【推荐1】Mogao Grottoes
Location: Dunhuang, Gansu province
Price: 200 yuan

Mogao Grottoes (窟) is famous for the finest examples of Buddhist art. Thanks to The Silk Road, Mogao Grottoes gathered more and more businessmen in ancient times and mixed varieties of cultures. Apart from the caves, there are kinds of paintings and typical ancient buildings to explore.

Leshan Giant Buddha
Location: Leshan, Sichuan province
Price: 80 yuan

Caved into the mountain with a sitting position and face to riverside, Leshan Giant Buddha (佛) is the largest Buddha in the world with over 70 meters high. Tourists can climb the stairs along the mountainside to view giant Buddha from head to feet, or they can take a boat and have a whole view of this art.

Terracotta Warriors
Location: Xi’an, Shaanxi province
Price: 150 yuan

Being the most memorable project, terracotta warriors (兵马俑) was an army of over 6, 000 life-size terracotta soldiers with different special facial features buried with the mausoleum (陵墓) of first Emperor Qin, which showed the powerful army force during Qin dynasty. It is regarded as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Fujian Tulou
Location: Yong ding, Fujian province
Price: 100 yuan

Fujian Tulou is the classic building to represent the local culture. Designed for defense from outside invaders, there is only one entrance to outside with a big open courtyard in the center. Surrounded by mountains and rivers, these buildings are the best way for tourists to experience Chinese traditional buildings and the peaceful lifestyles in the countryside.

1. Which place is the mixture of diverse cultures?

A．Mogao Grottoes.	B．Leshan Giant Buddha.
C．Terracotta Warriors.	D．Fujian Tulou.

2. How much should you pay if you want to see the military power in ancient China?

A．200 yuan.

B．80 yuan.

C．150 yuan.

D．100 yuan.

3. What do these four things have in common?

A．They all have beautiful paintings.	B．They are all related to religions.
C．They are among eight global wonders.	D．They are all valuable cultural relics.

【推荐2】Take Tours>USA>East Coast Tours>New York, NY>2-Day Niagara Falls Tour from New York or New Jersey

This was a good tour in terms of value of money and overall experience provided. Only one negative experience is stopping at a food court at “One Niagara Welcome Center”. It is totally stealing.

I recommend this tour!

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Tour guide was very helpful. However, the money charged for admission fee is way more than the actual admission cost. I was charged $109 per adult and $ 65 for kids for a family of four. This is not correct. This money should be refunded as you already charge $ 12 per day per person as the service fee.

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It was my 2nd trip with Take Tours for Niagara and it was great to be back with an awesome experience. What I would like to highlight is that there should be more time given for staying after Maid of the Mist since there is a lot to walk and explore around the Niagara Falls.

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Our guide Kun was great at his job. Explained all the details very well. He made sure there was plenty of time to explore all places. He gave wakeup call in the morning and followed up with everyone to make sure everyone was on schedule. Restroom breaks, breakfast/ lunch/ snack/ dinner breaks planned very well. I definitely recommend this package for the price offered.

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1. What does the most recent post complain about?

A．A food court.	B．A tour guide.
C．The poor service.	D．Extra admission fee.

2. Who is a repeat customer of Take Tours?

A．Mohit.

B．Ankur.

C．Bhatt.

D．Uttam.

3. What’s the purpose of the posts?

A．To popularize a tour route.	B．To recommend a travel agent.
C．To complain about tour guides.	D．To comment on travel services.

【推荐3】阅读短文，按照题目要求用英语回答问题。

I was traveling with my husband and three teenage sons, in the United States. We ordered our food at a fast-food place, and with my meal I also wanted a blueberry pie. My husband is the chatty one in the family and likes to socialize, so he started to a conversation about the place where blueberries grow with the girl. She answered, with some anxiety, “They grow on trees.”

The whole family’s jaws dropped! How could this girl not know where blueberries grow? We tried not to embarrass her, and just took the opportunity to teach her a little about how blueberries grow, on small shrubs on the ground. She seemed to appreciate learning something new. We can’t know all the same things, as you’ll see from the next thing I’m going to tell you.

In 2002 our family made a short trip to a coffee plantation. The road to the plantation was narrow filled with hairpin bends. I worried about hitting another car. We didn’t, lucky us! When we finally got to our destination, we learned a lot about the plantation and coffee production, but we didn’t see any coffee plants. Where were they? We decided to ask one of the people working there. “So where are the coffee plants? We can’t see them anywhere.”

She reached out her arm and caught a twig right next to us and explained, “This is the coffee plant and these little things will be coffee beans.” I looked around in embarrassment, as we were surrounded by coffee plants! She explained that coffee plants aren’t big and that they have to grow in the shade of other bigger plants. I appreciated her lesson.

We love our coffee, but I’m sure most of my countrymen would not be able to recognize a coffee plant among other tropical plants if asked. Our jaws can drop at different things, depending on geographical locations, at what we know and don’t know. Never take anything for granted!

1. What topic did the author’s husband discuss with the girl? (no more than 5 words)
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2. How do you understand the underlined part in Paragraph 2? (no more than 10 words)
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3. How was the way to the coffee plantation ? (1 word)
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4. What did the author learn from the worker? (no more than 15 words)
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5. What inspiration do you get from the story? Please express it in your own words. (no more than 20 words)
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【推荐3】This was going to be a year of great jazz centennials (百年纪念) for 1920 marked the birth of several jazz musicians who either changed the course of the music or deeply enriched it. So let’s raise a glass to some of them:

Charlie Parker(August 29, 1920-March 12, 1955)

Of all the jazz languages that coursed through the 20th century, no one did more than Parker, for he developed complex improvisational methods that transformed the way musicians understand harmony and dissonance. The fact that Parker also happened to be a most influential saxophone player broadened the scope of his achievements.

Dave Brubeck (December 6, 1920-December 5, 2012)

Early in his long career, pianist-composer Brubeck was laughed at by some jazz lovers. How could a musician so popular among the masses possibly have anything to offer those who considered themselves “masters”? The joke was on them, of course, as Brubeck’s music was filled with new ideas in rhythm, embracing elements of Western classical music. No one played the piano quite the way Brubeck did.

Clark Terry(December 14, 1920-February 21, 2015)

Some musicians are at least as important for the influence they have on others as for the music they create themselves. Trumpet masters such as Miles Davis have credited Terry for having encouraged them in the earliest days of their careers. Terry’s work on trumpet affected those trumpeters and uncounted others.

Peggy Lee(May 26, 1920-January 21, 2002)

Singer-songwriter Lee proved that a vocalist needn’t shout to be heard around the world. Her soft vocals delighted jazz devotees and brought the music to huge audiences across the decades, thanks to hit recordings such as “Fever” and “Is That All There Is?” There were no vocal skills involved. Instead, Lee taught the jazz world the beauty of saying everything with a few well-chosen notes.

1. Who changed the way musicians understand harmony and dissonance?

A．Charlie Parker.

B．Dave Brubeck.

C．Clark Terry.

D．Peggy Lee.

2. Why was Brubeck looked down upon by “masters”?

A．He played music for a longer time.	B．They didn’t recognize his excellence.
C．He played the piano in a traditional way.	D．They had nothing to learn from him.

3. What is special about Peggy Lee?

A．Her unique piano playing.	B．Her great influence on others.
C．Her beautiful singing voice.	D．Her mixture of western music.