文章大意:这是一篇记叙文,文章讲述了William Lindesay是著名的长城专家和自然环境保护主义者,他和妻子带着孩子走遍世界各地,用实际行动践行了“读万卷书不如行万里路”。
William Lindesay, renowned Great Wall expert and conservationist, and his wife Wu Qi have traveled across the globe by the back paths, providing their sons Jimmy and Tommy a unique environment for personal growth.
Sunhats, backpacks, sneakers and trekking poles — these are the day-to-day must-haves of the family. This East-meets-West couple started traveling while their younger son was still in nappies in 2003. Most of their trips, most of which are far from the hot spots recommended by travel guidebooks, seem more rigorous than leisurely — heritage study in the Mongolian deserts, a 53-kilometer hiking tour of New Zealand, a one-day climb of three English summits and a six-day train ride from Beijing to Moscow.
“Real travel may be hard, uncertain, uncomfortable, but there’s a feel-good factor when you pass a test of some kind,” Lindesay wrote in the family’s newly published travel memoir Pages of Discovery.
Lindesay attaches great importance to learning out of the classroom, saying that children might score well on school tests, but that experience of the world outside, in distant lands, with different languages, scripts, political structures, and religious beliefs, is the real testing ground.
Children in this international family did not have the same pressure to perform on school tests, but they had “homework” on the road. Wu asked her sons to write travel diaries, collect tickets, draw maps and summarize travel tips. She says such habits, though they might not directly improve test scores, will pay dividends in later life.
These experiences certainly shaped their sons’ characters and influenced their chosen study at university. One read world history, the other international relations. The two brothers also share an interest in historical monuments, and the Great Wall in particular. They are now planning to follow in their father’s footsteps with a new 4,500-km hike on the Great Wall.
“My parents view the world as a big classroom, and my brother and I are the biggest beneficiaries,” Jimmy says.
4. Which of the following best describes their trips across the world?
A.Hard and risky. | B.Unique yet stressful. |
C.Challenging and educational. | D.Leisurely yet rewarding. |
5. What can we infer about the couple from the text?
A.They think little of school education. |
B.They believe travel provides real education. |
C.They ask their sons to follow their career path. |
D.They require their sons to perform well on school tests. |
6. What do the underlined words “pay dividends” mean in paragraph 5?
A.Bring advantages. | B.Pay a price. |
C.Improve scores. | D.Make mistakes. |
7. What does the family’s story tell us?
A.Good company on the road is the shortest cut. |
B.Good habits formed at youth make all the difference. |
C.A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. |
D.It is better to travel 10,000 miles than to read 10,000 books. |