Wonders of the World

迷你倉 　　Around the world there are many beautiful places. There are famous buildings, old and new. Some are interesting; some are important. Some are the tallest or the biggest in the world. The Great Wall, Machu Picchu, the Grand Canyon, the Taj Mahal.... Which are your wonders of the world?Islands　　Some wonders of the world are on islands; other wonders are islands.Venice　　One of the world's most famous cities is not only on one island; it is on about 120 islands. Some people call Venice, in the north-east of Italy, the "City of Water." There are no big streets, but the city has 150 canals. The longest of these - at only 3 kilometers - is the Grand Canal. People can go around the city in their boats or in "boat taxis" and "boat buses." They can walk around the city easily, too: there are 400 bridges.Artificial Islands　　Not all islands are natural. There are more and more artificial islands in the world.Builders in Japan wanted a new airport near the cities of Kobe and Osaka, but there was no good place for an airport. The answer to the problem? They built an artificial island for Kansai Airport near Osaka. Here the airport can be open twenty-four hours a day and nobody has to hear the airplanes near his or her home.　　Work on the island started in 1987, and it took three years. There were 10,000 workers and 80 ships. The builders made the island with the stone from three mountains! It is 4 kilometers long and 2.5 kilometers wide. Then, in 1991, the builders started work on the airport building.　　There is always one big problem with artificial islands - they slowly go down into water.This happened with the Kansai island, also - it went down 8 meters in its first years. This problem cost the builders of the island a lot of money.　　Finish the sentences with these words.artificial Water mountains taxis1. Some people call Venice the "City of _____."2. In Venice people often move around by "boat _____."3. In Japan they built an _____ island for a new airport.4. They made the island with stone from three _____.Answers1. Water2. taxis3. artificial4. mountainsWonders of the WorldPenguin Active Reading乃英國著名英語讀本系列。全系列分為五個程度，選用的題材及文體廣泛。除提供讀本篇章外，還有語文知識部分和附有練習和錄音的光碟。Wonders of the World介紹世界各地令人讚歎的著名地標及景觀。讀者即使足不出戶，都可透過此書飽覽世界。資料來源：Wonders of the World by Vicky Shipton, Penguin Active Reading, Pearson儲存倉