1 . Iceland is a northern European country with amazing natural beauty and oceans around. There are a number of volcanoes (火山). It has a short summer which lasts from June to August. The long winter starts from September and ends next May.

Summer in Iceland is a golden season for tourists. Every year, people from all over the world come here to see the beautiful sights and enjoy the exciting whale-seeing.

In winter, when people in Iceland finish their daily work, they will have different special activities to spend the long dark night. Skating, riding snow motorbikes and having parties can really make an exciting night. After all the fun, a hot bath must be the first choice to relax. There are also story-telling activities for children, which can teach them to be strong and kind. The most popular stories are about Christmas in Iceland.

Because of a long cold winter, Iceland has a short growing season. The food problem was always a headache for Iceland in the past. It had to buy most of its food from other countries, Later, when farmers learned to use lights and underground heat to grow crops (庄稼) all year round in the greenhouse, things changed a lot.

Living in such a nice environment, most people in Iceland live a happy life. According to a survey about happiness made each year in Europe, Iceland is always among the top 3.

4 . New Zealand

6 . Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers tried to conquer (征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.

In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes, was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work, forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.

For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.

The Irish are famous for being warm－hearted and friendly. Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”. Since independence, Ireland has revived (复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish songs which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.

7 . Bruno went into the kitchen and got the biggest surprise of his life. He could barely believe his eyes. “Shmuel!” he said. “What are you doing here in my kitchen?”

Shmuel looked up and his terrified face _________ a broad smile on seeing his friend. “Bruno!” he said. “They asked me to polish the glasses. They said they needed someone with tiny _________.”

He held his hand out and Bruno noticed that it was like the hand of the pretend skeleton. In reply, Bruno held his own hand out, which appeared _________ and full of life. The veins (血管) weren’t visible through the skin, the fingers weren’t little more than dying twigs (细枝). Shmuel’s hand, however, told a very _________ story.

“Shmuel! Here!” said Bruno, stepping forward and putting some slices of chicken in his friend’s hand. “Just eat them.” The boy stared at the food in his hand for a moment and then looked up at Bruno with wide and _________ but terrified eyes. He threw a _________ in the direction of the door and then thrust all the slices into his mouth in one go.

“Thank you, Bruno.” said Shmuel, giving a faint smile.

Bruno smiled back and was about to offer him more food, but just at that moment Lieutenant Kotler reappeared. Bruno stared at him, feeling the _________ grow heavy, sensing Shmuel’s shoulders sinking down.

_________ Bruno, Lieutenant Kotler marched over to Shmuel and glared at him. Shmuel looked up at Lieutenant Kotler, who frowned, leaning forward slightly as he examined the boy’s face. “You have been eating,” said Lieutenant Kotler. “Did you _________ something from that fridge?” Shmuel looked toward Bruno, his eyes pleading for __________.

“Answer me!” shouted Lieutenant Kotler.

“No, sir. He gave it to me,” said Shmuel, tears welling up in his eyes. “He’s my friend,” he added.

“Do you know this boy, Bruno?” he asked in a loud voice.

Bruno’s mouth __________ and he tried to say the word “yes”, but then he realized that he couldn’t because he was feeling just as __________ himself.

“Tell me, Bruno!” shouted Kotler, his face growing red. “I won’t ask you a third time.”

“I’ve __________ seen him before in my life,” said Bruno immediately, “I don’t know him.”

Hearing that, Shmuel wasn’t crying any more, merely staring at the floor and looking as if he was trying to __________ his soul not to live inside his tiny body any more, but to __________ away and sail to the door and rise up into the sky, gliding through the clouds until it was far away.

A trip to China with the kids could be a test to your nerves, but also     1     wonderful experience. This is an ancient civilization which is growing     2     great speed into the 21st century, meanwhile holding onto the old traditions and way of life.

As you travel from area to area, a sea of contrasts is     3     makes it so fascinating. You can find an old fisherman on his bamboo boat       4     (answer) his mobile phone, and modernity and old traditions existing side by side. The only constant thing in China is “change”.

At first it might seem challenging. But you will find the people helpful,     5     (especial) if you are traveling with children. Chinese love children, the more the     6     (happy).

But as far as children     7     (be) concerned, this isn’t a light-hearted (轻松愉快的) trip to Disney World. What if they get sick? Will the kids like the food? Is     8     (pollute) really that bad? Will they be     9     (bore)? Just relax. You can depend on it that you’ll end up with plenty of priceless     10     (memory) of the country.

There are several names for Britain: Britain, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and the UK. The official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.     1     large number of people call the country “England”, but this is not correct. England is only one part of the UK. However, it is the     2     (large) part in the UK. There are four “countries” in the UK — England, Scotland, Wales     3     Northern Ireland.     4     (be) an independent country, the Republic of Ireland (or Eire) isn’t part of the UK.

London is the capital of the UK, as well as England, but all the other countries have their own smaller capital       5     (city), too.

Until 1603, Scotland and England were separate countries with their own monarchs (国王)   and parliaments (国会). In that year, however, the English queen, Elizabeth I,     6     (die). She had no children, so James VI, the King of Scotland, became King James I of England. In 1999, Scotland got its own parliament again,     7     can make laws about some things.

The English king, Edward I, conquered Wales in the 13th century. Many people in Wales,     8     (especial) in the north, speak Welsh as their first language and all children must learn Welsh at school. In some schools, other subjects     9     (teach) in Welsh, too.

Elizabeth I’s armies conquered Ireland in the 16th century and it later became part of the United Kingdom. There were a lot of problems in Ireland in the 19th century and thousands of people moved to the USA. In the 1920s, the south achieved     10     (independent), but Northern Ireland is still part of the UK.