Very early in history people learned to build the kind of homes best suited to the climate in which they lived. For example, people in hot, dry countries such as Egypt found that thick house walls would keep out the heat of the sun’s rays. In modern times still we can find such homes where the walls have few, if any, windows, so that the sun cannot shine 1.d_______ ( adv. 直接的 ) into the house. In some warm countries, such as Spain and Italy (along the 2.M_________(n. 地中海 ) Sea), India, China, and Mexico, a house may be built around a courtyard, or patio. There are few windows in the outside walls, and the rooms open off the courtyard. The 3. i____(adj. 内部的) courtyard gives the family a 4. p______(adj. 私人的 ) place to enjoy pleasant outdoor weather. In hot, damp climates, stilts (piles or posts) are used to raise the houses above the damp ground. These stilt houses are often found in Asian countries. Where there are heavy snowfalls and cold weather, strong, warm houses are needed. This lesson was learned by the early English settlers in America, who built half-timbered plastered houses in the New World just as they had in England. They soon 5. d _ _____(v. 发现) that their new climate was not as kind to this type of half-timbered house as the English climate had been. In the cold winter the wind blew through the 6.c_____(n. 裂缝,裂纹) in the house walls, and in the hot summer the plaster caked. The settlers realized that house walls made of boards that 7.o________(adj. 重叠的) each other would suit the American climate better. These clapboard houses are common in New England and many other parts of the United States. The people who live in the Swiss Alps must build 8. s____(adj. 结实的,坚固的) houses to withstand the heavy snowfalls, high winds, and snow slides of the 9. r_____(n. 地区,范围) . The chalet of the Swiss mountaineers is built low and made of heavy, thick timbers locked together. The second story of the house extends out over the ground floor to prevent 10. d_____(v. 漂移 ) snow from piling up around the doors and windows. 1 .______ 2.______ 3.______ 4.______ 5._ _____ 6 .______ 7.______ 8.______ 9.______ 10.______