Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is the most famous of all castles in England. The grand castle is still a（n） 【小题1】 of the British royal family, and is the largest and oldest residential castle in the world. It has been the site of a royal house for almost 1,000 years, since the time of William the Conqueror.

King Henry II 【小题2】 the first stone building on the site of Windsor Castle in the 1170s. King Edward III, who was born in the castle, pulled down most of Henry's buildings in the 1350s, 【小题3】 them with a new “round castle” in the center of the site. Edward's central keep（城堡主楼）has survived to this day though with major 【小题4】.

St. George's Chapel is the main church on the site. It was begun during the reign（统治）of King Edward IV and was completed by King Henry VII, who was buried there along with nine other British 【小题5】.

The most 【小题6】 part in the history of Windsor Castle took place during the English Civil War, when Oliver Cromwell's troops took over the castle from King Charles I and used it as a fortress and the headquarters. King Charles I was 【小题7】 imprisoned at Windsor Castle and it wasn't long before he was killed and buried here in 1648.

Windsor Castle remains a primary residence of the royal family, but much of it is now 【小题8】 to the public. Sights on a Windsor Castle tour include the daily changing of the guard. The public rooms contain a large number of paintings, decorative ceiling designs and antique furniture. A fire in 1992 destroyed parts of the royal apartments, which are open to a Windsor Castle tour when the Queen is not in residence, but these have been painstakingly 【小题9】.A Windsor Castle tour should include a walk through the Windsor Great Park, which is a beautifully designed garden in the 【小题10】 of a royal hunting forest.

Egyptian Pyramids

Researchers have uncovered one of the key methods the Egyptians used to build the pyramids. They have long been confused by exactly how workers were able to transport large blocks of stone of construction【小题1】. Now, they say the key was simple-wet sand.

“For the construction of the Pyramids,the ancient Egyptians had to transport heavy stone blocks and large【小题2】across the desert.” researchers at the University of Amsterdam said. The team tried to repeat this—and found wet sand was the key. The Egyptians therefore placed the heavy objects on a sledge(雪橇) that workers pulled over the sand.

Research from the University of Amsterdam has now revealed that the Egyptians probably made the desert sand in front of the sledge wet. Experiments have demonstrated that the correct amount of wetness in the sand【小题3】the pulling force required. To test the theory. the physicists placed a laboratory version of the Egyptian sledge in a tray of sand. They decided both the required pulling force and the stiffness(硬度) of the sand as a function of the quantity of water in the sand. To【小题4】the stiffness, they used a rheometer, which shows how much force is needed to deform a certain volume of sand. Experiments revealed that the required pulling force decreased proportional to the firmness of the sand. “In the presence of the correct quantity of water. wet desert sand is about twice as firm as dry sand.” the team said. A sledge glides far more easily over firm desert sand【小题5】because the sand does not pile up in front of the sledge as it does in the【小题6】of dry sand. They also believe a painting reveals the trick. “The Egyptians were probably aware of this【小题7】trick.” they said. “A wall painting in the tomb of Djehutihotep clearly shows a person standing on the front of the pulled sledge and【小题8】water over the sand just in front of it.”

The research results could therefore be useful for examining how to make full use of the transport and【小题9】of grand material,which at present【小题10】for about ten percent of the worldwide energy consumption.

When studying in the UK, I was no longer puzzled about when England got Wales, Scotland and Ireland 【小题1】to it or when the southern part of Ireland broke away. The four countries 【小题2】 the UK use the same currency and military defence, but they have different legal systems. I saw much 【小题3】that showed the Great Britain was invaded by the Romans, the Vikings as well as the Normans, who left their so-called achievements and influenced the names of locations and vocabulary. There were many 【小题4】places, so I had to keep my eyes open. Later I traveled to Ireland where I found myself fascinated by the landscape. It was a feast for my eyes as if I were approaching a gallery in which I was 【小题5】with beautiful pictures. Every day I was 【小题6】with the rolling mountains dotted with sheep and cattle, the roar of the ocean and the scents of flowers. I often had a sip of wine or beer in small pubs which 【小题7】a small amount of money for their service. Once I talked about their customs with a crowd of Irish people who were interested in our Confucius philosophy, and they were 【小题8】and shared with me a snack cooked with butter and honey. The journey was so striking that I’m 【小题9】to go there again.