Going against the tide of flocking to well-known tourist destinations on vacation,
2 . Situated at the heart of Beijing, the Palace Museum is approached through the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tian’an men). Because of its centrality as well as restricted access, the palace was called The Forbidden City. It was built from 1406 to 1420 by the third emperor of the Ming dynasty, the Yongle Emperor who was determined to move his capital northward from Nanjing to Beijing. The Ming dynasty fell to the Manchu Qing in 1644 and in 1911 the Qing dynasty was overthrown by the republican revolutionaries.
The southern portion of the Forbidden City centers on three main halls “Hall of Supreme Harmony (Tathedian), Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghedian). and Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian).
| A．It was here in the Outer Court that the emperor held court and conducted grand audiences. |
| B．During nearly six hundred years, twenty-four emperors lived and ruled from this palace. |
| C．In total, the buildings of the two courts account for an area of some 163,000 square meters. |
| D．The Palace Museum’s range of publications has created further interest in domains such as the Forbidden City’s history, architecture, and vast cultural holdings. |
| E．The Forbidden City is surrounded by 10-metre-high walls and a 52-metre-wide moat. |
| F．Although the Forbidden City used to be an impenetrable fortress, the imperial palace is now apublic museum. |
| G．The Museum’s administration launched a policy of comprehensive restoration. |
3 . From grand museum openings to music, art and theatre, these are the coolest new things happening anywhere this year.
Look around an odd star's living room
Paris, France
This townhouse, where the controversial French singer Serge Gainsbourg spent the last 20 years of his life, has been completely closed off to the public since Gainsbourg's death in 1991, but next spring it'll finally open as a museum. The main attraction will be Serge's famously odd living area, with its huge collection of sculptures.
Get lost in the world of Hans Christian Andersen
Odense, Denmark
Just 90 minutes by train from Copenhagen, Odense is best known as the birthplace of Christian Andersen, and it's now home to the new HCA Museum. With its biographical exhibits and inanimate projects that come alive, this thoroughly fun museum would have delighted the “Little Mermaid” and “Snow Queen” author himself.
Check out King Tut's enormous new pad
Giza, Egypt
When it finally opens in November 2022, the Grand Egypt Museum will be the biggest museum in the world for a single civilization. Costing $1 billion, this museum will be about the size of the Louvre in Paris. Most importantly, this will be the first time that all 5,000 pieces of King Tut's treasure will be displayed in the same place.
Discover a cultural jewel at the heart of Europe
Novi Sad, Serbia
Serbia's second-largest city will wear the crown of European Capital of Culture for the year. Ever fancied checking out of an exhibition in an abandoned pasta factory? The Mlin Cultural Station awaits. Novi Sad's unique architecture and history have long made it a major destination.
1. Which place can you go to take a dip into literature?| A．Paris in France. | B．Giza in Egypt. |
| C．Odense in Denmark. | D．Novi Sad in Serbia. |
| A．It will be the biggest museum worldwide. |
| B．It will be bigger than the Louvre in France. |
| C．It will be open again since its close in 1991. |
| D．It will exhibit 5,000 pieces of King Tut's wealth. |
| A．The Mlin Cultural Station. | B．The HCA Museum. |
| C．The Grand Egypt Museum. | D．Serge Gainsbourg's Museum. |
4 . If you could travel in time, where would you go? Perhaps you would watch an original performance of a Shakespeare’s play in Elizabethan England? What about hanging out with Laozi in the Spring and Autumn Period? Or maybe you’d voyage far ahead of the present day to see what the future holds.
The possibility of time travel is indeed appealing. Stories exploring the subject have been around for hundreds of years. Perhaps the best known example is the science fiction novel The Time Machine, which was written by H. G. Wells and published in 1895 for the first time. It was adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term “time machine”, coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to a vehicle transporting people into the far future.
But could time travel actually be possible? Some scientists say yes, in theory. They propose using cracks in time and space called “wormholes”, which could be used as shortcuts to other periods. Einstein’s theory of relativity allows time travel in extreme circumstances. And British physicist Stephen Hawking said you could travel into the future with a really fast spaceship—going at nearly the speed of light. Though building such a spaceship would of course be no simple task.
Even if you could travel into the past, there is something called the “grandfather paradox”. It asks what would happen if a time traveller were to go back in time and have his own grandfather killed for some reason, and therefore prevent himself from being born. If the time traveller wasn’t born, how would he travel back in time?
And would you really like to visit the future? In H. G. Wells’ book, the main character travels into distant time where he arrives at a beach and is attacked by giant crabs. He then voyages 30 million years into the future where the only living thing is a black object with tentacles (触角). If that’s what’s in store, maybe we are better just living in the present day after all.
1. The novel The Time Machine mentioned in Paragraph 2 aims to show .| A．people’s interest in time travel |
| B．the special features of the book |
| C．the long history of time travel |
| D．the contribution of H. G. Wells |
| A．have similarities in many ways |
| B．push the invention of the first spaceship |
| C．have proved wrong by some time travellers |
| D．suggest the possibility to invent the time machine |
| A．the traveller is prevented from meeting his grandfather |
| B．the traveller goes back in time to seek for his grandfather |
| C．the grandfather’s death makes the traveller’s birth impossible |
| D．The reunion of the traveller and his grandfather brings happiness |
| A．Unclear. | B．Skeptical. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Unconcerned. |
5 . The Louvre is the most popular museum in the world. Last year, about 10 million visitors, more than 75% of whom were foreign tourists, came to the museum. About 80% of them were here for Mona Lisa-and most of them left unhappy.
According to a survey of British tourists earlier this year, Mona Lisa was voted the world’s most disappointing attraction, beating out Checkpoint Charlie, Spanish Steps, and Urinating Boy in Brussels.
If the museum thinks that it is inspiring the next generation of art lovers, it is in fact doing the opposite, thanks to the huge crowds in front of the picture. The overcrowding here was so bad that Jean-Luc Martinez, the museum’s director, has to admit, “We have to take steps to deal with the overcrowding in the coming years: new entrances and timed tickets for the museum.”
He misunderstands the problem-for the Louvre, with more gallery space than any museum on the planet, isn’t that crowed. On my last visit, the French painting wing had just a few visitors. Even Venus de Milo, perhaps the second most famous work of art in the museum, only drew a comfortable few dozen visitors. In other words, the Louvre does not have an overcrowding problem. It has a Mona Lisa problem. No other famous painting comes anywhere close to monopolizing (垄断) a museum like she does. It is time for the Louvre to admit its failure. The museum does not need new entrances or timed tickets.
Instead, it only needs to set up a moving walkway in front of Mona Lisa and let Samsung or another smartphone company to fix its cutest cameras around her. So visitors can strike a pose on the moving walkway, and download their cutest selfies (自拍像) with Mona Lisa later. I can even picture the moving walkway smoothly guiding tourists past the Mona Lisa into the gift shops, where millions of selfiers can take time to enjoy their pictures, and spend money.
It is time to set it up now since the 2024 Summer Olympics is around the comer.
1. Which was the most disappointing attraction according to the survey? ________| A．Mona Lisa. | B．Venus de Milo. | C．Spanish Steps. | D．Urinating Boy. |
| A．Amazing. | B．Practical. | C．Expensive. | D．Unworkable. |
| A．A lot of visitors stay there to appreciate it. | B．The room housing the picture is too small. |
| C．Too many visitors want to take a picture with it. | D．The ticket for the famous painting is too cheap. |
| A．To share his unpleasant visit to the Louvre. |
| B．To introduce a famous painting in a museum. |
| C．To offer a simple solution to the Mona Lisa problem. |
| D．To show the opportunity brought by the 2024 Olympics. |
1. How is the weather now?
| A．Cloudy. | B．Rainy. | C．Sunny. |
| A．A free outdoor theater. | B．Two outdoor playgrounds. | C．An indoor playground. |
| A．Go to enjoy a live performance. |
| B．Tell the children about the weekend plan. |
| C．Search for information about the park. |
7 . Do you know that the Czech Republic is among the countries that possess the most castles in the world? Among those 2, 000 castles is Hluboka Castle.
It was a lovely summer day when my two university friends and I decided to travel to Hluboka Castle. The castle is
We walked about 10 minutes from the bus station to the city center. There we had to climb a smooth slope to reach the castle, during which I could already hear the horses’ hooves（蹄脚） and carriage wheels rolling across the
We first saw an extensive English garden with a lawn and colorful flowers. It was first built in Gothic style by King Premysl Otakar II in the 13th century. Later
There are several routes for
I have seen many castles in many countries, but Hluboka Castle still surprised me. After discussing with my friends, I realized that unlike other countries, Czech castles are usually not possessed by kings but
| A．As long as | B．Now that | C．In case | D．Even though |
| A．atmosphere | B．beauty | C．quality | D．shape |
| A．amazing | B．boring | C．scaring | D．puzzling |
| A．researched | B．distinguished | C．decorated | D．situated |
| A．strange | B．common | C．same | D．new |
| A．searched | B．introduced | C．entered | D．overlooked |
| A．dormitory | B．university | C．hometown | D．destination |
| A．garden | B．ground | C．river | D．border |
| A．destroyed | B．influenced | C．removed | D．purchased |
| A．architectural | B．industrial | C．protective | D．religious |
| A．sightseeing | B．exercise | C．education | D．adventure |
| A．observed | B．chose | C．promoted | D．marked |
| A．strange | B．difficult | C．typical | D．surprising |
| A．write | B．record | C．explain | D．understand |
| A．appreciate | B．analyze | C．challenge | D．doubt |
| A．threatened | B．ordinary | C．broken | D．special |
| A．updating | B．damaging | C．storing | D．delivering |
| A．happy | B．noble | C．hardworking | D．poor |
| A．numerous | B．small | C．cheap | D．useless |
| A．meals | B．bricks | C．figures | D．views |
8 . I picked up my phone to take a picture of the beautiful scenery we were passing through while the tour guide spoke. I swiped my phone lock screen to get to my
In the minutes that I spent working through my storage issue, I
Suddenly I
Recently as I
| A．recorder | B．album | C．telephone | D．camera |
| A．available | B．comfortable | C．admirable | D．valuable |
| A．problems | B．apps | C．doubts | D．candidates |
| A．delete | B．add | C．load | D．change |
| A．witnessed | B．chose | C．missed | D．made |
| A．time | B．road | C．phone | D．trip |
| A．explained | B．learned | C．realized | D．declared |
| A．break down | B．give away | C．take off | D．look up |
| A．warning | B．robbing | C．informing | D．accusing |
| A．excited | B．annoyed | C．confused | D．surprised |
| A．blessing | B．crime | C．guilt | D．puzzle |
| A．proved | B．planned | C．experienced | D．expected |
| A．take | B．share | C．bring | D．carry |
| A．However | B．Therefore | C．Instead | D．Besides |
| A．angle | B．attitude | C．idea | D．image |
| A．understand | B．match | C．accompany | D．balance |
| A．mine | B．yours | C．theirs | D．ours |
| A．price | B．nutrition | C．taste | D．order |
| A．ever | B．never | C．seldom | D．even |
| A．with | B．without | C．for | D．against |
1. What is permitted in the museum?
| A．Drinks. | B．Food. | C．Taking pictures. |
| A．$ 13. | B．$ 18. | C．$ 25. |
| A．At the painting galleries. | B．At the ticket window. | C．At the gate of the museum. |
1. What is the woman satisfied with about the trip?
| A．The transportation. |
| B．The accommodation. |
| C．The local dishes. |
| A．Three days. | B．Two weeks. | C．Three weeks. |
| A．Return to work. | B．Cook a meal. | C．Put things in order. |
