2 . Nearly 300 miles long, up to 18 miles across and 4000 vertical（垂直的） feet down, the 8th new wonder: the splendid Grand Canyon（峡谷）.

Viewing its glory, President Theodore Roosevelt called the Grand Canyon "a natural wonder， absolutely unparalleled（无比的）throughout the rest of the world". He urged Americans to preserve what he described as the "wonderful greatness, the nobleness, the great loneliness and the beauty of the canyon". More than a hundred years later, it's still easy to see why almost 5 million annual visitors call the Grand Canyon a wonder.

The canyon stretches as far as the eye can see. Some 5 or 6 million years ago, the Colorado River rushed through this land, carving out the massive canyon we see today, exposing even older layers of rock previously buried. Geologists say some are 2,000 million years old. Native Americans were the first people to make these rocky walls as their homes about 12,000 years ago.

Today the Hualapi and Havasupai Indians live deep in the canyon, balancing age-old traditions with modernity. There are no roads to this village; mules carry the mail here. But at the same time, the tribes are designing a skywalk that promises an excellent view over the canyon early next year. The bald eagle, wild and endangered American icon is another longtime resident of the Grand Canyon.

1. It was ___ that rushed through the land and then the Grand Canyon came into being

A．the Nile River	B．the Colorado River
C．the River of Babylon	D．the Amazon River

2. The tribes living in the canyon are building ___.

A．a road	B．a bridge
C．a skywalk	D．a railway

3. Which of the following statements about the bald eagle is NOT true according to the passage?

A．The bald eagle is becoming endangered.

B．The bald eagle has lived in the Grand Canyon for a long time.

C．The American icon is the bald eagle.

D．The bald eagle is a kind of tame bird.

4. The passage mainly introduces ___.

A．the Arizona plains.

B．the bald eagle

C．the Colorado River

D．the 8th new wonder of the world : the Grand Canyon

3 . The Ministry of Construction has released the names of the first group of 20 national parks, including 9 Suzhou classical gardens: Zhuozheng Garden, Liu Garden, Wangshi Garden, Huanxiu Villa, Lion Grove, Yipu Garden, Ou Garden, Tuisi Garden and Canglang Pavilion.

National parks refer to the famous city parks and gardens. Suzhou classical gardens are parts of China's precious cultural heritage (遗产) (all the 9 gardens are on the list of World Cultural Heritage) as well as a necessary part of the life of Suzhou citizens, not to mention they are also world-famous tourism resorts (胜地). In fact, their unique historical and cultural background serves to contribute to their ranking among national parks.

The earliest classical gardens in Suzhou can date back to the Song Dynasty. However, the gardens impress their visitors not only with their age-old history but also with their delicate scenes, particularly Canglang Pavilion, Zhuozheng Garden, Lion Grove and Liu Garden, the most famous four that represent different styles of dynasties of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing.

In 1978, an imitation（仿造物） of a Suzhou classical garden was set up by Chen Congzhou (the author of the book Suzhou Classical Gardens) in the City Museum of Art in New York, US, which was the first time ever to directly introduce Chinese ancient architecture to Westerners.

1. ________parks and gardens are selected as National Parks in the first group.

A．9	B．8
C．20	D．4

2. Which of the following statements about Suzhou classical gardens is NOT true?

A．They are parts of China's precious cultural heritage.

B．They are world-famous tourism resorts.

C．They are a necessary part of the life of Suzhou citizens.

D．They came into being at the same time.

3. Which of the following can best explain the meaning of the underlined word "delicate"?

A．astonishing	B．delicious
C．beautiful	D．impressive

4. The first imitation of a Suzhou classical garden was set up in ________.

A．London	B．New York
C．Paris	D．Tokyo