The Parthenon（帕特农神庙）in Athens is a building with a long and complex history. Built nearly 2，500 years ago as a temple celebrating the Greek goddess Athena，it was for thousands of years the church of the Virgin Mary of the Athenians，then a mosque（清真寺），and finally a ruin. The building was changed and the sculptures were much damaged over the centuries. By 1800 only about half of the original sculptural decorations remained.

Between 1801 and 1805，Lord Elgin，the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire（奥斯曼帝国），who controlled Athens，acting with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman authorities，removed about half of the remaining sculptures from the fallen ruins and from the building itself. Lord Elgin loved Greek history and carried the sculptures back to Britain. The arrival of the sculptures in London had a huge effect on the European public，greatly increasing interest in ancient Greek culture and influencing the present artistic tendency. These sculptures were gained from Lord Elgin by the British Museum in 1816 and since then they have all been on show to the public，free of charge.

Since the early 1980s，however，the Greek government has argued for the return of all the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum. They have also challenged the Board of Trustees of the British Museum's legal（合法的）title to the sculptures.

The British Museum，however，insists that it exists to tell the story of cultural achievement throughout the world，from the dawn of human history over two million years ago to the present day. The museum considers itself an important resource for the world: the breadth and depth of its collection allow the world public to reexamine cultural identities（身份）and explore the complex network of interconnected world cultures.

It also says that，within the context of this unparalleled collection，the Parthenon sculptures are an important representation of ancient Athenian civilization. Each year millions of visitors admire the artistry of the sculptures and gain insights on how ancient Greece influenced — and was influenced by — the other civilizations that it came across.

   I've spent most of my career as a traveling salesman. There's nothing _______ than eating meals in a coffee shop. One year，my five-year-old daughter Jeanine gave me a（n）________.It was a soft toy penguin with a hand-painted card ___________ "I Love My Dad！"Tears came to my eyes ________ and，I gave it a special place on my desk.

Soon I had to leave on _________ business trip. This time when I was _________，I put the penguin in my suitcase. After that day，Jeanine __________ helped me with the penguin. Many years have _________ since then. And that little penguin has kept me ________ for hundreds of thousands of miles all across America and over to Europe. We have also made many friends along the way.

Late one night，after leaving my hotel，I _________ that the penguin was missing. Frantically（紧张慌乱地），I __________ the hotel. The clerk laughed，saying it hadn't been __________.But half an hour later，he called back to say that my penguin had been ___________.It was already ___________，but I still drove several hours to get my little friend，arriving near midnight.

It was waiting at the front desk. In the lobby，___________ business travelers looked at us-I thought with some ___________ that I had such a lovely friend. Someone came out to shake my hand. Another man told me that he had even ___________ to deliver it to me the very next day，which would have saved me the trip.

Jeanine is in college now and I don't travel as much anymore. The penguin spends most of its time sitting on my __________ — a reminder（提醒人的事物）that _________ is the best traveling companion. All those years on the road，it was the one thing I never left home __________.