1 . The Best US National Parks You’ve Never Heard of
Dry Tortugas National Park
Located 70 miles west of Key West, this group of seven islands is a great destination to enjoy some of Florida’s nature. The islands are composed of coral reefs (珊瑚礁) and sand, and they are famous for the birds and sea life. Tourists can also enjoy Fort Jefferson, which dates back to the 19th century.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is divided into two units, a northern unit and a southern unit. Between the two sections, this park gives tourists the opportunity to experience some of North Dakota’s unique scenery, including the Badlands, canyons (峡谷) and more. The hiking trails (小径) allow tourists to see some of this country’s natural wonders and amazing wildlife.
Isle Royale National Park
Isle Royale is one of the special parks in the US. The island is only accessible by boat. Once there, you can enjoy the unique wilderness that has been protected in a special way. The island has a beautiful coast that can be explored by boat. You can also explore the island by hiking its many trails. Another unique feature of the island is the ships that have been destroyed at sea.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park extends from the low desert to the high mountains. Tourists to this park can enjoy over 80 miles of trails throughout the park, which travel through canyons, woodlands, springs, mountainous wilderness and more. It is also home to the Salt Basin Dunes, which are an amazing windswept landscape.
1. What can tourists do in Theodore Roosevelt National Park?| A．Walk along the hiking trails. | B．Admire coral reefs. |
| C．Enjoy the Salt Basin Dunes. | D．See Fort Jefferson. |
| A．By train. | B．By car. | C．By water. | D．By air. |
| A．Isle Royale National Park. | B．Dry Tortugas National Park. |
| C．Theodore Roosevelt National Park. | D．Guadalupe Mountains National Park. |
The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are the two most important rivers. Both of
Often, the Yellow River
The Yangtze River is south of the Yellow River and flows (流动) in the same
Ancient Chinese farmers that lived along the Yangtze River
3 . Four Places Named After Scientists in Antarctica
There are many scientific breakthroughs made by women in Antarctic. Here are four landmarks in Antarctica and the female pioneers they’re named for.
Jones Terrace (梯田)
The ice-free terrace in eastern Antarctica’s Victoria Land bears Jones’ name. In 1969, geochemist Lois M. Jones led the first all-female research team from the U.S. to work in Antarctica. Jones and her team studied chemical weathering in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, an ice-free area of Antarctica. Through chemical analyses of rocks they had collected, Jones and her team discovered many geochemical characteristics of the valley’s ice-covered lakes.
Mount Fiennes
8,202-foot-high Mount Fiennes, located on Antarctica’s largest island — Alexander Island — is named for Ginny Fiennes. She established and maintained 80-foot-tall radio towers in the Antarctic. In 1985, Fiennes became the first female who was invited to join the Antarctic Club, a British supper club open to individuals who have spent extended time in the Antarctic region.
Francis Peak
The 3,727-foot-tall peak on Antarctica’s Adelaide Island is named after Dame Jane Francis, who is the first female director of the British Antarctic Survey, the national polar research institute of the UK. Her collection of fossils on Seymour Island helped conclude in a 2021 paper that Antarctica’s abundant plant fossils indicate the continent once had a much warmer climate than it currently does.
Peden Cliffs
Peden Cliffs near Antarctica’s Marie Byrd Land are proof of the labor of Irene Peden. She was the first American female scientist to both live and work in the Antarctic, where she used radio waves to study ice sheets. Peden and her team determined how very low frequency radio waves spread over long polar distances by measuring pathways in the ice. They also used varying radio wave frequencies to measure the thickness of Antarctica’s ice sheets.
1. Which place is named after a builder of radio towers in the Antarctic?| A．Jones Terrace. | B．Mount Fiennes. |
| C．Francis Peak. | D．Peden Cliffs. |
| A．Lois M. Jones. | B．Ginny Fiennes. |
| C．Dame Jane Francis. | D．Irene Peden. |
| A．She could judge the thickness of Antarctica’s ice sheets. |
| B．She discovered a lot of ice-covered lakes in the Antarctic. |
| C．She was the first female American to explore the Antarctic. |
| D．She correctly measured the spreading speed of radio waves. |
4 . If you ever get sick of polite society and think you’re up for the challenge of living out there, take a look at these four of the world’s most remote communities.
Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha is officially the most remote inhabited archipelago (群岛) in the world, sitting 1,750 miles from the nearest land in South Africa, with a permanent population of less than 300. The islands were discovered by Portuguese explorer Tristão da Cunha in 1506. Eventually, the islands came under the control of the United Kingdom.
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is found in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 1,000 miles from South Africa in 1501. The island is home to an airfield used by the U.K. and U.S. militaries, both of which greatly contribute to the island’s total population of about 880 people. It is impossible to become a citizen of Ascension Island without an employment contract.
Foula
Foula is only 2.5 miles by 3.5 miles and is home to a mere 31 people. The island’s inhabitants traditionally made their living from fishing, but in recent years tourism and sheep herding have developed as tax contributors.
Easter Island
Easter Island, famed for its iconic stone statues, is also one of the most remote communities in the world. The island is 15.3 miles by 7.6 miles and has at least 4,000 residents. Today many residents make a living catering to the tourists who flock there to explore the nature, history and culture of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
1. What is required to become a citizen of Ascension Island?| A．You need an employment contract. |
| B．You must pay tax. |
| C．You must obtain Tristão da Cunha’s permission. |
| D．You need the U.K. and U.S. militaries’ permission. |
| A．580. | B．270. | C．850. | D．3970. |
| A．They are both suitable for airfield. |
| B．They have the fewest residents relatively. |
| C．They were both under the control of the United Kingdom. |
| D．They both rely on tourism to help the residents increase income. |
5 . Since I was born and brought up in a rural town, I have a great interest in nature. Using the chance of studying abroad in my second year at college, I decided to go to Canada just because I wanted to see the beautiful phenomena there. So after I finished the study, I went to Yellowknife in the Northwest. I clearly remember the sixth night in Yellowknife. Suddenly my host mother came to my room around 8 p. m. and told me to change clothes and go outside quickly carrying her camera.
The northern lights were flickering (闪烁)in the sky! I was amazed and just stood there with my mouth open. I forgot to take pictures of the mysterious lights.
Since that night, whenever it was sunny, I went outside at night and looked at the sky. It was so cold that my hands and feet were numb with cold. Actually, the time of my being able to be out was limited. I had to bring her camera back to the house in one hour at the most, for the camera was going to be broken because of the cold temperature.
As I took pictures of the northern lights, I came to find a characteristic movement of the lights. They first appear in the north part of the sky and then they gradually come down to the south. After that, suddenly, they come in the middle of the north and south only for a while, which is the time when the best northern lights can be seen. Since it is only a few seconds for the northern lights to come down to the middle of the sky, it is very hard to get good pictures.
The stronger the sun acts, the better and stronger northern lights flicker in the sky. That’s because they occur from the collision(碰撞)between atmospheric gases and solar wind. Much more solar wind comes to the earth when the sun is active, leading to the best northern lights.
1. Why did the author forget to take pictures?| A．It was freezing cold outside. |
| B．He was shocked by the wonderful sights. |
| C．The lights were flickering in the sky. |
| D．He lost all his feeling in his hands and feet. |
| A．The northern lights came out every night. |
| B．The author took lots of pictures with his camera. |
| C．The author could stay as long as he liked outdoors. |
| D．Cameras will be damaged if exposed too long to coldness. |
| A．They appear in the north part of the sky. |
| B．They rise in the east and set in the west. |
| C．They are between the north and south. |
| D．They come down to the south part of the sky. |
| A．The lights stay in the middle for a very short time. |
| B．The lights of the sun affect the northern lights. |
| C．The lights are caused by the collisions of gases. |
| D．The colours of the lights are determined by the height. |
6 . In the 1960s, while studying the volcanic history of Yellowstone National Park, Bob Christian-sen became puzzled about something that, strangely, had not troubled anyone before he couldn’t find the park’s volcano. It had been known for a long time that Yellowstone was volcanic in nature—that is what accounted for all its hot springs and other steamy features. But Christian-sen couldn’t find the Yellowstone volcano anywhere.
Most of us, when we talk about volcanoes, think of the classic cone(圆锥体)shapes of a Fuji or Kilimanjaro, which were created when erupting magma(岩浆)piled up. These can form remarkably quickly. One day in 1943, a Mexican farmer was surprised to see smoke rising from a small part of his land. In one week he was the confused owner of a cone five hundred feet high. Within two years it had topped out at almost fourteen hundred feet and was more than half a mile-across. Altogether there are some ten thousand of these volcanoes on Earth, all but a few hundred of them extinct. There is, however, a second less known type of volcano that doesn’t involve mountain building. These are volcanoes so explosive that they burst open in a single big crack, leaving behind a vast hole, the caldera(火山口).Yellowstone obviously was of this second type, but Christian-sen couldn’t find the caldera anywhere.
Just at this time NASA decided to test some new high-altitude cameras by taking photographs of Yellowstone. A thoughtful official passed on some of the copies to the park authorities on the assumption that they might make a nice blow-up(放大的照片)for one of the visitors’ centers. As soon as Christian-sen saw the photos, he realized why he had failed to spot the caldera: almost the whole park—2.2 million acres -was a caldera. The explosion had left a hole more than forty miles across-much too huge to be seen from anywhere at ground level. At some time in the past Yellowstone must have blown up with violence far beyond the scale of anything known to humans.
1. What does the underlined word “its” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．The ground. | B．The nature. |
| C．The volcano. | D．The park. |
| A．A single big crack was forming there. | B．Someone was burning stalks there. |
| C．A volcano was erupting underneath. | D．There were some hot springs there. |
| A．By looking at the photographs. | B．By analyzing its steamy features. |
| C．By researching historical documents. | D．By using some advanced equipment. |
| A．Its level is much higher than the surrounding areas. |
| B．The volcano in it involved mountain building. |
| C．It is a large hole left by the explosion. |
| D．Its shape is much like a cone. |
7 . Over the past 5,000 years, China has given birth to a large number of cultural heritages, Among these are the beautiful porcelain wares (瓷器) produced in Jingdezhen in East China’s Jiangxi Province. Here we explore their development and importance in today’s society.
Jingdezhen is well-known around the world for Its porcelain, It has produced porcelain since the Five Dynasties (907 ~ 960). Jingdezhen in known as the “porcelain capital” for its different kinds of porcelain wares with rich and cool styles, Of all the products, blue and white porcelain is the most famous, Such unique porcelains with the fine style have been praised as “the Treasure of China”.
Starting in the Song Dynasty (906 ~ 1279), kiln (窑) appeared in every household in every village in Jingdezhen, which was key to the establishment of its porcelain tradition.
During the Yuan Dynasty (1271~ 1368), a new technique for blue and white porcelain was invented. During the Ming (1368~ 1644) and Qing (1644~1911) dynasties, techniques for mining, painting, and firing were advanced, bringing Jingdezhen’s porcelain craftsmanship (工艺) to a historic high. At that time, the establishment of the Zhushan Imperial Kiln and the growing porcelain market overseas accelerated the development of the industry, turning Jingdezhen into a major porcelain production center.
The Republic of China (1912~1949) saw the growth of porcelain industry as well as a rise in shops and traders, which helped increase ties between Jingdezhen and other areas in China and other countries, After the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, the porcelain industry saw its development at high speed.
However, with the economic growth and the use of new technology over the last decades, the traditional porcelain production worsens. Although some traditional techniques have been preserved, a large part of them were lost. In 2006, Jingdezhen porcelain craftsmanship was listed as a national cultural heritage.
1. Why is the blue and white porcelain regarded as “the Treasure of China”?| A．For its producer. | B．For its timing. | C．For its weight. | D．For its style. |
| A．In the Five Dynasties. |
| B．In the Song Dynasty. |
| C．In the Yuan Dynasty. |
| D．In the Ming and Qing dynasties. |
| A．Missed out. | B．Held back. | C．Sped up. | D．Mixed with. |
| A．The Importance of Porcelain |
| B．The Porcelain in Jingdezhen |
| C．The Rise of Porcelain Industry |
| D．The Economic Growth in China |
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
9 . 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. |
10 . Romania is the twelfth largest country in Europe and has a growing economy. It borders the Black Sea to the southeast and shares a sea border with Turkey, which places the country as an important player in international maritime (海上的) trade. Let’s look at some of the major ports of Romania.
Port of Constanta
Constanta is Romania's most important port and is located on the western coast of the Black Sea. The port's capacity is 90 million tons each year, with a 19-metre natural depth and modern equipment. Constanta deals with many types of cargo (货物) both dry and liquid, project and general cargo, as well as passengers.
Port of Medgidia
The Medgidia port is one of the largest riverine ports in Romania. Situated on the Danube-Black Sea Canal, it is quite a busy port, and is well connected through roads and railways. It deals with passenger ships, tankers, cranes, and general as well as bulk cargo. It records 1.2 million tons of annual commercial traffic and 10.3 million tons of annual industrial traffic. It also offers medical, water, fuel, and banking services.
Port of Midia
The port of Midia is on the Black Sea coastline and around 25 kilometers from Constanta. It functions as a satellite port of Constanta and was constructed to meet the requirements of industries located nearby. It deals with the transport of chemicals, oil products and fisheries. At this port, ship repairs are also provided.
Port of Moldova Veche
The port of Moldova Veche is a riverine port near the town of Moldova Nouǎ. It also has two terminals, one for cargo and the other for passengers. This port handles the trade of wood products, sand, bricks, and fertilizers. The port is accessible only by road. The offices of port authorities like the port administration are located nearby.
1. What plays an important role in Romania's international maritime trade according to the text?| A．Its government. | B．Its tourism. | C．Its market. | D．Its location. |
| A．Constanta. | B．Midia. | C．Medgidia. | D．Moldova Veche. |
| A．It provides ship repairs. | B．It deals with passenger ships. |
| C．It can only be entered by road. | D．It is located on the Black Sea coastline. |
