1 . For years, the Empire State Building in New York was recognized as the tallest building in the world, but in recent decades, many much higher structures have been built. Read on to learn more about four of the tallest skyscrapers existing today.

● Buri Khalifa

Buri Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is currently the tallest building in the world. The tower is part of a new development built on a man-made lake. Burj Khalifa has a distinctive shape so that the windows look out onto the Persian Gulf. A 304-room hotel occupies the lower floors and there is an observation deck on the 124th floor. The top floor is home to a private VIP club, closed to anyone except members.

● Shanghai World Financial Centre

This skyscraper has the highest observation deck in the world, although the building itself is no longer the tallest. Construction stopped between 1998 and 2003 because of the Asian financial crisis, but it was eventually finished in 2008. The most distinctive feature in its design is the geometric opening at the top of the tower.

● International Commerce Centre

This skyscraper in Hong Kong stands on top of Kowloon Station, which gave its name to the original proposal for the building. The tower is not as high as in earlier plans because of regulations that prevented buildings from being taller than the surrounding mountains. A five-star hotel occupies the upper fifteen floors of the building. There is an observation deck on the 100th floor and a number of five-star restaurants on the 101st floor.

● Petronas Tower

These towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, are the tallest twin buildings in the world. They were built on the site of the city’s horse-racing tracking and an exclusive shopping centre is located at the base. The towers are connected by a sky bridge on the 41st and 42nd floors, which is the highest two-storey bridge in the world. It is open to the public, but only a limited number of free tickets are given out each day, and visitors are allowed no more than ten minutes on the bridge.

1. In which two buildings can you book a room?

A．Buri Khalifa and Shanghai World Financial Centre.

B．International Commerce Centre and Petronas Towers.

C．Burj Khalifa and International Commerce Centre.

D．Petronas Towers and Burj Khalifa.

2. ________ is/are shorter than it/they was/were designed to be.

A．Burj Khalifa

B．Shanghai World Financial Centre

C．Petronas Towers

D．International Commerce Centre

3. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．Shanghai World Financial Centre took longer to complete than planned.

B．Visitors have to pay to stay on the two-storey bridge in Petronas Towers.

C．International Commerce Centre is named after its investor.

D．The top floor of Buri Khalifa is accessible to everyone.

2 . FREE Homeschooling

If you are reading this page you are looking into homeschooling. YAHOO! So proud of you for taking the road less traveled for your kids. It may not always be easy, but it is rewarding! 123 Home-school4Me is here to help you on your journey! We’ve got lots of tips, resources, and over a million pages of FREE Home-school worksheets, games and lesson plans to help you provide a solid, fun, and affordable education for your kids!

Let me walk you through some homeschooling basics and how 123Homeschool4Me can help you home-school!

Why Homeschooling

For some it is a better education, impact of being socialized at school, passing on your faith, spending more time with your kids, helping your child with a special need, making learning fun, or any number of other reasons. Keep reminding yourself WHY you choose to home-school and make that your primary focus.

How to Home-school

* Decided to Home-school after much careful research and thought

* 25 Reasons Why We Love Homeschooling

* Find out the legal requirements to home-school in your state -- every state has different requirements that you must follow to home-school legally - Homeschooling Laws in your State

* Follow any and all legal requirements to home-school legally (see above)

* Pick a curriculum - you have tons of choices to fit your family and children

* How to Choose a Home-school Curriculum

* Our Curriculum Choices

* Plan your school year - with any state regulations in mind, pick when your school will start end, take breaks, what days of the week you will meet and for how long, and what pace you need to go through your curriculum to finish in a year.

* Use these Free Home-school Forms to organize your year

* How to Home-school in 15 Hours a Week

* Don’t Home-school alone! Just because you aren’t sending your kids to public or private school doesn’t mean they won’t be with others from outside your family.

* Getting Social in Your Home-school

* Start teaching your child - Your taught your child how to use the bathroom and put on their shoes. You can do this! Just dive in!

Okay, so that was super simplified, I know! But really that is all you need to start with.

Make sure to read the links above for more information on each point.

How to Start Homeschooling

Make Home-school FUN and Affordable! This is where123Homeschool4Me.com comes in! Mom leaves little time to think of fun, creative educational activities that make concepts stick. Plus the cost to buy cool games and additional worksheets for every little skill can be unacceptable!

We’ve got you covered! This site is filled with thousands of creative ideas and 1,000,000+ FREE educational print-ables to make learning fun!

1. According to the above material, 123Homeschool4Me is probably _________.

A．a website

B．a counselor

C．a magazine

D．an advertisement

2. Which of the following might be a reason for parents to choose homeschooling?

A．Restoring the child’s faith.	B．Getting social in the home-school
C．Challenging the road less traveled.	D．Tailoring the courses to kids’ needs.

3. 123Homeschool4Me is likely to be quite appealing to the readers due to _________.

A．simplified lesson plans and fun activities

B．interesting games and affordable worksheets

C．free teaching resources and practical suggestions

D．detailed curriculum plans and free homeschooling

3 . Rafting the GRAND CANYON Welcomes You!

For exciting, fun and challenging white water tours, Rafting the GRAND CANYON is here to help you plan the right tour for you. Whether you want to travel for two days or ten, hike in or not, go on an oar raft or a motorized trip, we will help you find the trip that meets your needs.

For those who will be vacationing in the off season, a trip on the Native American Red River rafting is available year around or a one-day trip is available on the Colorado River from Diamond Creek to Pierce Ferry (about three hours from Las Vegas).

Most of the trips depart from Lees Ferry, Arizona (approximately 2.5 hours from the south rim of the Grand Canyon). We offer partial trips which allow you to get on or off at Phantom Ranch located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon National Park South Rim. Requiring a hike in or out, with proper planning the horse ride up or down is also an option. Most trips occur between April and October.

Since all rafting on the Colorado requires a permit, planning and reserving your trip requires reservations well in advance. Please let us know when you would like to go and we will contact all the river concessionaires (特许权获得者) to help you find the best trip for you.

For planning your trip, questions, concerns or to make your reservations, please email or call the toll free number below. Since these trips are limited, we highly recommend you make your reservations months in advance.

To talk to a live person call us toll free: 1- 800 - 222 - 6966 or 702 - 655 - 6060.

If you have any questions regarding a trip, please CLIGK_HERE to fill out our form. This will speed up the process of getting you accurate information regarding your trip.

If you would like to send us an email about an up-coming trip you can contact us at info@raftingthegrandcanyon.com.

We look forward to helping you plan your trip! (Please NO Travel Agents)

1. If you don’t want to take an all-distance trip, you can start at ______.

A．Diamond Creek

B．Lees Ferry

C．Phantom Ranch

D．Pierce Ferry

2. On the trip on the Grand Canyon, you are NOT recommended to enjoy ______.

A．oar raft rowing

B．traveling on foot

C．horse riding

D．swimming entertainment

3. Rafting the Grand Canyon does NOT suggest the reader contact them in the way of ______.

A．calling at it in person

B．filling a form

C．sending an email

D．making a call

4 . Kompong Phhluk Private Tour

Depart the city for an unspoiled floating community called Kompong Phhluk which is well-known for its stilted-house (吊脚楼) villages and flooded forest.
Stop on the way for the Rolous Market tour. This is a great chance for you to take the photos of locals selling vegetables, different fish species and other local produce.

After this market tour we’ll all have a boat trip to the floating community of Kompong Phhluk, visit an island pagoda, school and houses standing on 8 or 10m high stilts, fish farms and learn about the village life.
Stop and have lunch in a family’s house before getting into a row boat and venturing into the flooded forest, the habitat to some famous water-bird species.
Eventually we jump back into the big boat and set off for the largest fresh water lake in SE Asia, Tonle Sap.
Tour Details
·Departs 8.30am
·Returns around 2pm
·A picnic lunch with sandwiches and drinks is provided. We cannot provide local food from the area due to poor sanitation (卫生设备), lack of hygiene standards and refrigeration.
·No passes required
Rates
·These rates are based on an English speaking guide.
·Rates include all transport, water and a picnic lunch.
·Children 11 years and under are 50%.
·Children 4 years and below are free.
·If your group is larger than 5 people please email us for the best rate.
Number of People Price Per Person
1 Person   $65
2 People   $45
3 People   $40
4 People   $35
5 People   $32
What to Wear
·Please be mindful of your clothing and try to avoid anything too revealing.
·We strongly recommend a sunglasses, hat and sunscreen.
General Information
·This is a poor rural village, please be mindful of the environment.
·Please do not hand things out to villagers, for this leads to creating a begging cycle and can create jealousy.
·We recommend heading to the toilet before you go on this trip as facilities (设施) are very basic.
1. Kompong Phhluk is famous for its ________.

A．local vegetables and different fish species	B．stilted-house villages and flooded forest
C．Rolous Market and island pagoda	D．water-bird habitat and fish farms

2. A private trip for two parents and a 3-year-old boy costs ________.

A．$40

B．$80

C．$90

D．$120

3. We can conclude from the passage that ________.

A．the living standard in the village is quite low

B．the tourist facilities along the way are quite good

C．revealing clothes are appropriate in the hot weather

D．giving local children small gifts is strongly recommended