I recently paid a visit to Yunnan Province, in the southwestern part of China, where I had a very precious chance to take so many wonderful photos I’m so proud of. Here I’d like to show off one or two.
The Red Land of the eastern river is a place which one almost cannot find in China’s tourist maps. Even if there is, it has only a few words to introduce it. It is located in the southwestern part of Kunming (capital of Yunnan Province), 2,600 feet above sea level. Because of its lack of infrastructure (基础设施), transportation problem, inadequate lodging (住房) facilities, ordinary travel agencies would not think of going there. Even the people living there are not so aware of or familiar with its existing beauty. But of those who have seen the pictures of the Red Land, none can resist being attracted to its beautiful scenery, like a painting of a great magnificent landscape!
The soil contains such components (成分) as oxidized iron (氧化铁). After a long period of oxidation, they gradually added and mixed in the soil, producing this extraordinary reddish brown soil.
Here each of the families was distributed with different sizes and shapes of land, and each has its preference of crops which causes and produces these beautiful pieces of color. During harvest time, the soil is shoveled up and made this unusually red color. Here whether mountains or hills, every inch of land is cultivated (耕作) and planted to the maximum by the inhabitants, consequently causing unwanted damage to the place: erosion (侵蚀). Just like many other places in the world, how long could this magnificent phenomenon (现象) exist? No one knows.
【小题1】Why is the Red Land unknown to the outside world?
| A．Because of the poor transportation. |
| B．Because of the high sea level of the land. |
| C．Because of the local people’s unwillingness. |
| D．Because no travel agency knows of this attraction. |
【小题2】How did the Red Land come into being?
| A．It was painted by some famous painters. |
| B．Both natural and human work produced it. |
| C．Mixtures of different metals’ oxidation. |
| D．Farmers’ over-cultivation resulted in it. |
【小题3】Why is the land so colorful in the eyes of the writer?
| A．Because he has never seen such places before in his life. |
| B．Because varieties of crops on the red land color the land. |
| C．Because he has seen them in many pictures. |
| D．Because he loves to travel and show off his photos. |
【小题4】What does the writer worry about?
| A．Overuse of the land may damage the beauty. |
| B．There’s no way to reach the beautiful land. |
| C．He can not find such places anywhere else. |
| D．No one will come to enjoy his photos. |
【小题5】Which of the following may serve as the best title of the passage?
| A．An untouched colorful land in Yunnan, China |
| B．Welcome to Kunming, Yunnan, China |
| C．How the Red Land came into being in Yunnan, China |
| D．Secret and mystery in Yunnan, China |
