Australia is nearly 7.7 million square kilometres.Itˈs the sixth largest country in area after Russia，Canada，China，the United States and Brazil.

There are rainforests and large plains in the north，snowfields in the southeast，desert(沙漠) in the centre and croplands in the east，south and southwest.About one third of the country lies in the tropics(热带地区)．Australia has a coastline of 36，735 km if it were possible to drive non－stop along the whole coast at 60 km/h，it would take about 24 days to complete the trip.

Australia is the worldˈs smallest continent(洲) and the sixth largest country being equal(相等的) in area to the USA without Alaska.The continent is one of the oldest lands.It is more than 3，000 million years old，and it is the flattest of the continents.

The population of Australia is more than 20 million.It is one of the worldˈs most urbanized countries，with about 70% of the population living in the ten largest cities.Most of the population is concentrated(集中) along the eastern seaboard and the southeastern corner of the continent.

Denmark is a small country of about 5.5 million people. The United States is a country of about 315 million people. There is no doubt that Denmark and United the States are very different countries. However, are there lessons that the USA can learn from Denmark?

  In the United States, it is said that unemployment (失业率) is too high and income(收入) is too low. The gap(差距) between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider. However, in Denmark, the government makes sure that almost no one falls into economic(经济上的) problems. While it is difficult to become very rich in Denmark, no one is allowed to be poor.

  While millions of Americans are worrying about health care, health care in Denmark is free. Everybody is covered. The Danish health care system is popular, with patient satisfaction much higher than in the USA.

  Danish people understand that the first few years of a person’s life are the most important period. In order to give strong support to expecting parents, mothers get four weeks of paid leave before giving birth. They get another 14weeks of paid leave after giving birth. In the USA, working mothers enjoy no paid leave before and after giving birth.

  In Denmark, enough family time is considered an important part of having a good life. Every worker in Denmark has five weeks of paid vacation plus 11 paid holidays every year. And the United States is a country that does not offer its workers paid vacation time.

  Recently an organization has found that the Danish people were the happiest among about 40 countries. However, America did not list the top 10.

Big Ben is the nickname for the great clock in London．It is one of the ____  (1)  ____ interesting places in London.

    ____  (2)  ____ name of the clock was given in honor of (纪念) Sir Benjamin Hall．He was in charge of the work when the clock was built ____  (3)  ___ 1856. This man did much building work in London ____  (4)  ___ years ago. This clock has four ____  (5)  ____. No matter where you stand, you can read the ____  (6)  ____ on the face of Big Ben. Each face is as ___  (7)  ____ as a double-decker(双层) bus. The hands of the clock are about ____  (8)  ____ metres long. It is about the size of one person standing on the top of another person. Big Ben ___  (9)  ___ at the top of the clock tower in the Houses of Parliament(国会大厦). The huge clock ____  (10)  ___ a loud noise every quarter of an hour.

    The clock is a landmark (地标)of ____  (11)  ____ and London. When a reporter hopes to ____  (12)  ___ show he is in London on TV, a popular way is to show a picture of Big Ben．Big Ben also appeared in many films, ___  (13)  ____, the Walt Disney film The Great Mouse Detective. ____  (14)  ___ New Year's Eve, millions of people listen to Big Ben with the radio or TV．Sound goes more slowly than radio waves(无线电波), ___  (15)  ___ people may hear the bell strike(撞击)thirteen times if they are a little far from Big Ben.

  Do you like exciting nightlife? If your answer is yes, you may think life in Melbourne is ____  (1)  ____. Shops here often close at 6 pm. And there are no places to go at night. But things are different this ___  (2)  ____, because the Victoria Night Market has opened!

    I went to the ___  (3)  ____ at 7 pm. The smoky smell of meat created a nice summer. Some people played ___  (4)  ___ and the streets were full of people. They liked the music very much. At that moment, I thought I was back in China.

    I went to a stall (摊位) with orange decor (装饰品). The food in front of me was strange, ___  (5)  ___ I never tried it before. A woman at the stall smiled, ___  (6)  ____ at the food and said, "You can try this seafood flee. It's very special." After hearing the ___  (7)  ___ words, I bought some.

    Unlike Chinese rice, the rice was ___  (8)  ___, just like the color of the stall's decor. I found that it was quite delicious when I put the rice into my mouth. I finished it in just a few minutes. This unknown food filled my __  (9)  ____.

    I spent 50 Australian dollars, but I got to taste Greek meatballs, Thai noodles and a Brazilian hamburger. I'm glad that Victoria Night Market ___  (10)  __ so many great foods from every comer of the world! I will never forget this exciting experience!

“You speak very good English”the other day I heard an American say to a Chinese student of English. “You  (1)  very good English.” But the student answered, “ No, my English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite  (2)  at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself  (3)  or the student had not heard him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak it very well.” But the Chinese student still  (4)  saying “No”.  (5)  the foreigner gave up and didn’t know what to say.

       What’s wrong with the student’s answer? It is because he didn’t accept a compliment as the American people  (6)  . He should have said “Thank you” instead of “No”. He actually understood what the American had said. But he thought he should be modest. If someone says to a woman, “ You look  (7)  beautiful with the new clothes  (8)  .” she should be very happy and answer, “Thank you.” In our country we think  (9)  modest is a virtue and showing off is a bad behavior. But in the West, if you are modest and say, “ No,   (10)  I can’t do it well,” then the others will take it for granted (理所当然)that you  (11)  can not do it. If you often say,“No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by  (12)  . When  (13)  for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “ Let me have a try on the job”, he or she can expect to get it. So in the West, one should always be confident.  (14)  self-confidence, he can’t go anywhere. Confidence is of great  (15)  to one in a country where competition is quite keen.(激烈)

More than 3,000 languages are spoken in the world. Of all these languages, English is   (1)  used. When it is used, the English language has also   (2)   many new words from other languages. For example, Americans borrowed “cookbook” from   (3)  . They also borrowed tofu andkowtowfrom Chinese.

As we know, there are   (4)   between western culture and Chinese culture. We can learn about those by comparing how certain words are used. For example, “you are a lucky dog”   (5)   you are a lucky person.   (6)   a person who is ill, they say, “sick as a dog”. On   (7)  hand, Chinese people love cats very much. But in western culture, “cat” is sometimes used to describe a woman   (8)   is cruel. The rose is considered as a symbol of love in both China and some western countries. People think the rose stands for love, peace, courage and friendship.

China, a country which has the largest population in the world, has encourage more people to learn English.   (9)   the 1990s, English learning has been very   (10)   with Chinese people. Many of them have done well in English and have made great progress in speaking it.

People often say that gold is the most valuable（贵重的）thing in the world,   (1)  

I don’t think so. In my opinion, books are more valuable than anything else. There is an old  (2)   “ To open a book is always helpful .”  It   (3)  us how good it is to read a book.

   We should read different kinds of books.   (4)   are our friends. They go with us on the road to success. Books are our  (5)   They teach us art , science, truth and philosophy of life（人生观）。 They  (6)  give us experience to do many other things which we have never done before. Besides, books give us pleasure and knowledge which we cannot get in class. Books tell us what is  (7)  and what is evil（邪恶的）。 What’s more,, we must try to practice what we learn   (8)  books.

However, not all the books are worth（值得）   (9)  . Some books are not good for people, especially for teenagers, so it is   (10)  to choose good books.

Dubai is a city of big business, expensive hotels, skyscrapers (摩天楼), and shopping malls. In the early 20 th century, Dubai was a successful trading port. People from the world stopped in Dubai to do business. But it was still a small city, and most people lived as fishermen and businessmen. Then in 1966, people discovered (发现) oil. This brought a lot of money into the area, and soon Dubai began to change.

Today Dubai is one of the world’s most important business centers. In fact, each year the city gets its money mainly from business, not oil.

Recently, more and more people have visited Dubai from all over the world. They come to relax on its beaches, and every year, millions visit just to go shopping.

Dubai is also one of the world’s fast growing cities. People build more and more modern tall buildings in months. The city also has many man-made islands. One of these, the Palm Jumeirah, is like a palm tree and is very beautiful.

The city is still an amazing mix of people from different countries. People from 150 countries live and work in Dubai, and foreigner now outnumber Dubai locals by eight to one!

Many people welcome the city’s growth. But more and more Dubai locals worry about the speed of change. As a Dubai local says, “We must always remember where we came from. Our kids must know we worked very, very hard to get where we are now, and there’s a lot more work to do.”

Many of us may have experienced the pleasant moment of seeing recommended songs after we listen to some songs on a music app. When we open shopping websites, we often see things we want to buy on the home page. The businessman can decide which is the best place to build a new entrance in a big supermarket in the city center. If you want to take a taxi on a taxi app, it can even guess where you want to go before you tell it! Aren’t these things amazing?

This is based on data (数据). Data is no longer only about numbers, but information from almost every side of our lives: our shopping habits, interests or what we eat. All of this is called “big data”. In December, 2017, President Xi Jinping called for China to speed up its big data strategy (战略) to better serve social and economic (经济的) development. As a result, people’s lives can be improved as well. He also asked for greater use of big data in areas like education, social security and transportation.

We have seen big data being used more often in China in the past few years. The role it plays in tourism (旅游业) is just one example. Many travelers today like to share their experiences with others on the Internet. All the data that travelers share online is helping the tourism industry get a lot of information. After the data is analyzed (分析), these tour sights can know about travelers’ needs better. In this way, services will be improved, which is helpful to the development of the whole industry. As a result, travelers can expect better tours in the future.

Moreover, big data is also an important growth tool for economic development. With growth rate of 30 percent every year, sales of big data industry in China will reach one trillion yuan yearly by 2020. Having so many good influences, big data is sure to be seen more and more in China.