I felt lucky to go on a cultural tour to two sites of lost civilisations --- Pompeii in Italy and Loulan in China. Pompeii was founded in the 8th century BC. Then it    1    (take) over by the Romans in 89 BC. Later, a volcano erupted and covered Pompeii with ash(灰).     2    (unfortunate), many people were buried alive and so was the city. It was forgotten for many years until the 8th century when a farmer discovered a stone with writing on it. People started to dig in the area for treasures and had some of them     3    (destroy). Thus, in 1860, the area was put under government     4     (protect) so it could be preserved and studied.

Differently, Loulan,     5    (know) as China’s Pompeii in the desert(沙漠), is believed to have been gradually covered by sandstorms from AD 200     6     AD 400. Around the year 1900 the European explorer Sven Hedin discovered the     7    (ruin) of the Loulan Kingdom. Interestingly, there was     8    ancient water system that ran through the middle of the city. The desert was once a green land with huge trees, but they were cut down,     9     resulted in the city being buried by sand.

They were both important commercial(商业的) cities about 2,000 years ago.     10     was a pity that they disappeared forever.