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Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions
MY 25,000 WONDERS OF THE WORLD
The coaches at the Uluru Sunset Viewing Area were parked three deep. Guides were putting up tables and setting out wines and snacks. Ten minutes to go. Are we ready? Five minutes, folks. Got your cameras? OK, here it comes ...
Whether an American backpacker or a wealthy traveller, Danish, British, French, we all saw that sunset over Uluru, or Ayer Rock, in what seems to be the prescribed tourist manner: mouth full of corn chips, glass full of Château Somewhere, and a loved one posing in a photo's foreground, as the all-time No 1 Australian icon behind us glowed briefly red.
Back on the coach, our guide declared our sunset to be 'pretty good', although not the best she'd witnessed in her six years. Behind me, Adam, a student from Manchester, reinserted his iPod earphones: 'Well, that's enough of that rock.' Indeed. Shattered from getting up at five in order to see Uluru at dawn, I felt empty and bored. What was the point? What made this rock the definitive sunset rock event? Why had we come here? Well, I suppose my sons would remember it always. Except they'd missed the magical moment while they checked out a rival tour group's snack table, which had better crisps.
So now I've visited four of the “25 Wonders of the World", as decreed by Rough Guides. And I think this will be the last. While in my heart I can see myself wondering enchanted through China's Forbidden City, in my head I know I would be standing grumpily at the back of a group listening to some Imperial Palace Tour Guide. At the Grand Canyon I would be getting angr with tourists watching it through cameras – eyes are not good enough, since they lack a recording facility.
As we become richer and consumer goods are more widely affordable, and satisfy us only briefly before becoming obsolete, we turn to travel to provide us with 'experiences’. These will endure, set us apart from stay-at-home people and maybe, fill our lives with happiness and meaning, Books with helpful titles like 1,000 Places to See Before You Die are bestsellers. I'd bet many backpacks on the Machu Picchu Inca Trail are filled with copies, with little tieks penciled in the margins after each must-see sight has been visited. Travel is now the biggest industry on the planet, bigger than armaments or pharmaceuticals. And yet viewing the main sight of any destination is rarely the highlight of a trip. Mostly it sits there on your itinerary like a duty visit to a dull relative. The guilt of not visiting the Sistine Chapel, because we preferred to stay in a bar drinking limoncello, almost spoilt a weekend in Rome.
In Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef reproached us. How could we travel 15,000 miles without seeing it? How would we explain back home that we were too lazy, and preferred to stay playing a ball game in our hotel pool? In the end, we went to the reef and it was fine. But it won't rank highly in the things I'll never forget about Australia. Like the fact that the banknotes are made of waterproof plastic: how gloriously Australian is that? Even after a day's surfing, the $50 note you left in your surfing shorts is still OK to buy you beer! And the news item that during a recent tsunami warning, the surfers at Bondi Beach refused to leave the sea: what, and miss the ride of their lives? Or the stern warning at the hand luggage X-ray machine at Alice Springs airport: "No jokes must be made whilst being processed by this facility' - to forestall, no doubt, disrespectful Aussie comments: 'You won't find the bomb, mate. It's in my suitcase.’
The more I travel, the clearer it seems that the truth of a place is in the tiny details of everyday life, not in its most glorious statues or scenery. Put down your camera, throw away your list, the real wonders of the world number indefinitely more than 25.
Câu hỏi:What does the author mean by ‘the prescribed tourist manner’ in paragraph 2?
- A. They are all backpackers.
- B. They are all wealthy travellers.
- C. They are all interested in seeing the wonders of the world.
- D. They all eat, drink and do the same things at the sites of the world wonders.
Lời giải tham khảo:
Đáp án đúng: D
Whether an American backpacker or a wealthy traveller, Danish, British, French, we all saw that sunset over Uluru, or Ayer Rock, in what seems to be the prescribed tourist manner: mouth full of corn chips, glass full of Château Somewhere, and a loved one posing in a photo's foreground, as the all-time No 1 Australian icon behind us glowed briefly red.
Câu hỏi này thuộc đề thi trắc nghiệm dưới đây, bấm vào Bắt đầu thi để làm toàn bài
Hướng dẫn Trắc nghiệm Online và Tích lũy điểm thưởng
CÂU HỎI KHÁC
- (1) ...............Tourism is a big business.
- (2) .................Millions of people around Europe
- (3) ..................spend their winters planning their destinations
- (4) ............... for the following summer
- (5) ...............foreign climes for two weeks in the sun
- What does the author mean by ‘the prescribed tourist manner’ in paragraph 2?
- What did the author think or feel after seeing the sunset over Ayer Rock?
- Why does she think that Uluru is probably the last wonder of the world she will see?
- What kind of tourists is she criticising when she says eyes are not good enough in paragraph 4?
- According to the author, what do a lot of backpackers carry with them nowadays?
- The author compares visiting the main tourist sights to ____.
- What does she mean by `the Great Barrier Reef reproached us in paragraph 6?
- All of the following are mentioned in the article as memorable aspects of Australia EXCEPT ____.
- Visitors come to admire the relics that were excavated from theancient tombs.
- The Citadel of the Ho Dynasty, which is located in ThanhHoa Province, was added to UNESCOs World Heritage List in 2011.
- The Matrix was released in1999. It stars Keanu Reeves.
- After we had chosen a destination for our holiday, we began preparing forthe trip.
- The Complex of Hue Monuments, which lies along the Perfume River in Hue City, is good example of a well-designed capital city.
- I got a diploma in business administration, but still sometimes wish I had been able to go to university and get a ____.
- Next year, I have to decide which area of medicine I want to ____ in.
- The more ____ you have, the more chance you have of finding a better job.
- When I got to 16, some of my friends left school to get a job, but most ____.
- Going to university is expensive because in addition to the tuition ____, there are expenses for accommodation, books, living costs, etc.
- Its my ____ ceremony next week; I think my parents are looking forward to it more than I am.
- Australians and New Zealanders often have a/an ____ year before going to college or after finishing high school to travel overseas independently.
- Please, dont forget ____ your essays during Fridays lesson.
- The local authorities were blamed ____ ignored the pollution issues in the area.
- I remember ____ advised you to stop hunting endangered animals.
- She was praised ____ donated a lot of money to the wildlife protection organisation.
- These students were rewarded ____ actively taken part in voluntary activities.
- His company was fined ____ dumped tons of toxic waste near the residential area.
- He denied having polluted the environment, ____ no one believed him.
- Those farmers admitted ____ having used more chemical fertilisers than needed.
- He thanked us ____ having contributed to cleaning the surrounding environment.
- He was criticised ____ not having put the elephant poachers in jail.
- Indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of primary stress: biology, geography, education, relationship
- Indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of primary stress: broaden, provide, pursue, succeed.
- Indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of primary stress: college, degree, language, subject
- Indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of primary stress: analytical, opportunity, qualification, uni
- Indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of primary stress: bachelor, diploma, internship, scholarship