| About Old Faithful —The Most Famous Geyser (间歇性喷泉) in the World Discovered in 1870 by the Washburn Expedition, Old Faithful geyser was named for its frequent eruptions (喷发) — which number more than a million since Yellowstone became the world’s first national park in 1872. When does Old Faithful erupt? Basic prediction of Old Faithful is dependent upon the duration of the previous eruption. During visitor center hours, geyser statistics and predictions are maintained by the naturalist staff. People speak of the average time between eruptions. This is misleading. The mathematical average between eruptions of Old Faithful is currently 74 minutes, but it doesn’t like to act average! Intervals can range from 60-110 minutes. Visitors can check for posted prediction times in most buildings in the Old Faithful area. How high does Old Faithful erupt and how long will it last? Old Faithful can vary in height from 100–180 feet with an average near 130–140 feet. This has been the historical range of its recorded height. Eruptions normally last between 1.5 to 5 minutes. I heard Old Faithful isn’t as faithful as it used to be. Is it slowing down? It depends on what you call faithful. The famous geyser currently erupts around 20 times a day and can be predicted with a 90 percent confidence rate within a 10 minute variation. Prior to the 1959 earthquake, Old Faithful erupted 21 times per day. That’s a significant decrease in activity for geologists tracking each eruption, but to visitors seeing one or two eruptions…it looks just fine. How many gallons of water are expelled during an eruption? It depends on the duration of the eruption. Scientists estimate that the amount ranges from 3,700 gallons (for a short duration of 1.5 minutes) to 8,400 gallons (for a longer duration of 4.5 minutes). How hot is the water in Old Faithful? During an eruption, the water temperature at the vent has been measured at 204°F (95.6°C). The steam temperature has been measured above 350°F! |
| A．13:06 | B．14:06 | C．15:06 | D．16:06 |
| A．The geyser’s name indicates that it always erupts regularly, 20 times a day, once every 74 minutes. |
| B．When it is erupting, people should keep a safe distance due to its freezing coldness. |
| C．Old Faithful is a well-known geyser which can expel at least 3700 gallons water each time. |
| D．To check the eruption time, visitors may refer to predictions on the posted timetables. |
| A．The Yellowstone official website. |
| B．Local travel pamphlets introducing Yellowstone. |
| C．A recently-issued guide book on Yellowstone. |
| D．A travel magazine column about Yellowstone. |
5 . What Makes Me “Me”?
My culture comes from where I am from and where I was raised. I am an American. I was born and raised in Alaska. My ethnic background is German, English, and Scottish. Culture is all about family. It is a family’s belief systems, the cultural traditions that are celebrated, and the special holidays and events that occur in the year.
My parents raised me with a lot of beliefs that have had an impact on who I am today. These are the beliefs that don’t just belong to my culture, but they come straight from the values of my family.
There are a lot of cultural traditions that my family has. Some are from my cultural background and some are from the place where I was raised. I raise my son to have manners and to be well behaved. I raise him to know that hard work is important and that he is expected to put his best effort into things.
My culture makes me a person that celebrates life. My family has a lot of good friends and we are usually a good part of the community.
| A．Holidays are when my family gathers and has a good time together. |
| B．School education has civilized me with a mind for peace and calm. |
| C．I believe that women are more intelligent than men because my mother is a strong woman. |
| D．Summer is the time when we always organize some special events as a big family. |
| E．However, I know that it is important to follow the golden rule and to treat others with dignity and respect. |
| F．We take care of each other and try to treat others with respect. |
6 . Beyond the Terracotta Army
ON MY FIRST TRIP to Xi’an in 2002, I came to see what everyone comes here to see: the Terracotta Army. But like many group tours to China, the trip had an itinerary (行程) that was perfunctory — a checklist of must-sees that frequently left me wondering whether there was more to see. With this goal, I flew to China again in November.
The weather was mild when I arrived, ideal for surveying Xi’an from the beautifully restored City Wall. I rented a bike and spent more than an hour covering the nearly flat nine-mile circle, eye-to-eye with rooftops on one side and modern towers on the other.
I spent the late afternoon riding the city’s modern subway to other sites: the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. A block away, the Drum Tower is a kind of gateway to the Muslim Quarter. This marketplace is lined with restaurants and vendors selling mouthwatering snacks — skewers (串) of lamb cooked over coals, chewy persimmon (柿子) doughnuts, and roujiamo.
The next morning, a local driver picked me up and took me to Hua Shan, about 120 kilometers east of Xi’an. I checked the trail map I had just picked up at a gift shop, looking for the Plank Walk (长空栈道), my hoped-for destination. By the time we reached a cable car station for the ride to the top, the rocky walls surrounding the building were displaying a dusting of snow, Hua Shan’s first of the season.
I learned about the Plank Walk on my previous visit. Tourists climbed along the cliffs, tightly holding onto heavy metal chains that lined the riskier sections.
I didn’t have time on my previous trip. On this visit, the long West Peak cable car route rose into morning clouds, down into a valley and back up, eventually arriving at a station covered in snow and ice. Lacking gloves, the hat or the scarf, I made my way into a frozen wonderland.
I covered a good bit of Hua Shan’s trails this time, ascending three of the five peaks. But when I arrived at the Plank Walk, it was closed for the day. Still, the long day here was rewarding, with smiling faces spotted everywhere of people happy to be exploring China’s magnificent scenery on a more micro level.
And the Plank Walk? It just might be reason enough to return again.
1. The underlined word “perfunctory” in the first paragraph could probably be replaced by “________”.| A．hurried | B．particular |
| C．selective | D．unique |
① the Terracotta Army
② the City Wall
③ the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower
④ the Muslim Quarter
⑤ Hua Shan
| A．①②③④⑤ | B．②③④⑤ | C．①②③⑤ | D．①③④⑤ |
| A．To revisit the Terracotta Army. | B．To further explore the city of Xi’an. |
| C．To cover a famous hiking trail. | D．To have a taste of the local snacks. |
| A．The Plank Walk is open to visitors every day. |
| B．When the writer visited Xi’an, it happened to be snowing heavily there. |
| C．If a visitor wants to have snacks, he has only one choice — the Muslim Quarter. |
| D．You can enjoy historic sites and natural scenery in Xi’an as well as its modernity. |
| A. economical | B. explore | C. experience | D. formal | E. former | F. found |
| G. opportunity | H. replaced | I. respect | J. share | K. spread |
The idea of the youth hostel started with one man: Richard Schirrmann (1874~1961), a German school teacher, who felt that there was a need for overnight accommodation (住宿) for his students in order that they could
He felt that one learns by observing, and tried to make his dream come true in the year 1909, when he started providing accommodation for his students in inns, farmhouses and the like.
The first youth hostel was opened in Schirrmann’s own school in Altena, after which it was
And then, in the year 1932, a(n)
The idea of the youth hostel is for young people who are on nature trips to get
Youth hostels are also places to meet and make new friends. They have no class divisions and everyone has to do their
An Added Bonus
Anne and Joe King sat back in their easy chairs, watching television in their cozy living-room. Anne used the remote control to find a programme of interest.
“Why not
“I hate watching soap operas,” said Joe. “Especially this one
“Okay,” said Anne, as she switched to Channel 12.
“And now,” said a good-looking announcer on the TV screen, “Round-the-World, the magazine of the world, is proud to announce its limited offer. You can subscribe to (订阅) one year, twelve issues, of Round-the-World
“That sounds interesting,” said Anne. “In fact, it would be really convenient to have an atlas, particularly when I need to locate places
They sent a letter of subscription and two weeks later, a small package arrived in the mail. They got the atlas.
“Is this our atlas?” said Joe in disbelief. “It looks like a small postage stamp.”
“But it
“It’ll be impossible to find anything in such an atlas,” said Joe. “To find anything, we’ll need a microscope.”
