1 . The world’s first “Sky Pool” has been uncoated — and it’ll give anyone a touch of dizziness, unless he or she is not bothered by heights.
Situated in the capital’s new riverside district beside Battersea Power Station, the glass pool, hanging 10 storeys, or 110 feet up as a bridge between two apartment buildings, is 25 meters long, 5 meters wide and 3 meters deep with a water depth of 1.2 meters. Swimmers will be able to look down 35 meters to the street below as they take a dip, with only 20 cm of glass between them and the outside world. It’s even got a bar, folding chairs and an orange garden.
The pool will be part of Embassy Gardens at Nine Elms, a huge £15 billion building project beside the new American Embassy in south-west London. The project is creating thousands of apartments, the smallest of which are expected to cost nearly $1 million, and the pool will only be open to the apartments’ owners.
Embassy Gardens takes design inspiration (灵感) from the Meatpacking District of New York with floor to ceiling windows and brick frontages. The Sky Pool’s transparent structure is the result of important development in technologies over the past ten years.
The experience of the pool will be truly unique (独特的) and it will feel like floating through the air in central London.
Those people lucky enough to swim there will have a perfect view of the Palace of Westminster and the London Eye. It will be a selling point for developers when the second stage of the development is released (投放) to market.
1. Who can swim in the Sky Pool?| A．Tourists to London. | B．Anyone at Nine Elms. |
| C．People living in Embassy Gardens. | D．Those who aren’t terrified of heights. |
| A．floating through the air | B．sitting in the garden |
| C．enjoying the scenery | D．drinking with friends |
| A．The pool lies in the centre of London. |
| B．The pool is 25 meters above the ground. |
| C．The pool was at the top of an apartment building. |
| D．The pool is helpful for selling apartments in Embassy Gardens. |
| A．the sky pool will be part of a building project |
| B．the apartments in Embassy Gardens are quite expensive |
| C．Embassy Gardens lies in London’s new riverside district |
| D．Embassy Gardens looks exactly like the Meatpacking District |
2 . This summer there is plenty to keep you all busy from free movies at Regal Mayfaire stadium to free theater performance.
Free Movies
Free movies will be shown on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 a.m. at Regal Mayfaire stadium from June 14 to Aug 11. Call 9102563425 for more information.
Free Admission to Hundreds of Museums
This Saturday, July 25, hundreds of US museums are admission-free for the Smithsonian’s annual Museum Day.
Unlike previous Museum Day celebrations, you must sign up for a free ticket that allows two people to any of the participating museums. That means filling out a form and having the ticket emailed to you. Not bad for a free offer that will give you admission to museums such as the Adler Planetarium and the Air & Space Museum in Downtown Wilmington. Please see the website for the list of collections: http://www.mec.com.
Downtown Wilmington Concert
Downtown Sundown Concert Series will take place every Friday at 6 p.m. from June 16 to Aug.15. See the following link for a list of bands: http://www.wilmingtondowntown.com. Local performers will be performing “Much Ado about Nothing” at the newly built Greenfield Lake Amphitheater. All shows are free to the public.
Free Night of Theater
It’s the yearly run of the Free Night of Theater, when hundreds of theaters in 120 US cities give away thousands of tickets to local productions.
While the opening date is June 15, many of the theaters start giving away their free tickets by Oct. 1 or in waves during the month of June for performance dates throughout the month. Ticket seekers are limited to two tickets for one performance.
Find your city on the Free Night of Theater website (http://www.retheater.com) and check the listings for performances, their dates and their ticket giveaway times and locations.
1. You can go to watch a free movie on ________.| A．A Monday in June | B．A Thursday in July |
| C．A Sunday in September | D．A Wednesday in November |
| A．By getting the ticket in the participating museums. |
| B．By downloading and printing out a form by yourself. |
| C．By signing up and paying for the ticket on the website. |
| D．By filling out a form and having the ticket emailed to you. |
| A．They take place once a year. | B．They last for the same length of time. |
| C．The tickets can be used in any US city. | D．Their opening dates are the same. |
3 . Christmas in the United States is traditionally a time of gift-giving and family gatherings. But small towns across the country have their own traditions.
Middleburg, a small town in the state of Virginia, is known for its horses. For more than 50 years, Middleburg has organized a yearly Christmas parade. Men and women ride horses through the woods and fields. They follow hunting dogs as they search for a wild fox. But first, these hunters ride in the yearly parade, wearing their bright red hunting clothes and hats.
John Hale, a citizen of Middleburg says many city people visit his town. “We have a lot of people from an urban area that come to visit, but it incorporates a lot of the old traditions.” The night-time hayride is one such tradition. Small groups gather under the moonlight on an open wagon (四轮马车) filled with hay (干草). The passengers sing as farm horses pull the wagon slowly across the fields.
There are some newer traditions, too. Trey Matheu works at the nearby Salamander Resort. He says a visit to Middleburg is a chance to slow down for a day. He says Middleburg can be a calming, peaceful place without tension.
“Middleburg is an opportunity to take a step back, to take a deep breath, and understand that even though life is moving on at a very fast pace, there’s really an opportunity where you’re allowed to step off for a little bit.”
Parade organizers say more than 13,000 people attend even in below freezing weather. But if you ask, you will hear many different reasons why people come to watch the parade:
“I come here because I’m from a small town. I like how everybody comes together.”
“I live right down that street, right there. And that’s my dog.”
Middleburg looks its best at Christmastime. That may be why so many people return each year.
1. At Christmas, people in Middleburg usually ________.| A．visit friends and families | B．ride in the annual parade |
| C．feed farm horses with hay | D．hunt for dogs in the woods |
| A．To enjoy the fresh air. | B．To escape competition. |
| C．To relax themselves. | D．To challenge themselves. |
| A．It attracts many people each year. | B．It makes a large money from tourism. |
| C．It doesn’t respect Christmas traditions. | D．It is a good place for family gatherings. |
| A．Middleburg’s Christmas Parade | B．A Small Town Known for Horses |
| C．Newer Traditions at Christmastime | D．Christmas Traditions in Middleburg |
