Asia is such a vast and diverse continent for anyone dreaming of an escape. Here are some best destinations to visit over the next 12 months.

    Xi'an, China

    Xi'an, China is supreme and then there's the biggie (重要的事物)-the Army of Terracotta Warriors, celebrating 30 years as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.

    Xi'an is vast, but a relaxed way of living and recent openings have boosted an already superb accommodation market. A crop of new bars and cafes are thrown in here. There's never been a better time to visit.

    South of Tokyo, Japan

    Two cities in south of Tokyo are well worth visiting.

    Yokohama is just a 20-mixinte train journey from the capital and packs considerable appeal with its bayside location, architecture, beer and tasty cuisine.

    Less than an hour from Tokyo, fantastic seaside town Kamakura »s known for its surfing scene, but also offers an attractive selection of relaxed cafes and restaurants.

    Sri Lanka's Hill Country

    Sri Lanka may be “so hot right now”, but Lonely Planet recommends a different experience.

    Try getting ahead of (and away from) the pack by taking a scenic train to Sri Lanka's Hill Country for a wonderfully temperate escape from the nation's humid coasts.

    This island owns a mountainous interior that is every bit as scenic as the coast, blessed by pleasantly cool temperatures that rarely above 21℃.

    Raja Ampat, Indonesia

    “Raja” means “king” and this grand title is apparent. Packed with white-sand beaches, lush jungle and unusual mushroom-shaped small islands. Raja Ampat is a biological hotspot.

    Home to some of the richest, most diverse coral reefs on the planet—over 200 diving spots are still in a state of nature—and this, paired with a growing ecotourism (生态旅游) offering, means Raja Ampat will no doubt remain king of the islands.

    I always dreamed of studying abroad, to learn at a world﹣class university while further exploring the grounds on which these nations achieved new milestones of development with each passing day.

    To study abroad after my graduation, I could not stop seeking my dream. To take the first step, I did some brainstorming and explored opportunities on the Internet and finally decided to go for China. There were a number of reasons behind it﹣its advanced education system and thousands of centuries of rich culture inspired me to study there. The primary one was my curiosity how a nation has left many nations behind in a short time at its fast pace of development.

    So just like that, I applied, along with some of my friends, for a master's degree program at Communication University of China. I was the only one who got selected in the said program and in addition, the Chinese Scholarship Council sponsored all of my expenses. This good news was welcomed by my family.

    This is my seventh month in Beijing. In my experience so far, one thing that appeared to be missing was the internship（实习） which I tried to find because I want to work here after completion of my studies. After some struggles I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to work as an intern with the Center for China and Globalization（CCG）. It's very exciting to work on their team as a researcher. Now I can proudly say that my decision to choose China as a study destination was the best decision I have ever made.

    A company in San Francisco, California, has found a way to turn used plastic bottles into women's shoes.

    Every day, millions of Americans drink water and other liquids from plastic bottles. More than 60 million of them are thrown away each day. Many of the plastic bottles end up in landfills or are burned with other waste products.

    A San Francisco start-up company called Rothy's, however, turns this plastic waste into environmentally friendly shoes. Roth Martin is the company's co-founder. He explains how they turn plastic into soft material for women's feet. They take the plastic, clean it, and break it down into small pieces. Then they press them through a device that makes soft fibers. Those fibers are then combined together. This is done by a 3D machine. It is designed to reduce waste while making the shoes. The knitted stuff and the inner part of the shoe are then attached to the shoe's outer part, called the sole (鞋底). This outer sole is also made from environmentally friendly material: responsibly sourced no-carbon rubber.

    Rothy's shoes are sold online. They are flat shoes, with either a rounded or pointed toe. They come in different colors and designs. They cost either $ 125 or $ 145 per pair, depending on the design. After American actress Gwyneth Paltrow discovered them last year, the demand for the shoes grew. Martin says there is no shortage of material to fill that demand. “We're not going to run out of water bottles any time soon. So we have a limitless supply of material, and I think that is a good sign for our future.” When the environmentally friendly shoes wear out, customers can return them at no cost to a company that uses the recycled materials to make other products.

    For now, the shoes are only available to be shipped in the United States. However, the company says it will add international shipping in the near future.

    Are you a social media addict? Are you always checking your smart phone to see how many "likes" you've received for your latest post? Maybe you feel comforted by the sound that someone has sent you a message?

    Don't worry, you're not alone. We check our phones an average of 150 times a day, and around 30% of the total time spent online is devoted to social media. Some experts now fear this habit could be damaging our mental health.

    This is something particularly bothering young adults, according to a study from the University of Pittsburgh. It found the more they used social media, the more likely they were to be depressed. In tests, those people who checked social media frequently were 2.7 times more likely to be depressed compared to those who spent most of their time generally surfing the Internet, who had just 1.7 times the risk.

    Some of us certainly feel sad when we're ignored on social media sites, or when we see someone else having a better time than us. But depression is a more serious condition and clinical psychologist, Abigael San, recently told the BBC that ,"It's a real issue, and it's been getting significantly worse over the last 5﹣6 years. You can get so hooked that it takes you away from your real relationships. "However, Abigael does admit that social media is more likely to worsen pre﹣existing issues than directly cause them.

    Other research by the University of Glasgow found that teenagers are affected by the 24﹣hour demands of their social media accounts. It found that those with higher levels of emotional investment in social media, and who use it at night, were more likely to feel depressed and anxious.

    Despite these warning signs, why do some of us continue to keep clicking? Well, I suppose we all want to be liked and we don't want to miss out on a conversation that's taking place online. But we need to know when to switch off our virtual online world and connect with the real world instead.

    The "Chong Yang Festival" is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, which is also known as the Double Ninth Festival..

    Climbing Mountains

    People like to climb mountains on this festival, so Double Ninth Festival is also called "Mountain-climbing Festival".

    The 9th lunar month, with clear autumn sky and bracing air, is a good time for sightseeing.. It is really refreshing to climb mountains and enjoy the beauty of nature at this bright and clear time in autumn.

    Climbing mounting also indicates "climbing to a higher position". Another reason why climbing mountains are valued by people, especially by the elderly is that it has a meaning of "climbing to ligneous life". Climbing mountains on Double Ninth Festival was already popular in the Tang Dynasty..

    Drinking Chrysanthemum Flower(菊花) Wine

    The chrysanthemum flower wine is unique in brewing. In ancient times, people usually picked fresh chrysanthemum flowers and leaves on the 9th of the 9th lunar month, and brewed the mixture of them and grains into the wine.. The wine is said to have wholesome effects on sharpness of the eye, drop of high blood pressure, reduction of weight and removal of stomach trouble, thus contributing to longevity.

    .

    The Double Ninth cake is also known as "flower cake". It dates back to the Zhou Dynasty. It is said that the cake was originally prepared after autumn harvests for farmers to have a taste of what was just in season, and it gradually grew into the present cake for people to eat on the Double Ninth Day.

A. Eating Double Ninth Cake

B. Making “flower cake” with friends

C. A lot of poems were devoted to this custom

D. So people love to go sightseeing this month

E. It would not be drunk until the same day next year

F. Here are some traditional customs of the Double Ninth Festival

G. But few Chinese people are aware of the importance of the festival

    The day I received my letter of acceptance to New York University, I was extremely excited. It was my dream university, and my1were pleased for me. But they also hadn't2me to get into such a competitive school. In fact, the best thing they ever did for me was to3me from doing things4indeed, when I was in elementary school, they offered to buy me a present5I got a C.

    It6when I was in third grade. An only child in an Asian family, I had just7with my family from Taiwan to Los Angeles. Months into third grade, I developed a strong feeling of8about getting bad grades. Seeing my anxiety, Dad said, "Kate, tell you what. If you get a C or9, I'll buy you a present. If you score higher than that, I won't buy you anything, because you won't10it."

    Clearly dad wasn't the11Asian tiger parent, pressuring me to work tirelessly for the best12, and neither was my mom. They didn't want to push. They wanted me to be13and healthy. Dad's14of a "failing grade" gift amazingly15my worries and pressure. What's more, I16getting A's and B's throughout high school, but without the added stress and fear of failing. I think it was my parents' lack of stress on grades that gave me17to encourage my own desire for achievements.

    I now realize I was18when I thought I didn't receive a present from my dad that day. He gave me two invaluable19the space to develop my own desire for excellence, and the healthy mind to20it.

    My interest in Chinese food started years ago, when I was a young reporter for the Washington Post. Our office wasn't far from Chinatown,I found some very good Chinese restaurants.

    That was the first time that I(notice) the fresh taste of the meat and vegetables of Chinese food.

    When I learned more about the food, I began to understand whyhas this special feature.

    Many years ago, china hadenergy crisis because it lost much of its wood due to over population and poor management of its forests. This(lose) was very bad for the country, of course, but it turned out to be very good for the food. Wood became very expensive and hard to get, so the Chinese had to either find a substitute for their(value) wood, or learn how to use it better. There weren't any substitutes so people found ways to economize.

    In order to economize in cooking, they had to use very little wood. So they started cutting their meat and vegetablessmall pieces before they put them in the hot oil. That way, the food cooked(fast) and they saved more fuel. The food(prepare) in this way kept its fresh flavor and it's this flavorattracts people from other countries to the art of Chinese cooking.

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。

修改：在错的词下面划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

    Last Friday afternoon, our class was invited an old craftsman to teach us how to making dough figurines (面人). When the craftsman came into the classroom, we gave him warm welcome and two boys helped him with the tool box. First, he shows us the basic steps and skills of making dough figurines. We stood around him or watched attentively. Then we started to have a try himself. The old man walked around and helped us patient. Finally, we put the figurines we made on the table and took pictures with the old craftsman. Looking on the figurines, we were all very exciting. We hope we can have more activity of this kind!

1）大赛的目的；

2）大赛的时间、地点；

3）朗诵内容：唐诗宋词（Tang and Song poetry）．

注意：1）词数100左右；

2）可适当增加细节，以使内容连贯．