People made some bad   【小题1】 (prediction) about the twenty-first century in the twentieth century. Orville Wright, in 1908, 【小题2】(say) no flying machine would ever fly from New York to Paris. Changing Times Magazine, in 1957, said people would be wearing clothes made of paper 【小题3】would be thrown away after 【小题4】 (wear) two or three times.Decca Recording Co, rejecting the Beatles, in 1962, said they didn’t like 【小题5】 (they) sound, and guitar music was 【小题6】 the way out. New York Times, in 1966, said by the year 2000, housewives would 【小题7】 (probable) have a robot 【小题8】 (shape) like a box with one large eye on the top, several arms and hands, and long narrow pads on the side for 【小题9】 (move) about. In 1979, computer scientist Christopher Evans said by 【小题10】 mid-1980s no one would ever need to hide a key under the doormat again, because there wouldn’t be any keys.

Edinburgh: a city of culture

Edinburgh, 【小题1】(locate) in the southeast of Scotland, is the capital city of Scotland.

However, there is more to Edinburgh than tourism. Each year, the Edinburgh International Festival 【小题3】(take) place in the city. In late summer, for three weeks, the festival presents classical music, theatre, opera and dance throughout the city. Whatever your cultural 【小题4】(taste) are, you are sure to find something to enjoy.

So far, the Edinburgh International Festival【小题5】(earn) its reputation (声誉)as one of the world’s 【小题6】(great)celebrations of the arts. The founders believed that the programmes should be of the highest possible artistic standard presented by【小题7】best artists in the world, that the festival should enrich the cultural life of Europe 【小题8】 that it should provide a platform(平台)for the flowering of the human spirit.

The popularity of the festival led 【小题9】the birth of another festival soon—the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Both of them have been 【小题10】(wide) popular over the past 70 years.

On March 31, the Eiffel Tower, one of the world’s most visited and recognizable places of interest, celebrated the 130- year anniversary (周年纪念日) of its opening.

It was only supposed to exist for 20 【小题1】 (year). Maybe Parisians decided it was 【小题2】   (easy) to just leave it in place than pull it down. It looks like they made the right choice. More than 250 million people 【小题3】 (pay) a visit to the tower so far, according to 【小题4】 (it) official website.

Designed by French Gustav Eiffel, the tower was meant 【小题5】 (serve) as the entrance to the 1889 World Fair in the 【小题6】 (begin). It took just over two years to build it. Although it is popular now, not all French people liked 【小题7】 tower when it opened. However, the visitors to the 1889 World Fair found it 【小题8】 (entertain) to visit the Eiffel Tower. Two million people visited it during the fair. It then became useful as a radio antenna (天线) during the First World War.

Tourists have a choice when they climb the tower. They can either walk 1, 665 steps to the top 【小题9】 use one of the elevator cars from 1899. Once tourists reach the top, 【小题10】 the Eiffel’s office is, they can have a drink in the tower’s top-floor champagne bar. Today, the tower stands as a symbol of France.