Last summer,Cathy's whole family went to New York City for their summer vacation. They stayed there for two weeks.

New York City has more than seven and a half million people.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} It is also the home of the United Nations.

First they visited the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is one of New York's most well-known places.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} On the second day they went to the Empire State Building. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}From the top of the building, they saw most parts of New York. On the third day they visited the Metropolitan Museum.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} During the rest time of the week, Cathy went to Bronx Zoo with her younger brother and sister. There they were glad to see a lot of their favourite animals-tigers, lions, monkeys, and elephants.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} On the island, they spent most of their time swimming sunbathing and playing on the beach. They all had a good time.

    Benjamin Banneker was born a few months before another great American—George Washington. Benjamin was black, but he was not a slave (奴隶). He and his mother and his grandmother were free. Benjamin's grandmother came from England. In America she got a job and worked for many years to pay for her boat trip across the ocean. After working many years, she saved enough money to buy a farm. Benjamin lived with her for a while. She taught him to read, write and do arithmetic (算术).

    Benjamin's neighbours knew that he was clever. They were not surprised when he built a large wooden clock. He made each piece after studying a small pocket watch. The clock made him famous, for it was one of the first clocks built in America. People from other places began to send hard problems of all kinds to Benjamin to settle.

    Thomas Jefferson heard of Benjamin Banneker's ability to settle hard problems. He asked Banneker to help build the city that was to be the capital of the United States—Washington, D.C. Banneker worked hard on the plans for the city. He marked where the streets and buildings—the Capitol (美国国会大厦), the White House, and many other places should be built.

    Later, L' Enfant, the Frenchman who had designed the new city, had a quarrel, and went back to France in anger. He took all of the plans away. The workmen couldn't build without any plans to follow.

    For a while it seemed that the plans for the capital might have to be changed, but Benjamin Banneker remembered the plans he had helped draw. He drew each again as he had built each piece of his clock.

    If it weren't for Benjamin Banneker, Washington,

    D.C might look very different from the way it does today.

Nowadays, "toilet revolution" is a thing in China.China is investing seven billion yuan in the project.The money is spent building or upgrading (改进) toilets in 30,000 villages.

Experts have agreed that a "toilet revolution" is very important.Better toilets mean healthier lives and better living standards.Better toilets can also help encourage tourism and improve the economy.

"Toilet revolution" was started in 2015.Chinese president Xi Jinping then called for improvement to toilets across China.The government has invested more than 1.6 billion yuan in the project since then.Nearly 70,000 toilets have been built or upgraded.By the end of 2017, 45 percent of rural residents (居民) had been using standard toilets.In 2013, that number was only 36 percent.

In cities popular with tourists, more expensive toilets have been built.These toilets have ATMs, Wi­Fi and recharging (充电) stations for mobile phones.Some toilets, meanwhile, have been expanded (扩大). Now, they have special cubicles (隔间) for the disabled and adults with young children.

China, in fact, is not alone in focusing on toilets.According to Bill Gates' foundation, forty percent of the world's population doesn't have flush toilets.UNICEF (联合国儿童基金会) says at least 1.2 million young children die of diarrhea each year.Contact with human waste is the main cause.Gates says toilets of the future will be able to save 800 lives every day.

Every country has its own way of cooking.

Most people in the United States like fast food, but if you think that {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, you are wrong. It's true that most Americans eat fast food for their breakfast and lunch, but {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Parents see the importance of teaching their children how to cook, and most Americans say that home-cooked meals are the best.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. For example, baking（烘焙) is the most popular way of cooking in America. Most American families have ovens and {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. In planning a big meal, they try to cook meat, a few vegetables, some bread and often some sweet food.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. There are many kinds of foods in different colors, so the meal is healthy and looks beautiful, too.