文章大意：这是一篇新闻报道。文章主要从主人公阿里的视觉出发，讲述了出生于沙漠的阿里走出沙漠，到达城市之后的感受。他对城市灯光感到震惊，城市里的人却通过他的旅游公司到沙漠旅游。欧洲人总是很忙的生活方式也让阿里感到很吃惊。去沙漠旅游的人有一种类似于兴奋的感觉。这是对广阔天空和广阔地平线的敬畏。
1 . As the sun neared the horizon, Ali began his nightly walk through the sandy streets of Timbuktu in Mali. Covered in robes of indigo, he passed through the streets of Timbuktu and continued out into the sand dunes, just beyond the city’s western suburbs.
Ali was a teenager when he first saw the city that would later become his home. “I couldn’t believe the lights!” he remembered. Members of his family still live a semi-nomadic (半游牧的) existence out in the desert. But when he became an adult, drought and the need to earn a living drove Ali into Timbuktu, where he set up a business as a guide for tourists who wanted to explore the Sahara. His heart remained in the desert even when he had to be in the city. He refused to get a fixed-line telephone in case he came to depend upon it. When he had no clients, he would escape to the desert, spending months at a time camping out, drinking tea with friends and sleeping under the stars.
As a guide, Ali made friends from around the world, and he visited some in Europe. It was, to him, an alien world, just as Timbuktu remains for many around the globe. “The first time I was in Europe, I saw water just lying on the ground. Everything moved at a speed that was unthinkable in the Sahara. I thought ‘these people are crazy’. In the desert we have infinite time but no water,” he said. “In Europe, you have plenty of water but no time.”
When travelers wanted to see more of the Sahara, Ali took them to Araouane, a sand-drowned town 270 km north of Timbuktu. And yet for the tourists who visited there, the town was undoubtedly more to it than that. There was something there that produced a feeling similar to excitement. It was the awe of vast skies and big horizons.
1. What did Ali do daily when the sun would set?
| A．He took a night walk. | B．He chatted with neighbors. |
| C．He took a photo of the sun. | D．He bought some food in a store. |
2. How did Ali feel when first seeing the city?
| A．Confused. | B．Amazed. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Moved. |
3. What can we learn about Ali from paragraph 2?
| A．He established a travel company. |
| B．He explored the Sahara Desert on his own. |
| C．He lived a semi-nomadic life with his wife. |
| D．He escaped from Sahara Desert with his friends. |
4. What does the underlined part “these people are crazy” in paragraph 3 mean?
| A．People in Europe waste so much time. |
| B．People in Europe always let water running. |
| C．People in Europe are curious about everything. |
| D．People in Europe are always busy with their life. |
