Saturday, March 24th
We have arrived in the hot, wet city of Bangkok. This is our first trip toThailand(泰国). All the different smells make us want to try the food. We aregoing to eat something special for dinner tonight. The hotel we are staying in is
cheap, and very clean. We plan to stay here for a few days, visit some places in
the city, and then travel to Chiang Mai in the North.
Tuesday, March 27th
Bangkok is wonderful and surprising! The places are interesting. We visited
the famous market which was on water, and saw a lot of fruits and vegetables.
Everything is so colorful, and we have taken hundreds of photos already! Later
today we will leave for Chiang Mai. We will take the train north, stay in
Chiang Mai for two days, and then catch a bus to Chiang Rai.
Friday, March 30th
Our trip to Chiang Rai was long and boring. We visited a small village in
the mountains. The village people here love the quiet life-no computers or
phones. They are the kindest people I have ever met. They always smile and say
"hello". Kathy and I can only speak a few words of Thai, so smiling is the best
way to show our kindness. I feel good here and hope to be able to come back
next year.
1. The diaries above show the writer's _____ days in Thailand.
| A．3 | B．7 |
| C．15 | D．30 |
| A．often feel hungry |
| B．can always find cheap things |
| C．can’t take any photos |
| D．can enjoy themselves |
| A．Chiang Mai is a beautiful city in the south of Thailand. |
| B．The writer left Chiang Mai for Chiang Rai by bus. |
| C．Chiang Rai is a boring city in the mountains. |
| D．The writer is traveling alone in Thailand. |
Are you enjoying your break from school? My family are now in Sacramento, California. We are here paying a visit to visit to my aunt Gloria. We have been to the California State Capital Building, the nature center, and the zoo. I have seen many interesting things, but one stands out above the rest. This morning we drove from my aunt’s home to Calistoga to see California’s Old Faithful Geyser (老忠实泉). I had read about it in my book, Sightseeing in California; Where You Should Go.You have probably heard of Old Faithful, the geyser father north in Yellowstone National Park. This California geyser is sometimes called“ Little Old Faithful.”
When we arrived California’s Old Faithful was only a calm pool of water. The geyser didn’t look very deep. “ What’s the big deal?” I wondered. As I turned, I saw some steam rising from the water. Before I knew it, there was hot water shooting up about 60 feet into the air. We could not believe our eyes! It continued for almost three minutes.
Aunt Gloria told me that the water came from an underground river. She also said that the water temperature was about 95℃. This water can sometimes shoot 170 feet into the air.
My aunt said that other geysers around the world reach hotter temperatures and shoot water even higher than California’s Old Faithful Geyser. I’d love to learn more about this geyser and other geysers in different countries when I get home. I’ll see you soon!
Your friend,
Bennetto
1. According to the text, Bennetto ___________.| A．visited his aunt Gloria by himself. |
| B．had never heard of Old Faithful Geyser. |
| C．thought nothing of Old Faithful Geyser at first. |
| D．flew all the way from Sacramento to Calistoga. |
| A．disappeared at once. | B．was too hot to touch. |
| C．came from a deep sea. | D．was 170 feet in height. |
| A．Anger | B．Doubt | C．Courage | D．Excitement |
| A．talk about his holiday experiences. |
| B．ask Jorge to visit Old Faithful Geyser. |
| C．express his thankfulness to Aunt Gloria. |
| D．give Yellowstone National Park some advice. |
3 . Choose Your One-Day-Tours!
Tour A - Bath &Stonehenge including entrance fees to the ancient Roman bathrooms and Stonehenge -￡37 until 26 March and ￡39 thereafter. Visit the city with over 2,000 years of history and Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent and the Costume Museum, Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments dating back over 5,000 years.
Tour B - Oxford & Stratford including entrance fees to the University St Mary’s Church Tower and Anne Hathaway’s -￡32 until 12 March and ￡36 thereafter. Oxford: Includes a guided tour of England’s oldest university city and colleges. Look over the “city of dreaming spires(尖顶）” from St Mary‘s Church Tower. Stratford: Includes a guided tour exploring much of the Shakespeare wonder.
Tour C - Windsor Castle &Hampton Court: including entrance fees to Hampton Court Palace -￡34 until 11 March and ￡37 thereafter. Includes a guided tour of Windsor and Hampton Court, Henry VILL’s favorite palace. Free time to visit Windsor Castle(entrance fees not included).With 500 years of history, Hampton Court was once the home of four Kings and one Queen. Now this former royal palace is open to the public as a major tourist attraction. Visit the palace and its various historic gardens, which include the famous maze(迷宫) where it is easy to get lost!
Tour D –Cambridge including entrance fees to the Tower of Saint Mary the Great -￡33 until 18 March and ￡37 thereafter. Includes a guided tour of Cambridge, the famous university town, and the gardens of the 18th century.
1. Which tour will you choose if you want to see England’s oldest university city?| A．Tour A | B．Tour B |
| C．Tour C | D．Tour D |
| A．Windsor Castle & Hampton Court | B．Oxford & Stratford |
| C．Bath & Stonehenge | D．Cambridge |
| A．It used to be the home of royal families | B．It used to be a well-known maze |
| C．It is the oldest palace in Britain | D．It is a world-famous castle |
4 . Here are some top tips for world travelers.
Travel light.
Transport sense.Don’t let go of your bags on the train.
Keep clean. It’s a good idea to wear dark clothes because they hide the dirt while white clothes attract it! Make sure you have plenty of clean underclothes and deodorant (除臭剂).
| A．Be polite. |
| B．Keep your documents safe. |
| C．You should carry a spare bag. |
| D．You don’t want to smell bad! |
| E．Keep them with you at all times. |
| F．Make sure your bag isn’t too heavy. |
| G．It’s a good idea to wear similar clothes to the local people. |
5 . Italy is one country where beauty is prized more than any other virtue. That is, except in the small town of Piobbico, the self-declared World Capital of Ugly People. The road sign at the edge of the town even warns visitors that they are entering the ugly zone. People who consider themselves ugly have been gathering in Piobbico since the 1960s. That’s when Ugly Club president Telesforo Lacobelli established a dating agency for women who believed they were too ugly to attract husbands. Lacobelli believes that he is ugly himself because he has a short nose in a country where long or large noses have always been considered beautiful.
People from around the world travel to Piobbico to tell their sad stories of ugliness. During the annual Festival of the Ugly, which occurs on the first Sunday of every September, hundreds of people gather in Piobbico’s town square to elect the president of the Ugly Club. Lacobelli wins the election every year. The Ugly Club has over 20, 000 members. They carry ID cards that grade their ugliness from bearable to extreme. A prize is awarded to Ugly Club members who qualify as extremely ugly.
The Ugly Club president insists that ugliness is a virtue. Since beautiful people get a lot of attention for their beauty alone, they have to work hard to prove their other virtues. Ugly people, on the other hand, are genuine and do not have to prove anything to anybody, according to Lacobelli.
Lacobelli is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere. He believes that the uglier one is, the better life can be. Though the club enjoys making fun of beauty, especially beauty contests, Lacobelli has a serious side as well. He believes that too many people suffer from financial and emotional pressures because they don’t meet society’s standards of beauty. The fact that beautiful people are more successful in the workforce is a problem that Lacobelli has attempted to bring forward to the Italian public and government.
1. Piobbico is rather special in that _________.| A．it is a very small town | B．it is home to ugly people |
| C．it receives no visitors | D．it is the capital of Italy |
| A．Because he is the ugliest person in the whole world. |
| B．Because his ugliness is always graded as bearable. |
| C．Because he is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere. |
| D．Because he has won the members’ trust and admiration. |
| A．Ugly people are most respected in Italy. |
| B．The Festival of the Ugly is held every two years. |
| C．Ugly people are unfairly treated in society. |
| D．The uglier one is, the better life he or she lives. |
| A．The Ugly Capital of the World | B．The Ugliest Person of the World |
| C．Festival of the Ugly | D．Beauty Contests Should be Banned |
My big moment finally came in the summer of 1998 when I was able to accompany my parents to Europe, where my father was to attend a meeting. We planned to travel to Belgium, Netherlands and West Germany.
I have clear memories even today of going to Mumbai airport at night all excited about finally going abroad. I had heard several great things about Lufthansa till then but now I finally got to experience them first hand, during the flight to Frankfurt. We flew business class and even today I can remember the excellent service by the Lufthansa crew （工作人员）. The flight was really smooth and thoroughly enjoyable, even for someone like me, who is especially afraid of flying.
After spending almost two weeks in Europe, we took the Lufthansa airport express from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt airport, for our return flight. What a journey that was! All along the Rhine (莱茵河), it was simply an unforgettable experience. I had a sombre feeling on the flight back to Mumbai as it marked the end of a wonderful vacation, but the Lufthansa crew members were able to change it into a most enjoyable experience yet again, with the quality of their service.
Being the first airline to take me abroad, Lufthansa will always hold a special place in my heart. Even today，I continue to enjoy flights on Lufthansa and simply cannot dream of choosing any other airline. Flying, in general，for me，has always been a terrible and painful experience．Flying on Lufthansa，however, is something I always have and always will look forward to.
1. Which country does the author live in now?
| A．India. | B．Canada. | C．Belgium. | D．Germany. |
| A．Growing up in India. |
| B．Once staying in Canada. |
| C．Once traveling to Canada with his father. |
| D．His father's stories about his traveling experiences. |
| A．The author traveled with one of his parents. |
| B．Both their going and return were by air. |
| C．They traveled in spring that year. |
| D．They stayed in Europe for nearly two months. |
| A．a city in India | B．a city in Europe |
| C．an airline company | D．a travel agency |
| A．happy | B．sad | C．angry | D．enjoyable |
We have arrived in the hot, wet city of Bangkok. This is our first trip to Thailand（泰国）. All the different smells make us want to try the food. We are going to eat something special for dinner tonight. The hotel we are staying in is cheap, and very clean. We plan to stay here for a few days, visit some places in the city, and then travel to Chiang Mai in the North.
Tuesday, March 27th
Bangkok is wonderful and surprising. The places are interesting. We visited the famous market which was on water, and saw a lot of fruits and vegetables. Everything is so colorful, and we have taken hundreds of photos already! Later today we will leave for Chiang Mai. We will take the train north, stay in Chiang Mai for two days, and then catch a bus to Chiang Rai.
Friday, March 30th
Our trip to Chiang Rai was long and boring. We visited a small village in the mountains. The village people here love the quiet life—no computers or phones. They are the kindest people I have ever met. They always smile and say “hello”. Kathy and I can only speak a few words of Thai, so smiling is the best way to show our kindness. I feel good here and hope to be able to come back next year.
1. The diaries above show the writer’s ______ days in Thailand.
| A．3 | B．7 | C．15 | D．8 |
| A．often feel hungry | B．can’t take any photos |
| C．can have a good time | D．feel a little bored |
| A．Chiang Mai is a beautiful city in the south of Thailand. |
| B．The writer left Chiang Mai for Chiang Rai by bus. |
| C．The writer is traveling alone in Thailand. |
| D．The writer will take a bus to Chiang Mai. |
| A．are friendly to others | B．like to speak English |
| C．hope to live in the cities | D．live a very busy life |
| A．My First Travel | B．The Outside World |
| C．Traveling in Thailand | D．My Trip to Chiang Mai |
8 . More perhaps than any other European nation, the Swiss have got used to looking after foreign travelers. As early as the 18th century, wealthy French, Germans and Italians were treating the country as an amusement center while, in the 19th century, it became the major holiday playground for the British nobles. Today, it attracts visitors from all over the world.
The Swiss are clear about the importance of tourism to their economy, which makes up about eight percent of the Gross Domestic Product, and helps industry greatly. Managers of hotels from all over the world go to Switzerland to learn how to do the job, and a high standard can be expected from the great majority of the country’s hotels, most of which are small and pride themselves on personalized service. Public transport is the best in Europe. Both the Swiss Federal railways and the private railways are fully electric-powered, and the total network consists of about 5,000 kilometers of track.
Under the Fly Baggage system passengers can check luggage in at 116 railway stations and have it automatically transferred to their flight. The national highway system is equally well planned, and the mountain roads offer views of some of the country’s most breathtaking scenery. Also serving the mountains is an effective system of railways and cable ways, while more than 160 passenger cars cross the lakes and rivers. Hiking in the mountains is equally popular with Swiss nationals and foreign visitors. For those who want to view the country from a great height without having to climb the mountain themselves, it is always possible to take in the view from a balloon.
1. Compared with other European countries, Switzerland ________.| A．places more importance on entertainment | B．thinks more about foreign travelers |
| C．has more convenient public transport | D．has more five-star hotels |
| A．wealthy French people | B．rich Germans and Italians |
| C．British nobles | D．people from various countries |
| A．most of the hotels in Switzerland are big |
| B．all the hotels in Switzerland offer exactly the same service |
| C．most of the hotels in Switzerland offer first class service |
| D．the hotels in Switzerland are accustomed to learning from the rest of the world |
| A．the airport | B．the hotel | C．the motorway station | D．the cable ways |
| A．scenery in Switzerland | B．the life in Switzerland |
| C．tourism in Switzerland | D．the transportation in Switzerland |
