Santiago has visited Machu Picchu many times and knows the best time to arrive. This is before the first train of the day arrives from Ollantaytambo. We boarded our bus and headed up the mountain! As we climbed and climbed, it was easy to imagine how the Spanish failed to discover Machu Picchu during their travels up and down along the Urubamba River far below. The site sits over 7,000 feet high on a mountain top and plants hide it from view.
In the early 1900s, the site was not as much rediscovered as it was made famous by Hiram Bingham, an explorer who was looking for the hidden city of the Incas. In fact, local farmers were using part of Machu Picchu to grow food at the time. No one knows for sure what Machu Picchu was used for or when and why the site was abandoned(遗弃). These questions will likely never be answered. However, what is known for sure is that it was an amazing creation!
As we entered Machu Picchu, we had an opportunity to take the famous “postcard picture” thanks to Santiago. There wasn’t one question that he did not have an answer for. He seemed very conscious(有意识的)of our limited time and wanted to make sure we got the most out of our visit. We had a chance to visit an ancient drawbridge(开合桥). This tested my fear of heights as the drop-off at some points was close to 2,000 feet straight down. In fact, the trail became too dangerous to go any further so we made our way back to the main site and had plenty of time to take great photos there.
After Santiago was satisfied we had seen much as we could, we took the bus back to Aguas Calientes.
1. Why did the author mention the Spanish in paragraph 1?| A．To show that Machu Picchu was difficult to find. |
| B．To describe how Machu Picchu was damaged. |
| C．To discuss how valuable Machu Picchu is. |
| D．To explain why Machu Picchu is attractive. |
| A．It was well protected by local people. |
| B．It was not as good as she expected. |
| C．It was hidden by the Incas. |
| D．It was a great human creation. |
| A．tired | B．fearful | C．excited | D．surprised |
| A．He lives in Machu Picchu. | B．He knows Machu Picchu well. |
| C．He comes from Spain. | D．He is a local farmer. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Recently I was watching a talk show hosted by a comedian called Trevor Noah from South Africa. The part which struck me most was his advice about travelling. He said, “The one thing you will never waste your money on is travelling. Travel broadens the mind. It is the antidote to ignorance (无知).” In my opinion this statement should be everyone’s life motto (座右铭).
This year I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of travelling around Europe and it has shown me first hand how much you can learn and develop by visiting different places. It is so wonderful to be able to go to a different country, listen to the different languages, try local food and experience the different culture.
I’ve personally noticed how different I am since I started exploring more. It involves being able to find good train or plane tickets, getting yourself to the airport, not to mention trying to find your way around a completely new city. While it can be scary at first, after a few trips you realize that Google Maps is your best friend and it really isn’t that difficult to figure out public transport. Travelling also helps you develop your organization skills! It is basic to figure out how to get to different tourist attractions and plan your time wisely. However, it is also nice to learn to relax. On top of that, hotels are a great way to meet new people from all around the world. It is fantastic when young people from different parts of the world come together; I’ve met so many strange and wonderful people this way.
As far as I can see, travel as much as possible, because the experiences you will gain from travelling can’t be taught at school and they will change your life.
1. What do the underlined words “antidote to” mean in the first paragraph?| A．Replacement of. | B．Development of. |
| C．Treatment for. | D．Agreement to. |
| A．Busy. | B．Hard. | C．Rich. | D．Costly. |
| A．He has become more confident and independent. |
| B．He has developed a skill to select tourist attractions. |
| C．He has found it hard to figure out public transport. |
| D．He has made many friends from all over the world. |
| A．News. | B．Education. | C．Opinions. | D．Health. |
【推荐2】Amazing Hotels in the World
Attrap Reves Hotel (France)
The hotel has special outdoor rooms in the shape of large bubbles (气泡) that allow to sleep under the stars with all the comforts of being in a hotel. The bubbles lie within а short walking distance from the nearest village and main building. You can enjoy star watching and all kinds of other fun activities.
The Ice Hotel (Sweden)
The hotel, which lies in a faraway village in Sweden, is about 125 miles north of the Arctic Circle and is made totally out of ice. The Ice Hotel in Sweden was started in the 1980s by a Swedish sculptor (雕塑家). The hotel is rebuilt every year, opening in winter and closing in spring. Ice sculptors from around the world are invited to take part in the creation of the hotel then.
Giraffe Manor Hotel (Kenya)
Giraffe Manor is a nice hotel built in the early 1930s and lies in Nairobi, Kenya. It is most well-known for its Rothschild giraffes. The giraffes sometimes poke (探出) their long necks inside the windows of hotel’s dining hall, hoping for a treat from guests. The Giraffe Manor is the only place in the world where people can get this up-close and personal contact with a giraffe.
The Manta Resort Hotel (Tanzania)
The underwater hotel is 273 yards off beach on Pemba Island in Tanzania. The rooms have large windows on all four sides so that guests can be part of the wildlife activities around the reef (礁石). Even at night when guests settle down in the bedroom, they can turn on special lights outside the bedroom windows that attract night-time sea life like octopus and stingrays (黄貂鱼).
1. In which hotel can guests enjoy star-watching in the room?| A．Attrap Reves Hotel. | B．The Ice Hotel. |
| C．Giraffe Manor Hotel. | D．The Manta Resort Hotel. |
| A．It was first built by а French artist. | B．It can be visited all the year around. |
| C．It is in the center of the Arctic Circle. | D．It is recreated by sculptors every year. |
| A．They are both built on land. | B．They both have a long history. |
| C．They both offer guests great fun with animals. | D．They both have large windows on all four sides. |
【推荐3】Before traveling around the world, take some time and find out what sightseeing destinations are. Some of those spots that most guides mention are the following thrilling attractions.
Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls has always been considered to be an incredible place worth taking pictures of. There are a lot of spots that tourists love. Some of them are very dangerous for people. Yet the brave are ready to overcome their fear for a shot of lifetime.
Arctic Cliff Face
A cliff does not make the most comfortable place for camping. Camping on the ground is far safer anyway. Despite all the inconvenience, the new trend is rapidly gaining popularity among climbing enthusiasts and outdoor addicts.
Auckland’s Sky Tower
Auckland’s Sky Tower is popular with bungee jumpers. Some celebrities, such as Beyonce, have already tried it, which proves that the place is not only safe but popular as well. The tower is 630 feet tall. At the top of the structure there is an observation deck. Trust us, most of those reading this article would prefer to stay on the ground rather than climb up this scary structure.
North Yungas Road
The Road of Death is the right name given to a road in Bolivia. Hundreds of people die here every year. The major cause of all those accidents is the road. The problem is that it is too narrow and badly maintained while here the traffic is heavier than anywhere else. Nevertheless, it seems like tourists will continue visiting this strange road despite its scary nickname.
1. What is Victoria Falls famous for?| A．Its narrow and badly maintained road | B．Its dangerous but attractive spots for taking pictures |
| C．Its scary structure | D．Its thrilling camping |
| A．the traffic is the heaviest | B．it is built on the edge of the rock |
| C．each year many people lose their lives there | D．there is no necessary protection equipment |
| A．Victoria Falls | B．Arctic Cliff Face |
| C．Auckland’s Sky Tower | D．North Yungas Road |
| A．They are a bit life-threatening. | B．They all have beautiful scenery. |
| C．They are popular with climbers. | D．They have been visited by celebrities. |
【推荐1】That’s the norm at Green Bank, West Virginia, where its 143 residents can’t rely on their cellphones or tablets to connect with friends and loved ones because wireless devices are forbidden.
Located within a 13,000-square mile area known as the National Radio Quiet Zone, Green Bank houses the National Astronomy Observatory, which operates the world’s largest radio telescope.
There is a ban on Wi-Fi—wireless Internet service—in Green Bank, along with anything else that can create electromagnetic waves. Officials say the waves could interfere with signals the telescope receives. People can connect with the Internet through telephones or Ethernet cables, but wireless service is not permitted.
Residents say they are happy with their quiet unplugged lifestyle. It allows them to connect in ways that actually matter, said Shelly Chestnut. “You know what? Your cell phone isn’t looking at a person eye-to-eye, or going to their house and speaking and just shaking their hand or giving them a hug and saying ‘How are you today?’” she said.
Some people call the Green Bank Telescope “the GBT”. That is short for “Great Big Thing”. The telescope is searching for radio signals from other planets, among other things. Richard Lynch is one of the scientists who listen for signals from outer space. “All the signals that we find with the telescope so far are just generated by unintelligent stars, galaxies—you know, things in the universe. We haven’t ever found anything from an intelligent civilization.”
For the latest news, people in Green Bank read the local weekly newspaper. When Chestnut needs to look for a phone number, she looks in a phone book. And instead of sending messages on Facebook to her friends and neighbors, she talks to them. In Green Bank, everyone knows each other and communication is almost always face-to-face.
1. What is the main subject of the text?| A．Atown far away from the intelligent civilizations. |
| B．AGreat Big Thing in a small American village. |
| C．An American town without Wi-Fi or mobile phones. |
| D．An old-fashioned way of life in America. |
| A．Difficult. | B．Comfortable. |
| C．Dull. | D．Painful. |
| A．Receiving signals from other planets. |
| B．Communicating with other life in space. |
| C．Creating and sending electromagnetic waves. |
| D．Monitoring the zone of silence. |
| A．They connect with their friends on tablets. |
| B．They search for radio signals from outer space. |
| C．They read the latest news on Facebook. |
| D．They have access to the Internet. |
【推荐2】Anyone interested in easy ways to make a positive impact on their communities need look no further than 12-year-old Danykah Muck, a Michigan middle-schooler whose simple learning project is an inspiration to positive thinkers of any age. It all started with her way to school every school day. Every morning she would greet an old man in her neighborhood, who she still doesn’t know his name, smiling or even simply offering a friendly word “hello”. And he would always nod and smile back. “It seems to considerably change the emotional energy around me in the community,” She noticed this in both directions, “That simple act can both change our entire day with how they greet me.”
Last spring, Muck brought an idea to her teachers. She provided them with a pile of sticky notes she had filled with brief—sometimes one-word—positive messages. She then asked the teachers to place the notes on students’ desks before they arrived at school the next day. She also gave pre-filled sticky notes to the lunch staff and to school administrators including the principal. The idea was to make it easy for teachers, staff and students to regularly encounter reminders that they matter and are valued. “You are enough just being you,” reads one favorite note. Muck’s idea could be just the thing in an office, assisted living facility or even at home for a small family.
“Low-cost” positive interactions, like a friendly word offered to the postal worker or coffee shop servant, are shown by psychology researchers to build sympathy and abate loneliness. An anonymous note sent into someone’s inbox or stuck to their front door is perhaps the lowest-cost connection there is, with potential benefits beyond our imagination. Sometimes the smallest encouragements have the biggest impact. What would you say on a sticky note to share with someone in your community?
1. What message does paragraph 1 convey?| A．Middle-schoolers are friendly to the elderly. |
| B．A simple act of kindness makes a difference. |
| C．A community can be easily shaped by interest. |
| D．Learning projects can inspire positive thinkers. |
| A．By writing thank-you letters. | B．By means of sticking notices. |
| C．By talking with school leaders. | D．By writing encouraging words. |
| A．Measure. | B．Monitor. | C．Ease. | D．Stand. |
| A．What a friendly word means to a stranger | B．Never be bothered by negative thoughts |
| C．Brighten the community with positivity | D．How to build a harmonious community |
【推荐3】A 12－year－old girl who had a feeling that she might be quite clever has taken a test and proved she was absolutely right.
Lydia Sebastian achieved the top score of 162 on Mensa, Cattell Ⅲ B paper, suggesting she has a higher IQ than well－ known geniuses Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. The comparison(比较)doesn't sit well with the British student, who's currently in Year 8 at Colchester County High School, a selective girl's grammar school in Essex , England.
“I don't think I can be compared to such great intellectuals (有极高智力的人)such as Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. They've achieved so much. I don't think it's right, ” Lydia told CNN.
Lydia sat the test in her summer holidays, after raising the idea with her parents and pestering(纠缠)them for the best part of a year. It turns out the test wasn’t that hard after all.
“I was really nervous before the test and I thought it was going to be really hard. But as I started the test, I thought it was a bit easier than I thought it was going to be, ”she said.
Lydia's not quite sure what she wants to do when she leaves school, although she's leaning toward something based around maths, because it's one of her favorite subjects. “ All I'm going to do is work as hard as I can, and see where that gets me, ” she said.
The top adult score in the Cattell III B test is 161. A top 2% score－which allows entry to Mensa, the club for those with high IQs－would be 148 or over. Lydia scored 162, placing her in the top 1% of the population.
1. Lydia wanted to have an IQ test because________.| A．all people around thought that she was smart |
| B．she felt that she might have a high IQ |
| C．her parents strongly wanted her to do so |
| D．the grammar school advised her to do so |
| A．Be accepted by. | B．Be related to. |
| C．Be satisfied with. | D．Be relevant to. |
| A．She doesn't have to work hard with her high IQ. |
| B．She has a tendency to focus around maths. |
| C．She is quite sure about what to do in the future. |
| D．She will drop out of the grammar school. |
| A．No one has achieved å higher IQ than Lydia. |
| B．Whoever has a high IQ can enter Mensa. |
| C．Only adults with high IQs can enter Mensa. |
| D．Mensa is a club for those with high IQs at least 148. |
When my friends went to college in great delight, I restarted my senior high school life. My spirit sank. Surrounded by strange classmates, I felt like I was in a maze and was sorry about myself. There were some complex feelings in my minds. I was frightened,nervous and lonely.
To make matters worse, I recalled my failure again and again, which put more pressure on me than I could bear. As a result, I was always feeling down during class time.
My teacher found me spiritless. One day he asked me to come to his office and told me about his attitude towards life: we might suffer from mistakes, but it’s important to learn lessons from them. All the pains and the embarrassing things we experience are part of the process. So keep up your spirit! At last, he added, “If you are optimistic, things you want may happen to you!”
Warmth rushed through my soul. I suddenly found the sun shining again when I stepped out of his office.
With the teacher’s help, I eventually got over my depression. From then on, I no longer bowed my head and began smiling to my classmates. I would put up my hand confidently in class and play with my new friends in my spare time. Meanwhile, I was gradually embraced by my classmates.
Now faced with fierce competition, we all study hard because we know that every second counts. Moreover, there is an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect between us. I love my class; I love my classmates!
To be frank, I still have a thirst for my dream university. but I’m not afraid of failure because I can profit by it. With parents and teachers’ encouragement, I’m quite certain of my success and I’m sure I can fly high.
1. Why was the writer in low spirits at the beginning? (No more than 10 words)2. What did the teacher expect the writer to do? (No more than 10 words)
3. What is the main idea of Paragraph 5? (No more than 15 words)
4. What does the underlined word “embraced” in paragraph 5 mean in English?(No more than 3 words)
5. What will you do if you are faced with failure? ( No more than 10 words)
【推荐2】From the moment I picked up a camera in college, I fell in love with it. I lost interest in other studies, and all I wanted to do was take pictures for the university newspaper, the Minnesota Daily. In six months, I was able to get a lot of great experience.
The week I finished college, I was contacted by the Worthington Daily Globe, a regional daily newspaper in southern Minnesota with a history of excellence in photography. By some miracle I was hired, and the two-year experience that followed was like a master class in photojournalism. I worked with a wonderful writer named Paul Gruchow. Together we would search the farming communities for stories. From Paul I learned how to be a patient listener, as well as the importance of giving each subject time and sincere attention.
A year later, I work ed for Bob ——National Geographic’s legendary director of photography. Wherever Itraveled in the world, taking beautiful pictures was always my goal. However, later in my career, I wanted my pictures to make a real difference in people’s lives. That is why each spring I tour two or three developing countries, shooting portraits of people whose lives are better because of the dedicated workers who care about them. The photos are used in a variety of fund-raising products. The other issue that stole my heart was the environment. With support from the National Geographic Expeditions Council, I have traveled all over the United States to photograph the last one percent of wilderness left here.
I am deeply grateful for my life in photography and the amazing lessons it has taught me. I have learned that women really do hold up half the sky; that language isn’t always necessary, but touch usually is; that all people are not alike, but they do mostly have the same hopes and fears; that judging others does great harm, but listening to them enriches; and that it is impossible to hate a group of people once you get to know one of them as an individual.
1. What happened after the author graduated from college?| A．She started teaching photography. |
| B．She began working at the Minnesota Daily. |
| C．She got a job at the Worthington Daily Globe. |
| D．She picked up a camera for the first time. |
| A．Rewarding. | B．Meaningless. | C．Annoying. | D．Funny. |
| A．They are sold to collect lots of money. |
| B．They draw attention to people in need. |
| C．They promote the development of tourism. |
| D．They show the beauty of modern society. |
| A．Language is essential for communication. |
| B．Most people have very different hopes and fears. |
| C．Expressing an opinion is as important as listening. |
| D．It is important to get to know people as individuals. |
【推荐3】When I was three years old,I couldn’t speak.It was a strange reality that none of the doctors I visited could understand.
One day,I was shadowing(跟随) my mother.She found herself looking in a mirror,and through it our eyes met.She began to speak to me through the reflection,and I slowly began to mimic(模仿) her mouth’s movements until I formed a word.
It turned out I’m deaf in my left ear,and have a slight problem in my right ear.Being hard of hearing has been difficult,but I’ve never lived in a state of self-hating sorrow.
Imagine being able to shut out all sound as you lay your head down to sleep by simply rolling over onto one side.That’s my reality when I sleep on my “good ear”,and it makes me feel like a superhero sometimes.
People call my deaf side “bad ear”,but when I wear my hearing aid,I have access to a range of features that some other deaf people don’t.In cinemas,for example,with one click of a button I can enjoy a whole film as though it were whispered to me from the mouths of the actors.
Owning a hearing aid hasn’t always felt good,however.On the first day I got my aid,when I was eight,I took it to school for show-and-tell.As I explained how it worked to my classmates,a boy yelled out,“Aren’t those for old men?”At that moment,I felt different.It took me a long time to get over that sense of being so unlike my peers.
But it’s not just school kids who can make us deaf and hard-of-hearing people feel like burdens.Every video on social media that lacks subtitles(字幕),for example,means an entire community of deaf people is unable to enjoy it.Completely deaf people are excluded from enjoying many movies too,as subtitles in cinemas are almost impossible to find.
And with hearing aids costing around $2,500 each,it can be hard for many people to afford to be able to listen to the things that others take for granted.As for me,I can listen to music,enjoy films,and catch conversations—I’m lucky.I’m deaf,but I can still hear everything.I’ve been blessed with wonderful life experiences,and I am human.And when it comes to sleeping,I’m even superhuman.
1. How does the author view his hearing difficulty?| A．It’s a disaster and causes him a lot of trouble. |
| B．It gives him a chance to experience something special. |
| C．It makes him feel embarrassed in front of his classmates. |
| D．It helps him to live in his own world without being interrupted. |
| A．He was born deaf. |
| B．He is optimistic and helpful. |
| C．The hearing aid brings convenience to his daily life. |
| D．His family and classmates have supported him a lot. |
| A．Excited. | B．Anxious. |
| C．Grateful. | D．Disappointed. |
