A city without cars would be very strange, right? But Venice is such a city.

    Venice is   1    the northeast of Italy.  It wasn't built    2  , like Beijing or Shanghai, but on more than 110 islands. Seawater is  3  around the city.

    Even so, travel isn't difficult. The waterways have always been the best way to get around. There are 117 waterways and more than 400 bridges   4 can guide you where you want to go. People in Venice move   5  by boat.  They like to enjoy the scenery and cool summer nights while  6 boat trips. They can talk to other people as they go along.

    Venice grew out of small islands in saltwater lakes when some Italians    7    from a war over 1,500 years ago, and built homes there.

    Water makes the city special, but it is also a big problem. Sometimes tourists will have such strange8. One moment they walk across the Rialto Bridge, and there's 9   . Butwhen they come back to the bridge an hour later, it's underwater and everyone is wearing rain shoes.

    Once, people used 10  underground water. This made the city get lower   11  .Now the city has gone down by 23 centimeters. Another problem is the   12 seawater.The temperature has risen over the years. This has made the ice of the Arctic Ocean(北冰洋) melt.

    Every year, high waters hit the city in autumn and winter.  When a lot of water   13   , more than half of the city is underwater.

    Scientists are trying different ways to stop the city from getting   14 lower. The Italian government has asked some of Italy's biggest companies to build the MOST project, which was planned  15   under the seawater to stop the rising water. Anyway, this project is helping solve the problem.

    The White House is an important historical building in the USA. It lies1the country's capital. Many people expect to see the palace with their own eyes.

    We spent six months getting tickets to visit the White House. I was2with excitement while we were waiting in the White House South Lawns. The first thing3 interested me was the colorful flowers and green grass.

    Everything inside and outside was4kept in the white House. We went through many security checks(安检) 5entering the building. In the east hallway on the first floor, I saw the pictures of past presidents on the walls. The6had over 2700 books. The Vermeil Room and China Room showed different collections.

    We walked upstairs to the State Floor. The East Room, the7in the White House, was the most wonderful in its size and furniture. This is the room where the president usually8the reporters. The Green, Blue and Red Rooms on the same floor got their names because of the9 of the furniture and walls. These rooms are 10 having parties for state guests.

    Clothing(服装)is a language. We can look at the traditional clothing to know more about1.

    Africa has a long history and a rich culture, and this is 2 in traditional dress. The three colors-red, gold and 3are often used in the clothing. The first color represents the blood of millions of people who fought 4 freedom; the second, rich resources of the African earth; and the third, the grassland of home.

    Because clothing has strong social meanings, people are very5in choosing what to wear. It would be a serious mistake to wear the wrong clothes,6to dress in the wrong way. For example, in Ghana(加纳)，a woman should wear her waistband(腰带)7 according to the importance of the social event.

    Traditional dress also tells us about everyday life. African 8 are famous for loose(宽松的)clothing. The temperature there can be very high during the daytime but very low at night, so it 9that the clothes are comfortable for daily life.

    Today although more and more young people like wearing Western clothes, especially in big cities in Africa, traditional African dress is 10 quite valuable. This is because it has deep cultural meanings.

FAVORITE FOOD

    Every country has1favorite food. Italians（意大利人）like to eat2. Indians（印度人）like to eat hot food. 3like to eat fish. Often they don't cook it.

    In England, one of the most popular4food is fish and chips. People usually buy it in5shop. They put it in6, and take it home, or to their workplace.

    Sometimes they eat it in the park or on the road.

    But the7favorite food isn't English, Italian, Indian or Japanese. It seems that American fast food is the most popular in the world. In New York, Moscow. Paris, London, and even in some big cities in China, you can find people8hamburgers and chips.

    Chinese food is9very popular in the world. In many cities you can find Chinese restaurants. People10Chinese food because it has different tastes and is usually very delicious!

    The 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar (农历) in China is the Lantern Festival.

    It's an important 1 in China. Chinese people celebrate it in many ways. In the evening there are different 2 shows in parks and streets. Lanterns are often red 3 the Chinese think red stands for (代表) happiness and good luck. People 4 different lanterns out of paper and other things. Some are in the 5 of rabbits, birds and boats. Some are in the shapes of dragons and cartoon stars. There are 6 lanterns here and there. In some cities, such as Suzhou, there is 7 a big lantern show at night, and many people come to enjoy it every year.

    8 are special food for the festival. Families always get together and 9 a big meal. After that, people go out to 10. They often sing and dance happily late until midnight.