文章大意:本文是新闻报道。文章主要介绍著名长城专家、自然资源保护主义者威廉﹒林赛(William Lindesay)和他的妻子吴琪(Wu Qi)通过环游世界,为他们的儿子提供了一个独特的成长环境。
William Lindesay, a famous Great Wall expert and conservationist, and his wife Wu Qi have traveled the globe by the back paths, providing their sons with a unique growing environment. Sun hats, backpacks and sneakers (运动鞋)—these are the day-to-day must-haves for the family.
Most of their trips seem far from relaxing—cultural study in the hot and dry desert, a 53-kilometer hiking tour of New Zealand, a one-day climb to three English mountaintops and a six-day train ride from Beijing to Moscow.
Many assume the family must be wealthy and can afford their global travel, but they are not. Lindesay says they just choose to spend money on travel and eschew pricey hotels and restaurants where possible. Lindesay mentions the trip to Moscow as an example. Instead of taking a taxi from the railway station to the hotel, they took the subway. “We crossed the city for saving money, communicated with local people, and saw they are people just like us, everywhere. We arrived at our destination feeling comfortable.”
However, their journeys, which can last weeks or months, have sometimes been inconsistent with their children’s schooling. Wu remembers once Lindesay let their elder son ask for leave so that they could go to New York for a 45-day lecture tour. Therefore the son missed his final exam. Things like that bother the family all the time.
Lindesay attaches great importance to learning out of the classroom, saying that children might score well on school tests, but traveling outside, in distant lands with different languages, cultures, and political structures, is the real test. “You can only get streetwise on the street. You can only get worldly-wise when seeing the world,” he says.
4. How can we describe the Lindesays’ trips?
A.Pleasant. | B.Conventional | C.Challenging. | D.Dangerous. |
5. What does the underlined word “eschew” in paragraph 3 mean?
A.Visit. | B.Avoid. | C.Compare. | D.Evaluate. |
6. What problem does the family meet when traveling?
A.They have scheduling conflicts. |
B.They suffer from a tight budget. |
C.They are faced with language barriers. |
D.They hold different educational ideas. |
7. Which statement may Lindesay agree with according to the text?
A.Toughness is the best assistant of will. | B.Man who travels far knows more. |
C.Actions speak louder than words. | D.There is no royal road to learning. |