2 . VATNAJÖKULL NATIONAL PARK, ICELAND

Vatnajökull National Park is home to one of the largest glaciers in the world and two active volcanoes. A popular place to explore ice caves, you can experience here the breath-taking views of waterfalls, frozen rivers and herds of reindeer through cave tours, glacial hikes and jeep safaris.

Best time to visit: May to September.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RUINS OF LIANGZHU CITY, CHINA

Dating back to 5,300 years ago, the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City is considered as an important representation of early urban civilization based on rice plantation. The city ruins show the contributions made by the Yangtze River Basin to the origins of Chinese civilization.

Best time to visit: March to May & October to mid December.

BAGAN, MYANMAR

Located on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River, Bagan is the capital of the ancient Burmese empire and features a stunning range of Buddhist art and architecture. Visitors can get the best views at sunrise by taking a hot air balloon ride and witness hundreds of architectural treasures as far as the eye can reach.

Best time to visit: November to February.

JAIPUR CITY, INDIA

The walled city of Jaipur is one of the most colourful cities in the world and part of India's famous Golden Triangle. The city is not only famous for its pink coloured buildings, but also the houses, shops, restaurants and hotels which give you a feast for colors.   Besides, you can enjoy the city's layout, busy streets and large public squares.   

Best time to visit: November to March.

1. Which of the following is best recommended in April?

A．Bagan.	B．Jaipur City.
C．Vatnajökull National Park.	D．Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City.

2. What is special about Bagan?

A．It features views of volcanoes.

B．It is heavy with religious culture.

C．It has a history of over 5000 years.

D．It's known for colorful architecture.

3. In which part of a magazine can you most probably read this text?

A．Geography.

B．Culture.

C．Science.

D．Environment.

4 . Black Valley, 63 kilometers from downtown Chongqing, is one of the best preserved natural wonders around the municipality. The national 5A-level scenic spot is a popular summer resort for sightseeing, forest adventures, outdoor camping, hunting and angling.

Located in Heishan town, Wansheng Economic Development Zone, the scenic spot spans over 103 square kilometers, 97 percent of which are covered by primitive forests. With over 110,000 negative oxygen ions in each cubic centimeter of air, it is dubbed as a natural oxygen bar and “the most beautiful healthcare-themed valley.”

Black Valley is also known as “the natural gene bank of Chongqing and Guizhou regions” for the diversity of its rare plants and wildlife, including Cathaya argyrophylla, Davidia involucrata, Trachypithecus francoisi and clouded leopards.

Scenic spot level: AAAAA

Address: Heishan town, Wansheng Economic Development Zone, 63 kilometers from downtown Chongqing Opening hours: 8:30 am - 3:30 pm (peak season from November to February), 9:00 am-3:00 pm (off season from March to October)

Ideal sightseeing season: from May to September

Ticket price: 60 yuan ($8.72) during off season and 100 yuan during peak season, sightseeing bus and cable not included.

Notes:

1. It is recommended that tourists start from the higher southern area for a downward journey.

2. The average temperature is 18.1 degrees.

3. It’s a good idea to experience the local folk culture of the Miao ethnic group, especially when you choose to visit in May when the traditional Caishan Festival of Miao ethnic group is celebrated.

1. What can we know about Black Valley?

A．It lies in downtown Chongqing.

B．Plants and wildlife are rarely seen there.

C．A visit there costs at most 100 yuan.

D．The air is very high in negative oxygen ions there.

2. A best time for a visitor and lover of the folk culture to Black Valley is in

A．January.

B．March.

C．May.

D．July.

3. Which section is the text taken from in a newspaper?

A．Culture.

B．Travel.

C．Nature.

D．Wildlife.

5 . Wine and beaches, fireworks and music... our readers recommend some fantastic festivals.

Festa delTUva e del Vino, Italy

Set on the beautiful shores of Lake Garda, this grapes and wine festival takes over the small town of Bardolino for four days every October. With local wines, food, art projections, fireworks and live music. people come from miles around to celebrate. First and foremost，it’s about great wine，but it’s worth visiting to soak up the great atmosphere.

Free，1-5 October

Quest festival, Vietnam

This is a weekend camping festival held just a 40-minute drive from Hanoi, bringing together locals and visitors in a celebration of underground live and electronic music culture. Held in the beautiful Son Tinh campsite, there are usually about 30 local and international DJs and 10 bands. There are also workshops, pop-up cafes, fire performances, dancing and much more.

Weekend tickets about £25, 6-8 November

Estiv al Switzerland

This is a free festival of jazz which takes place in the first weekend in July in the pretty squares and lakeside beaches and parks around the southern Swiss town of Lugano. The palm trees and summer air to see some of Europe’s up and coming jazz bands and enjoy Swiss

Free, every July

Irish Redhead Convention, County Cork

A friendly gathering for all red-haired people is held in the small seaside village of Crosshaven where redheads from all over the world take part in light hearted events. There’s live music, art exhibitions, lectures and of course the traditional Parade of Redheads through the village led by the newly crowned Redhead King and Queen.

Free, Every August

1. Jennifer, a girl with red hair, may be interested in ________.

A．Estival.	B．Quest festival.
C．Festa deirtlva e del Vino.	D．Irish Redhead Convention.

2. What do these four festivals have in common?

A．They offer local food.

B．They have fireworks.

C．They are free of charge.

D．They have music activities.

3. Where can you probably find the text?

A．In a textbook.

B．In a magazine.

C．In a news report.

D．In a research paper.

6 . Who're happier, men or women?Research shows it's a complex question and that asking whether males or females are happier isn't really that helpful, because basically, happiness is different for women and men.

Women's happiness has been declining for the past 30 years, according to recent statistics.And research shows that women are twice as likely to experience depression compared with men.Gender（性别） differences in depression are well confirmed and studies have found that biological, psychological and social factors contribute to the difference.

Early studies on gender and happiness found men and women were socialized to express different feelings.Women are more likely to express happiness, warmth and fear, which help with social bonding and appear more consistent with the traditional role as a primary caregiver, while men display more anger, pride and disrespect, which are more consistent with a protector and provider role.

Recent research suggests that these differences are not just socially, but also genetically related.Studies have looked into these findings further and discovered that females use more areas of the brain containing mirror neurons（镜像神经元）than males when they process feelings.Mirror neurons allow us to experience the world from other people's view, to understand their actions and intentions.This may explain why women can experience deeper sadness.Women tend to experience more negative feelings, such as more guilt, shame and to a lesser degree, embarrassment.

Psychologically it seems men and women differ in the way they process and express feelings.With the exception of anger, women experience feelings more strongly and share their feelings more openly with others.Studies have found in particular that women express more appreciation﹣which has been linked to greater happiness.This supports the theory that women's happiness is more dependent on relationships than men's.

1. Which feeling are men more likely to show compared with women?

A．Warmth.

B．Depression.

C．Happiness.

D．Disrespect.

2. What factors cause women to share feelings more openly?

A．Psychological factors.

B．Biological factors.

C．Educational factors.

D．Social factors.

3. One can probably read the text from ________.

A．a science fiction

B．a culture brochure

C．a nursery guide

D．a health magazine

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Men and women differ in biology and psychology.

B．Men and women experience happiness differently.

C．Social roles have a great effect on men and women.

D．Women's happiness has declined in the past years.

7 . When he was two years old, Ben stopped seeing out of his left eye. His mother took him to the doctor and soon discovered he had cancer in both eyes. After possible treatments failed, doctors removed both his eyes. For Ben, vision was gone forever.

But by the time he was seven years old, he had developed a technique for feeling the world around him: he clicked with his mouth and listened for the returning echoes. This method enabled Ben to determine the locations of open doorways, people, parked cars, garbage cans, and so on. He was echolocating: bouncing his sound waves off objects in the environment and catching the reflections to build a mental model of his surroundings.

Echolocation may sound like an improbable feat for a human, but thousands of blind people have perfected this skill, just like Ben did. The event has been written about since at least the 1940s, when the word ''echolocation" was first invented in a science article titled “Echolocation by Blind Men , Bats, and Radar.”

How could blindness give rise to the amazing ability to understand the surroundings with one's ears? The answer lies in a gift on the brain; huge adaptability.

Mother Nature filled our brains with flexibility to adapt to circumstances. Just as sharp teeth and fast legs are useful for survival, so is the brain's ability to reset, which allows for learning, memory, and die ability to develop new skills.

In Ben's case, his brain's flexible wiring repurposed his visual cortex for processing sound. As a result, Ben had more neurons available to deal with listening information, and this increased processing power allowed Ben to interpret soundwaves in shocking detail. Ben's super-hearing proves a more general rule: the more brain area a particular sense has, the better it performs.

1. How did Ben “see” after he had his eyes removed?

A．By using a walking stick.	B．By asking others for help.
C．By inventing a new system.	D．By echolocating surroundings.

2. What does the underlined word “feat” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Skill.

B．Task.

C．Sense.

D．Invention.

3. What can we learn from Ben's case?

A．He laughs best who laughs last.	B．Actions speak louder than words.
C．God shuts one door but he opens another.	D．Man becomes learned by asking questions.

4. In which column of a magazine can we read this passage?

A．Culture Shock.	B．Human Biology.
C．Scientific Technology.	D．Environmental Protection.

8 . Located in the southeast of Canada and with a population of approximately 6 million, Toronto is a big and beautiful city, which has developed from a relatively unknown place over the past half century to the center of culture, trade and communication in Canada.

With its colorful ethnic mix, rich history and breathtaking buildings. Toronto offers non-stop adventures to the tourists. To get a sense of how big, various and magical Toronto is, the best place to start is the CN Tower. From this point, visitors can get a bird's-eye view of the city's amazing scenery and unique geography.

In addition to being an important center of culture, trade and communication in Canada, Toronto is also a major muti-ethnic city. It is the most populous city in Canada and its citizens come from countries around the world and from different kinds of ethnic backgrounds. Every day, in most places of the city, a hundred different languages can be heard on the streets, from Hindi to Greek to French. This, perhaps, explains why former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once said that Canada is a mosaic（嵌合体）of cultures and languages rather than a melting pot.

Street signs in Toronto are mostly in English. Weekly and daily newspapers are published in various languages, and the city hosts the successful international film festival each September. It is also home to a popular baseball team the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto has something for everyone.

Moreover, Toronto has been rated one of the most livable cities in the world by United Nations Human Settlements Programme for many years. At the same time, Toronto is one of the safest, richest cities in the world with the highest standard of living.

1. What's the purpose of the text?

A．To draw more tourists to Toronto.

B．To introduce something about Canada.

C．To introduce some famous sights of Toronto.

D．To tell us how Toronto develops from the past.

2. What can we know about Toronto from the text?

A．Toronto is in the center of Canada.

B．Toronto is a city with a history of half a century.

C．The street signs in Toronto are all written in English.

D．From the top of the CN Tower we can see the whole Toronto.

3. How does the author like Toronto?

A．It's worth visiting.

B．It's just a common city in Canada.

C．There are too many foreigners in the city.

D．There aren't many places of interest to visit.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A personal diary.	B．A news report.
C．A tourist handbook.	D．A student's notebook.

9 . Online Bachelor's Degrees and Programs

The overview

Colleges offer online degrees in a range of fields. Click on a degree program to explore what courses you take, how long the program takes to complete, career options and average salary. For example, to earn an online health science bachelor's degree, you would take courses in public health, health communications and epidemiology(流行病学).

The benefits

Pursuing an accredited(官方认可的)online bachelor's degree can help you take the next step in your career. Through your program, you'll attend online lectures, study from home manage a busy schedule and interact virtually with professors and classmates.

The applicants

An online college degree may appeal to those who want more flexibility in completing their education, or who want to take classes while working full time or parenting. Choosing where to register online will likely be challenging, but below you'll find tools, advice and other resources to make your search easier.

Best online bachelor's programs

U. S. News evaluated several factors to rank the best online bachelor's degree programs, including graduation rates and support services available remotely.

School name	Tuition per credit	Application deadline	Financial aid available
University of Georgia	$ 326	May 1	Yes
Georgia Washington University	$ 615	June 10	No
University of Arizona	$ 525	July 12	Yes
North Carolina University	$ 900	February 15	Yes

To see the full ranking list, please click here.

1. What will you do after attending online degree programs?

A．Get a degree for free.	B．Attend lectures in a hall.
C．Take some related courses	D．Talk with teachers face to face.

2. Which university is the last one to end the application?

A．Georgia Washington University.	B．University of Georgia.
C．North Carolina University.	D．University of Arizona.

3. Where are you likely to read the text?

A．On the Internet.	B．In a magazine.
C．In a textbook.	D．In a newspaper.

10 .

The Paint Creek Recreation Trail is the flagship pathway of a planned trail network in the Ohio counties of Fayette, Ross and Highland. Nearly 35 miles of paved trail are currently open linking the communities of Washington Court House, Frankfort and Chillicothe.

The vast majority of the trail occupies a former railroad corridor acquired by the local nonprofit trails group in 1994. However, the trail does leave the original corridor where the right-of-way could not be acquired from its current owners. The diversions are usually short, with the longest stretch being a 2.5 mile stretch of highway cast of the Washington courthouse.

Because most of the trails through rural Ohio are dominated by seemingly endless fields, trail users are exposed to the sun for long periods of time. Fortunately, the path occasionally winds through a more wooded corridor near local waterways, such as Paint Creek and the Scioto River.

The Paint Creek Recreation Trail also passes through the downtown areas of the three towns along the way, offering many opportunities for rest and energy. Just before Chillicothe, trail users will want to stop at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. The Hopewell Mound Group, a part of the park visible from the trail along Sulphur Lick Road, features earthworks and tombs built by the local people nearly 2,000 years ago.

The existing Paint Creek Recreation Trail will one day make a significant contribution to local leisure and transportation. There are plans nowadays to develop new trails along former railroad corridors from Washington courthouse northwest to the existing Xenia-Jamestown Connector, southwest to Wilmington and cast to Circleville in Pickaway County.

1. Which of the following is true about the trail?

A．Most of the trail is not well remodeled.

B．Most of the trail used to be a railway passage.

C．Most of the trail goes through the centers of 13 towns.

D．Most of the trail is close to the local railway lines.

2. What’s the prospect of this trail in the future according to the passage?

A．It will take on a new look.

B．It will be part of a national historic park.

C．It will be bought by a nonprofit company.

D．It will play an important role in leisure and transportation.

3. Where might this article come from?

A．An American website on travel.	B．An English scientific magazine.
C．A lecture by a professor   of geography.	D．A travelers' notebook.