1 . Bike Rental & Guided Tours

Welcome to Amsterdam, welcome to MacBike. You see much more from the seat of a bike! Cycling is the most economical, sustainable and fun way to explore the city, with its beautiful canals, parks, squares and countless lights. You can also bike along lovely landscapes outside of Amsterdam.

Why MacBike

MacBike has been around for almost 30 years and is the biggest bicycle rental company in Amsterdam. With over 2,500 bikes stored in our five rental shops at strategic locations, we make sure there is always a bike available for you. We offer the newest bicycles in a wide variety, including basic bikes with foot brake (刹车), bikes with hand brake and gears (排挡), bikes with child seats, and children’s bikes.

Prices

Guided City Tours

The 2.5-hour tour covers the Gooyer Windmill, the Skinny Bridge, the Rijksmuseum, Heineken Brewery and much more. The tour departs from Dam Square every hour on the hour, starting at 1:00 pm every day. You can buy your ticket in a MacBike shop or book online.

2 . Yellowstone National Park offers a variety of ranger programs throughout the park, and throughout the year. The following are descriptions of the ranger programs this summer.

Experiencing Wildlife in Yellowstone (May 26 to September 2)

Whether you’re hiking a backcountry trail (小径), camping, or just enjoying the park’s amazing wildlife from the road, this quick workshop is for you and your family. Learn where to look for animals and how to safely enjoy your wildlife watching experience. Meet at the Canyon Village Store.

Junior Ranger Wildlife Olympics (June 5 to August 21)

Kids can test their skills and compare their abilities to the animals of Yellowstone. Stay for as little or as long as your plans allow. Meet in front of the Visitor Education Center.

Canyon Talks at Artist Point (June 9 to September 2)

From a classic viewpoint, enjoy Lower Falls, the Yellowstone River, and the breathtaking colors of the canyon (峡谷) while learning about the area’s natural and human history. Discover why artists and photographers continue to be drawn to this special place. Meet on the lower platform at Artist Point on the South Rim Drive for this short talk.

Photography Workshops (June 19 & July 10)

Enhance your photography skills — join Yellowstone’s park photographer for a hands-on program to inspire new and creative ways of enjoying the beauty and wonder of Yellowstone.

6/19 — Waterfalls &Wide Angles: meet at Artist Point.

7/10 — Wildflowers &White Balance: meet at Washburn Trailhead in Chittenden parking area.

Beijing is a city bridging the ancient and the modern. From Buddhist temples to museums, narrow hutong     1     royal palaces, it is home to more than 3,000 years of glorious history even down to its layout, with the city keeping its carefully     2     (build) system of ring roads.

But for all its ancient buildings, Beijing is also a place     3     welcomes the fast-paced development of modern life, with 21st-century architectural     4     (wonder) standing side by side with historical buildings of the past.

It is a distinct visual contrast (反差) that shouldn’t work,     5     somehow these two very different worlds make a good combination.     6     (visit) several times over the last 10 years, I     7     (amaze) by the co-existence of old and new, and how a city was able to keep such a rich heritage (遗产) while constantly growing. As a photographer, I have spent the last two years     8       (record) everything I discovered.

The     9     (remark) development of this city, which is consciously designed to protect the past while stepping into the modern world,     10     (mean) there is always something new to discover here, and I could be photographing Beijing for the next 50 years.

During China’s dynastic period, emperors planned the city of Beijing     1     arranged the residential areas according to social classes. The term “hutong”,     2     (original)meaning “water well” in Mongolian, appeared first during the Yuan Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, the center was the Forbidden City,     3     (surround)in concentric(同心的)circles by the Inner City and Outer City. Citizens of higher social classes     4     (permit)to live closer to the center of the circles. The large siheyuan of these high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen often     5     (feature)beautifully carved and painted roof beams and pillars(柱子). The hutongs they formed were orderly, lined by     6     (space)homes and walled gardens. Farther from the center lived the commoners and laborers. Their siheyuan were far smaller in scale and     7     (simple)in design and decoration, and the hutongs were narrower.

Hutongs represent an important cultural element of the city of Beijing. Thanks to Beijing’s long history     8     capital of China, almost every hutong has its stories, and some are even associated with historic     9     (event). In contrast to the court life and upper-class culture represented by the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven, the hutongs reflect     10     culture of grassroots Beijingers.

6 . Like many young people, Jessica wants to travel the globe. Unlike most of them, this 25-year-old is doing it _______ . She and her husband have spent the last two years traveling the world, stopping everywhere from Paris to Singapore. It might sound like one long, expensive _______ , but the couple has an unusual way to make their travel _______ .

They’re part of a new form of the _______ economy: an online group of house sitters. Throughout their no-cost stays in _______ homes, they feed pets and water plants in the homeowner’s _______ .

It’s not all sightseeing. The two travelers carefully _______ their trips, scheduling their days around the pets that are sometimes difficult to _______ . But house sitting also offers a level of _______ they can’t find in a hotel. “It’s like ________ at a friend’s house,” Jessica says.

The couple has a high ________ rate in getting accepted as house sitters and they always go beyond the homeowner’s ________ . For Jessica, that means ________ plenty of pictures of happy pets, keeping the house ________ and leaving a nice small gift before heading to the next house. “You want to make the homeowner feel that they made the right ________ ,” she says.

7 . My husband and I just spent a week in Paris.    1    So the first thing we did was rent a fantastically expensive sixth-floor apartment the size of a cupboard. It was so tiny that we had to leave our suitcases in the hallway.

The place wasn’t entirely authentic, though. Unlike a normal Parisian apartment, the plumbing (水管) worked.     2    Our building even had a tiny lift with a female voice that said, “Ouverture des portes,” in perfect French. That is the only French phrase I mastered, and it’s a shame I don’t have much use for it.

Parisians are different from you and me. They never look lazy or untidy. As someone noted in this paper a couple of weeks ago, they eat great food and never gain weight.     3     French strawberries do not taste like cardboard. Instead, they explode in your mouth like little flavor bombs.

    4     On our first morning in Paris, I went around the corner to the food market to pick up some groceries. I bought a handful of perfectly ripe small strawberries and a little sweet melon. My husband and I agreed they were the best fruit we had ever eaten. But they cost $18!

In France, quality of life is much more important than efficiency.

You can tell this by cafés life. French cafés are always crowded.    5    When do these people work? The French take their 35-hour workweek seriously — so seriously that some labor unions recently struck a deal with a group of companies limiting the number of hours that independent contractors can be on call.

Ecotourism is commonly regarded as low impact (影响) travel to undisturbed places. It is different from traditional tourism because it allows the traveler to become     1     (educate) about the areas - both in terms of geographical conditions and cultural characteristics, and often provides money for conservation and benefits the     2    (develop) of the local areas.

Ecotourism has     3    (it) origin with the environmental movement of the 1970s. It was not widely accepted as a travel concept     4     the late 1980s. During that time, increasing environmental awareness made it desirable.

Due to     5     growing popularity of environmentally-related and adventure travel, various types     6     trips are now being classified as ecotourism. Actually, a true eco-friendly trip must meet the following principles:

·Minimize the impact of     7    (visit) the place.

·Build respect for and awareness of the environment and cultural practices.

·Provide     8    (finance) aid and other benefits for local peoples.

·Make sure that the tourism provides experiences for both the visitors and the hosts.

Komodo National Park, officially recognized in 1980, is popular for ecotourism because of its unique biodiversity.    9    (activity) there range from whale watching to hiking (远足) and accommodations aim     10    (have) a low impact on the natural environment.

The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It     1     (build) originally to protect the city     2     the Tang dynasty and has now been completely restored (修复). It is possible       3     (walk) or bike the entire 14 kilometers.

We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.

After     4     (spend) some time looking at all the defensive equipment at the wall, we decided it was time for some action and what     5     (good) than to ride on a piece of history!

We     6     (hire) our bikes from the rental place at the South Gate. My bike was old and shaky     7     did the job. It took us about 3 hours to go all     8     way around the Xi’an City Wall. Supposedly you can do it in two hours, but we stopped at the different gates and     9     (watchtower) to take pictures or just to watch the local people going about their     10     (day) routines.