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Japan's Mount Fuji will [become / becoming] a World Heritage Site in June. The United Nations (U.N.) decided [in / on] April the 30th to give the famous mountain UNESCO World Heritage status. The U.N. team that [did / made] the decision said Fuji was very important to Japanese [religion / religious] and art. They also said that the 3,776-meter-high [volcano / plateau] was important outside of Japan too. Fuji-san ([as / has] Japanese people call it) has been a [sacred / scared] mountain for more than 1,000 years. Priests [say / talk] that when you climb it, you move from the "[everywhere / everyday] world" at the bottom, to the "world of gods, Buddha and death" at the top. They believe people can wash away their [sins / things] by climbing to the top and coming back down again.

Mount Fuji is a [major / minor] tourist destination. It is very [common / popular] with hikers, who want to see the [rising / rise] sun from its peak. More than 318,000 hikers visited the mountain last summer, with [down / up] to 15,000 people climbing each day. Local [residence / residents] are now [worried / worry] the World Heritage status will mean more visitors. That means there will be more [glitter / litter] and environmental problems. The local government may ask people to [paid / pay] to climb the mountain to help preserve its beauty. Governor Shomei Yokouchi said: “It’s [likely / liked] we’ll ask mountain climbers to help financially with keeping the mountain clean." Another idea being talked about is to limit the [dailies / daily] number of hikers allowed to the top.