For years the Italian city of Venice has been struggling with a few concerns. Saint Mark's Square is often flooded. Venice's waterways require repairs. But, by far, the biggest problem is the rapidly growing number of visitors to the city.
So city officials have decided to require all visitors to pay a fee to enter Venice. The money will help to pay for cleaning and other services that help to keep the city beautiful.
Venice's Mayor Luigi Brugnaro explained the decision to international media during a visit to Rome last week. "Venice is a wonder of the world and only in this way can it be saved," the mayor said. "The fee process will be experimental at first," he added.
A one-day visit will cost about $7. City officials have yet to decide when the fee collection will begin. The money will be collected by transport companies that bring the tourists to Venice. The city will set up cameras for those arriving in private cars. And there will be fines for those who do not pay the fee. Students, some workers and children under the age of six will not have to pay. Naturally, anyone born or living in Venice is exempt.
City officials hope this will prevent the overcrowding that often comes with large numbers of tourists. Some people living in Venice say they do not believe the fee plan will work. Lawyer Roberta Pierabon says it will be impossible to collect the money from everyone who visits the city. Visitors arrive from all sides. She does not believe tourists can be controlled and adds that she disapproves of the plan. Other Venetians like the idea. They say it will make tourism less aggressive. Venetians love their city and know it will never stop appealing to visitors. Venice is so special, they say, that it belongs to the whole of humanity.
China's "Little People's Kingdom" is a theme park, where little people dance and sing in fairytale costumes, drawing both curious groups and criticism. The theme park, near Kunming City in Yunnan Province, employs 108 dwarfs (矮子) from across the country, who gather on an artificial hillside twice a day to dance and sing for tourists. And all pretend to live in a tiny hilltop village.
The guests can watch shows like comedies, group dance and acrobatics (杂技). The show's centerpiece, a funny performance of Swan Lake, sees performers dressed in special pink costumes and pretending to be little swans. "The first time I performed it (Swan Lake) I felt a bit embarrassed. I had never worn a skirt like that before. But later, once I got used to it, I found I could do it very well," said Chen Ruan, 21, from Hunan Province who joined the park when it opened.
For many of the employees, the park offers a rare opportunity to find work. As unlikely as it seems for men and women doing daily funny performances of Swan Lake, they think that it feels good to live in dormitories that look like caves while living with people with similar experiences. In addition, the life facilities in the park are made according to their special needs. Besides, performers in the park earn 2,000 yuan a month, around twice the salary of a high school graduate.
The founder of the park, Chen Ming, made his fortune by producing electronics and investing, but said he had always wanted to help the disadvantaged groups in the community. People, like human right activists for the disabled, think that such a park only encourages the discrimination against little people. The only requirement for participants to be employed at the theme park is to be shorter than 51 inches and be able to take care of themselves in daily life. The youngest employee is 18, and the oldest is 48.
a. Having the ability to look after themselves.
b. No taller than 51 inches.
c. Aged between 18 and 48.
d. Being a high school graduate.
Richard Rodriguez from the United States is a great roller coaster fan. Recently he broke his 15th world record after he spent 104 days riding the world's largest roller coaster.
"It got more difficult to ride and ride because of the muscle tiredness," Rodriguez, a teacher at the University of Chicago, said as he stepped down from the ride in a German park. He spent ten hours a day on the roller coaster.
Rodriguez tried to keep himself busy during the rides on the big roller coaster in a south-western town in Germany. "I read the newspapers, I have a Walkman, I have my cell phone.… so I try to talk to people and message people during the day," he said.
Although the 42-year-old man said he felt sick on the first few days, he said he soon got over the problem.
"My face hurts sharply and I have a little backache, but I am good."
The "Expedition GeForce" is one of the world's biggest roller coasters. It measures 62 metres at its highest point.
On his 95th day on the coaster, after travelling over 25,000 kilometres, Rodriguez had a toothache and was treated by a local dentist. He went on after that and succeeded in breaking the record.
Rodriguez celebrated with members of the park staff and his supporters, who had sent him postcards and e-mails encouraging him not to give up.
How does a place become a World Heritage Site? It takes a lot of people to decide.
⒈ If a country wants one of its places to be on the World Heritage List, it has to ask UNESCO. The place must be important and special. UNESCO put the Great Wall on the list in 1987 because, it said, it was a great part of Chinese culture and beautifully made to go with the land. When a country asks, it must also make a plan for taking care of the place.
⒉ The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO talks about different places and decides whether to put them on the list. The committee meets every June. Many experts help the committee to decide.
⒊ After a new place goes on the list, UNESCO gives money to help keep it looking good. If a place is in serious danger, it may be put on the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger. UNESCO gives special care and help to those places.
⒋ Countries have to give UNESCO regular reports about places on the list. If UNESCO thinks a country isn't taking good enough care of a place, the site will be taken off the list.
Planning a September Trip to France
September is one of the best months to visit France. Not only will you enjoy plenty of sunshine and warm weather, but the tourist season is beginning to wind down, which means cheaper airfares, lower prices at hotels, and fewer crowds.
·Go wine tasting.
And there are plenty of wine-related events and festivals around the country. So September is a great time to visit the vineyards around the country and go wine tasting. The Bordeaux, Loire and Burgundy regions are all lovely and great places to visit vineyards. Besides that, going to the castles of the Loire and region in between visiting vineyards on such warm and sunny days is also very enjoyable.
·
The temperatures are slightly lower, but plenty of sunshine makes for perfect conditions to enjoy a barge cruise on the canals (运河) of France. With such comfortable weather and beautiful scenery at this time of year, nothing equals hanging out on the deck of a barge.
·Visit the museums.
Many museums in France have extended opening hours during the summer to accommodate the extra tourists and locals. And some museums also have extended opening hours into September. Wandering around the Louvre will take you into a wonderful world, where you can enjoy the world-famous art.
Besides the above, riding a bike through France's villages is also a welcome activity for young visitors in September. You can shop for the most fashionable clothes or goods here. You can see the beautiful and fantastic scenery along the road.
A. Take a barge cruise.
B. Enjoy the music concerts.
C. So, don't hesitate and start to plan your September trip to France now!
D. France is a beautiful country.
E. September is the beginning of the grape harvest season in France.
F. Going out of the Louvre, you can walk to the modern and fashionable Champs Elysees to do some shopping.
G. If this is your first trip to France, here is some handy information to help you get started planning your vacation!
A couple in ordinary clothes walked into the Harvard's outer office. "We want to see the president," the man said softly. "He will be busy all day," the secretary spoke1, concluding that the couple had no 2 with Harvard from what they wore. "We'll wait," the lady replied.
Four hours later, the couple didn't go away. And the secretary grew 3 and finally decided to disturb the president. Someone of 4 obviously had no time to spend with nobodies, and he 5 people in such clothes filling in his outer office.
The president, frozen-faced, walked proudly toward the couple. The lady told him, "We had a son that 6 Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard and was very happy here. But he was accidentally 7. And my husband and I would like to 8 a memorial (纪念物) to him somewhere on campus. " The president wasn't 9; he was shocked. "Madam," he said 10," we can't put up a statue for every person who studied in Harvard and died. "
"Oh, no," the lady 11 quickly. "In fact, we thought we would give a building to Harvard. " The president 12 at the couple and then shouted, "A building! Do you know how much a building costs? The cost of the Harvard's buildings is over 7.5 million dollars. "
For a moment the lady was 13. Then she turned to her husband and said quietly," Is that all it costs to 14 a university?" Her husband nodded. Mr and Mrs Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California, where they established a university 15 after their son—Stanford University, which turned out to be a famous university in America.
Why All Disney Princesses Wear Blue
If the princesses are not sleeping and waiting for Prince Charming to rescue them, they're busy getting poisoned by poisonous apples or being forced (do) heavy housework by evil relatives. But turns out that even the most laid-back (悠闲的) beauty is supposed to send a message of strength to young (girl).
That's because they all wear blue. From Jasmine to Belle, from Ariel to Snow White, they all wear blue. Far from stereotypical (老一套的) pinks, these princesses (dress) in aqua blue (水蓝色) and cornflower (矢车菊)blue. Even Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz (《绿野仙踪》) (wear) a light blue pinafore and socks.
Why? Well, blue is(apparent) the color of trust, calmness as well as(confident). According to experts, we all have natural preference for blue, partly because of the sky. It's something to look forward to, to see that blue sky. It's(rely). It might cloud up, but we know it's there.
Perhaps, Disney puts princesses in the color to show that they're those are loyal and dependable.
My sister Priscilla and I just came back from a week-long vacation in Portugal with lots of photos. I'll remember so many wonderful things about my trip to the cities of Lisbon and Porto, but one experience in particular sticks out, something that happened on our last night in Lisbon.
Before the trip, I put together a very detailed route of places to see. One of the must-visit places on my list was Livraria do Simao, the smallest bookstore in Lisbon. On our very first day in Lisbon, Priscilla and I searched for it. We found the oldest bookstore in the world. But the smallest one was impossible to find! Back at the hotel, where we had Wi-Fi, I looked the bookstore up again, hoping we'd have time to find it on another day. But our schedule was delayed, and we probably wouldn't have time to look for it.
On our last full day in Lisbon, Priscilla and I took a day trip to Cascais, a coastal town outside the city. We decided, at the last minute, to visit a historic flea market (跳蚤市场). We walked for about an hour, up many steep hills. When we finally reached the market, completely out of breath, all the sellers were closing up shop. Not to mention that we were both tired and hungry. Priscilla and I argued over the directions. I insisted we turn right, which ended up being another bad decision. We climbed up more steep hills, farther and farther away from any area we recognized. We made another right turn onto a random street and Priscilla stopped to check the map. Meanwhile, I looked up at the street sign, Rua da Madalena. I'd heard that name before. We continued a little farther up the street, and I spotted a few people hanging out in a lane. There was something particularly familiar about the scene. I looked closer. There was a small store practically hidden in the lane. It had books in its windows.
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Oh my goodness! The bookstore！
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Soon, it was time for us to say goodbye.
