Standing in the whiteness of Antarctica ( 南极 ), Chinese tourist Yu Tong took a deep breath and jumped into the water.
"I've traveled to over 50 countries,1 when I first arrived in Antarctica, I was amazed by its beauty," she says.
Tourists were led by a team to visit islands. To protect the environment, they had to keep their shoes2 before each tour, and they must stay at least 5 meters away from wildlife. Once, a tourist's mask (面罩) was blown away by the wind. One worker got it back, telling them that "such a small piece of rubbish might3 a sea animal".
"Everyone should protect the environment," Yu says. It's something she 4 to do in her everyday life. For example, she hardly carries a leather handbag (皮包), and she takes the bus every day. "Now, I'm 5 enough to face difficulties. When I meet some troubles in life, I think these are nothing compared with my Antarctica trip," she says.
Freddie Fuller is known as the Singing Cowboy. He has performed throughout the United States as well as abroad.
Growing up in Salado, Texas, Fuller heard gospel ( 福 音 ) music all the time from his1 . She even sang as she hung clothes on the line. And she also encouraged (鼓励) her young son's musical talent. When she was dying of cancer ( 癌 症 ) in 1987, Fuller put their love of2 to its greatest use. He went to her hospital bed and sang her favorites. When his mother heard the songs, she seemed to 3 , with a peaceful look crossing her face. Fuller said, "That moment 4 her and me to connect (连接) like we used to when I was a kid. At that moment, I 5 music was so important to our life. "
So when Fuller 6 a nonprofit organization (非营利组织) called Swan Songs, he gave them a call and became a member of the organization. Since then, Fuller has performed many times for the7 and their family. Sometimes, they are happy, singing and dancing together. Other times, they're8 , as Fuller experienced with his mom.
"I want to9 Fuller because he tried his best to cheer us up," said one patient ( 病 人 ). "His music let us forget our problems and worries. At a really10 time, it was beautiful. "
There are many strange and interesting roadside things around the world. Let me take you on a tour of some of them.
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The World's Largest Lobster |
If you travel to Canada, you will see the world's largest lobster ( 龙虾 ) on a rock in New Brunswick, the lobster capital of the world. It was built in 1989. Lots of people visit the 35-foot-long lobster every year. |
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The Fork of Vevey
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In Vevey, Switzerland, visitors can see a large fork (叉子) sitting just in the waters of Lac Leman. It is 26 feet high and 4. 3 feet wide and was built in 1995 to celebrate the 10th anniversary ( 周 年 ) of a local food museum. It was taken down for a year, but brought back by popular demand (要求). |
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The Giant Carrot
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A large fork needs large food, and you can visit a huge carrot on your next trip to New Zealand. The 25-foot-high carrot is in the town of Ohakune, the carrot-growing capital of New Zealand. Built in 1984, it is the world's largest carrot model, and was built for a television ad (广告). |
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The Big Pineapple
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If you like fruits better than vegetables, travel to South Africa and see the Big Pineapple. It's almost 56 feet tall and visitors can climb to the top for a great view. Opened in 1971, it celebrated the first successful crop (农作物) to be grown in the area. |
There once lived a wise (聪明的) man in Greece. He was so well-known for his wide knowledge (知识) of almost everything that lots of people from all over the country came to learn things from him. The great man taught his students whole-heartedly and answered their questions with great patience ( 耐心).
One day a student asked him, "My dear teacher, didn't you say you have much more questions about things than we do? On the contrary, we students have far more than you. " With a smile, the teacher drew two separate (分开的) circles (圆圈). One was as large as a big wheel, the other was smaller.
"Of course, I've learned much more. But a teacher does not necessarily have fewer questions than his students. Now, look at these two circles. Within the big one is my knowledge of things, and within the smaller one is yours. Out of the circles is what is still unknown to us. Since mine is larger, the line that marks out the circle is longer. That means I have more chances (机会) to face what is still unknown. So the more I learn, the more questions I will have. And that's why I myself have more questions than you do. "
B . 
C . 
D . 
"Chinese brands (品牌) are much better now and they can make the best things in the world, but few people know about them," said Xu Yajun, the maker of the popular short videos — Made in China.
Xu, 30 years old, was born in Henan. At a young age, he moved to Guangdong with his parents. In 2016, Xu left his well-paid job. Then he started making videos about clothes. It was not a new thing for him. He worked in a clothes factory for four years after middle school.
In the beginning, he mainly talked about the quality (质量) of different Chinese clothes brands in his videos. Soon he found many people didn't know about the stories behind these clothes brands. In late 2017, he traveled to Hangzhou to make a video of some clothes brands' factories and workers. The video first appeared on the Internet in January 2018. It also became the first video of Made in China.
In the following years, Xu has visited over 20 factories across China to make videos. With only three people in his team, they did their best to make good Chinese brands known. For example, after watching his video about snow shoes from a village in Henan, many foreigners came to the village to buy shoes.
"I hope our videos can help both Chinese brands and buyers. " said Xu. "If buyers know brands and quality better, they can know more clearly what is good and what is bad. I believe people will know more about Chinese brands. "
① took videos about clothes ② worked in a clothes factory ③ moved to Guangdong
Do you like pandas? They were endangered in the past. During the past years, China has been trying hard to protect them. So the government built 52 protection areas for them. In these areas, trees and bamboo grow well, which provides pandas with proper places to live and enough food to eat.
In 1980, the Chinese government set up China Conservation ( 保 护 ) and Research Center for the giant panda. The center educates people about protecting pandas and does research to help save them. What's more, the Chinese government made some rules to stop pandas from being hunted ( 被 猎取).
In the 1970s, there were just 1,114 pandas in the world. The panda has not been recognized (被认为) as an endangered animal since September 2016. However, there is still a long way to go to protect pandas.
It was once mainly in east China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. But later, people thought the crested ibis (朱鹮) died out. However, in 1981, people found seven crested ibises in Shaanxi Province.
Now, the number of them has reached 2,000 in China because of our hard work.
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A. They started to save the birds. B. But now there are more than 1,800. C. And it raises new pandas and sends them back into the wild. D. We all hope that there will be more crested ibises in the future. E. China also works to help other endangered animals, like the crested ibis. F. The most important work in saving pandas is to protect their living environment. |
Algeria is a country in North Africa with many different ethnic (种族的) groups. Many of these groups (live) there for thousands of years. In fact, Algeria has one of the (long) histories in the world. There is evidence (证据) of people living in Algeria up to 10,000 years ago. A lot more evidence can be found at a place called Tassili n'Ajjer.
Tassili n'Ajjer is in the southeastern part of Algeria. It is very large — 72,000 square kilometers in area. The place is very dry it is in the desert. There are also many large rocks and mountains in Tassili n'Ajjer. A lot of (tour) go to visit the place every year.
Scientists found some rock paintings in Tassili n'Ajjer in 1933. They show three different subjects, (include) the change in the weather, the movement of the animals and the (develop) of human life. The age of the earliest paintings is contested ( 争论 ), many scientists agree that they date from about 7,000 years ago.
Today, scientists can learn more about Tassili n'Ajjer studying the paintings. These paintings are so important that they are under the (protect) of the Algerian government and the United Nations. Scientists are also doing research (learn) how they can protect the paintings from the weather.
