1. What does the speaker mainly talk about?
A.Must-see books. |
B.Places to travel. |
C.Important travel experiences. |
A.The rock. | B.The islands. | C.The ancient city. |
A.The coast. | B.Sand stones. | C.Its culture. |
A.In the early morning. |
B.At late night. |
C.At noon. |
The Singing Sands Mountain, as a hot tourist attraction,
The formation and
The Crescent Spring is also due to the low-lying terrain (地势). Whenever there is a sandstorm, it forms
3 . Do you want to go to take a vacation in Northern Ireland? If you do, here are some places where you can go.
The Sperrins, County Derry and Tyrone
The Sperrins are Northern Ireland’s largest mountains and also its least explored. Starting from Strabane in County Tyrone to the shores of Lough Neagh in the east, Northern Ireland’s largest upland area is a designated (指定的)Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The Mournes, County Down
The wild scenery of the Mourne Mountains sweeps down to the sea. It is the place where C. S. Lewis found his fantastic winter-land of Narnia come to form in his mind, which inspired him to write The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The Mourne Mountains in County Down are famous for a lot of things such as challenging peaks and clear lakes.
Dunluce Castle, County Antrim
The ruin of Dunluce Castle sees a long and amazing history. The castle was first built on the amazing coastal cliffs (悬崖)of north County Antrim by the MacQuillan family around 1500. The earliest written record of the castle was in 1513. The amazing history of Dunluce is matched by tales of how the castle kitchens fell into the sea one stormy night in 1639.
Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, County Antrim
Connected to the cliffs by a rope bridge across the Atlantic Ocean . Carrick-a-Rede Island (home to a single building- a fisherman’s small house) is the final destination (目的地). Suspended (悬空的)almost 100 ft (30m) above sea level,the rope bridge was first made by a fisherman 350 years ago. In 2016, Carrick-a-Rede welcomed the highest number of visitors ever to this exciting rope bridge experience.
1. Who would most probably be attracted to the Sperrins?A.People loving local cultures. |
B.People loving historic places. |
C.People interested in natural scenery. |
D.People interested in meeting new people. |
A.disappointed | B.puzzled |
C.frightened | D.inspired |
A.To encourage readers to take a vacation. |
B.To explain the value of visiting Northern Ireland. |
C.To compare some places of interest in Northern Ireland. |
D.To introduce some places of interest in Northern Ireland. |
Shennongjia is a household name in China because it’s the home of the legendary “wild man”. Its folk tale spans the generations.
Between 1976 and 1981, the Chinese Academy of Sciences organized three large scale
Nowadays, Shennongjia’s attraction is not merely about “wild man”. Its appeal
The “wild man” legend has been passed on for generations by word-of- mouth. In 2016, the legend of "wild man" in Shennongjia
The most famous, most traveled to, and most popular city in all of Australia is the city of Sydney. Sydney sits on the shores of Sydney Harbour and is an
Sydney is also blessed with being very near to a number of natural areas in the surrounding region
Sydney also offers attractions like Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney Tower, and Taronga Zoo. There are also a wide variety of fun things to do in and around the Sydney area. Swimming and spending time at the beach
Sydney is also very bicycle friendly and it is possible
6 . On November 18, 2020, state workers who were tracking sheep were flying over the Utah desert in a helicopter. They noticed an object that is called monolith later, and landed nearby to see what it was. It was a shiny, three-sided metal column about 3.7 meters tall and planted solidly in the middle of the desert.
Bret Hutchings, who flew the helicopter, said, “I have to admit, that’s been about the strangest thing that I’ve come across out there in all the years of flying.” The shape of the monolith and its strange appearance in the desert has reminded people of a black monolith in the science fiction movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. In that movie, the monolith was also unexplained, but it appeared to have been created by creatures from another world.
Some people say that the monolith appears to be similar to artwork created by some well-known artists. But one of the possible artists died in 2011. Two others have said that the work is not theirs.
Still, people working for the government believe that the monolith was most likely put there as an art project. But they note that it was quite a difficult task. The monolith is in a hard-to-reach spot somewhere in the 93,000 square kilometers of Utah land managed by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Delivering the column that seems valuable to that location in the traditional way would have required moving very heavy materials. They must have thought of other ways.
One metal statue in the desert may not cause too many problems for the sheep, but what if lots of people decide to visit the site? That’s one reason the DLM hasn’t released where it is. The BLM is also afraid that the monolith might encourage other artists to plant other similar artworks in the desert. That’s something that the department doesn’t want to happen. Anyway, the government still hasn’t decided whether to remove the monolith or let it remain.
1. Why did the author mention the science fiction movie?A.To explain the film was imaginary. |
B.To show the monolith is strange. |
C.To make the text more interesting. |
D.To prove what Bret said was true. |
A.Dangerous. | B.Costly. |
C.Smooth. | D.Unknown. |
A.Keep its location secret. | B.Get it removed at once. |
C.Preserve it as an artwork. | D.Make it a tourist attraction. |
A.Metal Column Planted in the Ground |
B.Unusual Monolith Found in the Desert |
C.Monolith Presenting Strange Appearance |
D.Man-made Column Drawing Attention |
Considering our limited knowledge, it's not surprising that exploration of the oceans constantly brings about discoveries in various
First, many archaeological finds are made in shallow waters, including whole cities
Amazing biological discoveries are also being made, like the barreleye living 6,000 meters below the ocean's surface. Such discoveries enable us
Additionally, so far more new natural resources such as fire ice
Humankind is entering a new age of oceanic discovery. Oceans will be as familiar
8 . There are around 100 tribes that live in global isolation, mostly in South America and India.
The Sentinelese(250 people)have lived on one of the Andaman Islands in Eastern India for 60, 000 years. They protect their island by fighting against people from outside. Their language is different from any other known language.
Another Andaman tribe is the Jarawa(300 people). In the past, they were independent and fought against anybody trying to make contact with them. But in 1998, the Indian govemment built a road across their land, and since then, they’ve had more contact with the outside world.
Some Amazon tribes avoid contact because of unhappy memories. The Mashco—Piro left their vegetable gardens after rubber companies killed most of their tribe at the beginning of the 20th century. Those who survived became nomadic(游牧的)and started hunting animals in the forest.
The Awa live in the Amazon forests of Brazil. Out of 350 members, 100 have no contact with the outside world. They left their villages and adopted a nomadic lifestyle around 1850 to escape attacks by Europeans. In the following years, farmers in nearby communities started cutting the trees to expand their farmland. The Awa lost most of their hunting land.
The few Amazon tribes that still exist are fighting to keep their traditional way of life.
Survival, an organization that fights for the rights of tribal people, says that uncontacted tribes are the most vulnerable(弱势的)humans on the planet and that’s why their environment should be unavailable to the rest of us.
After years of pressure, the organization got Brazil’s government to clear invaders from the Awa land. All non-Awa people are leaving so the tribe can get their forest back. But some think it’s impossible for tribes to stay isolated forever in a connected world. Contact will be made one day. So the question is:Whose choice should it be, ours or theirs?
1. What could be learnt about the Sentinelese from the text?A.They speak the same language as the Jarawa. |
B.They resist contact from the outside world. |
C.There are about 350 members in their tribe. |
D.They received help from the Indian government. |
A.To avoid being attacked by Europeans. |
B.To avoid being robbed by rubber companies. |
C.To protect their hunting land. |
D.To maintain their traditional way of life. |
A.They should fight for their rights by themselves. |
B.We should show them respect and not disturb them. |
C.It’s impossible to stay isolated from the outside world. |
D.We should help them get used to the connected world. |
A.Doubtfully. | B.Critically. | C.Indifferently. | D.Objectively. |
9 . Joseph Francis Charles Rock (1884–1962) was an Austrian-American explorer, botanist, and anthropologist(人类学家). For more than 25 years, he travelled extensively through Tibet and Yunnan, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces in China before finally leaving in 1949.
In 1924, Harvard sent Joseph Francis Rock on a treasure hunt through China’s southwestern provinces—the Wild West of their day. But gold and silver weren’t his task : Rock, a distinguished botanist, sought only to fill his bags with all the seeds, saplings, and shrubs he could find. During his three-year expedition, he collected 20,000 specimens for the Arnold Arboretum(阿诺德植物园).
Botany, though, was just one of Rock’s strengths. As an ethnologist(民族学者), he took hundreds of photographs of the Naxi, a tribe in Yunnan province, recording their now-lost way of life for both Harvard and National Geographic, and took notes for an eventual 500-page dictionary of their language. His hand-drawn map of his travels through China’s “Cho-Ni” territory, in the Harvard Map Collection, includes more than a thousand rivers, towns, and mountains indicated in both English and Chinese, and was so well made that the U.S. government used it to plan aerial missions in World War II.
Scientist, linguist, cartographer, photographer, writer—Rock was not a wallflower in any sense. Arrogant and self-possessed, he would walk into a village or warlord’s place “as if he owned the place,” said Lisa Pearson, the Arboretum’s head librarian.
In declaring his successful return under the headline “Seeking Strange Flowers, in the Far Reaches of the World” , the Boston Evening Transcript ran a large photo of the daring explorer wearing in a woolly coat and fox-skin hat. “In discussing his heroism including hair-raising escapes from death either from mountain slides, snow slides and robber armies, he waves the idea away as if it is of no importance.”
The Arboretum and Rock parted ways after 1927, mainly because his trip cost Harvard a fortune—about $900,000 in today’s dollars. Fortunately, many of his specimens, many of his amazing photos, and his great stories remain.
1. What is the passage mainly about?A.Rock’s service for the U.S government. |
B.Rock’s cooperation with Harvard. |
C.Rock’s work as a botanist. |
D.Rock’s exploration in Southwest China. |
A.He traveled through some uncivilized places in China. |
B.His hand-drawn map was used in WWII. |
C.He showed heroism by escaping difficulties. |
D.He made headlines in Boston Evening News. |
A.Excitedly. | B.Proudly. |
C.Calmly | D.Nervously. |
A.The vast expense. | B.The dangerous journey. |
C.The challenging tasks. | D.The unknown world. |
10 . Indonesia has said the country would be removing its capital city, in part because it's sinking into the Java Sea. Jakarta is one of the fastest sinking cities in the world, according to the World Economic Forum, due to rising sea levels and the over-extraction of groundwater. But it isn't the only city in trouble. Here's a look at some others that are also at risk.
Houston
Houston has been sinking for decades and, like Jakarta, the over-extraction of groundwater is partly to blame.
The Houston Chronicle reported that parts of Harris County, which contains Houston, have sunk between 10 and 12 feet (about 3 meters), since the 1920s, according to data from the US Geological Survey. Areas have continued to fall as much as 2 inches per year, an amount that can quickly add up.
Lawmakers have tried to address the issue, creating a special purpose district meant to regulate the withdrawal of groundwater in 1975. But the problem has persisted, with privately owned wells and water suppliers continuing to pull from aquifers (蓄水层).
Lagos
The city of Lagos sits on the coast of Nigeria, constructed partly on the mainland, partly on some nearby islands. It's also Africa's most populous city. Its geography makes Lagos especially easily flooded, and the coastline has already been eroding. As sea levels rise due to global warming, the city is increasingly at risk.
One study from 2012 revealed that, because Nigeria's coastline is so low, a sea level rise of just 3 to 9 feet (about 1 to 3 meters) "will have a catastrophic effect on the human activities in these regions."
Washington
Washington is one of the most important cities in the US — and it's also sinking. Research from 2015 showed that America's capital will drop more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) in the next 100 years.
But unlike Jakarta, Washington's sinking has nothing to do with aquifers or rising sea levels — it's actually because of an ice sheet from the last ice age. A mile-high ice sheet pushed land beneath the Chesapeake Bay upward. When the ice sheet melted, thousands of years ago, the land settled back down. The researchers now believe that the area is gradually sinking, a process that could last thousands of years.
1. What is the common reason for the sinking between Houston and Jakarta?A.the soft land | B.rising sea level |
C.the eroding coastline | D.over-extraction of groundwater |
A.positive | B.indifferent |
C.unknown | D.negative |
A.Houston | B.Lagos |
C.Washington | D.Jakarta |