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(床垫) and blankets).The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni,a prehistoric driedup lake which is the world’s biggest salt flat.Builders use the salt from the 4,633squaremile 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 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 pulleydrawn “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 30foottall 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 12foottall fire hydrant(消防栓) outside.
Gamirasu Cave Hotel
Where:Ayvali,Turkey
How much:Between $130 and $475 a night
Why it’s cool:This is caveman 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,about 65 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.What is the similarity of the four hotels?
A.Being expensive.
B.Being comfortable.
C.Being natural.
D.Being unique.
3.What does the underlined words “Sweet Willy” refer to?
A.The name 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 makes you have a feeling of living in the far past?
A.Tayka Hotel de Sal.
B.Green Magic Nature Resort.
C.Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.
D.Gamirasu Cave Hotel.
How to deal successfully with a child who shows outstanding musical ability?It’s not always clear how best to develop and encourage his gift.Many parents may even fail to recognise and respond to their children’s need until frustration explodes into difficult or uncooperative(不合作的) behaviour.And while most schools are equipped to deal with children who are specially able in academic subjects,the musically gifted require special understanding which may not always be available in an ordinary school—especially one where music is regarded as a secondary activity.Such children may well benefit from the education offered by a specialist music school.
The five music schools in Britain are a relatively recent introduction.They aim to provide an environment in which gifted children aged between seven and eighteen can develop their skills to the full under the guidance of professional musicians.
Children at specialist music schools spend between one third and one half of an average day on musical activities,for example,individual lessons,orchestras,chamber(室内音乐的) groups,voice training,conducting and theory.They also spend several hours a day practising in properly equipped private rooms,sometimes with a teacher.The rest of their time is taken up with the subjects:English,maths,basic sciences and languages.All five British specialist schools are independent,classes are small by normal school standards,with a high teacher/pupil ratio(比率).Most children attending specialist schools tend to be boarders,leaving home to live,eat and sleep fulltime at school.
What are the disadvantages?An obvious problem is the cost;the fees are high(£12,000£17,000 a year for boarders).However,each school will make every effort with scholarships and other forms of financial assistance,to help parents of outstandingly gifted children to find the necessary fees.Secondly,not all parents want to send their children to boarding school,especially at a very early age.Almost all the directors of the specialist schools express doubts about the wisdom of admitting children as young as seven into such an intense and disciplined(守纪律的) environment.They stress,however,that their main aim is to turn out “rounded and wellbalanced” individuals.
There is little doubt that setting musically gifted children apart from an early age can cause stress.Early signs of musical ability may disappear in their teenage years,while natural competitiveness and the pressure to succeed can lead to a deep sense of failure.But all specialist schools do keep a close watch on the progress of individual pupils,and offer help and advice if needed.
1.If a child’s musical ability is not recognized,________.
A.the child may misbehave
B.the ability may fade away
C.the child may lose interest
D.the parents may become anxious
2.What problem may musically gifted children face in ordinary schools?
A.Their academic work may suffer.
B.Schools lack musical equipment.
C.Music is not seen as an important subject.
D.Parents and teachers do not work together.
3.What makes specialist music schools different from other schools?
A.Their working day is longer.
B.A range of musical training is offered.
C.More than half the day is spent on music.
D.The children have mostly onetoone lessons.
4.What do most school directors see as a possible disadvantage for pupils?
A.Poor children may not be included.
B.They may lose their individuality.
C.There may be a discipline problem.
D.They may not be mature enough on arrival.
“Hi,howareya.” some people say when they see a familiar face.The words run together into a mass,all sense and meaning lost. All the same,people do care how you are.After they greet you,it’s likely you will greet them back,with an equally meaningless phrase like,“Can’t complain,can’t complain.”You could probably complain,at length,or share a brilliant thought you were just beginning when a greeting interrupted you.You don’t though,you say,“Great,you?”
You are not giving each other information about your health and wellbeing.All the same,you are sharing information.You’re acknowledging each other’s positions as acknowledged friends,or at least as accepted acquaintances.And you are reestablishing the ties that may have lapsed(衰退) since yesterday,when you last met at the elevator or the entrance to the train station.
It’s what anthropologist(人类学家) Bronislaw Malinoski called a phatic(交流感情的) communication.Its message is not in the words you use,but in the fact that you speak ritually(仪式上地) accepted words.In Asia,for example,people may ask one another if they have eaten,or if they are busy.They’re not really asking for their lunch menu or their agenda,they are saying hello.A phatic signal merely says, “I see you there.” It says hi.
There’s embarrassment of being near people without acknowledging them.That uncomfortable feeling is one reason why lonely passengers in the subway may behave as if they cannot see anyone around them or may escape their uncomfortable situation with a book.Some people read all the way home,and never turn a page.
Your friend isn’t asking how you are,and you aren’t telling him.However,he is recognizing your existence,and when you answer,you are recognizing his.In addition,the set speech you have shared opens the door to closer communications if both agree.Someday,you may come to real close friendship,and really tell one another how you are.
Meanwhile,people who greet one another this way do care.They care enough to recognize someone’s essential humanity(人性).They send a signal across the space between,to share,very briefly and lightly,in awareness of one another.
Your greetings prove that neither of you has become a social outcast.How are you?You are still a member of society in good status.You are still the one who knows the rituals and secret passwords necessary to get to work each day.
1.When people greet,they ________.
A.want to show their different educational backgrounds
B.show nothing related with the words themselves
C.want to know other people’s privacy
D.express something special
2. According to Bronislaw Malinoski,a phatic communication ________.
A.is rarely used by Asian people
B.is too complex to be used often
C.helps establish or keep certain relationships
D.often ruins the normal relationships between friends or acquaintances
3.Some people seldom greet strangers because ________.
A.they want to be polite to others
B.they feel uncomfortable to do it
C.they don’t know when to greet them
D.they want to do something meaningful
4.What does the text mainly tell us?
A.Greetings should be given better expressions.
B.Greetings convey different meanings to different people.
C.Greetings help prove an individual’s social independence.
D.Greetings help an individual be connected with the society.
The Canadian people are made up of different national races.The first ____ settlers of the country were the Indians.
It was said that the Indians entered this continent ___ the Bering Strait(白令海峡) and Sea from eastern Asia at most 10,000 years ____.When Europeans first ____ the country,Indians were living in most of areas ___ forests.There were only ____ Indians in the provinces near the Atlantic Ocean.
The second group of people to enter Canada ____ the Eskimos.They ____ the Bering Strait from Asia less than 3,000 years ago.There are few __ of their early movements.The first white settlers in Canada were the ____.They came in greatest ____ to Quebec,but also to Nova Scotia,____ they cleared farms on the southern side of the Bay of Fundy.The French built their castles at Quebec City,and cleared farms out of the forests in the area.____ the time of the British conquest(征服) in 1763,there had been about 60,000 Frenchmen in Canada,____ chiefly between Quebec and Montreal.There were not many British in Canada ____ American Revolution drove large numbers northward.
Throughout the 19th century,____ British people came to Canada.The descendants(后代) of these people ____ England,Scotland and Ireland now make ____ about half of the population.Around the ____ of the century people came in increasing numbers from Europe and the largest numbers came ____ Central and EasternGermans,Czechs,Poles,Rumanians and Ukrainians.
1.A.famous B.wellknown
C.known D.news
2.A.through B.into
C.on D.across
3.A.early B.more
C.ago D.long
4.A.reached B.left
C.flew to D.shipped
5.A.protected B.covered by
C.like D.covering
6.A.few B.packs of
C.a number of D.a few
7.A.are B.is
C.were D.was
8.A.crossed B.walked
C.passed D.swam
9.A.notes B.records
C.signs D.speeches
10.A.British B.Indians
C.French D.American
11.A.deal B.members
C.areas D.numbers
12.A.who B.which
C.whom D.where
13.A.By B.In
C.At D.On
14.A.to live B.living
C.lived D.live
15.A.when B.after
C.until D.since
16.A.thousand of B.thousands of
C.thousands D.thousand
17.A.in B.to
C.near D.from
18.A.up B.of
C.from D.by
19.A.year B.change
C.turn D.day
20.A.from B.in
C.over D.up
—Hi,Tommy.Are you busy now?
—________.I have done my work,and I’m going out for shopping.
A.Don’t mention it B.Nothing serious
C.Not really D.Never mind
—________ you leave your room in such a mess?
—Sorry,Mum.I forgot to tidy it up.
A.Must B.Can
C.Should D.Will