Topic 34: Places of interest

Rome is the capital of Italy. This sprawling modern city has many ancient monuments. Rome’s history goes (1) __________ more than 2,500 years. Because of its age, Rome is often called the Eternal City. Rome’s many art treasures and historic buildings make the city an important center of European culture.

In ancient times, Rome was the center of a (2)_________ Roman empire. The empire lasted nearly 500 years, into the ad 400s. Roman armies conquered the lands that are now Italy, Greece, Great Britain, France, and Egypt. The Romans built many roads from Rome to distant parts of their empire. This network of roads led to a saying that “All roads lead to Rome.” The Roman Empire’s influence is still present. (3) ___________ Romans spread their language, Latin, throughout Europe. Latin is the basis for Italian, French, Spanish, and other European languages.

The ancient Romans were great builders. Several of their buildings still stand today. They are among Rome’s famous landmarks.The Pantheon is a temple (4)_________ to the many Roman gods of mythology. The Roman Colosseum is a four-story amphitheater. An amphitheater is like a football stadium. The Colosseum is (5)_________ Roman citizens once watched gladiators fight to the death. The Roman Forum was the political center of ancient Rome. The senate building and law courts were there, along with shops and religious buildings.

(Source: https://prezi.com/ngvfsdpna0ka/untitled-prezi/)

The Forbidden City is the former imperial palace in the center of Beijing, China. Construction began in 1406, and the emperor’s (1)_______ officially moved in by 1420. The Forbidden City got its name because most people were barred (2) _______ entering the 72-hectare site, surrounded by walls. Even government officials and the imperial family were permitted only limited access. Only the emperor could enter any section at (3)_______.

The architecture of the Forbidden City conforms rigidly to traditional Chinese principles. All buildings within the walls follow a north-south line and the most important ones face south to honor the sun. The designers arranged the other buildings, and the ceremonial spaces between them, to impress all visitors with the great power of the Emperor, while reinforcing the (4)_____ of the individual. This architectural concept was carried out to the smallest detail. For example, the importance of a building was determined not only by its height or width but also by the style of its roof and the quantity of statuettes placed on the roof’s ridges. In (5)_____ of the importance of its unparalleled architecture, UNESCO added the palace to its World Heritage List in 1987. Today, visitors from all over the world do not wait for an imperial invitation to walk about this palace, now a museum of imperial art.

(Source: https://goo.gl/q7Jxpt )

The Sahara Desert is the world’s largest hot desert. The Sahara is in North Africa and is as large as the United States. Many people think that an area like this has no animals or plant life, but they are (1) __________. In fact, the Sahara Desert has many different ‘ecoregions’. Each ecoregion has different plants and animals (2)_________there. The biggest ecoregion is called the ‘Sahara Desert ecoregion.’ In this area, the climate is extremely dry and extremely hot. The landscape is sandy and dusty with many high dunes. Because the Sahara Desert ecoregion is so hot and dry, there are very few plants and animals. Scientists estimate that there are only 500 species of plants. This is not very much when thinking of (3)_________ enormous the region is. These plants include acacia trees, palms, spiny shrubs, and grasses. The Sahara is also home to 70 species of mammals. Twenty of these are large mammals. There are about 90 species of birds and around 100 reptiles.

The biggest threat to plants and animals in this environment is drying (4)_______. Because of this, plants have the ability to recover their health after their leaves have dried out completely. Animals can lose 30-60% of their body mass and still survive. Most animals do not get their water from drinking like other ecosystems. Instead, they have adapted to get their water through metabolic processes. This is why they can survive in a place (5)______ the Sahara Desert ecosystem.

(Source: https://www.livescience.com)

Japan’s Mount Fuji will become a World Heritage Site in June. The United Nations (U.N.) decided on April the 30th to give the famous mountain UNESCO World Heritage (1)__________. The U.N. team (2)__________ made the decision said Fuji was very important to Japanese religion and art. They also said that the 3,776-meter-high volcano was important outside of Japan too. Fuji-san (as Japanese people call it) has been a mountain for more than 1,000 years. Priests say that when you climb it, you move from the “everyday world” at the bottom, to the “world of gods, Buddha and death” at the top. They believe people can (3)________ their sins by climbing to the top and coming back down again.

(4)_________, Mount Fuji is a major tourist destination. It is very popular with hikers, who want to see the rising sun from its peak. More than 318,000 hikers visited the mountain last summer, with up to 15,000 people climbing each day. Local residents are now worried the World Heritage status will mean more visitors. That means there will be more litter and environmental problems. The local government may ask people to pay to climb the mountain to help preserve its (5) __________. Governor Shomei Yokouchi said: “It’s likely we’ll ask mountain climbers to help financially with keeping the mountain clean.” Another idea being talked about is to limit the daily number of hikers allowed to the top.

(Adapted from https://breakingnewsenglish.com)