1 . Amazing Waterfalls from All over the World
Plitvice Waterfalls
Located in Croatia, Plitvice Lakes National Park looks like something pulled out of the Garden of Eden. There are 16 clear lakes with beautiful waterfall pouring into them Water moves over stones to create natural dams and the water has also created beautiful caves. Walking through this park and dapping your toes in the water are nothing short of magic. Bring a camera and prepare for one of the prettiest parks on the planet.
Victoria Falls
Thus waterfall was founded by a Scottish person back in 1855. The explorer named the waterfall in honor of his queen at the time, Queen Victoria. Located in South Africa, Victoria Fall is considered one of the largest waterfalls on the planet. To say that Victoria Falls is an important natural formation would be an understatement as it is truly a wonder in thus world. With a cheap flight ticket you can spend the rest of you money on a quality hotel reservation (预定) near the park
Angel Falls
Angel Falls is the highest waterfall un the world with a straight flow down for over 3,212 feet. The waterfall is located in the Canaima National Pack, which is named after the first discoverer of the falls: Jimmie Angel Jimmie Angel was a pilot who was the first person lo ever fly over the waterfall. If you want to visit the falls you will have to jumps through some hoops to get there.
Yosemite Falls
Yosemite National Park pulls in tourists by the handful for a good reason Located in the park is Yosemite Falls which is the highest waterfall in all of North America Yosemite Falls drops for 2,425 feet but this height is based on the amount of snow in the park at the time. So if you want that perfect picture, make sure to go during the right part of the season!
1. What can you do when visiting Plitvice Waterfalls?| A．Put your feet in the water. | B．Enjoy the sight of snow. |
| C．Stay in a quality hotel. | D．Watch it from the sky. |
| A．They have many caves | B．They are hard to teach. |
| C．They can only be visited by plane | D．They are named after people. |
| A．Angel Falls. | B．Victoria Falls. | C．Yosemite Falls. | D．Plitvice Waterfalls. |
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
Edinburgh,
With its museums, shops,
Besides, there is more to have fun in Edinburgh. Each year, the Edinburgh International Festival takes place in the city. In late summer, for three weeks, the festival presents classical music, theatre, opera and dance throughout the city. Whatever your cultural
So far, the Edinburgh International Festival has earned
The popularity of the festival resulted
4 . If you’re a camping lover, the scenery of the following campsites will provide you with an experience that you will never forget.
North Rim Campground, Grand Canyon, Arizona
Address: North Rim, AZ 86052, USA
Camping in the famous Grand Canyon, with its layers of million-year-old red rock, is the favorite thing for many people. After all, it is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. You will see rural views of the canyon which is shaded by towering pines. And it is home to vast wildlife including wild wolves and deer.
Apgar Campground, Glacier National Park, Montana
Address: US Hwy 2, West Glacier, MT 59901, USA
There are plenty of original forests, mountain meadows, lakes, and rocky mountains in Glacier National Park. Adventurous visitors and campers visiting Montana enter a hiker’s paradise when coming here. Apgar Campground is situated among the trees and wildlife there ranges from mountain goats to grizzly bears.
Watchman Campground, Zion National Park, Utah
Address: UT-9, Springdale, UT 84767, USA
Located a quarter-mile from the south entrance of Zion National Park in Utah, Watchman Campground is surrounded by hug sandstone cliffs, tall rocky peaks and pines. There is the Virgin River near the campgrounds, allowing campers access to bike trails along the riverbank plus hiking to a nearby archeological (考古学的) site.
Hidden Valley Campground, Joshua Tree National Park, California
Address: California 92277, USA
For campers wanting to enjoy a unique experience in the desert, sleeping under the starry skies and surrounded by cacti and rock formations, Joshua Tree National Park is the answer. The campgrounds and park become even more breathtaking at sunset when the colors of the sky are noticeable against the vast ground.
1. What will campers enjoy at North Rim Campground?| A．Bike riding along a river. | B．Sunsets against the vast desert. |
| C．Goats and bears in ancient forests. | D．Red rocks formed in ancient times. |
| A．California 92277, USA. | B．North Rim, AZ 86052, USA. |
| C．UT-9, Springdale, UT 84767, USA. | D．US Hwy 2. West Glacier, MT 59901. USA. |
| A．Apgar Campground. | B．Hidden Valley Campground. |
| C．North Rim Campground. | D．Watchman Campground. |
5 . The ruins of a huge Maya city have been discovered in Guatemala with the help of the remote sensing technique LiDAR, according to the National Geographic on Thursday.
This breakthrough was possible thanks to LiDAR sensors, which can survey landscapes in 3D by reflecting laser pulses off the ground from unmanned air vehicles and others. LiDAR is exceptionally useful for detecting archeological sites (考古遗址), as it gets through jungles and other features that hold up exploration on the ground. The technique has been the activator (催化剂) of many discoveries in recent years. For instance, major finds at Angkor, Cambodia and Caracol, Belize can explain what it did.
This large lost city envelops sites like Tikal, Holmul, and Witzna—known for their temples and pyramids—but shows that these famous heritage areas are the tip of the iceberg of this lost urban network.
Hidden under the jungles of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, more than 60,000 human-made features—homes, canals, highways, some of which can even reach the modernized standard—have been identified by an international cooperation of researchers headed by the PACUNAM Foundation, a Maya cultural and natural heritage organization. Those have experts rethinking the outlines and complexity of the Maya empire.
These ancient peoples obviously established these imaginative cultures based on their known relics, but the new research has shown that the scale of this lost society is far beyond what experts had imagined. The findings will be explored in an hour-long documentary called Lost Treasures of the Maya Snake Kings, premiering (首映) Tuesday, February 6 on the National Geographic Channel.
“There are entire cities we didn’t know about now showing up in the survey data,” said Francisco Belli, one of the lead archeologists on the project. “There are 20,000 square kilometres more to be explored and there are going to be hundreds of cities there that we don’t know about, and we will push the frontiers,” he added.
1. What can we know about LiDAR?| A．It’s a breakthrough in archeology. | B．It’s major equipment in air forces. |
| C．It was first used in discovering a Maya city. | D．It’s a remote sensing technique using laser pulses. |
| A．The jungles of the Reserve. | B．The outlines of the Maya empire. |
| C．The researchers of the organization. | D．The man-made projects of the Reserve. |
| A．Famous and dangerous. | B．Vast and highly developed. |
| C．Mountainous and aggressive. | D．Enormous and traditional. |
| A．Restudy the history of Maya. | B．Use the LiDAR sensors as usual. |
| C．Continue to explore the unknown. | D．Study the documentary more carefully. |
The Shard was designed by the famous Italian architect Renzo Piano. When he began designing the Shard for London, Piano wanted a very tall building that looked like a spire (尖顶)• He wanted the glass surfaces to reflect the sky and the city. The sides of the building aren’t regular. So the building has an unusual shape. It looks like a very thin，sharp piece of broken glass. And that is how the building got the name: the Shard. Piano says that the spire shape of the Shard is part of a great London tradition. The shape reminds him of the spires of the churches of London or the tall masts (桅杆）of the ships that were once on the river Thames.
The Shard has 87 floors. At the top, there is an observatory. At the moment the building is empty, but eventually there will be a five-star hotel. There will also be top quality restaurants, apartments and offices.
Before building work began, a lot of people didn’t want the Shard though the plans were approved. Now they are still unhappy about the Shard. Some critics say that such a tall skyscraper might be good in a city like New York, but not in London. They say that the best thing about the Shard is its spire shape. But that is the only thing. There is no decoration, only flat surfaces. The Egyptians did that 4,500 years ago. They also think the Shard is too big for London. It destroys the beauty of the city.
Other critics don’t like what the Shard seems to represent. They say that the Shard shows how London is becoming more unequal. Only very rich people can afford to buy the expensive private apartments and stay in the hotel. But the people who live near the Shard are among the poorest in London. So the Shard seems a symbol of the division in society between the very rich and the poor.
The Shard now dominates the London skyline. It is not certain, however, that ordinary London citizens will ever accept it as a valuable addition to the city.
1. London’s newest skyscraper is called the Shard because of ._____
| A．its cost |
| B．its size |
| C．its shape |
| D．its height |
| A．change London’s skyline |
| B．inherit London’s tradition |
| C．imitate the Egyptian style |
| D．attract potential visitors |
| A．is only preferred by the rich |
| B．is intended for wealthy people |
| C．is far away from the poor area |
| D．is popular only with Londoners |
| A．The Shard: Cheers and Claps |
| B．The Shard: Work of a Great Architect |
| C．The Shard: New Symbol of London? |
| D．The Shard: A Change for the Better? |
7 . If you think about World Heritage Sites, you probably think of places connected with ancient art and culture, historical buildings and monuments. And of course, many of these are on the World Heritage List(WHL)(世界遗产名录). But the WHL contains a lot of sites that are not so obvious. Let’s look at a few of them.
Robben Island in South Africa
This island was used through the centuries as a prison a hospital and a military base. But it’s probably most famous as a maximum-security prison for political prisoners in the twentieth century. Nelson Mandela was one of its most famous residents. The WHL says it represents “the triumph of democracy(民主)and freedom over oppression and racism”.
Borders of France and Spain
This is an area of great natural beauty and the mountains have many interesting geological formations. But it is also an area of small farms. People there still use a type of agriculture that used to be common in mountainous areas of Europe but has almost completely disappeared in modern times.
The city of Brasilia, Brazil
Brasilia is a capital city that was created from nothing in 1956. The WHL calls it “a landmark in the history of town planning”. The different areas of the city and the buildings themselves were all designed at the same time carefully. Every part of the city shows the ideas of the planer and architect.
Simien National Park Ethiopia
Simien National Park was one of the first sites to be listed in 1978. It is one of the highest mountain areas in Africa, and the WHL calls it “one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world”. It is also important for its wildlife. The population of some rare animals is getting smaller and smaller.
1. What does the passage mainly talk about? .| A．The remains of ancient cultures on the WHL |
| B．The household heritage sites on the WHL |
| C．Some of the less well-known sites on the WHL |
| D．Important places of art and culture |
| A．Simien National Park, Ethiopia. |
| B．The city of Brasilia, Brazil |
| C．Borders of France and Spain. |
| D．Robben Island in South Africa |
| A．This is an area of great natural beauty. |
| B．It shows us past European society by the type of agriculture |
| C．The mountains there have many interesting geological formations |
| D．People there still use a type of agriculture that is common in Europe in modern times |
| A．The city of Brasilia, Brazil | B．Robben Island in South Africa |
| C．Borders of France and Spain | D．Simien National Park, Ethiopia |
