Economic development is necessary if we want to     1     society. There comes a time     2     the old must give way to the new, and it is not possible to     3     everything from our past as we move towards the future. Finding and keeping the right     4     between progress and the protection of cultural sites     5     be a big challenge.

Big challenges, however, can sometimes lead to great     6    . In the 1950s, the Egyptian government wanted to build a new dam across the Nile in order to control floods, produce electricity, and     7     water to more farmers in the area. But the     8     led to protests. Water from the dam would likely damage a number of temples and destroy cultural relics that were an important part of Egypt’s cultural     9    . After listening to the scientists who had studied the problem, and citizens who lived near the dam, the government     10     to the United Nations for help in 1959.

Tibetan antelopes live on the plains of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Qinghai.    1    them move slowly across the green grass, I’m struck by their    2    . At the same time, I’m also reminded    3    the danger they are in. They are being hunted,    4    , for their valuable fur.

Zhaxi, a villager from Changtang, works at the Changtang National Nature Reserve. “We’re not trying to save the animals,” he says. “    5    , we’re trying to save ourselves.” The 1980s and 1990s were bad times for the Tibetan antelope.    6    population dropped by more than 50 percent. Hunters were shooting Antelopes to make    7    . Their    8    were becoming smaller as new roads and railways were built.

In order to save them, the Chinese government placed them under national protection. The measures were    9    . The antelope population    10    and in June, 2015, the Tibetan antelope was removed from the endangered species list.

First, I had to think very carefully about    1    I wanted to take. The school adviser helped me choose     2    : maths, English, chemistry, world history, and Chinese. I know that Chinese is a very difficult language, but I    3    when I graduate. My adviser    4    that I should    5         6    because I like English and I’m good at it.

I know I’ll have to study harder as a senior high student and get used to    7    a lot more.I’m a bit worried about    8    the other students in my advanced course and it would be quite difficult to get used to all the homework. Still, T’m happy to be here. Studying hard isn’t always fun, but I’ll    9    university or     10    in the future.

Before the mid-20th century, most people felt travelling into space was an     1     dream. However, some scientists were determined to help     2     realise their dream to explore space. After many     3    , they succeeded in making rockets that could     4     Earth’s gravity. On 4 October 1957, the Sputnik 1 satellite was launched by the USSR and successfully orbited around Earth.    5    , the USSR focused on sending people into space, and on 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the     6     person in the world to go into space. Over eight years later, on 20 July 1969, American     7    Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon,     8     saying, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant     9     for mankind.” Following this, many more goals were achieved. For example, America’s NASA space agency launched Voyager 1 on 5 September 1977 to study deep space, and it still transmits     10     today.

Customs play a significant role in festivals, but sometimes they can change     1     time. With the development of modern society and the spread of new ideas, some traditions may     2     away and others may be established. One example is the     3     Chinese Spring Festival custom of lighting firecrackers to drive away the evil     4     and celebrate the new year.     5    , many big cities have given up this custom in order to     6     air pollution. Another example is Halloween, which slowly became an exciting festival for children, in spite of its     7     origins.

Festivals are becoming more and more commercial, with business     8     advantage of the celebrations. Online shopping websites and     9     media apps have made it much easier for the public to spend more on gifts for their     10     ones. Although some believe festivals should not be commercialized, others believe the increase in spending is good for the economy and public happiness.

But hope was not lost. Soon after the quakes, the army sent 150,000 soldiers to Tangshan to dig out those who were     1     and to     2     the dead. More than 10, 000 doctors and nurses came to provide medical care. Workers built     3    for survivors     4     homes had been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people were helped. Water and food were brought into the city by train, truck, and plane. Slowly, the city began to     5    again.

Tangshan started to     6     itself and get back up on its feet. With strong support from the government and the tireless     7     of the city’s people, a new Tangshan was built upon the earthquake ruins. The new city has become a     8     to more than seven million people, with great improvements in transportation, industry, and environment. Tangshan city has proved to China and the rest of the world that in times of disaster, people must     9     and show the     10     to stay positive and rebuild for a brighter future.

So why has English changed over time?    1     all languages change and develop when cultures meet and communicate with each other. At first the English     2     in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was very different from the English spoken today. It was     3     more on German than the English we speak at present. Then     4     between about AD 800 and 1150, English became     5     like German because those who ruled England spoke first Danish and later French. These new settlers     6    the English language and especially its vocabulary. So    7    the 1600’s Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 some British settlers moved to America. Later in the 18th century some British people were taken to     8    too. English began to be spoken in both countries. Finally by the 19th century the language was     9    . At that time two big changes in English spelling happened: first Samuel Johnson wrote his dictionary and later Noah Webster wrote The American Dictionary of the English language. The latter gave a separate     10     to American English spelling.

PERU is a country on the Pacific coast of South America with three main areas:     1    , dry, flat land running along the coast, the Andes Mountains and the Amazon rainforest.

In the 1400s and 1500s, Peru was the centre of the     2     ancient Inca Empire. The Inca emperor lived in the now-famous     3     Machu Picchu. Spain took control     4     Peru in the 16th century and ruled until 1821. It is for this reason that Spanish is the main     5     language of Peru.

This four-day walking tour will take you on amazing     6     through the Andes Mountains on the way to the city of Machu Picchu. After reaching your     7    , you will have a day to     8     and be amazed by this ancient city. Especially amazing is the Inca’s dry stone method of building. Inca builders cut stones to     9     sizes so that nothing was needed to hold walls together other than the     10     fit of the stones.

My name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have     1     about taking a great bike trip. Two years ago she bought     2     expensive mountain bike and then she     3    me to buy one. Last year, she visited our     4    , Dao Wei and Yu Hang at their college in Kunming. They are Dai and     5    up in western Yunnan Province near the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the river     6     is called the Mekong River in other countries. Wang Wei soon got them     7    in cycling too. After graduating from college, we     8     got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, "Where are we going?"     9     was my sister who first had the idea to cycle     10     the entire Mekong River from where it begins to where it ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip.