2016届江苏省常州市高考英语二轮复习训练：阅读理解（3）_高考复习指南

2016届江苏省常州市高考英语二轮复习训练：阅读理解（3）

　　If, for some reason, you had 2, 010 empty plastic bottles, what would you do? You’d probably sell them cheaply, right? But Xia Yu collected 2, 010 bottles and built a boat with them. As you read this, Xia is, in fact, on a river somewhere in Anhui, slowly going towards his destination: the Expo Garden in Shanghai. 2, 010 plastic bottles was to celebrate Expo (世博会)2010 Shanghai. On the opening day of the Expo, Xia, together with five friends, went on a 1, 500 kilometres’ journey from Xiangtan to the Expo Garden, in spite of the doubt whether they’ll make it. After all, the boat they are on can hardly be called a boat. It cost only 2, 000 yuan to build in a month.

　　What’s keeping Xia going is a major cause behind the trip. “We are examining water pollution through our journey and trying to promote a low-carbon (低碳)lifestyle. Before we started, no one believed we could sail the boat to the Dongting Lake. But we made it.”But as they expected, the journey has not always been smooth. Of the six from Xiangtan, four gave up. As of the press time (到发稿时), only Xia and his friend Huang Ying were on the boat. Huang suffered from a disease when they reached Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province. Xia said, “There are so many things that can stop up from making it to Shanghai, like the weather, health, and sometimes swift river water.”

　　“The boat was produced in a factory according to our design, and perhaps it’s not in a very good condition. But,”Xia said, “we are wearing life jackets”. “Some boats passing by offered help.”What is more of a reward for Xia and Huang is that the Yangtze River turned out much cleaner than they had expected. Although Xia and Huang are uncertain about the journey ahead, they are “quite happy”with what they have already achieved. “After all, it’s not the destination that counts. It’s always the course that matters the most.”