1 . With cities growing faster than ever, more and more _______ urban spaces are appearing all around the world. Dealing with the increase in these lifeless spaces has been a serious problem for almost every major city.

Valero Square is located in the center of the city’s downtown at a busy tram line station and next to a large market. With such a good location, the site should have been a(n) _______ area, but the reality couldn’t have been more _______ . While thousands of people move through the square every day, few stopped to spend time in the square. People would instead simply _______ without a second thought.

That was until the installation of a project titled “Warde”.

The installation is a cluster of giant red “flowers”, which open to 30 feet wide, on top of 30-foot-tall “stems”. The flowers can be filled with _______ . This inflation (膨胀) and deflation enable the flowers to open and close.

The new installation is difficult to neglect, but what is truly _______ is the way that these flowers interact with their surroundings. Standing under one of the flowers will cause it to open and stay _______ until you choose to leave, providing shade and _______ from the hot sun. Warde is also programmed to _______ to public transport service, springing to life as the trams arrive and depart from the square, ________ travellers not to miss their tram.

Temporary ________ projects such as Warde are being used more and more as a way to reengage communities with neglected spaces. ________ it’s still too early to say if Valero Square has been brought back to life by Warde, the project has certainly managed to generate increased public ________ in the space. ________ , Warde is an excellent example of how urban art projects can be a great tool for getting people to stop and really take notice of their ________ .

2 . The public library is one of the greatest inventions humankind has ever imagined and actually made happen. Libraries are a (an)_______ , quiet place where all people can hang out and read, without having to ______ anyone anything. Apart from being a place that is full of ______ to borrow, libraries are something that offers ______ and warmth. A post on Twitter celebrating the wonderfulness of libraries ________ this point perfectly.

“Today a woman with developmental disabilities came into the library, and she was ________,” wrote a Twitter user. “She didn’t _______ her address, but her phone number was in her pocket on a piece of paper with Elmo on it. She kept saying, ‘The library is a safe place.’We called and her guardians (监护人) came right over. It seemed that they were not worried at all. Apparently this happens pretty _______. They even stayed long enough for her to _______ some new books and Sesame Street DVDs. The library is a safe place indeed.”

The post _______ others to share their own stories of libraries being safe places for them, and it’s enough to _______ even the hardest of hearts. For people who grew up in dysfunctional (功能失调的) homes, the library can be a safe heaven of calm and kindness. For people lacking financial means, the library is a space that provides free education and free entertainment, as well as a free indoor place to go. This is the reason why _______ people grouped to libraries when they have nowhere else on earth---the only place that doesn’t _______ money. We cannot understate Literal lifesavers. Libraries also fill up a lot of gaps in other social _______ and help people find their way to information about other opportunities. They open the doors to so many ________.

3 . One of Switzerland’s most popular ski areas has been covering mountain areas with cloth material in an effort to reduce ice melt aver the summer.

Workers have ________ large blankets of material around Mount Titlis, a ski area near the Swiss mountain town of Engelberg. The area contains a glacier (冰川) that has been ________ large amounts of ice over the past 20 years. The ________ cloth, made of a chemical material, is designed to ________ the sun. “Putting the blankets ________ the glacier provides a natural protective shield,” Gian Darms, who oversees snow conditions and mountain security in the area, explained to Reuters. Decreasing snow cover ________ higher temperatures presents a huge ________ to ski areas across Europe. Having a glacier can provide some protection from ________ change. It can help ________ large snow supplies on the mountain year-round. This snow can later be moved to fill in areas where it is needed.

But the Swiss government has ________ that 90 percent of the country’s remaining 1,500 glaciers will ________ by the end of the century ________ nothing is done to cut man-made pollution emissions. Davms said he has had to ________ increase the size of the blankets over the glacier in recent years to save what is ________. A small group of ________ work over five-to-six weeks to cover parts of the glacier. ________ the summer, the workers spend weeks removing the ________.

Currently, the reflective material covers about 100,000 square meters, which is about the ________ of 14 football fields. The blankets help reflect the sun’s energy ________ into the atmosphere.

Collected ________ is used to fill openings in the glacier that could open up along the area’s ski runs. The snow also helps support lift structures that are fixed into the ice.