|
A. journey B. local C. foreign D. trouble E. population |
Half a century ago, a boy in Britain had never thought that a dream of his would drive him to spend so many years in a country.
That boy was William Lindsay. When in primary school, he loved studying maps. The special line in China caught his eye. He decided to visit the line, that is, the Great Wall of China.
Driven by this dream, Lindsay set off on his Great Wall in 1984. However, he obviously underestimated (低估. its difficulty. Only a few days later, he became ill and had to give up his plan. After returning to Britain, he began to exercise more often. He even learned some basic Chinese.
With full preparation, Lindsay set off again in 1987. Altogether, the hike took him about 160 days. This tall man met with when he was found to be walking alone along the Yulin Great Wall in Shaanxi. "Where is he from? What is he doing here?" the villagers wondered. Finally, the police came to investigate. Lindsay tried to explain his love for the Wall but without success. At last, he had to leave.
|
A. realized B. efforts C. volunteers D. created E. continued |
Nothing could stop his willful heart. A few days later, Lindsay his journey from Inner Mongolia. After many, many difficult days of hiking along the Great Wall, he was finally able to arrive at Shanhaiguan, a major pass at the eastern end of the Wall and the end of his great journey.
Through this trip, Lindsay developed a deeper understanding of the Great Wall. Since then, he has made great to protect it. In 1988, he organized more than 120 people to pick up litter on the Great Wall. Lindsay soon the difficulty of collecting all the trash on the Wall. He started to give lectures around the country and began looking for more .
During Lindsay's Great Wall hike, he met with his Miss Right, a Chinese girl from Xi' an. They got married in 1988. Lindsay's wife and two sons have now also joined him in protecting the Great Wall. Lindsay said he would spend his remaining years in China -- for his family and for the Wall.
Have you ever heard of prodigies. The following are just three of them whom the world has known so far.
SARAH CHANG is described by other musicians as "the most wonderful, perfect violinist (小提琴手." they've ever heard. What makes this praise especially surprising is Sara's age: She's only a teenager, and people have been describing her this way for years. On Sarah's fourth birthday, her father gave her a violin. By age 5, she was accepted at the famous Juilliard School of Music, in New York City. By 8, she was performing as a violin soloist (独奏者. with major orchestras. Since then, Sarah has performed around the world. She has also recorded many albums.
Before MICHAEL KEARNEY was born, the doctors warned his parents that he might have learning difficulties. He's been proving them wrong ever since! By the time he was 4 months old, Michael could say full sentences like, "What's for dinner, Mom?" By 10 months, he could read words. Studying at home with his parents, Michael completed four grade levels each year. At 5, he entered high school – and finished in one year. By 10, he graduated from college with honors. At 11, he went to graduate school.
When ALEXANDRA NECHITA was 2, her parents gave her some crayons (彩色铅笔. and coloring books. Alexandra was soon working in inks, watercolors, and by the time she was 7, oil paints. At 8, Alexandra had her first art exhibition. Her paintings are often compared to those of Picasso and other great artists. They have sold for as much as $80,000. She has been on TV, and a book of her paintings was published.
"Mom, are you ready?"
Dad had finally agreed that Mom and I could go on a one-week African safari (观察野生动物之行.! I had always wanted to visit Africa's great outdoors.
It required a lot of training to get prepared for the safari. Although the training was boring, I would
1anything to go on a safari. And as the coach stressed, the training was very important. At last, it was time to2. The flight took 16 hours. I was bored to death, but deep down I still felt excited. When my mom, our guide, two other camping friends and I were driving to our campsite in an old jeep, I was thrilled to pieces. After taking many turns, we finally reached our destination. It was the day that I had been3for the past three years!
We learned many interesting facts on our safari. For example, the giraffe has the most powerful kick of all the animals. The black mamba (树眼镜蛇. can move up to 11 kilometers an hour. I saw some lions trying to4the afternoon sun while lying under the shade of a tree. I had read many books about wildlife. Aren't lions very fierce (凶猛的.? We stopped to take a few quick pictures of them. The lions didn't seem to mind. When I saw how5they looked, I wondered if all the books I had read had been telling the truth.
Then, we saw a fox, a group of playful monkeys and a not-so-happy-looking wolf. The sunlight was so6that I felt as if I had just taken a shower in sweat!
At night, we had steak, baked potatoes, green beans and many types of fresh fruit I had never even seen before. They were delicious and I ate quite a lot of them.
When we returned home, I felt tired but proud. It was an amazing trip which I will never forget.
Have you ever come home from a holiday feeling more tired than you were before you left? Through travelling, most people expect a break from their stressful lives. However, as they rush from one place to a, they aren't really able to take a good rest.
Now, imagine living for a week in a French house, buying fresh vegetables from the local market every morning, and taking day trips to n villages which are within ten-minute bike rides. Does this sound great to you? That's the magic of slow travel. This is no "four-cities-in-seven-days" tour of Europe. Instead, you will really slow down and experience new cultures.
Slow travel can mean taking a bike tour from one village to the next. It can mean driving along back roads instead of taking the highway. It can also mean covering long distances by train instead of by air so that you can enjoy the beautiful v along the way. No matter how you do it, the key is to slow down. You are to make the most of each moment of your holiday.
Slow travel has a few a. It allows you to form a stronger connection to your destination. You will stay in one place long e to make friends with your neighbors and even pick your favourite coffeehouse. You will really have a break from your stressful life.
Slow travel is environmentally-friendlier than other types of travel. Airplanes cause lots of
p. Trains, bikes and your own feet are better for the environment. Slow travel also saves you money. Staying in one place for a week will r your transportation costs. Besides, you may cook your own food instead of eating out for every meal.
The next time you are to go on a holiday, remember to try it the slow way.
It was April 1962. I was 12 years old and in the seventh grade at William Cleveland School, in Houston, Texas. My English teacher was Ms. Ada Pettis. It was Spelling Bee time in our city. Students were given small books of words to study in preparation for the classroom spelldowns (拼单词比赛.. Spelling Bee was one of the most important activities of the year in our school. Everyone wanted to qualify (有资格. for the school spelldown. Winners would enter the citywide competition and try hard to become the top Spelling Bee of Houston.
The day before the classroom spelldown, my youngest brother was playing with matches and accidentally set a fire in our house. The next morning, my mother called the school and told Ms. Pettis about the accident.
When I arrived at school, Ms. Pettis pulled me aside. She asked if I wanted her to put off the classroom spelldown because I was in a bad mood. I told her no. That day, I won the spelldown.
The school spelldown was held the next week. I won again! The citywide spelling competition was one month away.
Over the weekend, Ms. Pettis picked me up. We went to her home, where she helped me practice the spelling of difficult words.
After a couple of hours, Ms. Pettis took me to an ice cream bar, where we enjoyed large ice creams! We practiced and had big ice creams every weekend until the citywide competition.
I did not win, but I still felt proud . I also felt thankful that .
