1 . Top 4 must-see ancient villages in Beijing

Beijing is a world-famous historical and cultural city with a history of more than 3, 000 years. The rich and profound ancient village culture found in and around the city remains an important part of the capital’s history and culture. Below we recommend 4 must-see ancient villages in the Beijing area as the 2024 May Day holiday approaches.

Lingshui village

Located in the northwest of Mentougou district, Lingshui village was formed in the Liao and Jin dynasties. The ancient dwellings in Lingshui village are a model of rural residential buildings during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) in northerm China, and their original appearance is well preserved. Tourists can explore over 120 folk houses, alongside many cultural relics in the village.

Shuiyu village

Shuiyu village is in Fangshan district. The village was built during the Ming and Qing dynasties. With 600 houses and more than 100 sets of courtyard houses from the Ming and Qing dynasties, the original cultural ecology of the village has been well maintained. Facing both north and south, the village is laid out in a circular shape, forming a unique architectural style.

Sangyu village

Sangyu village lies in the north of Mentougou district, Beijing, next to Lingshui village. Prior to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) , Sangyu village was called Sanyu or “encountering” in English, named for the three water channels that meet in the village. Dense mulberry tree forests surround the entire village, and when they bear fruit, purple mulberries light up the village valley.

Malan village

Malan village, which means “horse stable” in English, had a history of keeping horses that dates back to the Ming dynasty. The ancient buildings in Malan village are made of stone and mud. When building and repairing houses in the village, people try their best to maintain their original appearance. There is also an exhibition hall, a row of old houses, as well as 12 gate bridges in the the village.

1. Which village is designed round according to the text?

A．Lingshui village.	B．Shuiyu village.
C．Sangyu village.	D．Malan village.

2. What does Lingshui village and Malan village have in common?

A．They are models of rural buildings.

B．The houses are made of stones and mud.

C．Their original appearance are well maintained.

D．They were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

3. From which column of a newspaper can this passage probably be taken?

A．Nature.

B．Agriculture.

C．Geography.

D．Tourism.

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The main structure of the Datengxia water resources management facility in Southwest China has been completed four months ahead     1     schedule, the Ministry of Water Resources said on Saturday.

The project,     2     is located in the Xijiang River, has eight power generation     3     (unit), each with an installed capacity of 200,000 kilowatts (千瓦). It can     4     (annual) generate more than 6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity.

In cooperation with other reservoirs (水库), the project can help Wuzhou, a city with     5     population of over 2.8 million in Guangxi, deal with once-in-a-hundred-year floods. Previously, the city was only able to hold floods that occur once every 50 years. The project also enables some cities in the Pearl River Delta     6     (resist) floods that happen once every two centuries.

The ministry said the Datengxia facility will also provide strong support for rural development, offering irrigation (灌溉) water to 80,000 hectares of farmland and     7     (address) drinking water shortage for almost 1.4 million people in Guangxi.

The project has already played     8     (significance) roles in the past three years when it was put into trial operation. For example, in June last year, it helped prevent     9     store about 700 million cubic meters of floodwater when the Xijiang River     10     (hit) by a flood. In the peak, it reduced water flow by 3,500 cubic meters per second.

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

One early September morning, as the sun rose and the morning fog     1     (gradual) faded, the hillside village of Huangling began waking up. Some residents took the peppers and corn from their shelves,     2     placed them on the long wooden brackets (托架), under the roof.

In China’s Jiangxi Province, an ancient village has gained     3     (popular) in recent years Huangling in Wuyuan County. Huangling is one typical example of a village in Wuyuan. Because of its remote location, this village has maintained its     4     (origin) features for many years in terms of the natural environment, traditional lifestyles, ancient customs, and typical Hui-style architecture.

Autumn is the best time of year     5     (visit) Huangling. In early autumn, large bamboo baskets     6     (fill) with crops, pumpkins, and flowers, are placed in front of local doorsteps. This process     7     (call) shaiqiu, the local custom of drying and preserving yields (产量). Today, this longstanding practice has become     8     symbol of homegrown culture and a highlight of rural tourism.

    9     (attract) over one million tourists a year, the community has also played a significant role in driving the development of surrounding villages, As a result, the World Tourism Alliance recognized Huangling     10     a successful case in tourism-based poverty reduction.

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Chinatown is a district within larger cities which    1     (hold) a significant Chinese population. Many major cities around the world have a Chinatown, including New York, London, and San Francisco. These areas tend to have largely Chinese focused stores, signs, and services, which makes some of them popular tourist    2     (destination) for those hoping to experience another culture.

Many Chinatowns used to consist largely    3    new immigrants, though many now have residents whose families have lived there for several generations. The reason why these areas are attractive to new immigrants is    4    ”they can network with people they know and who can speak their native language. As they gain financial independence and    5    greater knowledge of the surrounding city, they may choose    6    (stay) close to known friends and neighbors for comfort. Some Chinese prefer to live in Chinatown because it helps them keep up their language and culture,    7    because they can conveniently access foods, religious services, and other items that they are accustomed to. What’s more, many Chinatowns have associations that schedule regular activities for their members and provide    8     (society) services.

Many Chinatowns provide a    9    (cultural) different experience. While visiting a Chinatown is not at all the same thing as    10    (go) to China, it provides a taste of what life is like in Chinese communities, and an opportunity to enjoy Chinese traditions and culture.

5 . The Sahara is the world’s largest and most magic desert, but knowledge about it is surprisingly limited. Even estimates of when it formed vary widely, from more than five million years ago to mere thousands. Now, however, geographers studying wind-carried Saharan dust on the Canary Islands have come closer to settling this: it is, they report, close to five million years old.

One reason for the uncertainty over the Sahara’s age is that researchers use different methods to estimate it. These include studying desert dust found in sediment (沉积物) under the Atlantic Ocean, analyzing sandstone and modeling the ancient climate. To help settle the uncertainty, Daniel, geographer of the U.S. Geological Survey, and his workmates looked at sediment on Spain’s Canary Islands. They found evidence of Saharan dust. The dust appeared in ancient soil layers (层), whose age they assessed on the basis of fossils (化石) found in the same layers — and that age agreed with the earlier ocean’s sediment studies. The researchers reported their findings in November in Palaeogeography.

“The conclusion of the study is very good,” says Zhongshi Zhang, a climate modeler at the University of Bergen in Norway, who was not involved in the work. “Because the dust found on the islands is distinct from the ocean’s record,” Zhang adds, “it helps to build the case for a five-million-year age.”

The Sahara is the biggest source of wind-carried dust in the world — and that dust’s journey does not end in the Canary Islands, which lie just off the western coast of Africa. It continues onto places such as the Amazon rain forest in South America, Daniel notes. Amazon soils are poor in nutrients, and he says the new results help to show how rich dust from Africa could have been supporting the South American region’s incredible biodiversity for millions of years — adding to the Amazon’s own origin story.

1. How did Daniel settle the formation time of the Sahara?

A．By modeling the ancient climate in Spain’s islands.

B．By studying the desert dust under the Atlantic Ocean.

C．By assessing the age of the dust in ancient soil layers.

D．By analyzing the wind-carried sandstone in the Sahara.

2. What is the underlined words “their findings” in the paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The appearance of the dust.	B．The formation of two layers.
C．The age of the Saharan dust.	D．The agreement of two layers.

3. What contributes to the biodiversity of the South America?

A．The Saharan dust.	B．The Amazon soils.
C．The Amazon rain forest.	D．The Coastal waters.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．The Study of the Sahara.	B．The Birth of the Sahara.
C．The Source of the Sahara.	D．The Effect of the Sahara.

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The Grand Canal is the oldest and longest man-made waterway in the world with a history of more than 2,500 years,     1     construction started in the Spring and Autumn Period. The 1794 kilometers’ waterway is 22 times     2     length of the Panama Canal. It is a golden waterway second only to the Yangtze River in China. The Grand Canal runs from Zhejiang to Beijing     3     (pass) through six provinces and two municipalities and connects five main river systems.

The canal     4     (function) as the backbone of the ancient empire’s inland communication and trading systems. Grain, salt,     5     (log) and silk were transported along the canal to all directions. Scores of towns along the banks developed, contributing     6     (huge) to ancient China’s economy. The canal enormously promoted economic interaction and cultural exchange between the north     7     south, which ensured the country’s     8     (stable).

In 2014, it was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. In 2019 China issued a plan     9     (construct) national cultural parks for the Grand Canal. During the last 2 years, building the Grand Canal national cultural parks     10     (recognize) as a key task in the 14th Five-Year Plan. In future, cities along the Grand Canal will form a new cultural belt, green belt and tourism belt.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Of all the notable mountains in China, the Huangshan Mountain is probably the most famous. The fairy-land like Huangshan national park     1     (occupy) an area of 160.6 square kilometers possesses not only attractive scenery but also rich resources and diverse animal species, for     2     it has been listed as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site.

It is famous for its splendid natural scenery     3     (compose) of four wonders, namely unique guest-greeting pines, absurd (怪) stones, sea of clouds and amazing hot springs.

In Huangshan, there are hundreds of precious pine trees     4     (rare) seen anywhere else. As one of the     5     (symbol) of Huangshan, the most famous Guest-Greeting Pine stretches out for about 10 meters from the cliffs in a     6     (respect) greeting gesture. The absurd stones can     7     (see) almost on every peak of Huangshan Mountain. From different viewing angles, the stones look like human beings, animals or other objects. You would be lucky to see the sea of clouds, as it only     8     (occur) around 50 days in a year. The whole mountain surrounded by the misty clouds is as pretty as a huge ink wash painting. The hot springs keep an average temperature of around 42.5℃ all year round. Taking a bath     9     a hot spring while appreciating the wonderful natural landscapes is     10     relaxing that you will get away from the tiredness after the Huangshan hiking.

8 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Malaysia lies in the tropics (热带) and     1     (bless) with plenty of rain and sunshine. Many types of trees and plants grow here, among     2     are those bearing delicious fruits.

The “King of Fruits” is without doubt the durian (榴莲). It is an oval-shaped fruit about the size of     3     rugby ball. Its skin is green or yellow and covered with many sharp thorns. Inside,     4    , the yellow flesh is soft and sweet. Its smell is very strong. The locals love the durian, but foreigners find the smell hard     5     (bear).

The durian is     6     (normal) in season twice a year. So are other fruits like the mangosteen and mango. We consume these fruits in great quantities.

Other fruits like the pineapple, banana and star fruit are not     7     (season). They are obtainable at all times. In a hot country like Malaysia, fruits provide us with much needed water and other     8     (nutrient) that are vital for health. Often the fruit-stalls (水果摊) are crowded with people     9     (wait) to buy a slice of watermelon to beat their thirst.

In     10     (add), we get imported fruits, but they are more expensive. So we spend our money mainly on local fruits.

10 . Whether you are a history-loving traveler or an enthusiast of natural landscape, you will never get tired of the Great Wall-one of the seven wonders in the world. Here are some famous Great Wall sections for you to choose.

Jiankou Great Wall

Location: Huairou District, North of Beijing, China

Opening Hours: All day

Jiankou Great Wall includes the Southern Line and the Northern Line. Mountains in the Southern Line are extremely steep. This section of Great Wall is almost straight up and down, maintaining the steepest section of Beijing Great Wall. If you like adventure, don’t miss it!

Simatai Great Wall

Location: Gubeikou Town, Miyun County, Beijing, China

Opening Hours: 8: 00-18: 00 from April to October

8: 00-17: 30 from November to next March

This well-preserved and undeveloped site possesses the most charming scene of the Great Wall. With the breath-taking landscape surrounding the glorious Great Wall, Simatai is the best choice for photographers.

Jinshanling Great Wall

Location: Luanping County, Chengde, Hebei Province, China

Opening Hours: 8: 00-17: 00 daily

Jinshanling Great Wall is famed for enjoying sunrise view. Although Jinshanling Great Wall has opening hour limitation, but this is flexible. Visitors can enter the scenic area at around 3: 00 am to wait to see sunrise.

Juyongguan Great Wall

Location: Changping District, Beijing, China

Opening Hours: 8: 00-17: 00 from April to October

8: 30-16: 00 from November to next March

Enlisted in the World Heritage Directory in 1987, Juyongguan Great Wall is a national cultural protection unit. And Juyongguan Pass is one of the three greatest passes of the Great Wall of China. The other two are Jiayuguan Pass and Shanhaiguan Pass.

1. Which section of the Great Wall is suitable for adventurers?

A．Jiankou Great Wall.	B．Simatai Great Wall.
C．Jinshanling Great Wall.	D．Juyongguan Great Wall.

2. What is Jinshanling Great Wall known for?

A．Its scene of sunrise.	B．Its steep stone stairs.
C．Its flexible opening hours.	D．Its breath-taking landscape.

3. When can Jack visit Juyongguan Great Wall?

A．16: 00-18: 00 in May.	B．8: 30-11: 30 in June.
C．8: 00-11: 00 in January.	D．15: 00-17: 00 in December.