-
Tayka Hotel de Sal
Where: Tahua, Bolivia
How much: About $ 95 a night
Why it’s cool: You’ve stayed at hotels made of brick or wood, but salt? That’s something few can claim. Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally of salt---including the beds (though you’ll sleep on regular mattresses and blankets). The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric dried-up lake which is the world’s biggest salt flat. Builders use the salt from the 4,633-square-mile flat to make the bricks, and glue them together with a paste (糊) of wet salt that hardens when it dries. When rain starts to dissolve (溶解) the hotel, the owners just mix up more salt paste to strengthen the bricks.
Green Magic Nature Resort
Where: Vythiri, India
How much: About $ 240 a night
Why it’s cool: Taking a pulley(滑轮)---operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is just the start of your adventure. As you look out of your open window, there is no glass! You watch monkeys and birds in the rain forest canopy(罩篷). Later you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to the main part of the hotel, or just sit on your bamboo bed and read. You don’t even have to come down for breakfast---the hotel will send it up on the pulley-drawn “elevator”.
Dog Bark Park Inn B&B
Where: Cottonwood, Idaho
How much: $ 92 a night
Why it’s cool: This doghouse isn’t just for the family pet. Sweet Willy is a 30-foot-tall dog with guest rooms in his belly. Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side. You can relax in the main bedroom, go up a few steps of the loft(阁楼) in Willy’s head, or hang out inside his nose. Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters, there is also a toilet in the 12-foot-tall fire hydrant(消防栓) outside.
Gamirasu Cave Hotel
Where: Ayvali, Turkey
How much: Between $ 130 and $ 450 a night
Why it’s cool: Experience what it was like 5,000 years ago, when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash. But your stay will be much more modern. Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect from a modern hotel, and the white volcanic ash, called tufa, keeps the rooms cool in summer. (Don’t worry--- there is heat in winter.)
1.What do we know about Tayka Hotel de Sal?
A. It is located on a prehistoric lake.
B. It should be protected against the rain.
C. Everything in the hotel is made of salt.
D. You have to cross a rope bridge to the hotel.
2.How are the hotels similar?
A. Expensive. B. Comfortable.
C. Natural. D. Unique.
3.What do the underlined words “Sweet Willy” refer to?
A. The loft of the hotel.
B. The name of the hotel owner.
C. The building of Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.
D. The name of a pet dog of the hotel owner.
4.Which of the hotels gives you a feeling of living in the far past?
A. Tayka Hotel de Sal.
B. Gamirasu Cave Hotel.
C. Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.
D. Green Magic Nature Resort.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
-
The Owl Count
Annie slept in the front of the seat with her father drove through the darkness. “We’re almost there!” Dad announced cheerfully. “Soon we’ll be observing and counting owls at the state park.” Yawning, Annie nodded and smiled. The time was 4:30 a.m. Looking out into the darkness, Annie remembered learning in school that most owls are active at night, when they hunt for food. During the day they sleep in hard-to-find spots.
“Dad, why do you need to count owls?” she asked. “It’s important for the scientists to have current information about bird populations,” he explained. “We want to know which birds have decreased in number and whether any new kinds of birds are coming into a certain area. You and I will write down the kinds of birds that we see today and keep a record of how many times we see each kind. Then we’ll send out a report to a scientific organization that is collecting about birds from people all over the country.”
Dad pulled into the parking lot of the state park. Then, with flashing in hand, they began their hike into the woods. Annie zipped up her coat and tried to keep from trembling. She had not expected the morning to be so cold. Luckily her gloves were in her pocket.
Suddenly Annie’s father stopped and gestured for her to be still. Obeying, Annie did not take another step. She thought she heard a low crying up head. “That’s certainly a screech owl,” her father whispered. “Let’s get a look at it.” After looking more closely, Annie could see that it was a small owl. Sensing danger, the owl narrowed its eyes and pulled its feathers tightly against its body. Annie carefully wrote down in her notebook that they had seen a screech owl.
Walking a little farther, they came to a tall oak tree. “This looks like a perfect spot to attract owls,” Dad said, “I’m going to play a recording of common call of the barred owl. Maybe we can get one to answer.’ Annie could hardly believe her ear. The recorded call sounded as if the bird were asking, “Who cooks for you?” Moments later Annie thought she heard a return call in the distance. She held her breath and waited. Suddenly a huge bird landed very quietly on a branch above them.
Annie had long forgotten how cold it was. She stood in wonder, shining her flashlight on the bird and studying it carefully. The barred owl was nearly two feet tall. Grey feathers surrounded its dark eyes. The bird did not stay long, but it did not matter. Annie would never forget the image of the powerful barred owl.
1.Why did Annie and her father go to the state park?
A. To take a hike in the woods.
B. To record the call of barred owl.
C. To collect information about birds.
D. To protect the environment for wildlife.
2.In paragraph 4, why did Annie’s father stop her suddenly?
A. He noticed a screech owl.
B. He heard somebody crying.
C. He sensed they were in danger.
D. He reminded her to take down note.
3.How did Annie feel when she saw the barred owl?
A. Bored B. Amazed C. Frightened D. Relaxed
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
-
I told my friend Graham that I often cycle two miles from my house to the town centre but unfortunately there is a big hill on the route. He replied, “You mean fortunately.” He explained that I should be glad of the extra exercise that the hill provided.
My attitude to the hill has now changed. I used to complain as I approached it but now I tell myself the following. This hill will exercise my heart and lungs. It will help me to lose weight and get fit. It will mean that I live longer. This hill is my friend. Finally I comfort myself with the thought of all those silly people who pay money to go to a gym and sit on stationery exercise bicycles when I can get the same value for free. I have a smile of satisfaction as I reach the top of the hill.
Problems are there to be faced and overcome. We cannot achieve anything with an easy life. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to gain a university degree. Her activism and writing proved inspirational. She wrote, “Character cannot be developed in ease. Only through experiences of suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”
One of the main determinants of success in life is our attitude towards adversity (逆境). From time to time we all face hardships, problems, accidents and difficulties. Some are of our making but many are no fault of our own. While we cannot choose the adversity, we can choose our attitude towards it.
Douglas Bader was 21 when in 1931 he had both legs cut off following a flying accident．He was determined to fly again and went on to become one of the leading flying aviators in the Battle of Britain with 22 aerial victories over the Germans．He was an inspiration to others during the war. He said, “Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t do this or that. That’s nonsense. Make up your mind, you’ll never use crutches (拐杖) or a stick, and then have a go at everything. Go to school, and join in all the games you can. Go anywhere you want to. But never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible.”
The biographies (传记) of great people are full of examples of how they took steps to overcome the difficulties they faced. The common thread is that they did not become depressed. They chose their attitude. They chose to be positive. They took on the challenge. They won.
Nevertheless, there is still the problem of how you change your attitude towards adversity.
1.Which of the following is true according to the author of the passage?
A. Going to a gym is greatly beneficial to people’s health.
B. Climbing hills on bicycles is the best way to take exercise.
C. Those who want to achieve success can’t expect to live an easy life.
D. People’s attitude to adversity is the only factor of their success.
2.By quoting what Douglas Bader said, the author intends to tell us “ .”
A. Failure is the mother of success．
B. A bad workman quarrels with his tools.
C. If you risk nothing, you will have nothing.
D. Nothing is difficult to the man who will try.
3.Following this passage, the author will further talk about .
A. how his friend helped him to change his attitude towards the adversity he faced
B. what steps to take to change your attitude towards the adversity you face
C. why it is important to keep optimistic in face of adversity
D. what great people have in common
4.Which of the following can best function as the title of the passage?
A. Face adversity with a smile
B. Different attitudes towards adversity
C. Nothing is impossible
D. Life is full of adversity
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
-
Adding math talk to story time at home is a winning factor for children’s math achievement, according to a new research from the University of Chicago. The study from psychologists Sian Beilock and Susan Levine shows a marked increase in math achievement among children whose families used Bedtime Math, an iPad app that delivers engaging math story problems for parents and children to solve together.
Even children who used the app with their parents as little as once a week saw gains in math achievement by the end of the school year. The app’s effect was especially strong for children whose parents tend to be anxious or uncomfortable with math.
Previous research from this group has demonstrated the importance of adults’ attitudes about math for children’s math success. For example, a recent study found that math-anxious parents who help their children with math homework actually weaken their children’s math achievement.
The new findings demonstrate that structured, positive interactions around math at home can cut the link between parents’ uneasiness about math and children’s low math achievement.
“Many Americans experience high levels of anxiety when they have to solve a math problem, with a majority of adults feeling at least some worries about math,” said Beilock, professor in Psychology and author of Choke, a book about stress and performance. “These math-anxious parents are probably less likely to talk about math at home, which affects how competent their children are in math. Bedtime Math encourages a dialogue between parents and kids about math, and offers a way to engage in high-quality math interactions in a low-effort, high-impact way.”
Study participants included 587 first-grade students and their parents. Families were given an iPad installed with a version of the Bedtime Math app, with which parents and their children read stories and answer questions involving math, including topics like counting, shapes and problem-solving. A control group received a reading app that had similar stories without the math content and questions related to reading comprehension instead. Children’s math achievement was assessed at the beginning and end of the school year. Parents completed a questionnaire about their nervousness with math.
The more times parents and children in the math group used the app, the higher children’s achievement on a math assessment at the end of the school year. Indeed, children who frequently used the math app with their parents outperformed similar students in the reading group by almost three months in math achievement at year’s end.
1.Bedtime Math is an iPad app that _____.
A. requires parents and children to answer reading comprehension questions
B. assesses children’s math achievement and parents’ nervousness with math
C. teaches children how to count, recognize shapes and solve practical problems
D. encourages children together with their parents to solve math story problems
2.The previous study found that _____.
A. help from math-anxious parents improves children’s math achievement
B. children’s math achievement is related to parents’ attitude about math
C. interactions around math at home will cut off the family relationship
D. children can achieve more success if they see the importance of math
3.We can infer from the passage that ______.
A. children using the app for three months can see gains in math achievement
B. children whose parents are uneasy about math outperform other students
C. it is the math problems related to the stories that make the great difference
D. the frequency of using the app has nothing to do with children’s achievement
4.Which is the best title for the passage?
A. High-quality math interactions improve performance.
B. Frequent use of app can develop problem solving ability.
C. Low-effort activities create good parent-child relationship.
D. High-anxiety parents influence children’s attitude about math.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析