The Special Ways of Traveling

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古人说，“读万卷书，行万里路”，说明旅行与读书一样对学习有重要的作用。旅行受到大多数人的欢迎，它可以使我们在观赏壮丽的河山，游览名胜古迹的同时，深刻体会不同的风土人情，增长我们的阅历和知识，开阔我们的眼界。你知道外国人特别的旅行方式吗？他们是怎样旅行的呢？他们在旅行中又准备了什么呢？让我们通过这篇文章来了解一下吧！

★自从公路上的汽车越来越多，交通堵塞的现象也变得越来越严重，这时，人们便开始梦想着有朝一日能够彻底摆脱令人厌烦的交通堵塞。下面介绍的这种交通工具，以往我们只能在007或未来世界之类的电影中才能看到。但如今我们也有机会一睹它们的风采了，真希望它们能尽快地走进寻常百姓家，让我们进一步体验到科技带来的便利。

Cars are an important part of life in some foreign countries. They are very important for people. People like to drive cars to travel here and there. Its easy to drive a car to a far place in a short time. So cars are very popular.

There is a new car named Transition. Do you know what Transition is？ Let me tell you. Its not a usual car. It can run on the road， and it can fly in the sky. So people call it Transition. The new car was born in an American company①. The wings② of the car are about 8.3 meters wide. The car can fly about 740 km at 185 kilometers an hour. After landing on the ground， it needs to get the oil first. It can run fast on the ground， too. It doesnt need an airport to take off and land. A highway③ is enough. And it doesnt need an airport to store. The drivers can store it in the garage④.

It must be so cool to drive it. You can fly with birds and you can run on the road. Is it too difficult for people to learn how to drive？ The answer is “No”. It is easy for people to drive the car. The drivers doesnt need to learn more knowledge⑤ about flying. There are many special tools like GPS and a computer to help them.

Some people give the new car a cool name： Little Transformers. The car is a little expensive. It is about 139，000 pounds. In the future， it may be cheaper and cheaper. Now， driving the car is a new and expensive way of travel. And many people want to have a try. Do you want to have a try？

★熱气球从被发明的时候起就吸引着大批的爱好者。人们非常愿意体验飞行所带来的乐趣。现在世界各地每年都举办热气球节，这项体育活动吸引了众多参与者。热气球与飞机的飞行相比，更像是一种休闲的旅游方式。

The hot-air balloon is not a new tool to take people into the sky. It has a long history in China. It is popular in Chinese history. We call the Chinese hot-air balloon Kongming Lantern⑥. The lanterns are so small. People cant take the lanterns. Hundreds of years ago， the French invented⑦ the hot-air balloon. The modern hot-air balloon is very strong and big enough， and there is much hot air in it. People

can take the hot-air balloons safely. People put a big basket under the balloon， and also put some food and other tools in the basket. People can stay in the basket for a long time. It is difficult to control① a hot-air balloon. But its more interesting. Its so magic②. Some people would like to take the hot-air balloons to travel around the world.

There are many hot-air balloon festivals all over the world every year. The sport lovers come together for festivals. They paint some colorful pictures on the balloons. Many people would like to watch the hot-air balloons flying. ★在众多飞行器中，这个是最小巧便捷的，这个飞行器仿佛给人们安上了一双翅膀，让人们在天空中自由的翱翔。

Flying like a bird is a great dream. Many people do much work for their dreams. A Swiss pilot③ named Yves Rossy made the dream come true. Yves was born on August 27th， 1959. He is a pilot and inventor. And he is a flying man. He likes flying very much. He has an interesting nickname—Jet Man （喷气人）. It took him five years to invent a new machine named jet-powered fixed wing. It is just like a small plane. It is about 3 meters wide. Yves can fly like a bird with the planes help. The plane made him become the first man flying like a bird. We call Yves superman. Later Yves successfully flew across the English Channel on September 26， 2008 in less than 10 minutes （9 minutes 7 seconds）. It was a wonderful travel for him. It reached a speed of 125 miles per hour. Later in 2008， he flew over the Alps reaching a top speed④ of 189 miles per hour. The plane is good enough. Flying with birds is cool. We can see many nice and special scenes⑤. Do you want to have a try？

★自己动手制作旅行工具，是一件很有意思的事。若在做这件事的同时，还能宣传环保理念，则更加有意义了。

Ice creams are nice. Many people like eating ice creams. How do you deal with the sticks？ People may throw them into the dustbins⑥. They think its good for environment⑦. But its not the best way to deal with the sticks. A man named Robert McDonald thought a good idea. He made a boat named Viking Thor. The boat sailed from Netherlands to reach England in April， 2008. There were many cute toys in the boat. Robert wanted to give the toys to the children in the hospital.

What is the boat like？ There are some interesting numbers about the boat. You may be interested in them. The boat is 14.9 meters long and 7 meters high. People used about 15 million ice cream sticks to make the boat， more than 5，000 children from 18 schools in Europe took part in collecting the sticks. People used more than 6 tons of glue. It took them five years to complete⑧ the boat.

Why did Robert McDonald make the boat？ He wanted to tell children people could overcome⑨ all difficulties to achieve⑩ their own dreams， and people could do something to protect the environment.

We know the ways of traveling in foreign countries. What do you think of them？ Please tell me！ Where do you want to go？ How can you get there？

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