I felt {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(luck) to have won a place to go on a cultural tour to sites of lost civilizations. We visited Pompeii in Italy and Loulan in China. Pompei {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(found) in the 8^th century BC, then taken{#blank#}3{#/blank#}by the Romans in 89 BC. Later, Pompei was destroyed by a volcano. It erupted and covered Pompei with ash.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (fortunate), many people were buried alive. The city was forgotten for many years until the 18^th century when a stone with writing on it was discovered by a farmer. People started to dig in the area {#blank#}5{#/blank#}treasure and caused much damage. Thus, in 1860, the area was governed by the government so {#blank#}6{#/blank#}could be preserved and studied.

    Differently, Loulan disappeared under the sand. There were just a few {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(ruin) left. There was {#blank#}8{#/blank#}ancient water system {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (run) through the middle of the city. The desert was once a green with huge trees, but they were cut down,{#blank#}10{#/blank#}resulted in the city being buried by sand.

    They were both important commercial cities about 2,000 years ago. It was a pity that they disappeared for ever.

    Hi! Welcome to my webpage. My name's Tom Wood and I'm an English teacher. I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (design) this webpage last week so that my students can learn more about me. I think it is important{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (know) my students well. And it is only fair{#blank#}3{#/blank#} my students know me well, too.

    I was born in London, England, but I've lived and worked in China for the past 15 years and I really like living here.

    I can speak Putonghua and even a little bit of Cantonese{#blank#}4{#/blank#} is my wife's dialect (方言). I practice{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(speak) Chinese every day and I am improving{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(fortunate), there are one or two million people in my town who are ready to help me with my Chinese! I particularly enjoy talking to my neighbors.

    My favourite sport is football. I play football once a week with some of the other teachers at the school. We're going to organize a(n){#blank#}7{#/blank#} (compete) with teams of teachers from other schools this summer.

    My other great love is my motorbike. I love getting on my motorbike and riding out to the countryside. But my wife thinks it's too{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (noise )and dangerous. If anyone wants to send me an email, just{#blank#}9{#/blank#}do) as you like. I'd love to hear{#blank#}10{#/blank#} you.

    I will never forget the day when I went to a coming- of - age ceremony. Last month, an unforgettable adult ceremony {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (hold) for all the senior 3 students in our school. It began at half past two in the afternoon. Decorated by colorful flowers and balloons, the stadium looked {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (amaze) beautiful. All of us students were dressed {#blank#}3{#/blank#}school uniforms with red ribbons on our wrists, showing the energy of youth. We walked into the stadium in high spirits, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (accompany) by our parents. Our principal delivered {#blank#}5{#/blank#} inspiring speech at first, and we received {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (congratulate) from our teachers. During the ceremony, we expressed our heart-felt gratitude to our parents by {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(bow) to them. I was moved to tears when I got a photo album from my parents, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} reminded me of my happy childhood. In the end, we raised {#blank#}9{#/blank#} right hands and made a serious promise to become reliable and honest citizens.

    As far as I 'm concerned, the ceremony indicates that we should take on more responsibilities to be {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (independence) and get away from the shelter of our family.

    Access to electricity has always been limited for people living in Nuevo Saposoa, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}remote village in Peru. However, things went from bad to {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(bad)in March 2015 after a flood damaged the power station in the area. The villagers {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(force)to turn to kerosene(煤油)lamps, which are not only expensive but give off poisonous matter.

    Fortunately, the researchers and students at the UTEC in Lima, Peru heard about it and came up with a {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(create)idea. They designed a lamp that can be powered by plants and soil, both of {#blank#}5{#/blank#}can be found in the Amazonian rainforests where the village {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(lie). Called Plantalamparas, the lights draws energy from a plant {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(grow)in the rainforests and uses it to light up an LED bulb. So far, the bulbs have been a huge success.

    This is not the first time the students and professors of UTEC {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(come)up with a clever approach {#blank#}9{#/blank#}a problem. In 2014, {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(deal)with Peru's severe air pollution they created a large advertising board that could be used as an air purifier(净化器)as well.