With its Georgian brick buildings and grassy green hills, almost everywhere in Bath feels like a living postcard. With landmarks from Roman and medieval times, you may feel you've landed back in time, but the majestic row houses and people hustling about on smart－phones brings you out of that fantasy.
Bath somehow weaves together threads of small－town life with metropolitan sophistication. It has galleries, museums and theaters. It's a college town anchored by the University of Bath. And it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Even on a mere day trip from London, just 90 minutes away by train, Bath bubbles over with charm.
Bath Abbey
An impressive landmark in the center of town, Bath Abbey is the third place of worship to occupy this site in 1，200 years. The first church, built in 757, was replaced by a cathedral soon after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. That one gave way in the 15th century to the abbey that's there today.
Walk inside and eye the vaulted ceiling and stunning stained glass windows showing 56 scenes from Christ's life. A floor plate marks Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ's 1973 visit. Tours of the church tower are available.
Roman Baths
A view of the interior of the Roman Baths in Bath, England
The Roman Baths date back to the year 70, with a pool of natural, hot spring water called the Great Bath located below street level. You can see the steam swirling on the street above. People dressed in period clothing—such as a Roman soldier or stone mason—stand in the archways.
The complex includes several underground spaces and displays. The self－guided audio tour thoroughly explains how the citizens of Aquae Sulis (the Roman name given to Bath) socialized, worked and worshipped. At the end of the tour, visitors can sample some of that refreshing water.
Jane Austen Centre Novelist Jane Austen lived with family in Bath between 1801 and 1806. Avid readers of Austen's work know that Bath was a prominent setting in two of her books, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. The Jane Austen Centre, a three－story building on Gay Street has a permanent exhibit and tea room.
The exhibit offers two floors of clothes, anecdotes about what daily life would have been like for Austen in Bath.You can end your wandering with afternoon tea in the third－floor Regency Tea Room.
Royal Crescent
This half－moon formation of Georgian townhouses is one of Bath's most famous architectural masterpieces, an arc－shaped cluster of buildings set behind a green field. The first home, No. 1 Royal Crescent, where former Parliament member Henry Sanford lived in the late 1700s, is also a museum. Rooms are furnished in 18th century
style, with a glimpse of the upstairs－downstairs lifestyle of the era (think Downton Abbey but 150 years earlier)．
( )56. According to the article, the following aspects of Bath are covered EXCEPT ________．
A. history B. architecture C. transportation D. accommodation ( )57. Which of the following statement is INCORRECT according to the passage? A. Bath Abbey occupied the site in the 15th century after several historical changes.
B. The Roman Baths are featured by a hot spring water, where you can tour around with the local guide.
C. Two of Jane Austin's books were set in Bath, where she lived for 5 years. D. The rooms in No. 1 Royal Crescent are furnished in 18th century style, resembling that of Downton Abbey.
( )58. Where would you probably find the passage? A. In a history textbook. B. In a science website.
C. In a travelling magazine. D. In a literature journal.
B
In a country as obsessed with education as China, it makes sense that online teaching has huge potential.
Wealthy Chinese spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to send their children abroad for what they perceive as a better education. And China's scale means online－education companies can serve vast audiences, justifying up－front investments.
“Everyone is looking at education as the next frontier，” said Yat Siu, chief executive at Outblaze, a Hong Kong－based mobile games and animation company. “The challenge is how we get people to transfer to the digital side. China is not quite there yet, but it will come.”
Online education has been slow to catch on in China even though the country has the world's largest Internet user base and is the world's largest smartphone market. Listed educational companies, facing pressure to generate steady cash flows, have been slow to invest in their online operations.
______________________________. The country's focus on tests means there is less need for interactive learning than in the US system, which cultivates a wide range of interests and often seeks to accommodate different learning styles. In China, traditional programs that help with exams and job searches are still the most popular.
And there is a shortage of up－to－date technology. Relatively few teachers in China have access to technology necessary for online, interactive education programs.
Traditional education companies have to adapt to the change, whether they like it or not. Yu Minhong, chairman of New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc., said recently at a forum that online education will account for 40% of the private education market in three to five years, from 10% now, and the company is positioning itself as a content provider. Attention needs to be shifted from offline to online development, otherwise New Oriental won't survive, Mr. Yu said.
Changing views of education in China make a shift to more online education inevitable. Chinese students are becoming less fixated on tests. Parents are
increasingly sending their children to English－immersion camps abroad rather than classrooms. Today's children are more comfortable with e－learning.
Although Chinese consumers are often reluctant to pay for things on the Internet, there appears to be a higher willingness to pay for tools, education and efficiency－improvement apps, judging by the top 100 apps in the paid categories for the iPhone and iPad.
“Once you put a device into a child's hand, the ability to learn from it is very strong，” said Outblaze's Mr. Sui, who has donated tablets to schools in Nepal. “Lectures are still the most popular way of learning, but the system is now more about explanation and self－learning.”
( )59. According to the passage, online education is NOT popular in China now for the following reasons EXCEPT ________．
A. Chinese consumers are often unwilling to pay for things on the Internet B. listed educational companies have difficulty investing in their online operations
C. Chinese consumers are used to the traditional education system
D. all teachers are not well equipped with the latest technology for interactive education programs
( )60. Which of the following sentences can be best put at the beginning of Paragraph 5?
A. Online teaching has huge potential in China.
B. Education companies will attach more importance to online education. C. Another reason is China's education system itself.
D. Self－learning plays the most important part in the education system. ( )61. Yu Minhong, chairman of New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc., positions his company as a content provider because ________．
A. online education is expected to expand
B. Chinese consumers are willing to pay for education C. Chinese students are becoming less interested in tests
D. parents are sending their children to camps organized by his company ( )62. The underlined word “fixated” in Paragraph 8 probably means ________． A. bent B. keen C. insistent D. agreed
C
Every year, 1，000，000，000，000，000，000，000，000(one septillion) snowflakes fall worldwide. As the crystals fall, they encounter different atmospheric conditions that produce flakes with unique attributes. This process, notes Kenneth Libbrecht, “is what makes a well－formed snow crystal especially beautiful.”
A physicist at the California Institute of Technology, Libbrecht knows what he is talking about. Along with the work of scientists William Wergin and Rango at the US Agricultural Research Service, his research is uncovering new information about the magical world of snow crystals — information that has practical applications in such diverse areas as agriculture and the production of electricity.
By manipulating the temperature and humidity within an incubation chamber, Libbrecht creates “designer” snowflakes in his lab. Such experiments are helping
him determine how crystals form with the use of scanning electron microscopy.
Rango uses Wergin's electron microscopy data, along with microwave satellite data, in the Snowmelt Runoff Model to predict the amount of water available in a winter snowpack. For western states such as Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, about 75 percent of the annual water supply comes from snowmelt. Snowmelt water is critical to crop irrigation and hydroelectric power, as well as recreation and domestic water supplies, fisheries management and flood control.
Before employing the scanning electron microscopy results, the forecasted amounts of snowpack water were inaccurate whenever the size and shape of the snow crystals varied much from the norm. “The more we know about crystals，” notes Rango, “the easier it will be to use microwave satellite data for predictions of the snow water equivalent.”
Currently, forecasts using the model are about 90 percent accurate, but Rango would like to improve this figure with further developments in remote sensing. “A change from 90 percent to 92 percent is important because in the West, water is overcommitted.” For instance, a 1980 study estimated that improving the prediction by 1 percent would save $38 million in irrigation and hydropower in the western United States. Rango adds, “I would expect that these figures are higher than that now, especially seeing that the water demand is now greater.”
Rango is also looking ahead at climate change predictions. “Following the estimates that have been made about what will happen by 2，100, things are definitely warming up，” he says. Temperature increases will likely result in a reduction in stream flow as overall snow accumulation decreases, winter precipitation(降水) runs off as rain and water evaporates(蒸发) at a quicker rate. The gap between water supply and demand will magnify even more, greatly increasing water's economic value, anticipates Rango.
Not only does the crystal research help measure snowmelt, it is also useful in predicting avalanches(雪崩), designing artificial snow and, perhaps in the near future, examining air pollution. “You can put snow in a scanning electron microscope and tell which elements are present，” says Wergin. “You can then see what kind of pollution is in the area and possibly track the source.”
( )63. According to the passage, the use of scanning electron microscopy can save money by ________．
A. encouraging scientists to make estimates of water requirements far into the future
B. allowing forecasters to predict more accurately the quantity of water in the snowpack
C. helping agricultural researchers to identify biological problems
D. increasing the water supply for Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming by 75 percent
( )64. According to Rango's statement about the increase of water's economic value, which of the following is RIGHT?
A. More water will be polluted by then.
B. Less water will be wasted due to more accurate prediction of the water supply.
