Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 26 to 30.

The Great Wall of China is the biggest object ever made by humans. It (26) _____________across mountains, deserts and grasslands for over 6,000 kilometres. The ancient Chinese built the wall to keep invaders from the west (27)_____________of their country. Today tourists from all over the world come and see it. The Great Wall began as a series of many smaller walls that were not (28) _____________with each other. The first sections of the wall were built as early as 600 B.C. As time went on Chinese emperors connected them together to keep Huns, Mongols and other (29) _____________away.

Thousands of soldiers, criminals and peasants worked on building the wall. It was finally completed during the Ming dynasty in the 17 th century. The Chinese wall is (30) _____________of dirt, mud, stone and brick. It is between 5 and 9 metres tall and up to 8 metres wide. A small road runs on the top of the wall. Towers every few hundred metres were built to store military supplies.