3 . Small-town destinations have the advantage of being less expensive, without any compromises on charm. Newstweek’s Fast Women recommend these small towns wholeheartedly—from our own travels, or on the trusted advice of close friends.

McMinnville, Oregon

Winery tasting rooms, a quaint downtown and boutique hotels make this city southwest of Portland a natural destination for an adults-only weekend getaway, Every May, McMinnville is also the home of the largest UFO Festival in the U.S., which explains why you’ll see alien art around town throughout the year.

Ollantaytambo, Peru

This village located in the Sacred Valley of the Incas sits along the Urubamba River. Here you can take in stunning views of the valley and explore the ruins of the fortress overlooking the town, Wander through ancient streets built by the Incas and take in the landscape of distant mountains.

Mandawa, India

This small town was a part of the ancient Silk Road trading gateway between China and the Middle East, Today, it’s filled with frescos, havelis (multistory buildings with courtyards) and wall paintings that have transformed it into an open-air art gallery.

Lorne, Australia

Australia’s Great Ocean Road follows the coast, making Lorne a perfect stopping-over point as you travel around the country by the sea. Famous as an art community, it is surrounded by sandy beaches and stunning waterfalls. It’s a great fishing destination, too.

1. What can you do at McMinnville, Oregon?

A．Try various kinds of wines.	B．Enjoy extraordinary natural beauty.
C．Get exposed to modern art.	D．Celebrate the UFO Festival in summer.

2. Which place best suits people who are fond of ancient art?

A．McMinnville, Oregon,

B．Mandawa, India.

C．Lorne, Australia.

D．Ollantaytambo, Peru.

3. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．A travel journal.

B．An encyclopedia.

C．A geography book.

D．A tourist website.

4 . As one of the city’s most popular free outdoor events, the Cape Town Carnival is a multicultural celebration which focuses on social inclusion and bridging the divide between the diverse communities of the Western Cape and specifically Cape Town. It’s a celebration of the many diverse cultures which makes Cape Town stand out from the most world-famous cities. The carnival is considered a community participation event by the Western Cape Government and draws bigger crowds each year.

The event serves a platform for local performance groups, designers, musicians and artists to showcase their talents to the world. Every year, it may create over 1, 000 part-time jobs. The long-term vision, however, is to create more programmes focusing on skills development, thus permanently employing people. Since 2010 when the carnival was held on Long Street, it has become the festival of the year, and has grown from 17, 000 spectators to as many as 55, 000. This year, the carnival will be held on the Fan Walk in Green Point.

And its theme is Mother City, Mother Nature, exploring two of Cape Town’s greatest assets, its natural beauty and its people. The festival will showcase what makes the Mother City one of the most unique cities in the world. Over 2, 000 shining costumed performers and musicians will take to Cape Town’s Fan Walk, entertaining viewers with floats (花车) and dynamic dance routines. The parade (游行) will be followed by a grand street party, showcasing some of South Africa’s hottest musical talent.

Fans and tourists are encouraged to join in the street festivities anytime from 16: 00, when it will turn into a pedestrian walkway with 2km of food stands and festive hospitality (好客) areas. Later in the evening Cape Town will up the pace with the most appealing and festive open air party, the Cape Town Carnival Street Party! This Culture Comer: A Glimpse of Cape Town, was contributed by Marilyn Steward. I’m Rich Claymount. Stay tuned and see you next time.

1. What sets the Cape Town Carnival apart?

A．Its friendly people.	B．Its unique landscape.
C．Its wide participation.	D．Its cultural diversity.

2. What is the carnival’s goal in the long run?

A．To build up a platform for local talents.	B．To create Africa-based businesses globally.
C．To expand programs to secure employment.	D．To deepen cultural links between countries.

3. What can we conclude from the text?

A．Green Point is famous for floats and music.	B．Cape Town is proud of its nature and people.
C．The carnival happens on Long Street annually.	D．The street party is mostly favored by the tourists.

4. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．An interview.

B．A brochure.

C．A reality show.

D．A radio program.

5 . Amsterdam, with its scenic canals lined with picturesque, 17th-and 18th-century buildings, a major European tourist destination, is slowly collapsing.

Sinkholes are appearing in small streets, and nearly half its 1,700 bridges are unstable and need repairs. The fundamental problem is the state of the canal walls: about 125 miles of them are so broken that they are in danger of collapsing into the canals, potentially taking buildings and people with them. As a huge project to shore up the canal walls gets underway, the city is beginning to look like one huge construction site.

Like much of the Netherlands, Amsterdam lies below sea level. Built on a swamp and heavily expanded in the 17th century, the city sits on millions of wooden piles that serve as foundations. As modern life changed the city, many houses were strengthened with concrete, but the foundations of streets and canal walls were ignored. Many of the wooden piles have shifted, cracked or collapsed under the pressure, causing bridges and can al side walls to sink and crack. Water then seeps in, washing away mortar(砂浆), further hollowing out the infrastructure and creating sinkholes.

The alderman, Mr. De Vries, said that if the city had continued to ignore the problem, it would have headed straight for a catastrophe. The reconstruction will take at least 20 years and will cost 2 billion euros, perhaps even more. “These are big numbers, and work needs to take place in a very busy, closely-populated area,” Mr. De Vries said. “People live here and work here, and we usually have many tourists.”

He acknowledged that Amsterdam in the coming years would look different from its usual postcard self. Still, he insisted that tourists should not be discouraged from visiting. “We invite everyone to come and see what we are doing,” he said. “We want visitors to realize that such a magnificent city needs maintenance.”

1. What problem does Amsterdam face?

A．Collapsed buildings pose a threat to tourists.

B．Bridges under construction disturb citizens’ life.

C．The canal walls are in danger of falling down.

D．Many old streets are in badly need of being widened.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Ways of building canal walls.

B．Causes of sinkholes in Amsterdam.

C．The effects of broken bridges on the city.

D．The geographical features of Amsterdam.

3. What can we learn about the reconstruction work?

A．It is costly.

B．It demands more than three decades.

C．It is a huge and dangerous task.

D．It will promote local employment.

4. Which statement may Mr. De Vries agree with?

A．The city will no longer be as magnificent as it used to be.

B．Modernity is usually achieved at a cost of the environment.

C．Maintenance and tourism should continue at the same time.

D．Repairs have become a serious obstacle to the city’s growth.

6 . The 187-foot-tall Tower of Pisa is famous all over the world mainly because it leans (倾斜). For many years, people believed that the tower’s designer intended it to lean. As it turns out, though, the tower’s lean is an accident caused by poor planning. The Tower of Pisa was constructed (建造) on a riverbed of sand and clay (黏土) that was not strong enough to support a building so tall and heavy.

Construction of the tower began in 1173. Because Pisa experienced several wars, the tower wasn’t completed until 1350. Only a few years after the construction started, people could see that the first three floors of the tower were already leaning. As the next three floors were added, builders purposefully built them with one side higher than the other to try to correct the lean. This resulted in the tower leaning in the opposite direction

Fortunately for the people of Pisa, the long delays (耽搁) during construction gave the structure time to settle and the ground to become compacted (结实的). This mad the foundation (地基) stronger over time, which is the main reason why the tower never fell over. For hundreds of years, the tower was indeed falling. It would lean one more inch about every 20 years. In the end, in 1990, it was closed to the public for fear that a large group of people at the top would weigh enough to make it fall down.

From 1990 to 2001, engineers from around the world helped balance the tower After several unsuccessful attempts at a solution, engineers finally came up with a plan that worked. They slowly removed ground under the high side of the tower. When they had finished, they had returned it to the position it held in about 1838—the tower had been straightened by nearly 16 inches. Except a sudden great disaster, such as a earthquake, engineers believe the tower is safe for another 300 years now.

1. What does the author try to explain about the Tower of Pisa in Paragraph 1?

A．Why it leans.	B．Why it was built.
C．Why it is famous.	D．Why it stopped leaning.

2. What can we learn about the Tower of Pisa?

A．It was completed in 1173.	B．It began to be built in 1350.
C．It was seen leaning after 1173.	D．It was repaired every 20 years.

3. What kept the Tower of Pisa from falling down according to Paragraph 3?

A．The special structure.	B．The timely protection.
C．The skill of the builders.	D．The long time of building.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．When does the Tower of Pisa lean?

B．Is the leaning Tower of Pisa falling?

C．When was the leaning Tower of Pisa built?

D．How did the leaning Tower of Pisa get its name?

8 . With a number of rivers globally in crisis due to pollution, damming, and reduced rainfall, there’s never been a better opportunity to appreciate everything that rivers give to the world.

Rivers provide drinking water

Two thirds of the UK’s tap water is either from a river or from a river-fed body of water.     1    . For example, the Colorado River alone supports nearly 40 million Americans. That’s why it is vital to keep rivers clean and free of pollutants.

    2    

Ancient farming depended on these life-giving waters, so does modern agriculture. During the rainy season, many rivers overflow their banks, nourishing the soil with minerals and nutrients. Besides, rivers act as water sources for irrigation.

A good source of food comes from rivers

A fifth of the fish that are fished globally come from rivers and other freshwater sources. Another two thirds of fish that people eat rely on rivers for breeding, nutrients, or other reasons.     3    .

Human culture is tied to rivers

    4    . The names of the rivers in England including Thames, Leith, and Taff, disclose the island’s history. Other examples are the religious connections to the Ganges in India or the Jordan River in Israel.

Rivers provide leisure activities

    5    . River sports, boating, fishing, swimming, braving rapids, and visiting waterfalls are all ways that rivers add value and entertainment. It’s essential to work to conserve rivers for generations to come.

A．Rivers are important for agriculture

B．Rivers are more than just water under the bridge

C．Rivers are closely connected to ancient civilizations

D．A large part of our modern life is involved with rivers

E．The organization American Rivers gives a similar figure for the US

F．Consequently, rivers can provide homes for a diversity of plants and animals

G．Protecting rivers and their biodiversity is a good way to protect this valuable source of food

9 . Longing for the most amazing places on the planet? You can do no wrong with these lakes across the globe.

Five Flower Lake

Set in the striking karst landscape of the Jiuzhaigou Valley in Sichuan province, China, Five Flower Lake is extraordinarily clear, with visibility to a depth of 40 metres. Five Flower is one of a series of blue-, green-and sky-colored lakes blocked by rock falls, but it differs from the others as its waters change color, looking sometimes yellow, sometimes green, but usually diamond blue. In winter, Five Flower never freezes; in summer, it never dries up. Local wildlife living in the surrounding mountain forests include the rare giant panda and the golden snub-nose monkey.

Crater Lake

The deep-blue waters of Crater Lake in Oregon, US, fill the outlet of an ancient volcano that collapsed 7,700 years ago. Its strangest occupant is the “Old Man of the Lake”, a nine-metre-tall tree stump(树桩), which has stood upright in the water for more than a century. No rivers or streams enter the lake. Water loss in summer is compensated by winter snow and rain, the entire body of water being replaced every 250 years.

Lake Ohrid

Ancient Lake Ohrid has been around for about five million years and crosses the mountainous border between Macedonia and Albania. It has unique plants and wildlife, including the Ohrid “plashica”, a fish native to the lake, whose scales(鳞片) are used to make Ohrid pearls.

Lake Maggiore

Surrounded on three sides by the Lipontine Alps and touching the plain of Lombardy to the south, Lake Maggiore is Italy’s longest lake. Considered part of the country’s lake district, it is shared with Switzerland. Characterized by a Mediterranean-style climate, temperatures here are mild all year. This has given rise to some of northern Italy’s most wonderful gardens, which appear to float like flower-decked boats on the water.

1. What makes Five Flower Lake different from other lakes?

A．Its agreeable climate.	B．The rare local wildlife.
C．Its color-changing waters.	D．The visibility of waters.

2. How does Crater Lake mainly get water supply?

A．By artificial rain.	B．By snow and rain.
C．From nearby streams.	D．From an ancient tree.

3. Which lake has a typical warm climate?

A．Five Flower Lake.	B．Crater Lake.
C．Lake Ohrid.	D．Lake Maggiore.

10 . 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.