Lonely Planet Trips

Here are some travel destinations by Lonely Planet. Reading them, you’ll be in a flash.

Bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan, located on the Silk Road in South Asia, claimed the No. 1 spot partly for its majestic beauty and because it had become the first fully organic nation by 2020. The kingdom has lush subtropical plains in the south and sub-alpine Himalayan mountains in the north, which include Gangkhar Puensum, Bhutan’s highest peak and is believed to be the highest unclimbed mountain in the world.

North Macedonia

If you want an alternative to Europe's more popular travel spots, North Macedonia could be for you. Its mountains and their trails are “blissfully quiet” and the locals are “unfailingly helpful” according to Lonely Planet. Among its destinations is Ohrid, a charming, old town dotted with medieval ruins and churches, lined with cobblestone streets, and overlooking Lake Ohrid.

Eswatini

The kingdom offers multitudinous climate and topography differences, and is known for its wide varieties of wild animals, which include more than 500 bird species and 107 mammal species. The nation has seven nature reserves, four frontier conservation areas and three wildlife reserves.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica is beloved for many reasons, from its coffee to its epic surfing. It’s also notable for its reliance on green energy sources. In fact, 90% of its energy is created by regenerative sources such as wind and hydro. It is also one of the world’s most biodiverse countries — home to half a million species. Of course, no trip to Costa Rica is complete without a visit to the Sloth Sanctuary.

1 ． What can tourists appreciate in both Bhutan and North Macedonia?

A ． Organic products. B ． Subtropical jungles.

C ． Medieval architecture. D ． Mountain scenery.

2 ． Which of the following features Eswatini?

A ． Pleasant quietness. B ． Topography varieties.

C ． Abundant wildlife. D ． Cobblestone streets.

3 ． What is Costa Rica distinguished for?

A ． Renewable resources. B ． Biodiverse plants.

C ． Frontier preserves. D ． The Silk Road.

He Zehui, a Chinese nuclear physicist, accomplished great things in physics and became an outstanding scientist.

Her family is famous for producing three famous women scientists, including her two sisters. She graduated from Tsinghua University in 1936 with a degree in physics, and then went on to study at the Technical University of Berlin, where she was the top in her class, outperforming her future husband Qian Sanqiang — China's "father of the atomic bomb”. In 1940, she earned a Ph. D ． in Engineering.

The couple made great discoveries in the field of uranium fission （铀核裂变）， which drew global attention and earned them worldwide reputations, also marking a milestone in the development of China's experimental fission physics. Many Western media called the couple the “Marie Curie and Pierre Curie of China” ・

As one of the pioneers in nuclear science and technology in China, Professor He contributed a great deal to nuclear physics. During the 1950s, she started the research and development of nuclear emulsions （核乳胶） in China and their research reached the advanced world level at that time. He and her research group took the lead in building China's first nuclear reactor and accelerator. She was awarded the first Award of the National Prize of Natural Sciences for making outstanding achievements in supporting the national program of nuclear weapon development.

Throughout her career, He conquered many obstacles, and was always on the front lines of China's science-related work. She published dozens of papers yet placed little value on personal fame. The world's top physicists recognized He as a famous scientist, “ Chinese Madame Curie”.

He passed away in Beijing in 2011 at the age of 97, nearly 20 years after Qian Sanqiang. She dedicated herself to science, living a simple life, always nurturing young researchers and maintaining the highest standards that she had always valued. She loved her country and science; to both she is now an icon.

1 ． What is the focus of paragraph 2 about He Zehui?

A ． Identity background. B ． Character personalities.

C ． Education experiences. D ． Profession competence.

2 ． What do we know about Qian Sanqiang?

A ． He died following his wife in 1991.

B ． He won the National Prize of Natural Sciences.

C ． He assisted He Zehui to develop fission physics.

D ． He is also a remarkable Chinese scientist.

3 ． Why is He Zehui acknowledged as "The Chinese Marie Curie” ？

A ． For her great contributions to nuclear physics.

B ． For her accomplishment in the atomic bomb.

C ． For her continuous achievement in natural science.

D ． For her research of nuclear emulsions.

4 ． How can we fittingly describe He Zehui?

A ． Ambitious, talented, conservative and determined.

B ． Unselfish, patriotic, indifferent to fame and devoted to science.

C ． Aggressive, imaginative, strong in mind and kind in heart.

D ． Knowledgeable, awesome, creative and sociable.

While many of us may have been away somewhere nice last summer, few would say that we’ve “summered.” “Summer” is clearly a noun, more precisely, a verbed noun.

Way back in our childhood, we all learned the difference between a noun and a verb. With such a tidy definition, it was easy to spot the difference. Not so in adulthood, where we are expected to “foot” bills, “chair” committees, and “dialogue” with political opponents. Chances are you didn’t feel uncomfortable about the sight of those verbed nouns.

“The verbing of nouns is as old as the English language,” says Patricia O’Conner, a former editor at The New York Times Book Review. Experts estimate that 20 percent of all English verbs were originally nouns. And the phenomenon seems to be snowballing. Since 1900, about 40 percent of all new verbs have come from nouns.

Even though conversion ( 转化 ) is quite universal, plenty of grammarians object to the practice. William Strunk Jr. and E.B ． White, in The Elements of Style — the Bible for the use of American English — have this to say: “Many nouns lately have been pressed into service as verbs. Not all are bad, but all are suspect.” The Chicago Manual of Style takes a similar standpoint, advising writers to use verbs with great care.

“Sometimes people object to a new verb because they resist what is unfamiliar to them,” says O’Conner. That’s why we’re comfortable “hosting” a party, but we might feel upset by the thought of “medaling” in sports. So are there any rules for verbing? Benjamin Dreyer, copy chief at Random House, doesn’t offer a rule, but suggests that people think twice about “verbifying” a noun if it’s easily replaceable by an already existing popular verb. Make sure it’s descriptive but not silly-sounding, he says.

In the end, however, style is subjective. Easy conversion of nouns to verbs has been part of English grammar for centuries; it is one of the processes that make English “English.” Not every coinage ( 新创的词语 ) passes into general use, but as for trying to end verbing altogether, forget it.

1 ． What can we learn about the verbing of nouns?

A ． It hasn’t recently been opposed by many grammarians.

B ． It is more commonly accepted by children than adults.

C ． It hasn’t been a rare phenomenon in the past century.

D ． It is easily replaced by existing verbs in practice

2 ． What is most leading experts’ attitude towards the practice of the verbing of nouns?

A ． Cautious. B ． Satisfied.

C ． Disappointed. D ． Unconcerned.

3 ． What does the author think of ending the verbing of nouns?

A ． Predictable. B ． Practicable.

C ． Approaching. D ． Impossible.

4 ． What is the best title for the text?

A ． Are 40 Percent of all new verbs from nouns ？

B ． Are Summering and Medaling Annoying?

C ． Are You Comfortable about a New Verb?

D ． Are There Any Rules for Verbing?

Humans are not the only ones that like gold. Australian scientists have discovered a new fungus ( 真菌 ) that decorates its long, thread-like tendrils ( 卷须 ) with gold collected from the soil. The experts desperately hope the “gold digger” will provide information on the locations of gold deposits ( 沉淀物 ) and make searching for the precious metal easier, and more environmentally friendly.

The gold-loving fungus was discovered accidentally by a team of researchers led by Dr. Tsing Bohu, a scientist at Australia national science agency, CSIRO, when they were examining the microbes ( 微生物 ) in the soil at Boddington, a tiny town home to Australia's largest gold mine.

A closer analysis suggested that the fungus uses chemical interactions with underground minerals to accumulate gold from its surroundings. Though fungi often interact with other things in nature, the reaction with gold was unexpected. “Fungi are well-known for playing an important role in the recycling of organic material, such as leaves and bark, as well as for the cycling of other metals,” Dr. Bohu explained. “But gold is so chemically inactive that this interaction is both unusual and surprising.”

The fungi are not wearing the gold for beauty. “There is a biological benefit from this reaction.” Dr. Bohu said, “Gold-loving fungi can grow faster and bigger relative to other fungi that don’t work with gold.”

The researchers still need to conduct further analysis to understand the relationship between the fungi and the precious metal. More importantly, they need to determine if its presence is a sure sign of the existence of large deposits of the metal underground. The scientists also believe the fungi could be used to detect the presence of gold in waste products and man-made electronics.

However, those hoping to get free gold from the fungi are in for a disappointment, for the delicate fungus is hard to see. Also, its gold can only be seen under a microscope.

1 ． What are the experts starved of?

A ． Investigating the sites. B ． Excavating the gold mines.

C ． Getting further informed. D ． Unearthing gold deposits.

2 ． What could be learned according to Dr. Bohu?

A ． Fungi’s interaction with gold is unexpected but beneficial.

B ． Gold’s classification is biologically identified by fungi.

C ． Fungi’s formation with gold is fairly natural and frequent.

D ． Gold is chemically accumulated by fungi’s evolution.

3 ． How does the author find the finding?

A ． It excites the gold diggers’ motivation.

B ． It has a long way to go before confirmation.

C ． It lays the foundation of geological studies.

D ． It ensures the search of gold sites.

4 ． What can be the suitable title for the text?

A ． Beauty-loving Fungi Wrapped by Gold

B ． Gold-loving Fungi Discovered in Australia

C ． Boddington, Austria’s Largest Gold Mine

D ． New Discovery of Gold with Fungi

Talking to yourself may seem a little shameful. According to the well-known saying, talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, 1 ． Talking to ourselves, whether out loud or silently in our heads, is a valuable tool for thought.

Far from being mentally ill, self-talk allows us to plan what we are going to do, manage our activities, regulate our emotions and even create a description of our experience 2 ．

As children, according to the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, we use private speech to regulate our actions in the same way that we use public speech to control the behavior of others. 3 ． Psychological experiments have shown that the private speech can improve our performance on tasks ranging from judging what other people are thinking to sorting images into categories. One recent study suggested that self-talk is most effective when we address ourselves in the second person, as “you” rather than “I”.

4 ． If you want proof, turn on the sports channel. You’re certain to see an athlete or two cheering themselves up with a bitter phrase or scolding themselves after a bad shot.

Conduct a dialogue with ourselves. 5 ． The private speech seems to be a particularly good way of solving problems and working through ideas. The to-and-fro between different points of view means our thoughts can end up in expected places, just like a regular dialogue can, and might turn out to be one of the keys to human creativity.

A ． What is private speech?

B ． But there is no need for embarrassment.

C ． Psychologists refer to this as private speech.

D ． Ask questions of the self and provide answers.

E.We do a lot of private speech when we are young.

F.As we grow older, we make the private speech become the way of blinking,

G.Although the private speech is effective, we never entirely put away the out-loud speech.