Economic development is necessary if we want to improve society. There comes a time     1     the old must give way to the new.     2     (keep) the right balance between progress and the protection of cultural sites can be a big challenge. Big challenges, however, can sometimes lead to great     3     (solve). In order to benefit the area, the Egyptian government wanted to build a new dam     4     the Nile. But the     5     (propose) led to protests. Later, a committee       6     (establish) to limit damage to the Egyptian buildings and prevent the     7     (lose) of cultural relics. Temples and other cultural sites were taken down piece by piece, and then moved and put back together again in a place     8     they were safe from the water. When the project     9     (end) in 1980, it was considered     10     great success.

In most countries, turning 18    1    (mark) the start of adulthood. But what does reaching the age of majority really mean? Does it mean that you will be    2    (complete) in charge of your own life and able to express yourself in new and    3    (excite) ways? What new responsibilities will you have to take    4    ? Here, three young people tell us what turning 18 means, or meant, to them.

Bethany, 16, comes from Victoria, Australia. She won’t have the right to vote in the next general    5    (elect), because she won’t be old enough. She has been taking driving lessons but she isn’t allowed to take her driving test    6    she is 18.

Lin Ning, 19, is from Shanghai, China. At 18, although he could do things like    7    (get) a credit card and act on his desire to help others, there were still rules    8    (obey) and lessons to attend.

Morgan, 20, is from Florida, the US. He thought once he turned 18 and got    9    good job he would rent an apartment, but his salary was not high enough. The reality for him has been very different.     10    is hard for him to save money because of the household bills and high commute costs.

The jaguar (美洲豹) is the largest cat in the Americas. A hundred years ago, jaguars     1     (find) everywhere from the south-western United States to Argentina, in South America. Today, jaguars are an endangered species throughout their     2     (nature) habitat and have been lost from 50 per cent of their territory (领土). Today they live     3     (most) in the Amazon rainforest. And jaguars aren't the only animals losing their homes—according     4     the International Union for Conservation of Nature, habitat loss     5     (be) the main threat to about 85 percent of all endangered plant and animal species.

Tropical (热带的) rainforests cover only about 7 per cent of Earth's land, but they're home to about half of all known plant and animal species. Most     6     (scientist) agree that about 80,000 acres (an acre is equal to 4,047 square metres) disappear every day when trees are cut down and land is cleared for farms. Trees also play     7     important role in climate change. Fewer forests mean that more greenhouse gases remain     8     (trap) in the atmosphere, the mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth.

Grasslands, underwater habitats, and wetlands are also at risk. For example, the World Wildlife Fund reports that about half of the world's wetlands     9     (disappear) about a hundred years ago as a result of being drained (排干) for either farmland    10     other industries. That means less space for animals to feed and raise their young.

A few weeks ago I was out with my family at the opening of a new playground in our community. The advertisements were put up,     1    (state) there would be coffee available and activities for children, and I was convinced that it was a good idea for us to attend. So after we settled in, and found a place for the kids         2    (play) in, I headed over to the coffee station.

I     3    (break) my reusable coffee cup several days before,     4     I knocked off a table onto a hard floor, so I didn’t have anything with me. Feeling       5     (guilt) that I might need to use a throwaway cup, I was delighted to see they were using good old ceramic(陶瓷的) coffee cups that are     6    (rare) seen today. It looked like they searched the cupboards and grabbed every cup they could find.

After we finished, the cups went into a big container where they would     7    (wash) later. What a fantastic way of solving the problem of reusable cups! Yes, there is the washing to do after, but,     8     any plastic or paper waste being created, it is worthwhile.    9     is great to see a local council leading the way in a significant       10     (reduce) of waste.

Satire (讽刺)is     1    art form in which wrongdoing is mocked. There     2    (be) great satires created by artists and writers in the past 300 years in many different cultures, but one of the most famous is Gulliver's Travels (1724) by Anglo-Irish writer Johnathan Swift. It is a satire based     3     English politics in the 18^th century.

The book contains four imaginary sea voyages by a ship's doctor and later captain, Lemuel Gulliver. Swift uses the cultures of each of these countries     4    (make) satirical points about the real world.

The most famous of these places is Lilli-put, a land     5    the people are only 15cm tall. The story of the gigantic Gulliver among these tiny people is very     6    ( amuse).

But when Gulliver hears about the political system of Lilli-put, he compares it to     7    (England). The citizens of Lilli-put think their parties have different aims,     8    in reality they both are greedy and only want increasingly     9    ( much) power.     10    ( see) this, Swift concluded that the only difference is their high-heeled shoes.

The Art of War was written     1       (original) in 500 BC. At that time, one of the greatest minds for military strategy, Sun Tzu, wrote down a few notes     2     (help) his clients.

The book lists important information that people should consider     3     planning a military action. Sun Tzu first advised     4     (avoid) war. It isn’t cost-effective, and     5     (harm) to a country. But, if it is inevitable (必然的), then keep control over the stages of war. Be prepared if the enemy attacks and try to attack first. As part of the     6     (prepare), take into account the “five constant factors”: the moral law, heaven, earth, the commander and method and discipline.

With the moral law, the soldiers are in complete hold-in with their commander. Follow orders unquestionably. Heaven is for     7     weather and time of day, and Earth is the terrain (地形). The commander must be beyond reproach (责备), always putting the good being of his men first, and taking pity     8     the enemy. Method and discipline are the meat of the operation.

When it     9     (become) necessary to wage war, be quick and decisive. Try not to do any more damage to the enemy’s lands than is absolutely necessary. It is best if the people are not too     10     (discourage). Don’t make them desperate. Desperate men become remarkably dangerous.

A one-legged Chinese woman at the World Professional Beauty Contest caught people's attention as she turned up     1    （graceful）. Gui Yuna, the 36-year-old Chinese woman from Nanning, showed her best form and won the     2    （title）of Miss Qipao and Miss Bikini in Group B.

Gui lost her right leg at     3     age of seven in car accident. At 17, she started training in high jump, long jump and other games.

One of the highlights of her professional career as an athlete was in the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games in Greece,     4     she won the seventh place in women’s long jump. She also broke the world record of women’s high jump for amputees in 2007 National Games for Dis abled Persons. Before the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, Gui served     5     a torch bearer（火炬手）. She     6     （win）the National Model Worker award in 2015 as well.

Gui retired from professional sports in 2017.     7    （invite）by the World Professional Beauty organizers, Gui attended the beauty contest in a hurry and without much training. But her habit of     8    （keep）a healthy lifestyle and exercising helped her have a good physical shape and shine or stage.

"Sport gives me optimism and makes me look     9    （young）than my peers. I hope more and more people can gain     10    （confident）from my action and join the fitness career," Gui said.