Huang He or The Yellow River, flowing through nine provinces, is the second longest river in China. It is also the sixth longest in the world at the estimated
The Yellow River is called “the cradle(摇篮)of Chinese civilization” as
Whether you’re a history fan or not, the river is
Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows
The Yellow River used to be called “China’s Sorrow” because of the frequent floods hitting. In 1955, Chinese government
Plans for the Hangzhou Grand Canal（运河）National Cultural Park were issued recently in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province,
The construction of the park is a
Along the 30 kilometers of waterway in Hangzhou's Gongshu district, there are many things for
The construction began on 20 landmarks
Weihai, a coastal city of Shandong province, has built a 1, 001-kilometer route that strings together picturesque (风景如画的) coastal and
The highway has made travel across Weihai more convenient and it has brought
4 . Less Well-known, but Equally Fascinating National Parks in the US
Alcatraz Island (San Francisco, California)
Alcatraz Island, also known as “The Rock” (only 0.029 square miles) in the middle of San Francisco Bay, is the home of the oldest operating lighthouse on the west coast and the infamous federal prison. Visit the legendary island that once served as the San Francisco armoury (军工厂). “The Rock” will give visitors a glimpse of what life was like for prisoners and guards. Advance purchase is required because of the limited number of visitors allowed on the Island each day.
Cape Cod National Seashore (Wellfleet, Massachusetts)
Cape Cod National Seashore is a protected area of shoreline, natural habitats, and historically significant structures. It consists of 68 square miles of beaches, ponds, marshes, and woodlands extending for 40 miles. With its historic lighthouses, this park is a great place to swim in the Atlantic, explore nature trails and learn about the nation’s sailing past and present.
Biscayne National Park (Miami, Florida)
The park provides access for visitors to encounter and explore the scenery, wildlife, history and other amazing resources. This park covers 270 square miles, and 95% of it is underwater. Divers and snorkelers hit the ocean to explore shipwrecks and a bright coral reef, home to reef lobsters.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (Florissant, Colorado)
Beneath a grassy mountain valley in central Colorado, lies one of the richest and most diverse fossil deposits in the world. This mountain valley protects 9 square miles of petrified (石化) redwoods and fossils of ancient insects and plants, which were preserved 35 million years ago when erupting volcanoes covered the valley in ash. Apart from a variety of outdoor activities, it offers visitors opportunities for hands-on experience to learn about fossils and science in the exhibit area.
1. What are tourists required to do to go on Alcatraz Island?| A．Protect nature reserves. | B．Take diving suits. |
| C．Make reservations in advance. | D．Know how to operate the lighthouse. |
| A．Alcatraz Island | B．Cape Cod National Seashore |
| C．Biscayne National Park | D．Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument |
| A．A geography book. | B．A guide book. | C．A news report. | D．A science magazine. |
Sun Moon Lake is located in the central region of Taiwan. It covers
According to legend, a white deer contributed to the discovery of the lake. Three hundred years ago, a group of
Sun Moon Lake is the
Because of a layer of thin fog, it gives the appearance of a place existing only in legend.
6 . A 2020 study in the journal Science concluded that marine heat waves have increased more than 20-fold as a result of climate warming. The authors found that in the first decade after satellites began recording ocean temperatures (i.e., after 1981), there were 27 large marine heat waves, with an average duration of 32 days and an average peak temperature anomaly of 8.5°F; in the 2010s, there were 172, which lasted 48 days on average with an average peak temperature almost 10°F above normal.
Much remains unclear about marine heat waves. For example, explains Nicholas Bond, research scientist at the University of Washington and Washington’s state climatologist, there is the question of why so many persist for weeks or months. “There must be something else going on that helps maintain them,” he says. He notes that one explanation is that as the ocean surface warms, it radiates heat into the atmosphere that prevents cloud cover from forming, exposing the seawater to increased sunlight and further warming.
However, enough is known about marine heat waves for scientists to be gravely concerned about their potential impacts. Of special note is the fact that those impacts can last long after the heat waves have disappeared. After three years of the Blob, the waters of the northeastern Pacific began to cool in 2016; but years later, scientists are still determining the extent to which the region’s ecosystem is likely to return fully to its pre-Blob status. Similarly, notes Scannell, who is a data scientist with Jupiter Intelligence, Inc., following the 2010-11 Western Australia event, “lots of kelp(巨藻) forests died, and it takes literally decades for those ecosystems to bounce back”.
Eric Oliver, a scientist from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, expressed his own opinion about the potential impact of the heat waves in tropical waters. “I think that’s really a tough issue,” he says. Life in the tropics, he notes, is adapted to “quite a narrow range of temperatures. So that’s where things can get really messy. We can have complete shifts in tropical systems.”
1. What can we infer from the figures listed in para. 1?| A．The problem of marine heat waves is becoming worse. |
| B．The satellites enable scientists to record ocean temperature precisely. |
| C．Climate change is the main cause of the marine heat waves. |
| D．Marine heat waves have been found by scientists for about 30 years. |
| A．Various factors that lead to marine heat waves. |
| B．The possible impacts of a warm ocean surface. |
| C．The possible reason why marine heat waves last long. |
| D．Scientists’ efforts in exploring the causes of heat waves. |
| A．The impact will disappear shortly after the sea water cools. |
| B．It takes long before the ecosystem makes a complete recovery. |
| C．Scientists have known enough to restore the impact. |
| D．The northeastern Pacific and Western Australia are the worst cases. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Indifferent. | C．Doubtful. | D．Optimistic. |
Are you impressed by the mountains in Avatar? The real ones are in Zhangjiajie. For those who love nature, Zhangjiajie is a must. Zhangjiajie National Park is now
The park has thick forests, deep canyons, unusual peaks, caves, and pillar-like (像柱子似的) rock formations blanketed throughout the park. These pillar-like rock formations are what the park is famous for around the world. One of the fastest and most
Many endangered species of animals and plants can be found there,
The Badlands National Park, one of the most popular attractions in western South Dakota, contains one of the world’s richest fossil
Visitors can enjoy hiking on eight routes from 400 meters to 160 kilometers long and
9 . When you swim on the beach and sea, have you ever accidentally drunk the seawater? How did it feel? It must have tasted salty. So, why is the seawater salty?
Seawater is water that comes from the ocean. Seawater can be salty because it contains an average salt content of 3.5%. This is also a place for the salt farmers to produce cooking salt and other salt.
Some theories explain that seawater comes from rainwater that falls and flows through rivers and estuaries (河口) where the seawater will be fully filled and again formed clouds because the steam uses the help of the sun. When we talk about this, we talk about the rainwater cycle. But when the rainwater cycle occurs, the water that passes through the river carries mineral salts. These mineral salts are obtained from various places of the land starting from rocks and soils that the rainwater flows through, these remaining mineral salts make seawater salty, so the salinity of seawater is different in each part of the world. But it is certain that seawater is salty or has high salinity.
The saltiest sea in the world is the Red Sea. There the temperature is extremely hot so that evaporation (蒸发) is greatly carried out. High evaporation, coupled with little rainfall and little input of water from the river, causes its highest level of salinity. There is also the Dead Sea, which is nine times saltier. Due to the high salinity, when you swim there, you can float. However, the Dead Sea is not a sea at all which is a lake geographically.
1. What’s the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To draw a conclusion. |
| B．To make the article interesting. |
| C．To introduce a famous beach. |
| D．To bring in the topic. |
| A．Land. | B．Ocean. | C．Rain. | D．Cloud. |
| A．Its salinity is higher than that of the Dead Sea. |
| B．The climate there causes the highest salt level. |
| C．People are in danger when they swim there. |
| D．The land around it contains the most salt. |
| A．The reason why the seawater tastes salty |
| B．The reason why the Dead Sea is not a sea |
| C．The reason why the rainwater cycle occurs |
| D．The reason why the sea looks blue and green |
10 . Situated in the northeast of Jiangxi Province, Wuyuan is located at the junction (交界) of Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Anhui. Wuyuan has been known as “the hometown of book” and “the hometown of tea”. It is a famous cultural and eco-tourism county (县) in China, known as “China’s most beautiful countryside”.
Huizhou Culture is the soul of Wuyuan travel. Since the ancient times, Wuyuan has a culture and popular practice of literature. There are many great men born in Wuyuan, inclu-ding Zhu Xi, a learned scholar. From Song Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, Wuyuan had nurtured 2,665 officials, and 3,100 works. In addition, Wuyuan Museum has thousands of cultural collections, known as “the first library at Chinese county-level”. Folk cultural arts like Nuo dance, tea ceremony are bright and colorful. Historical remains of celebrities and ancient buildings of Hui style in Ming and Qing dynasties are all over the county.
Wuyuan has 16 provincial-level historical and cultural villages, 1 national-level historical and cultural village, 13 Chinese protection units of cultural relics, and 2 ancient villages on the list of candidates for election to the World Heritage Sites. Wuyuan County has a history of over 120 years.
Wuyuan has four distinct seasons and many foggy days. Days throughout the year are times to travel, but spring is the best season, especially in April. In spring, red rhododen-drons (杜鹃花) all over the mountains, green tea trees all over the hills, golden flowers, white walls and black tiles, all of them are harmoniously integrated (成为一体), forming the best picture in the world. In autumn, best seasonal sceneries appear in Huangling, Changxi and so on, among which, landscape of Sun Drying of Crops is one of the highlights of Huangling Scenic Area.
1. What can we learn about Wuyuan from paragraph 1?| A．It is a country with a short history. |
| B．It is filled with traditional libraries. |
| C．It is known as the hometown of dance. |
| D．It is not far from three provinces. |
| A．Pictures of high modern buildings. | B．Ancient artworks. |
| C．Photos of beautiful flowers. | D．Expensive ships. |
| A．By giving reasons. | B．By listing numbers. |
| C．By asking a question. | D．By making a comparison. |
| A．Worthwhile. | B．Tiring. | C．Costless. | D．Limited. |
