The United Kingdom or the UK     1     (make) up of four countries. They are England,Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It has     2    interesting and long history. Wherever you go in the country, you will be surrounded by     3    (evident) of four different groups of people who took over at different times throughout history. The Romans,     4     great achievements included building towns and roads, came in the first century. Then in the     5     (five) century arrived Anglo-Saxons who introduced the English language and changed the way people built houses. The Vikings came in the eighth century. They     6     (leave) behind lots of new vocabulary and also the names of many locations across the UK. The last group, the Normans, conquered England in the 11th century. They had castles     7     (build) all around there. The Normans were in fact French, so many French words     8     (slow) entered into the English language.

The UK is a     9     (fascinate) mix of history and modern culture. If you keep your eyes open, you will be surprised to find that you can see both its past    10    its present.

It’s not often sunny in Paris, but people still love to walk along the banks of the Seine. They love the view of the city’s old    1    (building), especially Notre Dame Cathedral, with its fantastic spire(尖顶).

    2    , that view has been changed forever. On April 16, a fire     3     (destroy) the spire of the 850-year-old church, and two-thirds of the roof. Parisians were so shocked that they couldn’t help openly     4     (weep). Many citizens gathered around the giant church, praying for the hundreds of firefighters     5     fought the flames. For many in France, it’s not only a house of worship, a symbol of French culture, architecture and history.

It is no wonder that people felt sad. The cathedral,    6    (construct) in 1163, is home to many    7    (religion) paintings and sculptures. It is probably best known for its relation     8     the story of the Hunchback(驼背人) of Notre Dame. But its French Gothic Architecture remains the    9    (big) attraction for visitors from around the world.     10     (fortunate), its world-famous glass windows survived the fire. And French President has promised to rebuild the invaluable heritage.

Pliny was a Roman writer who     1     （witness）a terrible volcanic eruption as a young man. Then he wrote about the eruption     2     occurred on August 24th，79 AD in Mount Vesuvius，near Pompeii. The tragedy had left a deep     3    （impress）on Pliny whose uncle died in the event. The     4    （town）were buried by the ashes of Mount Vesuvius. By 1748，archaeologists started to dig out the ancient city Pompeii. It is like a "time capsule"     5    （preserve）a frozen moment in history. Not only are the buildings and objects of Pompeii     6    （attract）to people，but also the forms of the people caught in the disaster have captured the imagination of people across the world.       7     these victims have been dead in Pompeii for many years，the bodies show their exact shapes，which makes people feel sympathy     8     them. Today，tourists and archaeologists visit Pompeii every year     9    （learn）more about the ancient world. In this way，the city lives on     10    （near）2，000 years after the eruption.

Nowadays Chinese are using the solar calendar. But at the same time, Chinese are also using their own lunar calendar. Each lunar year     1     (give) the name of one of these animals: the rat, the ox, the tiger, the hare, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the cock, the dog and the pig. This list repeats     2     (it) every twelve years,     3     is a main feature of the Chinese lunar calendar.

Each Chinese month starts on the day of the new moon, and the full moon always comes on the     4     (fifteen) day of the month. The New Year,     5     (actual) well known as the Spring Festival, always falls     6     January 21st and February 20th.

On the last day of each lunar year, the Chinese will hold     7     big family reunion dinner. All the members of a family, with the     8     (except) of married daughters, will try to be present on this festival occasion, even if they have to travel many miles     9     (return) to the home of their parents. After the dinner, even children will stay     10     (wake) until the midnight to welcome the New Year.

The Vikings, a group of people    1    ancestors came from Scandinavia, were the first Europeans    2    (reach) America. In 982 AD, there were 10,000 Vikings    3    (live) in Iceland. According    4    the old stories, Eric the Red was forced to leave Iceland because he had committed    5    murder, for which he got into trouble. He reached Greenland and then returned to Iceland and told people about Greenland. Later, he set sail again, with 25 ships, of which only 14 made    6    to Greenland. A man called Biarni was hoping to join his father who was with Eric, but he was blown off course and found himself in an    7    (know) land that no humans seemed to have stepped on, from where he reached Greenland. In 1002, Eric the Red’s son Leif followed Biarni’s directions and sailed to what is believed to be the coast of present-day Canada. He then sailed    8    (far) south to an island now known as Newfoundland. We know about their deeds through stories which    9    (write) down centuries later in Norway and Iceland. They are the first    10    (record) we have of Europeans sailing to the America.

Tuesday was Valentine’s Day, a day     1     young men and women worried about not only what words are appropriate, or even what kind of promises to make, but also     2     to eat and what gift to buy their     3     (importance) other, Beijing News commented on Tuesday.

Businessmen who are good at     4     (turn) all holidays into shopping carnivals (狂欢节) have already begun to turn the day into a commercial festival. All the     5     (discount) and sales promotions for the day greatly imply that those who are single should feel inferior because they are not spending money     6     a loved one.

Through the different ways of celebrating Valentine’s Day, a non-public holiday, we can still see the different cultures. In Europe, where St. Valentine’s Day     7     (origin) appeared as a Christian feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus, the day has more of a holiday atmosphere.

The acceptance of Valentine’s Day in China and the way it     8     (celebrate) mainly come from the customs in the United States where the day is more commercialized     9     it is in Europe. In the US, Valentine’s Day is equal to spending money to prove how much a person loves the other or show how romantic they are.

As     10     matter of fact, people can choose to celebrate the festivals they want in the way they like.