1 . Today, we visit one of the most famous parks — Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. This huge park in the southeastern part of the state covers more than 10 thousand square kilometers of the Alaskan wilderness. It includes mountains, glaciers, fjords (峡湾), and even rain forests. Glacier Bay supports hundreds of kinds of animals, including many species of birds, fish, bears, whales and sea lions.

As its name suggests much of Glacier Bay is covered by glaciers. A glacier is a large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley, or over a wide area of land. Glaciers cover a large area of the park.

The glaciers found in the park today are what remain from an ice development known as the Little Ice Age. That period began about 4,000 years ago. During the Little Ice Age, the cold weather caused the ice to grow and develop. That growth continued until the 1700s, when the climate began to warm. The hotter temperatures caused the ice to start melting (融化). That melting led the huge glacier to divide into more than 1,000 different glaciers.

The extremely tall mountains seen in Glacier Bay were formed by the ice developing and then melting over time. The melting of the ice also created water that filled in and created the many fjords within the park. Fjords are narrow parts of the ocean that sit between cliffs or mountains.

Glacier Bay is a popular place for people searching for adventure. Some visitors choose to explore the park by kayak. The small, narrow boats offer visitors a chance to experience the park’s many fjords and its hundreds of kilometers of coastline.

2 .

The Antarctic Icecap is the largest supply of fresh water, representing nearly 2% of the world' s total of fresh and salt water. As can be seen from the table above, the amount of water in our atmosphere is over 10 times as much as the water in all the rivers taken together. The fresh water actually available for human use in lakes and rivers and the accessible ground water amount to only about one—third of 1% of the world' s total water supply.

4 . Death Valley is one of the most famous deserts in the United States, covering a wide area with its alkali（碱性的）sand. Almost 20 percent of this area is well below sea level, and Badwater, a salt water pool, is about 280 feet below sea level and the lowest point in the United States.

Long ago the Panamint Indians called this place “Tomesha”— the land of fire. Death Valley’s present name dates back to 1849, when a group of miners coming across from Nevada became lost in its unpleasantness and hugeness and their adventure turned out to be a sad story. Today Death Valley has been declared a National Monument(纪念碑) and is crossed by several well-marked roads where good services can be found easily. Luckily the change created by human settlement has hardly ruined the special beauty of this place.

Here nature created a lot of surprising, almost like the sights on the moon, ever-changing as the frequent wind moves the sand about, showing the most unusual colors. One of the most astonishing and variable parts of Death Valley is the Devil’ s Golf Course, where it seems hard for one to tell reality from terrible dreams. Sand sculptures(沙雕) stand on a frightening ground, as evening shadows move and lengthen.

6 . Scientists have been studying Antarctica for over a century, but details as basic as what it looks like beneath all that ice have largely remained a mystery. Now, Earther reports that a team of scientists from Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and the UK has published the most detailed data on the continent’s subglacial topography（冰川下的地形）near the South Pole.

As they report in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, central Antarctica is home to three large canyons（峡谷）, one of which is deeper than the Grand Canyon and nearly as wide at some points. The researchers made the discovery by flying a plane with radar over the South Pole, a spot that isn’t covered by imaging satellites. They expected to find mountains beneath the ice sheet, but the wide canyons they found between the mountains came as a surprise.

Of the three canyons, two hadn’t been documented previously. The largest, the Foundation Trough, measures 218 miles long, up to 22 miles wide, and 6,260 feet deep, putting it up there with the planet’s most impressive canyons.

The discoveries are significant on their own, but the real purpose behind the research is to better understand how the West and East Antarctic Ice Sheets will react to rising temperatures. Human-caused climate change has destabilized some of the continent’s ice, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet especially has been slowly crumbling（崩塌）into the sea. If patterns continue, the coastal glaciers supporting the large ice sheets could fall down, causing sea levels to rise a minimum of 10 feet. If this happens, the canyons could be a major factor in the speed and direction of ice flow from central Antarctica to the coast.

The event isn’t likely to happen in the near future, but further study of Antarctica’s topography will help scientists to better predict when it might.

7 . Discover America —— California

San Francisco

Fisherman’s Wharf is a historic marketplace on the seafront with smart restaurants, shops and street performers. Visit Ghirardelli Square, home to the amazing Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop, and Pier (码头) 39, a lively marketplace with shops, restaurants and music. From here you can take a boat trip round the Bay.

Golden Gate Bridge

Connecting San Francisco and Marin County, this is the largest suspension bridge (吊桥) in the world and one of the most famous California landmarks. As you cross the 4200-foot bridge below the famous orange towers, you’ll enjoy breathtaking views of the entire Bay Area.

Venice Beach

This is where skateboarding started, so you must visit the famous skate park right on the beach. Also watch the bodybuilders at Muscle Beach Gym, which is where Arnold Schwarzenegger started his career.

Hollywood

You can stand in the footprints of Jonny Depp at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and then meet his wax model, along with Hugh Jackman, Lance Armstrong, and Brad and Angelina, all at Madame Tussauds Hollywood. Discover how films are made at the working movie studio at Universal Studios Hollywood, where there are also exciting park rides and shows.

Los Angeles

Have you ever wanted to record yourself? Now you can at the fascinating Grammy Museum. You can also learn how to dance like Michael Jackson, and find out about the links between blues and rap.

Disneyland

One of the most magical places in the world, Disneyland Park has hundreds of rides such as Space Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, Matterhorn and Pirates of the Caribbean. A day in Disneyland is a day you will never forget!

8 . Let's pretend we're sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat. The Rhine is one of the main waterways of Germany, and the river trrfic is heavy. It's interesting to watch the many boats going up and down the river. But the river traffic is not nearly so interesting as the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides. The boat is passing many old castles. We can see people working in the vineyards on the hillsides. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see. Wine from the Rhine Valley is famous all over the world.

Suddenly our boat slows down and begins to turn a little. We are coming to a sharp bend in the river. On our right we can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high. At first it looks quite ordinary, but there is nothing ordinary about it. There are many stories, poems, and songs about the cliff. We are looking at the Lorelei.

The someone on the boat begins to sing in German, the song of the Lorelei. It is a song about a beautiful lady who has lured many sailors to their deaths.

The lady is supposed to sit on the rock combing her long golden hair and singing. The sailors who hear her forget to steer, and the current of river hurls their boats on the rocks and dashes them to pieces.

Soon other people on the boat begin to sing. The beautiful song adds to special magic to the moment ,and you begin to realize why so many people have made this trip down the Rhine to see the rock of the Lorelei.

9 . Every day, on British radio stations and on television, you can hear it. It gives the time before BBC radio news programmes, and on the BBC World Service. And you can hear it and see it every evening before ITV's "News at Ten".     1    

If you have been to London, you have certainly seen "Big Ben". It's very difficult to miss, standing almost 100 metres high beside the Thames, next to the Houses of Parliament.     2     But in reality, "Big Ben" is just the name of the biggest bell in the tower. The famous clock tower was built in the 1850s, after the Houses of Parliament were burned down.

The new clock was to be the biggest in the world, and extremely accurate. Lots of people thought that this would be impossible; a very big clock, they thought, could not be very accurate.     3     And the clock has always kept time almost perfectly.

The original "Big Ben" bell weighed 16 tons, and was made in the North of England. However, after it had reached London, but before it had been put in place, it cracked! So the original bell was therefore melted down (in London) and a new Big Ben was made and put in place in July 1859... but after two months it cracked.    4    A smaller hammer was put in place, and Big Ben began chiming (报时）again in 1862.

Since then, there have been several incidents.     5     And in 1976, the clock stopped for 26 days, when a part of the mechanism broke…after 114 years of service! Recently, engineers have decided that the tower and the clock were both in need of urgent repairs. Work began in 2017, and unless there are some unexpected problems, Big Ben will begin a new life in the year 2021.

10 . Casablanca：Time Did Go By

If the Hollywood image of Casablanca is important to you, prepare for a shock from Casablanca.The city is further away from eastern romanticism (浪漫主义）than any other in Morocco，and Casablanca is a modern city — and beautiful in its own aspect.

Colony(殖民地）White

A walk around Casablanca will decide clearly that Casablanca was the place that the French colonial government gave most attention and money.The buildings are of a French version (版本）of Arabo-Andalucian architecture，white with soft lines，and often plenty of details.

The area to explore is south of Avenue des Forces Arms Royales，but of special interest is the Place des Nations Unies，which has the largest structures.

Town Market

Right in from the long Boulevard Muhammad 5, you will find the Marche Central of Casablanca.The place is a small but high-quality version of the traditional suuqs of Morocco, and everything is aiming at the needs of the locals.

The Marche Central has vegetables，meat，all kinds of sea food，as well as handicrafts (手工艺品）.Turtle soup should therefore be an option for those visiting Casablanca.

Old City

The old city of Casablanca is conveniently located — just off the main town square from where roads lead to all directions, and off the sea.But as you enter, you will see that it is not all that old after all，that the houses here often have a form and size which would have made them natural features in the new parts of many other Mococcan cities.