Text one
Living History at Jamestown Settlement
A woman in Native American clothes is sitting in the sun, sewing a dress from skin. Inside a building, a colonist is making a wooden chair, using very simple tools. And all around, tourists are taking pictures with their digital (數碼的) cameras. This is Jamestown Settlement today.
Jamestown, Virginia, was one of the first places in the world where people from Europe,America, and Africa came together in 1608. Today, it is a living history museum, where children and adults come to experience history. In a living history museum, actors wear clothes from the past and demonstrate many of the activities of daily life back then. The actors also talk to the visitors and explain everything they do.
At a Living History museum, there are always many things to touch, hear and smell. Visitors at Jamestown Settlement can walk through copies of the three small sailing ships that carried colonists to Virginia and even lie down in a colonist's bed. The colonists stayed on the crowded,dangerous ships for more than four months. When they got to Virginia they built an area of houses with a high wall around it in today's fort ( 堡壘 ), you can see houses, a church, and even a garden with foods that the colonists ate. Women in long dresses work inside their homes, and visitors can help them with their sewing and cooking.
There is also an Indian Village at Jamestown Settlement, and it looks very different from the fort. It shows how the Indians lived in long houses and grew corn and other crops in large fields.
Actors there make pottery (陶器) and teach visitors how to play Indian games. You can even help them make an Indian boat from a tree.
Today the living history museum of Jamestown is very popular, especially with children and families.
People come here to have fun, but also to learn. Many school classes visit to experience old ways of getting things done. A living history museum is the best way to understand how people lived in the past.
16. Tourists like to take pictures in Jamestown Settlement today.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
17. In Jamestown Settlement, people from three different cultures came together in 1608.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
18. At a living history museum, visitors cannot touch any of the things on display.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
19. The first colonists to Jamestown Settlement were from England.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
20. The actors working at the museum explain what they do to the visitors.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
21. In Jamestown, visitors can walk through the real ships the colonists used.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
22. Children and families enjoy playing Indian games.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
Text two
The Most Wonderful Islands
The Palm Islands are the largest artificial islands in the world and are under construction in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. They are being developed as tourist, leisure, and residential resorts, and will increase the coastline of the country by 120 kilometers.
After four years of planning and careful consideration of the environmental issues, construction started in 2001. Dutch engineers with experience of reclaiming land from the sea were employed in the building of the fhst two islands. The site for all three islands is an area of the sea where the water is not very deep. Sand is taken from the seabed and sprayed into the construction site. Although the shallow water facilitates this process, the islands are still very exposed to the currents and tidal movements of the sea. Rocks are used to hold the sand in place resulting in a large crescent (月狀的)structure. This acts as a breakwater and protects the islands from the sea.
The first two islands are in the shape of date palm trees and consist of a trunk and 17 frond, or leaves coming off the trunk. The first island, named Palm Jumeirah, has three five-star hotels in the trunk, and luxury homes in the leaves. It is astonishing that when these homes went on sale in 2004,they were all sold within three days.
The second palm, Jebel All, was started in 2002 and is designed to be an entertainment centre. Six marinas ( 小遊艇船塢 )are planned, with a water theme park, and homes built on stilts ( 樁柱 )in the water.
The Palm Deira planned to be the largest of the three islands, with a length of 14 km and a width of 8.5 km, an area larger than the city of Paris. It will consist of residential properties, marinas,shopping malls, sports facilities, and clubs. These will be open to both residents and tourists.
More artificial islands, the World Islands, are now being constructed near the Palm Jumeirah.
They consist of 300 private islands grouped into the shape of the continents of the world and will be used for estates, private homes, community islands, and resorts.
Unquestionably, these artificial islands are one of the wonders of the modem world. They will also maintain Dubai's status as one of the leading tourist destinations in the region.
