Let's read the conversations and guess the meaning of the following expressions.

阅读下面材料，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。

Dear Edward,   

    How are you doing? I just visited Machu Picchu in Peru today. I've never seen such a great place before. This place is so amazing that I want to share my feelings with you.

When I first got to Machu Picchu, I felt like I was walking in the sky. Even the clouds were just under my feet. Do you know how high Machu Picchu is? I was surprised that it was at about 2,500m. How could people build a city on such a high mountain? It must have been very difficult to move stones there.

Before the Europeans arrived, the Incas (印加人) were the last and the most modern society in the Andes (安第斯山). The Incas were afraid that the Spanish would find them, so they built Machu Picchu on an Andes plain (平地) as a secret city in the 14th or 15th century. As a result, the Spanish never found Machu Picchu.

An American explorer discovered Machu Picchu in 1911. For a long time before that, nobody even knew Machu Picchu was there. After Machu Picchu was found, it was called "The Lost City of the Incas". It is still a mystery why and how Machu Picchu was left and forgotten by everyone.

I just had a wonderful day. Especially, I will never forget the "goodbye boy" who was a local boy dressed in traditional Inca clothes. When we went down the mountain by bus, the boy waved goodbye to us until we were out of sight (视线). He shouted some words at us too, and I guess, it meant, "Goodbye, come back again soon!" Why don't you visit Machu Picchu someday? I am sure you will love this place as much as I do.

                                                                                                                                                                      Yours truly,

                                                                                                                                                                          Lynn

    In summer, it's common on the street to see many Chinese women holding parasols¹ to protect themselves from the sun.  But when Amy, an exchange student in Beijing from the US, first saw this, she found it strange, even impossible to understand.  She wrote on her blog, "Unlike Chinese women, American women like to put on their tank tops and sunglasses during summer. If you walk around an American college campus², you will probably see girls out on the grassy fields reading, but they really hope to get a head start on their summer tan³."

    This may be caused by the different standards of beauty between the US and China. Many Americans don't want white skin. They would rather be tanned³. Amy also wrote, "Having darker skin is so popular that many women and men will pay for fake⁴ tans so that they can keep their sun-kissed appearance during the winter months, too."

    Why do they like tanned skin? Michelle Louis reported in her research, "The process of tanning can help make people's skin smooth and hide marks." She further explained, "Tans make people's skin appear healthier and make them appear thinner than when they have pale skin."

    Perhaps there is no real ideal standard of beauty. In different cultures and at different times of history, the standards change. On Amy's blog, she also gave two examples: Some women carried parasols around trying to keep their white skin in the US 150 years ago; During the Tang Dynasty in China, heavy women were thought attractive. But now, Chinese women prefer to be slim.

    In a word, different standards of beauty should be respected. People may grow up with only one idea of what beauty is, but it doesn't mean that it's necessarily the correct or the best idea.

New words:

①parasol n. umbrella used to protect people from the sun 阳伞

②campus n. grounds of school, college or university校园

③tan n. the brown colour of sun-kissed skin 晒成的棕褐

④become brown by the sun 晒成棕褐色，晒黑

⑤fake adj. not real 假的

    Three kinds of bears live in the United States. They are the black bear, the brown bear, and the polar bear.

    Black Bears

    Black bears are the most common of the three. They live in forests in many different parts of the country. Even though they are known as black bears, they are not always black. Sometimes they are brown or tan (黄褐色的) , and a few are even white. Black bears are usually about five or six feet long, and they are the smallest of the three kinds of bears.

    Brown Bears

    Brown bears are found in a few western states and in Alaska. They live in forests as well as in open areas called the tundra (冻土地带). Brown bears are usually light or dark brown and can grow to be very large. In fact, some are eight feet long!

    Polar Bears

    Polar bears can be found in Alaska. It is in a cold area near the North Pole called the Arctic and there are no trees there. Polar bears are white, and they are the largest of the three kinds of ears. They are a little longer and usually heavier than the brown bear.

    Other Interesting Things

    Bears eat different things. Black and brown bears eat fish and other kinds of meat, roots, and berries. Polar bears eat fish, other meat, seaweed, and grass. All three types of bears eat as much food as they can find just before winter. Then during the cold months, they sleep in caves or hollowed-out trees called "dens". They keep them warm. Winter is when the female bears have their babies. All three types of bears have between one and four cubs (幼兽). The cubs are born while the mother bear sleeps!

    All people are afraid of bears. However, bears are actually shy. Most bears try to stay away from people, but still, bears can be dangerous at times.