This selection of books and guides offers insight to hidden charm in many favorite cities and destinations and gives you the knowledge to uncover unusual sights to see and places to visit. We hope you enjoy our choices and welcome your comments. Email your feedback to books@ gounusual. com.

The following are taken from these books. You will find much more information about these hotels in the books.
Kakslauttanen Hotel

It is the home of the famous Igloo（冰屋）Village with the unique glass and snow igloos and the world’s largest snow restaurant. In addition , their guests can enjoy the winter activities including watching the Northern Lights visible generally from late August to late April. Guests can sample the peace of sleeping in snow. Their glass igloos are fantastic for lying on your bed at night, watching the Northern Lights in the warm. You can enjoy cold or warm night sleep as required.
Art Hotel in Ronda

Beautifully situated in the oldest paved street of Ronda and surrounded by historic buildings, Art Hotel is decorated with original and historical artwork and atmospheric lighting. There is lots of fun and funky touches, e. g. lights and birds nesting in old basketballs, wall murals（壁画）of Michael Jackson , car tyres converted to occasional tables.
During your stay, all drinks, breakfast and the use of all facilities are included in the price of the room.
Otter Creek Tents
The tents are separated from the rest of the world by a quiet salt-water creek. A coconut plantation dating back to 1886, the secret location preserves the privacy and peace of guests, with the salt water of the creek keeping even the mosquitoes away.
Each tent sleeps 2 in a four-poster double bed and has a western style toilet and bathroom with running water and hot shower. The tents use the dining facilities of the charming “Elsewhere” beach houses and enjoy over a mile of the pristine（处于原始状态的）beach where one can still see the footprints of fishermen , and during the season , possibly the prints of sea turtles.
The Original Icehotel

“Imagine a hotel built from thousands of tons of snow and ice, and rebuilt every winter”--that is ICEHOTEL in northern Lapland, Sweden.
This is the original ICEHOTEL, first created in the early 1990s. It has become the global ambassador for this genre and now licenses ICEBARs around the world too. With 80 ＋ rooms, the property is a huge undertaking to be rebuilt every year, and their expertise inspired other similar properties in North America and elsewhere.
【小题1】People staying in Kakslauttanen Hotel can watch the Northern Lights EXCEPT in ________.

CORVALIJS. Ore.-- Engineers at Oregon Suite University have made a breakthrough in the performance of microbial (微生物的)fuel cells that can produce electricity directly from wastewater，opening the door to a future in which waste treatment plants not only will power themselves, but will sell extra electricity.

The new technology ,developed at OSU, can now produce 10 to 50 more times the electricity, per volume, than most oilier approaches using microbial fuel cells,and 100 times more electricity than some.

Researchers say this could eventually change the way that wastewater is treated all over the world, replacing the widely used “activated sludge (泥浆) ” process that has been in use for almost a century. The new approach would produce significant amounts of electricity while effectively cleaning the wastewater,

“If this technology works on a commercial scale the way we believe it will ,the treatment of wastewater could be a huge energy producer, not a huge energy cost.” said Hong Liu ，an associate professor in the OSU Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering. “This could have an impact around the world, save a great deal of money, provide better water treatment and promote energy sustainability.”

The biodegradable (能降解的）characteristics of wastewater, if developed to their full potential, could theoretically provide many times the energy that is now being used to process them, with no additional greenhouse emissions.

OSU researchers reported several years ago on the promise of this technology, but at that time the systems in use produced far less electrical power. With new concepts, the technology can now produce more than two kilowatts per cubic meter of liquid reactor volume.

The new system also works better than an alternative approach to creating electricity from wastewater, based on anacrobic (臭氧的）digestion that produces methane (甲烷）.It treats the wastewater more effectively, and doesn’t have any of the environmental drawbacks of that technology, such as production of possible release of methane, a significant greenhouse gas.

1.Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

A．The treatment of wastewater is a huge energy cost.

B．Wastewater is being treated differently over the world.

C．Waste treatment plants have found a new way to power themselves.

D．Microbial fuel cells will produce more electricity from wastewater.

2.What can we learn about the new technology from the passage?

A．It can produce 100 times more electricity than any approach used today.

B．Through it more electricity can be created and water can be cleaned better.

C．It has already changed the way that wastewater is treated all over the world

D．It has opened the door to put microbial fuel cells to productive use.

3.What attitude does Professor Liu hold towards the new technology?

A. Supportive.      B. Critical.       C Unconcerned.    D. Curious.

4.According to the last paragraph, why does the new system work better than the alternative approach?

A．Because it is co-friendly and treats wastewater more effectively.

B．Because it can make full use of anaerobic digestion producing methane.

C．Because it may produce less methane than the alternative approach.

D．Because it can produce 10 times the energy than the alternative approach.

There is an English saying:“ laughter is the best medicine.” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now, however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health. 

Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter had similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart beating and breathing; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial .

Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group that tolerated(忍耐)the pain for the longest time was the groups which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemicals in the brain which  diminish  both stress and pain .

As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.

Doctors have proved the following EXCEPT that   ____   .

A. smiling does good to health 

B. laughter can be tolerated

C. there is a way to reduce pain 

D. laughter can work the muscles in the feet 

.The main idea of the passage is          .

A. laughter and physical exercise have similar effects on the human body 

B. smile can produce the same effects as laughter 

C. pain can be reduced by laughter 

D. laughter is the best medicine 

The students who  ___  tolerated the pain for the longest time .

A .listened to different radio programs

B .slept in the room 

C. don’t have stress of pain 

D .listened to a funny program

The underlined word “diminish” is similar to   _____     .

A. test    B .stop     C. reduce    D. find 

Doctors hold laughter clinics _________. 

A .to give better condition to their patients 

B .in order to improve patients’ health 

C .to make patients smile   

D. to prove smile and laughter have the same effect

Forget famous goal celebration such as “The Robot” by Peter Crouch and “The Dive” by Juergen Klinsmann, here comes the South African “Diski dance”. The Diski dance, which is performed through heading and kicking an imaginary ball, may be a goal celebration to watch in the following matches.
South Africa’s Siphiwe Tshabalala and his teammates performed this different dance when they celebrated his goal against Mexico in the opening World Cup game on Friday. The dance is already popular on YouTube and many soccer fans may want to learn the moves.
Even South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has learnt the Diski dance which could be better than Cameroon Roger Milla’s corner flag dance celebration in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. US actor John Travolta performed the dance shortly after landing his Boeing 707 at Lanseria airport, north of Johannesburg, on Wednesday morning.
Goal celebrations are now part of the biggest sporting event and players plan them in advance just in case they find the back of the net. In football, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration may be performed by the goal-scorer, his or her teammates, the manager or coaches and the supporters of the team.
The Robot goal celebration was so popular that England fans were surprised when Crouch, an English international footballer, said that he wouldn’t be doing it any more unless England won the World Cup.
The word Diski is the word used by the local people for soccer and may also describe the local style of football which focuses on dribbling(带球) and other tricks.
【小题1】Besides “Diski dance”, how many types of goal celebrations are mentioned in the passage?

The bar-tailed godwit （斑尾鷸）has just broken its own record for the world’s longest non-stop flight, including humans in planes, according to a report made by Lund University Press. The bird can fly non-stop for eight days, while the most impressive man-made airplane can only remain in the sky for 82 hours without a stop.

  The bar-tailed godwit’s journey, from Alaska to New Zealand, covers over 6,835 miles. It completes this trip twice a year, in autumn going to New Zealand, and in spring back to Alaska. The tireless bird ends the trip without stopping once for food or rest. All other birds can only finish trips that are twice as short as what the bar-tailed godwit travels.

  One reason for the bar-tailed godwit’s success is that it has made the best use of its fuel, which is only 0.41 percent of its body weight over each hour of any given long flight. Hedenstrom, a professor from Lund University, says, “This figure is extremely low compared with other birds.” The bird also has a special body shape that helps it fly easily. It stores body fat and protein to manage its trips. It also travels fast, compared to other birds and animals.

  Many questions remain about this bird record holder that never gets lost in the air. Researchers wonder whether it has an inside compass (指南针) that helps it to know the direction. Please watch how beautiful bar-tailed godwits look as they come in for a landing, along with other birds.

For the flight from Alaska to New Zealand, the bar-tailed godwit__________

A. doesn’t need to stop to eat        

B. is afraid of hot weather

C. seems very tired at last   

D. should fly less than 7,000 meters

The main reason why the bar-tailed godwit can break the record is that it ______.

A. eats little food every hour

B. has a special body shape  

C. stores much water in its body    

D. has very light body weight

The last paragraph tells us that _________.

A. researchers have understood the bird very well

B. the bird has a very good sense of direction

C. there are still many who doubt the bird’s ability

D. the bird has an inner compass