Unit 1 Our Earth
Listening
Audio Track 4-1-1
1. I’ve visited a few caves in Guilin. The rocks in the caves are in different shapes and colors. If you use your imagination, the rocks can resemble many different things. It looks like a whole other world.
2. I went to the desert in Gansu once. As I stood in the middle of the desert, I faced endless sand and felt very small. By day the desert was extremely hot, by night it got very cold. I experienced summer and winter in the same day.
3. To my knowledge, California has beautiful coastlines. People love them and thousands of volunteers often give up part of their weekends to keep the sandy Californian beaches clean.
4. The Port of Shanghai is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River. It handles many millions of shipping containers each year. In fact it might even be the busiest container port in the world.
5. Japan has many hot springs. Some of them are located in mountainous areas and are great attractions to foreign tourists. Supposedly, the hot springs have healing properties.
6. The most famous mountain range in the world is the Himalayas. It contains the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest . Qomolangma), which climbs to a height of 8,848 meters.
7. The White Cliffs of Dover are one of the United Kingdom’s most spectacular natural sights. The cliffs are made from bright white stone. On a clear day, they are visible from France, approximately 30 kilometers away.
8. Mount Vesuvius is a famous volcano in Italy, which has not been active for about two centuries. But people say it might erupt again, someday soon.
9. Niagara Falls crosses the border of two countries, Canada and the United States. Every year, millions of tourists observe the beauty of these magnificent waterfalls. More recently, the waterfalls have become a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Audio Track 4-1-2/Audio Track 4-1-3
Blake: What are you working on, Mary?
Mary: I’m finishing my paper. It’s due tomorrow, Blake.
Blake: What’s the topic?
Mary: It’s about Greenland.
Blake: Greenland. Hmmm … that’s part of Canada, right?
Mary: I think you need to study your world geography, Blake.
Blake: Well, isn’t it near Canada?
Mary: Yes, it’s off the coast of northeast Canada, but it’s part of Denmark. Blake: Oh, I didn’t know that. Well, what’s your p aper about exactly?
Mary: In my paper, I answer the question “Is Greenland really green?” In other words, is Greenland covered by a lot of plants and trees?
Blake: Is it?
Mary: What do you think?
Blake: Let’s see … Greenland is in the Arctic Circle —way u p north. It’s cold, …
