14 days from just £2, 090 pp
Fully inclusive from the UK
Price cover international airfares, departure taxes, fuel charge, local transportation all meals, entrance fees, guides, daily tours and visas for UK citizens.
Days 1-3: UK-Shanghai
Fly to the great city of Shanghai and in the evening sample traditional shanghai food. Visit the beautiful YU Garden, Old Town. Shanghai Museum, cross the Great Nampa Bridge and tour the Pudong area. Also explore Xintiandi with its 1920’s style Smkomen buildings and end your stay in shanghai with an amazing Huangpu river evening tour.
Days 4-7: Shanghai-Yangtze River Tour
Fly to Yichang and change (approx: one hour)to board your Yangtze River ship for the next four nights. Enjoy a tour of the three Gorges Dam before sailing on the grand Yangtze River, passing through the impressive Three Gorges. We take a side tripe to the lesser Three Gorges or travel up the Shennong Stream in a peapod boat and enjoy various shore trips along the way.
Day8: Chongqing—Chengdu
Get off in Chongqing and drive to Chengdu for an overnight stay.
Day9-10: Chengdu-Xi’an
Visit the famous Panda Reserve to see the lovely animals We then fly to the historic city of Xi’an for two nights stay and enjoy traditional Shuijiao. Next day, explore one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century—the Terracotta Warriors(兵马俑),followed by the ancient City wall and a performance of Tang Dynasty dancing.
Day11-13: Xi’an-Beijing
Visit little wild goose pagoda and see the ancient objects at the well-known Shanxi provincial museum before walking through the lively militia Quarter to see the Great Mosque. Later fly to Beijing for three nights stay and try Peking Duck. During our stay in Beijing, we stroll through Tiananmen Square to the Forbidden city, the largest and best preserved collection of ancient buildings in china, and visit the summer palace. Next day we take a walk on the Great wall, tour the unique Temple of Heaven and enjoy an attractive Chinese Acrzibatio show.
Day14: Beijing-UK
Fly back to the UK, arriving home later the same day filled with happy memories. . The underlined word “sample” in the passage probably means “___________”
A.buy | B.reserve | C.taste | D.make |
. The first and last scenic spots to b
e visited in Xi’an are __________.
A.the Terracotta Warriors and the Great Mosque |
B.the Terracotta Warriors and shanghai provincial Museum |
C.little wild goose Pagoda and Great Mosque |
D.little wild goose Pagoda and the Muslim Quarter |
. The ad is mainly intended to ___________.
A.encourage the British to travel in China |
B.attract the British to traditional Chinese food |
C.offer service of booking air tickets to tourists |
D.provide the British with a better understanding of China. |
Researchers have developed new software using smart phones’GPS and imaging abilities that determine the exact location of distant objects as well as monitor the speed and direction of moving objects.The software could eventually allow smart phone-armed soldiers to target the location of their enemies.On the home front,the software could be used by everyone,including golfers judging distance to the green and biologists documenting the location of a rare animal without disturbing it.
“The great advantage of a Smartphone is that it provides so many tools in a single,readily available,relatively inexpensive package,”said Qia Wang,a doctoral student who led the development of the software.“For example,on the battlefield,a soldier needs a rangefinder,compass,GPS and other tools to get information before calling in an air strike.With our software,the soldier can have all those instruments in one device that can be purchased off the shelf.When that soldier returns from War,she can use the same Software to protect her family by clocking a speeder near her children’s school and catching the criminal on video.”
Wang and his colleagues developed their software to locate and track:
Targets of known size—when the size of the target is known.a single image is enough to pinpoint the target’s location.
Targets of unknown size—If the exact size of a target is unknown,the software uses two images to triangulate the location of the target·
Moving targets—By taking a short video of a moving target,the smartphone software can calculate how fast the target is moving and in what direction it is going.
“Currently,our software is limited by the physical abilities of smartphone hardware,but the devices are improving rapidly,”Wang said.“We expect that improvements in GPS accuracy,battery life and camera resolution will allow our software to make even more accurate observations.”.From Paragraph 1 we can know that the new software can_______.
A.determine the speed of moving objects |
B.1ocate objects in the distance exactly |
C.defend soldiers against their enemies |
D.help biologists protect rare animal |
.The example given by Qia Wang is meant to ________________.
A.make an advertisement |
B.describe the software briefly |
C.show the benefits of the software |
D.present the functions of smartphones |
.How does the software calculate the speed of a moving object?
A.By taking a short video. | B.By locating its position. |
C.By taking a single image. | D.By measuring real-life size. |
.What’s Qia Wang’s attitude towards the future of the software?
A.Casual. | B.Optimistic. |
C.Cautious. | D.Flexible |
.What is the best title of the text?
A.Qia Wang,a Talented Doctoral Student |
B.Use Smartphones to Their Full Potential |
C.Targeting and Tracking With Smartphones |
D.Smartphone-armed Soldiers on the Battlefield |
Many years ago,a French naturalist,the Count de Buffon,wrote some books about natural history.The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them.Some critics said,“Count Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist.”
Thomas Jefferson did not like what the Count had said about the natural wonders of the New World.It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had spoken of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant.
This troubled Thomas Jefferson.He too was a naturalist,as well as a farmer,inventor,historian,writer and politician.He had seen the natural wonders of Europe.To him,they were no more important than those of the New World.
In 1788,Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state,Virginia.While writing,he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of the Count de Buffon.At that moment.Jefferson created a new word—belittle.He said.“The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic.”
Noah Webster,the American word expert,liked this word.He put it in this English language dictionary in 1806,“Belittle—to make small,unimportant.”
Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it.In 1797,the Independent Chronicle newspaper used the word to describe a politician the paper supported.“He is an honorable man,”the paper wrote,“so let the opposition try to belittle him as much as they please.”
In 1872,a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word.He said,“Belittle has no chance of becoming English.And as more critical writers of America,like those of Britain,feel no need of it,the sooner it is forgotten,the better.”
This expert failed to kill the word.Today.belittle is used where the English language is spoken.Why did Thomas Jefferson disagree with the Count de Buffon?
A.The Count said something silly about the Atlantic. |
B.The Count wasn’t a true scientist in natural history. |
C.The Count was a poet from a different country. |
D.The Count belittled the natural wonders in America. |
We can infer that Jefferson created the word“belittle”out of his ___________.
A.anger | B.excitement |
C.kindness | D.responsibility |
From the text we can know that ______________.
A.all critics thought little of the Count de Buffon |
B.Europe has better wonders than the New World |
C.the word“belittle”survived from disagreements |
D.word experts can change the future of a new word |
Which of the following is true of the word“belittle”?
A.It is gradually accepted by people. |
B.It was invented by the Count de Buffon. |
C.It was used to describe nature. |
D.The Independent Chronicle made it popular. |
What is the main idea of the text?
A.How the word“belittle”came into being. |
B.The argument about natural wonders. |
C.Every word has a long history behind. |
D.Noah Webster supported Jefferson’s idea. |
As the new semester begins,millions of college students across the country are trying hard to remember how best to write a paper-or,more likely,how best to delay that paper.
Procrastination is the thief of time and a lot of students suffer from it.They can spend whole days in the library doing nothing but staring into space,eating snacks,surfing the Internet,watching videos and looking at their pretty peers sitting around them,who,most likely,are doing nothing either.
Paralyzed by their habit to procrastinate,they write micro blogs about their fears,asking their online friends if they sometimes have the same issue.But this does nothing to solve their problems.
According to a recent report by the BBC,95 percent of us procrastinate at some point and 20 percent of the world’s population are procrastinators,complicating their lives with their continual delaying of tasks.
Procrastinators like to find excuses to justify their behavior,but BBC columnist Rowan Pelling says they are all wrong.Many procrastinators tell themselves they are perfectionists who work best under pressure.Pelling says this is nonsense,as work done at the last minute is more likely to have mistakes than work done on time.
She says the behavior of procrastinators often makes them feel flustered and ashamed,inconveniences others,and annoys loved ones.
Fortunately,social seientists have made tireless efforts to understand this behavioral shortcoming and offer strategies to control it.Piers Steel,a Canadian social scientist and author of The Procrastination Equation,believes humankind is“designed”to procrastinate.Nevertheless,he suggests a couple of good ways to get through the task at hand.
The first one is obvious:Break the task down into small pieces and work your way through them methodically.
The second is clever:Give a trusted friend a sum of money and tell them that if you don’t complete the task you have undertaken by a specific time,they can keep it or donate it to a cause you hate..What does the underlined word“Procrastination” in the second paragraph refer to?
A.A bad habit of putting work or tasks off. |
B.A thief who steals time and money in college. |
C.A college student who learns nothing. |
D.A study way of doing nothing in the library. |
.Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
A.College students can have their papers written if they delay them. |
B.Many students don’t know what to do in the library. |
C.Students can’t solve their procrastination by writing micro blogs. |
D.20%of the procrastinators make their life complicated. |
.According to Rowan Pelling,we can learn that procrastinators ____________.
A.can find reasonable excuses for their behavior |
B.are able to work best under pressure |
C.are more likely to avoid mistakes at work |
D.may upset themselves and their loved ones more frequently |
.Which of the following may Piers Steel support?
A.Human beings are not born to be procrastinators. |
B.Complete your tasks or work step by step. |
C.Give your trusted friend money and ask him to help you finish your tasks. |
D.You can’t control procrastination but you can avoid it. |
.What’s the best title of the text?
A.Who steals my time? |
B.The solutions to procrastination |
C.I’ll do it tomorrow,I swear! |
D.Don’t do nothing! |
In Singapore,most of us love window-shopping while some others enjoy having a picnic at East Coast Park or Changi Beach on sunny days.Singaporeans are never bothered by the occasional thunderstorm.However,we know that if it rains for long continuous periods,there will be more serious effects.Just recently the main shopping street of Orchard Road was flooded and some part of Bukit Timah was impassable(不能通行的)to traffic.People reacted by writing in to the newspaper to complain about this! We forget that other countries suffer much worse effects.
Elsewhere,heavy tropical(热带的)storms often result in floods that ruin crops especially in Thailand and Malaysia.This in turn usually means that the price of rice and vegetables here in Singapore will rise because we import these products from them.If there is a typhoon or tsunami,thousands of lives are lost too.This happened in Indonesia and Phuket in Thailand in 2004 and It serves to remind us of how Mother Nature can cause great damage.
Weather patterns in general have changed dramatically in recent years.Scientists believe that global warming and the resulting melting of the polar ice-cap has caused the level of the ocean to rise.This in turn causes flooding of low-lying areas in countries where the land is rather flat and some parts of which is below water level.It is believed that human activities have caused Mother Nature to show her extreme anger,so it is now important that we really work together to cut down on harmful activities,for example,illegal logging(伐木)or irresponsible forest-burning to clear land for farming..From Paragraph 1,we can see that most Singaporeans love ______________.
A.making complaints | B.going out for picnics |
C.doing window-shopping | D.traveling along the coast |
.What will happen in Singapore if there are floods in its neighboring countries?
A.Heavy tropical storms will follow shortly. |
B.The price of rice and vegetables will go up. |
C.Many people will write in to the newspaper. |
D.More rice and vegetables will be imported. |
.The underlined word“it”in Paragraph 2 refers to ___________.
A.the arrival of heavy tropical storms |
B.the import of rice and vegetables |
C.the rising price of rice and vegetables |
D.the loss of lives in natural disasters |
.What’s the right order of the following events?
a.global warming
b.the rise in ocean level
c.harmful human activities
d.the flooding of low-lying areas
e.the melting of the polar ice-cap
A.c→a→e→b→d | B.a→c→e→b→d |
C.c→a→b→e→d | D.d→a→c→b→e |
.What should we do in order not to make Mother Nature angry?
A.Clear more land for farming. |
B.Reduce harmful human activities. |
C.Bring down the price of food. |
D.Improve the quality of weather. |
At some time in your life you may have a strong desire to do something strange or terrible. However, chances are that you don’t act on your impulse(冲动), but let it pass instead. You know that to take the action is wrong in some way and that other people will not accept your behavior.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the phenomenon of taboo behavior is how it can change over the years within the same society, how certain behavior and attitudes once considered taboo can become perfectly acceptable and natural at another point in time. Topics such as death, for example, were once considered so upsetting and unpleasant that it was a taboo to even talk about them. Now with the publication of important books such as On Death and Dying and Learning to Say Goodbye, people have become more aware of the importance of expressing feelings about death and, as a result, are more willing to talk about this taboo subject.
One of the newest taboos in American society is the topic of fat. Unlike many other taboos, fat is a topic that Americans talk about constantly. It’s not taboo to talk about fat; it’s taboo to be fat. The “in” look is thin, not fat. In the work world, most companies prefer youthful-looking, trim executives to sell their image as well as their products to the public. The thin look is associated with youth, vigor, and success. The fat person, on the other hand, is thought of as lazy and lacking in energy, self-discipline, and self-respect. In an image-conscious(注意形象的) society like the U.S., thin is “in”, fat is “out”.
It’s not surprising, then, that millions of Americans have become obsessed with staying slim and “in shape”. The pursuit of a youthful physical appearance is not, however, the only reason for America’s fascination with diet and exercise. Recent research has shown the critical importance of diet and exercise for personal health. As in most technologically developed nations, the life-style of North Americans has changed dramatically during the course of the last century. Modern machines do all the physical labor that people were once forced to do by hand. Cars and buses transport us quickly from point to point. As a result of inactivity and disuse, people’s bodies can easily become weak and vulnerable to disease. In an effort to avoid such a fate, millions of Americans are spending more of their time exercising. From the passage we can infer taboo is .
A.a strong desire to do something strange or terrible |
B.a crime committed on impulse |
C.behavior considered unacceptable in society’s eyes |
D.an unfavorable impression left on other people |
Based on the ideas presented in the passage we can conclude “being fat”in American society.
A.will always remain a taboo |
B.is not considered a taboo by most people |
C.has been a taboo long before |
D.may no longer be a taboo some day |
The topic of fat is many other taboo subjects.
A.the same as | B.different from |
C.more boring than | D.less often talked about than |
In the U.S., thin is “in”, fat is “out”, this means .
A.thin is “inside”, fat is “outside” |
B.thin is “diligent”, fat is “lazy” |
C.thin is “youthful”, fat is “spiritless” |
D.thin is “fashionable”, fat is “unfashionable” |
The main reason the passage gives for why so many Americans are exercising regularly is.
A.their changed life-style |
B.their eagerness to stay thin and healthy |
C.their appreciation of the importance of exercise |
D.the encouragement they have received from their companies |