Winter in Yellowstone 7 days Start on Jan 9 and 23, 2020 Travelers: 24 Winter is magical in Yellowstone, when visitors are few and wildlife viewing is wonderful. There are mud pots (泥沸泉) and natural hot springs covered in steam. With expert guidance provided by Jim Robbins, visitors will hugely enjoy this seven-day journey to one of our greatest ecosystems. Jim Robbins has written for The New York Times for more than 35 years, mainly on science and environmental problems. He has also written five books. His first was about Yellowstone National Park and the West. He has just completed a sixth book about the future of birds in a changing world. |
New York Opera 7 days Start on Dec. 13, 2019 Travelers: 25 New York City is full of happiness as the city makes ready for the holidays. It's also time for some of the best operas and musical performances of the year at tke Met and Carnegie Hall. Join the opera expert Fred Plotkin to hear stars including Joyce Didonato, Luca Pisaroni, Lise Davidsen and Sir Simon Rattle. Fred Plotkin is one of the world's most famous opera experts and the writer of Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera, the best-selling standard text in America for opera education. He has lectured, taught and held managerial or artistic roles at some of the top opera companies including La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House and Lyric Opera of Chicago. |
A.Research the forest ecosystem. | B.Enjoy the beauty of the nature. |
C.Study mud pots with Jim Robbins. | D.Read books about wildlife protection. |
A.To communicate with opera stars. |
B.To listen to speeches on opera education. |
C.To enjoy some of the best operas of 2019. |
D.To visit some of the top opera companies. |
A.A traveller. | B.A writer. | C.An editor. | D.A visitor. |
A.He wrote five best-selling books. |
B.He is a friend of Joyce Didonato's. |
C.He owns a top opera company. |
D.He has given speeches on opera. |
A.They are guided by experts. |
B.They both last eight days. |
C.They begin in the same month. |
D.They have the same number of travllers. |
2 . The Best Free Tourist Attractions
Alaska: Anchorage Market and Festival
While Anchorage isn’t the capital of Alaska, it is the state’s largest and most populated city. The Anchorage Market and Festival is open and free of charge on weekends. Anchorage is also at the beginning of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, where walks and hikes can last between two hours and a half day. It’s free, of course.
Arkansas: Walmart Museum
In the northwest corner of Arkansas is Bentonville, which gave birth to a supermarket you may have heard of. It’s Walmart, which is currently one of the biggest companies in the world. Admission is free to the Walmart Museum. And just outside town is the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which is also free.
Colorado: United States Air Force Academy
Driving around and taking in the great natural beauty of Colorado is free. If you know some kids who might be interested in becoming a future police officer, then head to the United States Air Force Academy just outside Colorado Springs where free tours are offered daily. These are the cheapest months of the year to visit all 50 states.
Connecticut: Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut was the first place in the U. S to offer pizza by the slice to hungry customers, including students of a college called Yale University. While in New Haven, you can go on a tour of the campus, free of charge, every day of the week. This state has the alma mater of both President Bushes, Bill and Hillary Clinton, journalist Bob Woodward, and Sarnuel F. B. Morse, inventor of the Morse code to name a few.
1. What may especially attract visitors in Bentonville?A.Buying things at a low price. | B.Visiting Walmart Museum for free. |
C.Buying works from the art museum | D.Going to its downtown quickly. |
A.Anchorage Market and Festival. | B.Walmart Museum. |
C.United States Air Force Academy. | D.Yale University. |
A.Its free visit. | B.Its historical development |
C.Its social relations. | D.Its successful education. |
3 . There’s a lot for teenagers to do! Trying new things is a great way to become more independent, explore your own interests and learn about other places and cultures.
What about going to a festival?
Staying somewhere beautiful overnight is another option. The Youth Hostels Association has over 200 places to stay in England and Wales and many of them are close to national parks. The hostels are clean and warm, and they have everything you need. Last summer, I went youth hostelling for four days with a group of friends in the Peak District.
A.Camp Bestival and Larmer Tree are really teen-friendly. |
B.We stayed each night at a different hostel. |
C.You’ll need a separate ticket for each journey. |
D.Here are just a few ideas. |
E.You can enjoy different band performances. |
F.It’s a great way to see some of Europe’s most amazing sights. |
G.If you love travelling, you can join group tours for teens. |
4 . I am on holiday here in Switzerland with my parents and I am having a fantastic time.
We have been on lots of walks in the mountains but we always go with a guide.
Yesterday we went for a boat trip around the lake but we had to go back to the hotel early.
A.It’s safe to go out alone. |
B.You don’t have to go with a guide but it’s safer. |
C.It started to rain heavily and we couldn’t even see the shore. |
D.It’s also the first time I’ve ever stayed in a hotel and I really like it. |
E.It’s the second time I’ve been to Switzerland. |
F.We’re staying in a hotel near a lake and I can see snowy mountain peaks from my bedroom window. |
G.The best thing of all is the beautiful scenery. |
5 . The Best Free Tourist Places in America
Alaska: Anchorage Market and Festival
Although Anchorage isn’t the capital of Alaska, it is the state’s largest city with the largest population. The Anchorage Market and Festival is open and free of charge on weekends. Anchorage is at the beginning of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, where walks can last between two hours and a half day.
It’s free, of course.
Arkansas : Walmart Museum
Lying in the northwest corner of Arkansas is Bentonville, which gave birth to a little mall you may have heard of. It’s Walmart, one of the biggest companies in the world at present. It is free to visit the Walmart Museum, which attracts thousands of visitors every year. And just outside the town is the well-known Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which is also free.
Connecticut: Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut was the first place in the U.S. to offer pizza to the hungry and the homeless, including students of Yale University. While in New Haven you can go on a tour of the campus (校园), where many beautiful buildings have existed for a long time. It’s the university where President Bushes, Bill and Hillary Clinton, journalist Bob Woodward, and Samuel F. B. Morse studied.
Kansas: Santa Fe Trail
Western Kansas has very little light pollution. So as you travel along, stop once in a while and stare at the night sky. The Santa Fe Trail went through Kansas and you can still walk the longest remaining distance of the road just outside Dodge City.
1. What may especially attract visitors to Bentonville?A.The chance to find many interesting goods. |
B.The chance to get trained in a large company. |
C.The chance to get something free in Walmart. |
D.The chance to get a good knowledge of Walmart. |
A.Make pizza with students of Yale. |
B.Appreciate old buildings. |
C.Meet famous people. |
D.Attend some free classes. |
A.Kansas. | B.Bentonville. | C.Anchorage. | D.New Haven. |
6 . How to Volunteer Abroad and Actually Help People
Fear of “voluntourism” shouldn’t stop you from doing something great. We’ve all heard it. Those “voluntourists” going to Africa think they’re helping, but they’re actually going for a holiday, wasting money, and strengthening dangerous stereotypes (刻板印象). I am, though, against the idea that we shouldn’t volunteer abroad at all. How would the world be a better place without people devoting their time and resources to help others who need it?
I chose my organization well. As a student, there are so many options for volunteering abroad. I travelled with Cambridge Development Initiative, a student-run project that works on sustainable development projects in Tanzania. There were four branches and I was on the business team. We were trained on the dangers of voluntourism and on best volunteer practices. We learned about the culture and even learned some basic Swahili, the local language, before travelling. When we were in Tanzania, we stayed in the same accommodation alongside our Tanzanian team members, ate the same food, and spent our free time in the same places.
When I told my friend I was travelling to Tanzania to volunteer for the summer, he said, “Oh, you’re going to have one of those summers where you go away for a couple of months and it totally changes your profile (头像) picture.”
I didn’t change my profile picture, but I did help 23 young people start their own companies. They brainstormed ideas, surveyed target communities, improved their designs, came up with business plans, and collected seed capital for their startups. They came up with creative ideas, such as a “mini-grid” (微型电网) providing electricity to an off-grid village and a plastic-waste recycling company.
Before I went to Tanzania, I was “this close” to taking an internship in a company instead because I worried I would be contributing to the negative practice of voluntourism. Here’s how I made sure that didn’t happen, and why I think the benefits of volunteering abroad far outweigh the benefits of taking some questionable moral high reasons back home.
1. What is voluntourism?A.A study in a developing country. |
B.A trip to a developing country to help out. |
C.A cultural exchange in a developing country. |
D.A traveling to a developing country to help out, but doing more harm. |
A.By not trusting any organization. |
B.By learning about the local culture and language. |
C.By providing electricity to an off-grid village. |
D.By making trade with the team members. |
A.The writer came up with ideas to solve off-grid problems. |
B.The writer helped establish young people’s own start-ups. |
C.The writer gave up a corporate internship. |
D.The writer went to Tanzania as a volunteer. |
A.The writer would have a moral high experience worth showing off. |
B.The writer was able to change the profile picture after the trip. |
C.The writer should help the locals as much as possible. |
D.The writer should volunteer because it would be life-changing. |
7 . A Journey to the Yosemite Firefall
Each year, thousands of people are attracted to the Yosemite National Park in California for a chance of seeing —and photographing ——the unique “firefall”. The amazing “firefall” comes to life only when there is enough water from the melting(融化)snow to keep the Horsetail Fall flowing and when the light of the setting sun hits the waterfall at the right angle. It can only be seen for a short time in February on clear sunny days.
This year, the weather isn’t stopping the “firefall” from happening, but it is making the journey to see it more difficult.
“What would have been a 10-minute walk turned into a two-hour hike through deep snow,” photographer Ryan Fitzsimons said about his recent trip to see the phenomenon. “Our clothes were all wet by the time we got to a viewing site. But the heavy snow made the sight much more beautiful since the waterfall is much bigger this year.”
Another photographer Andy Heitz was making his first trip to see the “firefall”. He had to wait five hours in the extreme cold for his turn to take a picture.
“I got to the site at about 12:00 at noon. The place was already filled with hundreds of people waiting to see and photograph the ‘firefall’. I was so lucky that I shot a really wonderful burner! I was completely amazed with what I saw,” he said. “You know, only on a couple days of the year in February and when the sun sets down at the perfect angle to shine on Yosemite’s Horsetail Fall can we see the ‘Fire Fall’. I’ll never forget what I have seen.’’
The “firefall” should continue to be there from 20 to 24 February. But park officials said that there’s no guarantee(保证)that visitors will see it on any given day.
1. When might be the best time to take pictures of the “firefall”?A.Early in the morning. | B.At noon. |
C.Late in the afternoon. | D.At night. |
A.There wouldn’t be enough snow. | B.It might be too cloudy. |
C.The waterfall might not freeze. | D.The snow might melt too fast. |
A.A worker in the kitchen. |
B.The fire in the Yosemite National Park. |
C.A part of a cooker or stove. |
D.The unique Horsetail Fall in the setting sun. |
A.To introduce an attraction. | B.To give suggestions for a trip. |
C.To advertise a park in the US. | D.To explain what is a “firefall”. |
8 . After years of touring the world, in 2019, Tutankhamun began his final world tour before resting forever in the new Grand Egyptian Museum. His journey, which began in California and received great welcome in Paris, will take him as far from home as Japan, Sydey and South Korea.
From now until May 2020, he stops off at London' s Saatchi Gallery. Here’s a glimpse of some treasures you’ll witness.
Guardian Statue(守卫石像)
This life-sized guardian statue is one of a set of two that watched over the entrance to Tut's burial chamber (墓室), and was one of the first things Carter saw upon entering the tomb. It's their eyes that immediately draw your attention. They never seem to be looking directly at you, because the statues were made for the afterlife, meaning they need to be looking farther than our world. It's one of the objects that have left Cairo for the first time and one that the exhibition's organizers refer to as "a big win".
Coffinite
You might be surprised to learn that organs were dealt with separately during the process of making mummies in ancient Egypt. Each organ had a specially designated case in order to protect it on the way to the next world.King Tut was no different and this beautiful, gold coffinette was designed to store the young Pharaoh’s liver.
Gilded Wooden Naos(神龛)
One of the most mysterious objects discovered in Tutankhamun’s tomb and on display at the Saatchi, is this gilded wooden naos. Never before a description of the relationship between a king and his queen been discovered with this level of detail-it shows that King Tut and his wife (and half-sister), were extremely close. Inside the naos, Carter found a stand for a statue, but no statue itself, only footprints on the base of the stand. Many explanations as to its meaning have been offered over the years, but the most convincing one was a stand for a statue of the god Amun, whose name means "the hidden one”.
1. Where can we see the Tutankhamun exhibition now?A.In Egypt. |
B.In the USA. |
C.In France. |
D.In the UK. |
A.He was buried with a guardian to lead him to the afterlife. |
B.He was married to someone he had a blood relation with |
C.Coffinette was used to store his body shortly after he died. |
D.There used to be a statue of him in the gilded wooden naos. |
A.In a health report. |
B.In a story book. |
C.In an education magazine. |
D.In a museum leaflet. |
9 . At first look, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore seems familiar to kids. The slowly moving sand, seabirds and miles of greenish-blue water all add up to one thing — the sea. But then, somewhere — maybe on the pile (堆) of sand called Dune Run — the kids stop, realize this is Michigan, a landlocked state in the US, and ask,“How did the sea get here?"
It didn't. This is Lake Michigan.It's a lake — a great one — and the water is fresh, not salty, says Lisa Myers, chief of interpretation (讲解) and visitor services at Sleeping Bear.
“When my family comes here from New England in the north-eastern US, they all have to taste the water", she says. “The area looks like Cape Cod in my home town. You can't believe this isn't the coast."
“Playing on the Dune Run is like being in a huge sandbox,"says Myers. But there's so much more. Help kids see the park through a wider lens (镜片) by walking along the sandy Lake Michigan beach.
“With their feet on the sand and in the water,kids can see there are waves (波浪),” says Myers,"They can watch fish,otters and beavers swimming in the lake."
July and August are best for water play, but winter is magical for kids, adds Myers."They can walk the beaches to see all the ice formations (形态) and crashing waves,”she says.“We offer snowshoe walks in January and February,when kids can look for marks left by animals. And when it' s windy, they can stand on the Dune Run and feel the forces of nature.The kids can run or roll down the hill, too, which is a whole lot of fun."
1. What do the kids think of Sleeping Bear at first?A.It is quite special. | B.It is in a saltwater lake. |
C.It is a place by the sea. | D.It appears frightening. |
A.Spend time in a real sandbox. | B.Search for animals footprints. |
C.Use ice to create different things. | D.Watch the changes in water levels. |
A.A moving pile of sand. | B.A kid-friendly fun place. |
C.A journey to Sleeping Bear. | D.An introduction to Michigan parks. |
10 . Holidays
Holiday News Vacancies(空位) now and in the school holidays at a country hotel in Devon. This comfortable, friendly home-from-home lies near the beautiful quiet countryside, but just a drive away from the sea. The food is simple but good. Children and pets are welcome. Reduced prices for low season. |
The Snowdonia Centre The Snowdonia Centre for young mountain climbers has a mountain climbing lesson. The beginners’ costs are £57 for a week, including food and rooms. Equipment is included except walking shoes, which can be hired at a low cost. You must be in good health and prepared to go through a period of body exercises. This could be the beginning of a lifetime of mountain climbing adventure. |
The World Sea Trip of a Lifetime Our World Sea Trip of 2008 will be unlike any holiday you have ever been on before. Instead of one hotel after another, with all its packing and unpacking, waiting and traveling, you just go to bed in one country and wake up in another. On board the ship, you will be well taken care of. Every meal will be first-class and every cabin like your home. During the trip, you can rest on deck(甲板), enjoy yourself in the games rooms and in the evening dance to our musical team and watch our wonderful play. You will visit all the places most people only dream about — from Acapulco and Hawaii to Tokoy and Hong Kong. For a few thousand pounds, all you’ve ever hoped for can be yours. |
A.Choose the holiday in Devon. | B.Go to the Snowdonia Centre. |
C.Join the World Sea Trip of 2008. | D.Visit Acapulco and Hawaii. |
A.It provides chances of family gatherings. | B.It provides customers with good food. |
C.It offers a sports lesson. | D.It offers comfortable rooms. |
A.You can have free meals on deck every day. |
B.You can sleep on a ship and tour many places. |
C.You will have chances to watch and act in a play. |
D.You have to do your own packing and unpacking. |