For the Travel section, writers and editors selected special items to profile from a dozen cities.

Brussels: Chocolate.

Nearly half the chocolate consumed in the world is eaten in Europe, and Belgium—with average consumption of 14.99 pounds per person a year—certainly covers its fair share. While Brussels, the country’s capital, is home to hundreds of chocolate makers, what makes a visit necessary is the rich heritage of traditional chocolate makers.

Budapest: Paprika(红辣椒)

The job of preparing Hungarian paprika was once considered too dangerous for mothers to do. A woman who touched her children upon returning from work risked burning them, so only the elderly and unmarried were allowed the delicate task of separating the skin from the flesh. But by the early 20th century, sweeter varieties and a machine turned paprika into a common feature of all Hungarian cuisine.

Lisbon: Tiles(瓷砖)

Is there a bluer country than Portugal? The blue sky and Atlantic Ocean embrace the land. The blue moods of Fado, the dark folk music, form the national soundtrack. And all across Portugal, the typically—blue designs of azulejos—ceramic tiles—are spread across churches, castles, palaces, university halls, parks. The result is a beautiful land of Christian saints, Portuguese kings, historical glories, aristocrats(贵族) at leisure, seascapes and so on.

Madrid: Guitars

Walking into one the Madrid’s storied guitar makers’ workshops can feel like stepping into the past. Curly wood shavings, from the palest pine to ebony, fall onto the floor as artisans(工匠) turn some humble wood into works of art. It’s painstaking work—all done by hand—with classical guitar models and the methods of making them changing little over the last century.

1.What does the job of preparing Hungarian paprika suggest?

A. The popularity of Hungarian peppers.

B. The difficult of processing peppers.

C. The unique tradition in Budapest.

D. The hot level of Hungarian peppers.

2.Which city can be a splendid setting for a film?

A. Brussels.B. Budapest.C. Lisbon.D. Madrid.

3.What’s the similarity of the four items?

A. They’re all treasures of a city.

B. They all date back several centuries.

C. Their production processes are all painstaking.

D. They all win popularity in most European countries.

“We are good mothers,” I said to my friend, as we sat on our comfortable beach chairs under our beach umbrella and watched our children playing in the waves.

Out of nowhere, the children took off running. About fifty yards from us, a man—maybe in his fifties—was fishing. The children stood next to him and watched with their little mouths hanging open as he cast the fishing lines. He smiled at them. They ran back to us—all except my three-year-old daughter, Drew.

My heart beat fast with horror. “Drew! Come here! Play with your friends!” I shouted, very aware that my speeches about not talking to strangers weren’t working. It seemed that many parents heard of horrible stories about children being taken away by strangers. Responsible mothers should teach their children that the world is a dangerous place. So I felt relieved (松口气) when Drew ran towards me and took hold of a shovel (铲子). Then she looked me in the eye: “I want to be with the person.”

Again, she approached the middle-aged man, and started digging next to him.

Several seconds later, she returned, waving something shiny.

“Look, Mommy! A toy fish!”

It was, indeed, a toy fish—yellow and rubber. This must have been what he was using to attract the fish. And he’d given it to Drew. The three other children were deeply impressed, and they didn’t try to hide how jealous(妒忌的)they were—clearly, they all wanted the fish.

“My friend gave me that fish!” Drew shouted loudly. The sand in front of the umbrella turned into a preschool cage match with a yellow rubber fish flying through the air. I felt like I might cry myself.

Unexpectedly, there he was: the man, standing right next to us with three more rubber fish in hand. He handed them to each of the children. By their faces, you would have thought he was actually the really kind big brother.

“Thank you,” I said, realizing that there is good and kindness in strangers.

1. How did the author feel when Drew stood beside the man?

A. Relieved B. Angry C. Concerned D. Calm

2. The author thinks good mothers should _______.

A. be around their kids

B. warn their kids of danger

C. teach their kids to behave well

D. devote themselves to helping their kids

3.The author was at a loss (迷茫)when_______.

A. Drew handed her the toy fish

B. the kids fought for the toy fish

C. the toy fish was covered with sand

D. the stranger appeared from nowhere

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A. Give a kid a fish

B. We are good mothers

C. The world is dangerous

D. Teach kids to be kind

One day, Mr. Arnold was teaching a lesson, and things were going as normally as ever. He was explaining the story of human being to his pupils. He told them that, in the beginning, men were nomads (游牧); they never stayed in the same place for very long. Instead, they would travel about, here and there, in search of food, wherever it was to be found. And when the food ran out, they would move off somewhere else.

He taught them about the invention of farming and keeping animals. This was an important discovery, because by learning to cultivate (耕作) the land, and care for animals, mankind would always have food steadily. It also meant that people could remain living in one place, and this made it easier to set about tasks that would take a long while to finish, like building towns, cities, and all that were in them. All the children were listening attracted by this story, until Lucy jumped up:

“And if that was so important and improved everything so much, why are we nomads all over again, Mr. Arnold?”

Mr. Arnold didn’t know what to say. Lucy was a very clever girl. He knew that she lived with her parents in a house, so she must know that her family were not nomads; so what did she mean?

“We have all become nomads again,” continued Lucy, “The other day, outside the city, they were cutting the forest down. A while ago a fisherman told me how they fish. It’s the same with everyone: when there’s no more forest left the foresters go elsewhere, and when the fish run out the fishermen move on. That’s what the nomads did, isn’t it?

The teacher nodded, thoughtfully. Really, Lucy was right. Mankind had turned into nomads. Instead of looking after the land in a way that we could be sure it would keep supplying our needs, we kept developing it until the land was bare. And then off we would go to the next place! The class spent the rest of the afternoon talking about what they could do to show how to be more civilized (文明的).

The next day everyone attended class wearing a green T-shirt, with a message that said “I am not a nomad!”

And, from then on, they set about showing that indeed they were not. Every time they knew they needed something, they made sure that they would get it using care and control. If they needed wood or paper, they would make sure that they got the recycled kind. They ordered their fish from fish farms, making sure that the fish they received were not too young and too small. They only used animals that were well cared for, and brought up on farms.

And so, from their little town, those children managed to give up being nomads again, just as prehistoric men had done, so many thousands of years ago.

1.Why would early humans travel about in the beginning?

A.To experience different lifestyles.

B.To go sightseeing in different places.

C.To find what they could to feed themselves.

D.To do more exercise to build themselves up.

2.From Paragraph 2, we can know that ________.

A.people got tired of living in the same place

B.people gradually got used to living in cities

C.people spent a long time in learning to keep animals

D.people tended to settle down after learning farming and keeping animals

3.The teacher thought Lucy’s argument was ________.

A. reasonableB. unbelievable

C. puzzlingD. shocking

4.Which of the following agrees with the message “I am not a nomad” (Paragraph 7)?

A.People eat young fish for its delicious taste.

B.People use recycled materials as much as possible.

C.Fishermen move elsewhere when there is no fish left.

D.Foresters leave the place where there is no wood left.

5.The writer tries to make us believe that ________.

A.mankind has been progressing mainly through traveling about

B.it’s unwise for mankind to use the land in an uncontrolled way

C.it’s quite good for students to learn more about the history of mankind

D.teachers should encourage students to voice their own opinions bravely

Vancouver. B.C.—For six months. Ted Schredd and Deanna Kopel cycled around North America to show others a way to help the environment. “Nobody wants to breathe dirty air—but for the air to change. People have to stop driving cars,” says Ted, “If more people start riding bikes, the air will be cleaner.”

Ted started his trip alone. He had $160 in his pocket and plans to cycle around North America. He left his hometown of Vancouver, and when he arrived in San Diego he got the chance to make some extra money for the rest of his 13, 000 km trip. A cyclist he met asked him to speak at an environment meeting in Texas. Within a few hours, Ted was on a plane to the meeting and a big surprise.

When he met Deanna at the meeting, they talked for six hours straight. It was love at first sight. The next day, he called her to ask if she wanted to finish the trip with him. She said yes, sold everything in her flat, gave her notice at work, and was on the road with Ted three weeks later.

Deanna found Ted’s timetable difficult because he got up early in the morning. Deanna was a nurse and usually worked at night. “All of a sudden, I was up at six when I wanted to sleep until noon,” said Deanna.

As the couple cycled to Florida and up to Montreal and then back to Vancouver, every day was an adventure. They got free meals in restaurants, and slept in people’s yards. When they ran out of money, people gave them extra cash. Sometimes people gave away $50 or $100.

And like all good stories this one has a happy ending. On the way back to Vancouver, they stopped in Edmonton to visit Ted’s relatives. During the visit, they got married. People tied ten cans and a “Just Married” sign to the back of their bikes.

They now want to write a book about their trip. “We want people to know that you can protect our earth and still have fun,” Schredd said.

1.What did Ted Schredd believe to be a way to protect the environment?

A. Driving less.B. Breathing clean air.

C. Saving waste tin cans.D. Staying healthy by cycling.

2.Why did Ted speak at an environmental meeting?

A. He could get a big surprise.

B. He was in the city of the meeting.

C. He hoped to find someone to help him.

D. He wanted more people to know more about his opinion.

3.What difficulty did Deanna meet after starting the trip with Ted?

A. Getting free meals in restaurant.

B. Sleeping in people’s yards.

C. Getting up very early.

D. Missing her friends.

4.In what way does the story have a happy ending for Ted and Deanna?

A. They got married during their trip.

B. They got together with their relatives.

C. They became very famous in America.

D. They wrote a book about their experience.

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