1 . When you think of a national park, you generally picture fresh air and wild animals, right? Well, now you’re going to have to add tea shops and something called “the Tube” to your definition, because London England has signed up to be the first “National Park City”.
London was established by the Romans around 2,000 years ago and has been continually inhabited (居住于) since then. In all that time, however, nobody had the idea to replace all the parks with big box stores or high buildings, which means London already has a much lower urban density (密度) than most of the world’s cities. Nowadays about a third of the city is green space.
In July 2019, London announced its willingness to become the world’s first National Park City. Now the city is moving toward the goal of achieving 50% green space by the year 2050 by connecting and expanding public parks, greening up unused parking lots and the private yards of existing and new houses, fixing-some green roofs on existing buildings and even cutting holes in fences for wildlife to pass through.
Inspired by the aims and values of our precious rural national parks, the London National Park City is basically about making life better in the capital through both small everyday things and long-term strategies thinking,” Raven-Ellison, who began the campaign to make London a National Park City six years ago said in a press release. “We’ve been doing that in London for centuries, which is why London is so green and diverse.
London will have a much easier job achieving this type of green transformation than more densely-urbanized cities like Paris and New York, which have 10% and 27% green space, respectively. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible—the National Park City Foundation hopes to employ 25 more cities in addition to London by the year 2025. Glasgow, Scotland and Newcastle upon Tyne in northeast England are both currently considering becoming National Park Cities.
1. Why does London have a much lower density than most of the world’s cities?| A．Because people in London don’t have the idea of transforming the parks into buildings. |
| B．Because London has been continually inhabited. |
| C．Because a third of the city is green space. |
| D．Because London has signed up to be the first “National Park City”. |
| A．Joining and extending public parks. |
| B．Making holes in fences for wild animals to go through. |
| C．Building green roofs on buildings. |
| D．Greening up all the parking lots and private yards, |
| A．It is much easier for London to achieve this kind of green transformation. |
| B．The National Park City Foundation has employed 25 more cities. |
| C．National parks cities are making improvements to our life. |
| D．Trying to become a national park city is turning a new trend. |
2 . A 23-year-old woman has achieved an unbelievable thing that many of us dream of—visiting every country on Earth.
Lexie Alford was born into a family of travel agents, which gave her the opportunity to tour places such as Cambodia, Dubai and Egypt during her childhood, according to Forbes magazine. She began saving up at age 12 to fund her goal of visiting all countries. By her 18th birthday, she had travelled to 72 nations. In October 2016 she realized she could see the remaining nations on her list in time to set official record. Many people follow her travels on social media platform Instagram and she decided to chase the world record partly to inspire others. “Honestly, in the beginning, I simply wanted to push the limits of what I thought I could do with my life and see as much of the world as possible in the process,” she told Forbes. “It wasn’t until things started getting really challenging that I realized I was inspiring people around me, especially young women.”
“I also loved visiting Northern Pakistan, the natural beauty of the mountains and kindness of the locals was astonishing,” Lexie Alford said. “The most pleasant surprise about travelling to all these misunderstood areas of the world was that the countries for which I had least expectations endd up being the most amazing.”
“My advice for young people is to believe that you can do anything you set your mind to do. If you want to travel, you have to prioritize (优先处理) it over other aspects of your life.”
1. Ms. Alford was able to tour lots of places when she was a child, because ________.| A．social media platform supported her |
| B．she had the courage to accept challenges |
| C．her family background gives her an advantage |
| D．some travel agents helped her |
| A．Traveling to the misunderstood places. |
| B．The natural beauty of the mountains. |
| C．The kindness of the local people. |
| D．The unexpected wonderful experiences in some countries. |
| A．Rome was not built in a day. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．Where there is life, there is hope. |
| D．Don’t put off till tomorrow what can be done today. |
