Grand View Tower, Daguan Lou, sits on the shore of Dianchi Lake and faces the Western Hill across the Dianchi Lake in southwest Kunming City.

In 1682 a monk named Qianyin built a small temple here 【小题1】 (teach) Buddhism; eight years later, the official of Yunnan Province, Wang Jiwen, was so attracted by the beautiful natural views that he began to construct a whole park here. Grand View Tower has been an 【小题2】 (attract) ever since with the most visited spot 【小题3】 (be) the Daguan Park. The Daguan Park, 【小题4】 many other ancient Chinese buildings, has also been destroyed and restored several times because of changes of 【小题5】 (dynasty) and civil wars. The present-day park 【小题6】 (build) in 1883.

The couplet (对联) displayed at the entrance is the 【小题7】 (long) one of all in China 【小题8】 (write) by a famous scholar named Sun Ran. The couplet of 180 characters is one of the most valued cultural treasures in Yunnan Province. The first part of the couplet describes the beautiful natural views, 【小题9】 urges people to enjoy and treasure this special part of China. The second part of the couplet reviews the 2,000 years history of Yunnan and reminds people that no matter 【小题10】 successful or frustrated you are, all will be in nothingness (虚无) in the end.

If you have not heard of Yangshi Lei, the 【小题1】(honour) name of the Lei family responsible for imperial architecture during the Qing Dynasty, then you have missed an important detail about the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and Yuanmingyuan Garden.

All the above great cultural relics and popular tourist attractions have been included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, 【小题2】 surprisingly enough, they are all designed by the Lei family. 【小题3】 (represent) the great achievements of science and technology in ancient China, their architectural practice covered a wide range of city planning, imperial palaces, gardens, temples, princes’ residences and schools.

Yangshi【小题4】 (refer) to architect or architecture in Chinese. Yangshifang, the then government authority similar to the National Architecture Design Institute today, was in charge of site 【小题5】 (select), design and construction of imperial architectures.

【小题6】 (amaze), eight generations of the Lei family were appointed director of Yangshifang consecutively from 1662 to 1911.

With so many architectural【小题7】 (work) on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Lei Family is【小题8】 unique phenomenon in the architectural history throughout the world. Apart from the grand architectures, China has another treasure left by the Lei family - design drafts. In the National Library of China alone, there 【小题9】 (be) up to 20,000 architectural design drafts, each of 【小题10】 plays an important role in the research of the history of the Qing Dynasty and how architecture developed at the time.

Windsor Castle is one of 【小题1】 most famous castles in the world and an important tourist spot in Great Britain. The castle 【小题2】 (lie) in the town of Windsor brings in nearly one million tourists a year.

Windsor Castle is 【小题3】 (beautiful) preserved(保存). It is notable for its long connection with the English and later British royal family. At first, the 【小题4】 (origin) castle was built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century 【小题5】 (protect) against the Normans, but it has been serving many 【小题6】 (purpose) since then. For almost 1,000 years, the castle is used as the family home of British kings and queens. It was also used as a prison during the English Civil War. However, in 1992, a terrible fire broke out, 【小题7】 did great damage to the castle. Fortunately, repair work 【小题8】 (do), and the castle remains a popular tourist spot.

From March to October, the castle 【小题9】 (be) open daily from 9：45 am to 5：15 pm. From November to February, the open time is from 9：45 am to 4：15 pm. The castle is closed 【小题10】 the public on all major public holidays. Tickets are needed to enter the castle.