Xiao long bao (soup dumplings), those amazing constructions of delicate dumpling wrappers, encasing hot,     1     (taste) soup and sweet, fresh meat, are far and away my favorite Chinese street food. The dumplings arrive steaming and dangerously hot. To eat one, you have to decide whether     2     (bite) a small hole in it first, releasing the stream and risking a spill (溢出),     3     to put the whole dumpling in your mouth, letting the hot soup explode on your tongue. Shanghai may be the     4     (recognize) home of the soup dumplings but food historians will actually point you to the neighboring canal town of Nanxiang as Xiao long Bao’s birthplace. There you will find them prepared differently — more dumpling and less soup, and the wrappers are pressed     5     hand rather than rolled. Nanxiang aside, the best Xiao long bao have a fine skin, allowing them     6     (lift) out of the steamer basket without tearing or spilling any of     7     (they) contents. The meat should be fresh with     8     touch of sweetness and the soup hot, clear and delicious.

No matter where I buy them, one steamer is     9     (rare) enough, yet two seems greedy, so I am always left     10     (want) more next time.

Beijing is a city bridging the ancient and the modern. From Buddhist temples to museums, narrow hutong     1     royal palaces, it is home to more than 3,000 years of glorious history even down to its layout, with the city keeping its carefully     2     (build) system of ring roads.

But for all its ancient buildings, Beijing is also a place     3     welcomes the fast-paced development of modern life, with 21st-century architectural     4     (wonder) standing side by side with historical buildings of the past.

It is a distinct visual contrast (反差) that shouldn’t work,     5     somehow these two very different worlds make a good combination.     6     (visit) several times over the last 10 years, I     7     (amaze) by the co-existence of old and new, and how a city was able to keep such a rich heritage (遗产) while constantly growing. As a photographer, I have spent the last two years     8       (record) everything I discovered.

The     9     (remark) development of this city, which is consciously designed to protect the past while stepping into the modern world,     10     (mean) there is always something new to discover here, and I could be photographing Beijing for the next 50 years.

During China’s dynastic period, emperors planned the city of Beijing     1     arranged the residential areas according to social classes. The term “hutong”,     2     (original)meaning “water well” in Mongolian, appeared first during the Yuan Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, the center was the Forbidden City,     3     (surround)in concentric(同心的)circles by the Inner City and Outer City. Citizens of higher social classes     4     (permit)to live closer to the center of the circles. The large siheyuan of these high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen often     5     (feature)beautifully carved and painted roof beams and pillars(柱子). The hutongs they formed were orderly, lined by     6     (space)homes and walled gardens. Farther from the center lived the commoners and laborers. Their siheyuan were far smaller in scale and     7     (simple)in design and decoration, and the hutongs were narrower.

Hutongs represent an important cultural element of the city of Beijing. Thanks to Beijing’s long history     8     capital of China, almost every hutong has its stories, and some are even associated with historic     9     (event). In contrast to the court life and upper-class culture represented by the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven, the hutongs reflect     10     culture of grassroots Beijingers.

Going to Mount Huangshan reminds me of the popular Beatles’ song “The Long and Winding Road”.     1     is so breathtaking about the experience is the out-of-this-world scenes. The rolling sea of clouds you see once you are at the top will remind you how tiny we     2     (human) are.

The hot spring at the foot of the mountain is something you must try after the climb. It will     3    (undoubted) help you get refreshed! The amazing thing about the spring is that the colder the temperature gets, the     4     (hot) the spring! Strange, isn’t it? But that’s how nature is — always leaving us     5     (astonish).

What comes next is the endless series of steps. You can’t help wondering how hard it     6     (be) for the people then to put all those rocks into place. Though it is the only unnatural thing on your way up the mountain, still it highlights the whole adventure     7    offers a place where you can sit down to rest your     8     (ache) legs.

As the song goes, this long and winding road “will never disappear”, and it will always stick in the visitor’s memory. It sure does in     9     (I). While you’re in China, Mount Huangshan is     10     must to visit!

Henry Tyler made the catch of the year on the weekend. When he saw a young child hanging from a sixth-floor apartment balcony (阳台), Henry ran one hundred metres, jumped over a 1.2-metre fence, and held out his arms to catch the     1     (fall) child.

Eric Brown, only three years old, knocked Henry down when he fell. The boy is in the hospital and doctors say he'll be OK.

    2     Brown family live in an apartment building outside Toronto. On the day of the accident, Mrs. Brown was at work and Eric was at home with his father. They both fell     3     (sleep) while watching TV.

Eric woke up a little later when he heard children playing outside. He pushed a chair onto the balcony, and climbed up     4     (see) them. When he looked down, he     5     (accidental) slipped and fell over the edge. He hung on for a few minutes     6     screamed for his father, but his father didn't hear him.

Henry     7     (fix) his car when he heard the screams. He looked up and saw Eric hanging from the balcony. He quickly     8     (throw) his tools aside, and started running, arms out.

"He saved my     9     (son) life," said Mrs. Brown. "I don't know     10     to thank him.”

"I just didn't want the boy to be hurt," said Henry.

Ecotourism is commonly regarded as low impact (影响) travel to undisturbed places. It is different from traditional tourism because it allows the traveler to become     1     (educate) about the areas - both in terms of geographical conditions and cultural characteristics, and often provides money for conservation and benefits the     2    (develop) of the local areas.

Ecotourism has     3    (it) origin with the environmental movement of the 1970s. It was not widely accepted as a travel concept     4     the late 1980s. During that time, increasing environmental awareness made it desirable.

Due to     5     growing popularity of environmentally-related and adventure travel, various types     6     trips are now being classified as ecotourism. Actually, a true eco-friendly trip must meet the following principles:

·Minimize the impact of     7    (visit) the place.

·Build respect for and awareness of the environment and cultural practices.

·Provide     8    (finance) aid and other benefits for local peoples.

·Make sure that the tourism provides experiences for both the visitors and the hosts.

Komodo National Park, officially recognized in 1980, is popular for ecotourism because of its unique biodiversity.    9    (activity) there range from whale watching to hiking (远足) and accommodations aim     10    (have) a low impact on the natural environment.

The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It     1     (build) originally to protect the city     2     the Tang dynasty and has now been completely restored (修复). It is possible       3     (walk) or bike the entire 14 kilometers.

We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.

After     4     (spend) some time looking at all the defensive equipment at the wall, we decided it was time for some action and what     5     (good) than to ride on a piece of history!

We     6     (hire) our bikes from the rental place at the South Gate. My bike was old and shaky     7     did the job. It took us about 3 hours to go all     8     way around the Xi’an City Wall. Supposedly you can do it in two hours, but we stopped at the different gates and     9     (watchtower) to take pictures or just to watch the local people going about their     10     (day) routines.

The shelves in most supermarkets are full of family-size this and multi-buy that. However, if you’re shopping for one, buying extra     1     (benefit) from price reductions doesn’t make sense. Either your shopping is then too heavy to carry home     2     you can’t use what you’ve bought while it’s still fresh.

Of course, shops are not charities — they price goods in the way     3     will make them the most money. If most of their customers are happy to buy larger quantities, that’s     4     they’ll promote. But that leaves the solo (单独) customers out of pocket and disappointed.

Many supermarkets are no longer doing “buy one get one free” promotions because of the     5     (criticize) that they lead to waste. Consumers prefer money off individual items. However, though it’s nice to get a few cents off a pack of sausages, it would help even more if they could sometimes     6     (offer) in smaller packs. Even the biggest sausage fan doesn’t want to eat them every day.

If your supermarket sells loose produce, then buying smaller quantities is easier. Over the last two years, some supermarkets     7     (start) selling chicken or salad in packs     8     (design) with two halves containing separate portions (份). Then, when you use one section,     9     other stays fresh.

Who knows, perhaps some of the more forward-looking     10     (one) may yet come out with a whole range of “just for you” pack sizes with special offers as well.

The government has awarded $5 million to three different local nonprofit organizations. The money will     1    (distribute) over a four-year period and is aimed at helping approximately 1, 000 homeless people in the county of Arvada.

One agency,     2    (base) in Woodbridge, is expected     3    (receive) $1. 5 million. The agency director says that they will focus their resources on     4    (educate) the homeless. “We will probably build another school-home with this money,” he said. “A school-home is exactly     5     it sounds like. It is a school and a home. We have already built four school-homes throughout the county. We get the homeless off the street,     6     we educate them so they don’t have to return to the street. We teach them how to be gardeners, painters, carpenters, bricklayers, electricians, and air-conditioning repairmen.”

“You wouldn’t believe     7     success that we have had. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, our office air-conditioning went out. My secretary called a repairman. To our surprise, the repairman     8    (be) one of our first homeless students. He now owns his own air-conditioning business, plus two houses, two cars and a boat! He has a dozen employees. He’s doing better than I am. He fixed our air-conditioning     9     free. I think I might sign up for the air-conditioning class     10    (I). ”

To understand a painting, we’re taught to look for color, composition, and light. But how can a painting     1     (appreciate)by someone who’s blind? Through touch, the one thing gallery signs tell you not     2     (do). John Olson, a former     3     (photograph)and his team turn paintings into fully textured 3D models.

The tactile(可触知的)paintings work as a way to show art to     4     blind because we don’t see with just Our eyes: We see with our brains. Research in the field of neuroplasticity-the brain’s adaptability-shows that the visual cortex(大脑皮层)is made active by touch. Blind people recognize shapes with their     5     (exist) senses, in a way similar to that of     6     (sight )people, says Ella Striem-Amit, a Harvard scientist.

Luc Gandarias, who’s now thirteen, went blind suddenly     7     age seven. When he felt a 3D version of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” he     8     (notice)her smile right away. ”I can actually feel what you see when you look at it,” he said.

For Luc, this means     9     (independent). "The feeling of being able to see it     10     to form my opinion is like breaking down another wall as a blind person.”