believe many of us need a(n) __________ like this to take a break from our __________ life sometimes. So, I really do encourage all of you to take a cycling trip alone, even just to a nearby village. Just look around you, and you’re sure to __________ some hidden beauty.

9 . Shenyang—The remains of 117 Chinese People’s Volunteers soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War returned to China on Sunday before the Commemorative Day of Martyrs.

This is the seventh annual repatriation (遣送), following a handover agreement signed between China and the Republic of Korea. and also the largest since the initial (最初的) return of 437 soldiers in 2014. Between 2014 and 2019, the remains of 599 soldiers were returned.

Earlier on Sunday, the ROK handed over the remains at a ceremony at Incheon airport outside Seoul. A Chinese military transport plane, escorted (护卫) by two Chinese fighter jets, carried the remains and belongings of the fallen soldiers back and landed at Taoxian International Airport at 11:18 am in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang near the border of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Y-20 aircraft. the largest and most advanced domestically developed transport aircraft. carried out the task for the first time. It was labeled (贴标签于……) with the serial number 01. as a mark of high respect for the martyrs.

Vice Premier Sun Chunlan attended the ceremony along with CPV soldiers and citizens. China has never forgotten its fallen heroes and the contribution they made, Sun said in a speech.

Chinese people always remember the fighting spirit of defending the motherland, and China will remember the past and cherish peaceful international environment, Sun said.

Wang Guobin, a 92 year old CPV veteran, said. “I’m both happy and sad. I’m glad that after 70 years, they finally come home. And I am sad that they died in the 1950-53 Korean war and couldn’t come back until 70 years later.”

Many local residents lined the roads to welcome the martyrs home and show their respect.

The remains will be buried in a martyrs’ park in Shenyang on Monday. It is the resting place of all soldiers’ remains returned by the ROK since 2014.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the CPV’S participation in the 1950-53 Korean War. A total of 2.9 million CPV soldiers entered the battlefield, and 197,653 of them were killed in the war.