1 . I am not a morning person, but as I stand on the boulder (巨大的砾石) in the early dawn, my mind is sharp and alert. I am more than awake, concentrating on the vast endlessness below.
There is a noticeable lack of early birdsong here; no hiss of offshore wind fanning the waves. The only sound is my breath, heavy after the scramble to the top. It is by no means a difficult climb, but I had to hurry to beat the sun.
“If you stand at the top of Kubu Island just before sunrise,” said one of the returning visitors, “You can see the arc (弧线) of the Earth.”
He was right.
From up here the horizon cuts not so much a line as an arc.
Soon my feeling of being in the moment is replaced with something as strange and ancient as this place itself. My breathing calms and becomes shallow. My heartbeat slows. I am first surrounded by in silence. I am a tiny, shrinking spot. Then I disappear completely.
They say that astronauts looking down on Earth gain a sense of perspective that changes them forever. They begin to understand how much we are a part of our planet, and how much it is a part of us. The astronauts are 400 kilometres off the surface of Earth, and while the top of Kubu Island is only 10 metres high, there is something about this pile of boulders that sends you into orbit.
Kubu Island isn’t actually an island, but rather, an outcrop of ancient rocks that are up to two billions year old. It was once rested on the edge of a vast lake. As the water evaporated, it created the huge Makgadikgadi Pan (马卡迪卡迪盐沼盆地), one of the world’s largest salt pans.
Ancient tribes and civilizations have migrated and lived here, first to fish from its rocks and then to commune with nature and its spirits. Today, adventurers and tourists come here to marvel at this strange pile of boulders with baobab trees (猴面包树) growing out of it. These trees are estimated to be 3,000 or 4,000 years old; they are really impressive not only for their size but also because they seem to have so much to tell about the history of this island.
This is the gift that Kubu Island gives and the power that it has. This tiny, weird outcrop — if not in the middle of nowhere, then certainly on the edge of it — can give you a sense of yourself that very few places can. A sense of yourself as a person on this planet and, somehow, way beyond it.
1. Which of the following can best describe Kubu Island?| A．It is a “small” island, surrounded by waves and water. |
| B．It is an “ancient” island, featuring recreational activities. |
| C．It is a “dry” island, surrounded by a sea of salt. |
| D．It is a “remote” island, resting on the edge of a vast lake. |
| A．feel anxious for | B．pose danger to |
| C．be grateful to | D．be amazed at |
| A．recommend a unique travel route to a peaceful and silent island |
| B．encourage readers to reflect more on themselves while travelling |
| C．inform readers of a mysterious place that deserves to be explored |
| D．advise readers to visit an island which is peculiar in its original state |
| A. magical B. cultural C. meets D. built E. strong F. damaged G. entrance H. views I. calendar J. ranked K. lit |
A long red bridge stretches out across water. It runs across the Golden Gate. This is not the
Welcome to San Francisco, a place famous for its beautiful parks, hilly streets and lovely beaches. But the bridge is undoubtedly the most well-known symbol of the city. Before its completion in 1937, the bridge was considered impossible to build because of the foggy weather, powerful winds, and
San Francisco
According to the census, 21 percent of the city’s population was made up of Chinese people. San Francisco’s Chinatown is the largest outside of Asia and the oldest in North America. Two traditional festivals, the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, are the biggest events of the year on the city’s
If yellow cabs are a key part of New York city life, then the cable car is San Francisco’s equivalent. The first cable car came into public service in 1873, and the slow and noisy vehicle has been a symbol of the city ever since. The cable car network was once
3 . Nowhere in Italy
Just ask Mayor Massimo Cacciari, professor of philosophy, fluent in German, Latin, Ancient Greek. Ask about the acqua alta and Venice
Boots are fine for water, but useless against the flood
| A．is | B．has | C．there is | D．is there |
| A．above | B．beneath | C．over | D．in |
| A．that | B．it | C．this | D．here |
| A．sunk | B．being sunk | C．sinking | D．sinks |
| A．what | B．that | C．it | D．/ |
Mount Tai, located north of Tai'an in Shandong province, is the most sacred(神圣的) Taoist mountain and is of both historical and cultural significance in China.
The word tai in Chinese means stability and peace, and the name Tai'an is from the saying ''If Mount Tai is stable, so is the entire country. '' Jade Emperor Peak, the summit of Mount Tai with an altitude of 1,545 meters, offers tourists a(n)
Among China's Five Great Mountains, Mount Tai, known as the eastern mountain, is only the third highest. Why is it regarded as the leader of the Five Great Mountains, then? In Chinese culture, east is
Moreover, Mount Tai has been a place of worship for at least 3,000 years and
The supreme impressive
5 . Tayka Hotel De Sal
Where: Tahua, Bolivia
How much: About $95 a night
Why it’s cool: You’ve stayed at hotels made of brick or wood, but salt? That’s something few can claim. Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally of salt - including the beds (though you’ll sleep on regular mattresses and blankets). The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric dried-up lake that’s the world’s biggest salt flat. Builders use the salt from the 4,633-square-mile flat to make the bricks, and glue them together with a paste of wet salt that hardens when it dries. When rain starts to dissolve the hotel, the owners just mix up more salt paste to strengthen the bricks.
Green Magic Nature Resort
Where: Vythiri, India
How much: About $240 a night
Why it’s cool: Riding a pulley (滑轮) -operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is just the start of your adventure. As you look out of your open window - there is no glass! -you watch monkeys and birds in the rain forest canopy. Later you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to the main part of the hotel, or just sit on your bamboo bed and read. You don’t even have to come down for breakfast - the hotel will send it up on the pulley-drawn “elevator”.
Dog Bark Park Inn B&B
Where: Cottonwood, Idaho
How much: $92 a night
Why it’s cool: This doghouse isn’t just for the family pet. Sweet Willy is a 30-foot-tall dog with guest rooms in his belly. Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side. You can relax in the main bedroom, go up a few steps to the loft in Willy’s head, or hang out inside his nose. Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters, there is also a toilet in the 12-foot-tall fire hydrant outside.
Gamirasu Cave Hotel
Where: Ayvali, Turkey
How much: Between $130 and $475 a night.
Why it’s cool: This is caveman cool! Experience what it was1 like 5,000 years ago, when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash. But your stay will be much more modern. Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect from a modern hotel, and the white volcanic ash, called tufa, keeps the rooms cool, about 65 ℉ in summer. (Don’t worry - there is heat in winter.)
1. Which of the following about Tayka Hotel de Sal is true?| A．The hotel is the cheapest among the four mentioned. | B．Everything in the hotel is made of salt. |
| C．The glue can prevent the rain from dissolving the hotel. | D．It is located on a prehistoric dried-up lake. |
| A．The building of Dog Bark Park Inn B& | B．B. The name of a pet dog of the hotel owner. |
| C．The name of the hotel. | D．The name of the hotel owner. |
| A．Tayka Hotel De Sal | B．Green Magic Nature Resort |
| C．Dog Bark Park Inn B&B | D．Gamirasu Cave Hotel |
New York—the Statue of Liberty（自由女神像），the skyscrapers（摩天大楼），the beautiful shops on Fifth Avenue and the many theaters on Broadway. This is America’s cultural（文化的）capital. It is also her biggest city, with a population of nearly 8 million. In the summer it is hot, hot, hot and in the winter it can be very cold. Still there are hundreds of things to do and see all the year round.
Manhattan is the real center of the city. When people say“New York City,”they usually mean Manhattan. Most of the interesting shops, buildings and museums are here. In addition, Manhattan is the scene of New York’s busy night life. In 1605 the first Europeans came to Manhattan from Holland. They bought the island from the Native Americans for a few glass necklaces worth about $26 today.
Wall street in Manhattan is the financial heart of the USA. It is also the most important banking center in the world. It is a street of“skyscrapers.”These are high buildings, which Americans invented, and built faster and higher than anyone else.
Like every big city, New York has its own traffic system. Traffic jams can be terrible. It’s usually quickest to go by subway. The New York subway is easy to use and quite cheap. The subway goes to almost every corner of Manhattan. But it is not safe to take the subway late at night because in some places you could get robbed. New York buses are also easy to use. You see more if you go by bus. There are more than 30,000 taxis in New York. They are easy to see, because they are bright yellow and carry large TAXI signs. Taxis do not go outside the city. However, they will go to the airports. In addition to the taxi fare, people give the taxi driver a tip of 15 percent of the fare’s value.
Central Park is a beautiful green oasis（绿洲）in the middle of New York’s concrete（混凝土）desert. It is surprisingly big, with lakes and woods, as well as organized recreation areas. New Yorkers love Central Park, and they use it all the time. In the winter, they go ice-skating, and in the summer roller-skating. They play ball, ride horses and have picnics. They go bicycling and boating. There is even a children’s zoo, with wild birds and animals.
A. The Financial Center of USA
B. American biggest cities and culture center
C. The Traffic Facilities of New York
D. Manhattan, real center of New York City
E. New York—An International City
F. Central Park—A Place of Recreation for the New Yorkers
Athens----- the name brings to mind buildings with tall, white columns and statues of Greek gods and goddesses. Museums take visitors back to the time of ancient Greece. When
The history of Athens is tied to mythology. The god
The Acropolis, or “ high city”, stands on a hill overlooking the city. Western civilization’s most important ancient monument was built by Pericles, the leader of Athens from 461-421BC. He spared no expense when he constructed the buildings of the Acropolis. He used only the
More treasure of ancient Greece lies in the National Archeological Museum. Opened in 1874, the museum contains the best collection of Greek art in the world. It is crammed with treasures ------ more
8 . One picture in the Wonder Book of knowledge I had as a little boy showed a man reading a book while floating in the Dead Sea. What a miracle! How would it feel to lie back in water so thick with salt that it was impossible to sink?
Fed by the Jordan River and smaller streams, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth’s surface, and its water is ten times saltier than the Mediterranean. With evaporation its only outlet, salt and other minerals become super-concentrated.
Earlier this year, I drove down the long, steep hill to realize my dream. The shoreline was a broad area of bare salt-mud, but the water edge was far out of sight. Had somebody pulled the Dead Sea’s plug? I wondered. Eli Dior, an Israeli official, explained the problem: “The Dead Sea is drying up. Every year, the surface drops about one meter, and as the water level falls, shadow areas are left high and dry.”
Over the last half-century, the five neighboring countries have collectively diverted nearly all the water flowing into the Dead Sea to meet human and agriculture needs. Result: the Dead Sea is being emptied.
With population in the region set to double at least in the next 50 years, there is little hope of restoring the water being diverted for human consumption. No country has a drop to spare for the Dead Sea, where they know it will just evaporate. To dream of opening the dams and restoring natural balance is plainly unrealistic.
Yet one ambitious high-tech dream may turn out to be not only the salvation of the Dead Sea but also a ticket to peace around its shores. The “Red-Dead” is a proposed $5 billion project to bring sea water some 240 kilometers by pipeline and canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The Red-Dead may be the only solution, but even if the project is carried out successfully, the Dead Sea will be 10 to 20 meters lower than now and two thirds of its current size.
Whatever the future holds, the Dead Sea’s magical mix of sun, mud, sea and salt will surely survive. Many might complain that the Dead Sea is half empty—but for me the Dead sea will always be half full.
1. What’s the passage mainly about?| A．Dead Sea – miracle of the world. |
| B．Save the environment of the Dead Sea. |
| C．Slow shrinking of the Dead Sea. |
| D．Why is the Dead Sea so salty. |
| A．a severe reduction of the water flowing into the sea |
| B．rapid evaporation of the water in the Dead Sea area |
| C．the increasing quantity of water drawn from the sea |
| D．very low annual rainfall in the Dead Sea Area |
| A．With no outlet to any ocean, the Dead Sea has become by evaporation most dense waters on earth. |
| B．Though burdened with the growing population, the neighboring countries haven’t cut off the sources of the Dead Sea. |
| C．All the countries in the area will consider diverting less water from the Jordan River. |
| D．The Red-Dead Project has not only brought water to the Dead Sea, but peace to the area as well. |
| A．If the Dead Sea dried up, great natural disasters would happen in the region. |
| B．The Dead Sea will not survive no matter what people do to save it. |
| C．The five neighboring countries should stop diverting water from the Jordan River. |
| D．Though the Dead Sea is shrinking gradually, it will not die. |
The road that led to 1,000 stories
In his new book Watling Street, John Higgs explores one of Britain’s oldest roads — and how it inspired countless stories, from the Canterbury Tales to Great Expectations to Star Wars.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, written in the late 14th Century, tells the story of a group of medieval pilgrims travelling from London to Canterbury. Six hundred years later, the Star Wars movies were filmed on the same road.
We now think of Watling Street as the A2 and the A5 motorways, which run across Britain from Anglesey in north-west Wales to Dover in south-east England in a way that joins two opposite sides at an angle. But the road has existed throughout all of British history.
It is a place that reflects its own history, always being rewritten.
For many years it was believed that William Shakespeare wrote a play called The Widow of Watling Street', it was included in early collections of his work. It is now thought that the real author of that play was Thomas Middleton.
| A．Watling Street’s origins are lost in prehistory. |
| B．But Shakespeare can still be connected to the road. |
| C．In fact, it is hard to find a character from the British imagination who cannot be linked to Watling Street in some way. |
| D．It is one of the few permanent fixtures of this island and one of the first lines on the map. |
| E．Here characters including Sherlock Holmes and Batman have been brought to life. |
| F．It is Watling Street — and there is no road in the English-speaking world more steeped in stories. |
Nearly 135,000 people on the Indonesian island of Bali have left their homes after warnings that the Mount Agung volcano could erupt at any time.
Blowing smoke, Mount Agung is sending fright throughout the area. Its alert statues
One farmer expressed his concern that lava could destroy his house and farm. Apart from villagers, there are around 30,000 cattle within the danger zone around the volcano. Efforts are being made to evacuation（疏散，撤退） the livestock as much as possible
Indonesian has nearly 130 active volcanoes, more than any other country. Many of these show high levels of activity, but it can be weeks or even months
Bali is famous for its beaches and temples. It
