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T ^{ABLE OF} C ^ONTENTS

1. The Ice Hotel / 5 11. Television Terms / 65

2. Food Firsts / 11 12. Borrowed Words / 71

3. Typhoon Who? / 17 13. Growing Deserts / 77

5. A Bug’s Sleep / 29 15. Animal Forecasters / 89

6. He Just Did It! / 35 16. A Fantastic Mind / 95

7. Too Many Boys? / 41 17. Seeing Red / 101

8. The Wright Way to Fly / 47 18. Worth Collecting / 107

9. Calling My Air Conditioner / 53 19. No Cash? No Problem! / 113

10. Bugs for Sale / 59 20. Rich Dogs / 119

4. Just a Quick Nap / 23 14. The Importance of Water / 83

Arts and Leisure

Culture and History

Environment

Science Facts

People Profiles

Social Science

Sports and Hobbies

Technology

Weird and Bizarre

Health

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Ice Hotel The

1

Vocabulary Preview

Write the letter of the word or phrase with the same meaning as the under- lined word.

a. great e. unbelievable b. different f. one of a kind

c. animal hair g. comfortable and warm d. like ice h. but; in fact

1. ____ It is freezing cold outside in winter.

2. ____ Blankets in the hotel are made of fur.

3. ____ The Ice Hotel is very cold. Surprisingly, people like to stay there.

4. ____ These dishes are very unusual. This is the first time I’ve seen dishes made of ice.

5. ____ A warm bed is cozy at night.

6. ____ There’s no other hotel like this in the world. It’s unique.

7. ____ I can’t believe how large this hotel is. It is amazing.

8. ____ This ice art is beautiful. It’s fantastic!

Pre-reading

Think about the following questions.

1. What season is it in the photo? How do you know?

2. Where do you think this hotel is?

3. What do you think is special about this hotel?

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A

re you into skiing? Is winter your favorite time of year? If you like snow and ice, maybe you should stay at the Ice Hotel in Quebec, Canada. But, you can only check in at this hotel during the winter.

Why? Because this hotel is only made of ice and snow! This amazing hotel is built every December. It has 32 rooms and 80 people can stay there each night. The hotel even has a movie theater, art gallery, and church. Of course, all of these parts of the hotel are made of ice. In fact, all the furniture, art, lights, and even plates and drinking glasses are made out of ice.

Because this hotel is so unusual, it is becoming very popular. People from all over the world come to the Ice Hotel to look at the fantastic ice art, drink and eat from designer ice dishes and experience the unique atmosphere. Some couples have even gotten married in

the hotel’s ice church. But all these guests keep their winter coats on! Because of all the ice, the temperature inside the hotel is always between -2 and -5^oC. Surprisingly, sleeping is not a problem in the freezing cold hotel rooms.

Every guest gets a special cold-weather sleeping bag and some fur blankets. These keep them cozy and warm until morning.

The Ice Hotel

5

10

15

20

25

1 favorite: thing you like most

3during: at the time of

4built: made

7in fact: actually; in truth

11atmosphere: feeling

16 temperature: how hot or cold something is

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Choose the best answer.

1. What is the main idea of this reading?

a. How the Ice Hotel is built b. What makes the Ice Hotel special c. Why the Ice Hotel is made of ice d. The services of the Ice Hotel 2. What can you do in the hotel?

a. Watch a movie b. Get married

c. Eat an interesting meal d. All of the above 3. Why is sleeping NOT a problem at the hotel?

a. The rooms are warm. b. The temperature is -2^oC.

c. The sleeping bags are warm. d. The furniture is warm.

4. In which part of the hotel would you probably find “plates”?

a. The church b. The restaurant

c. The rooms d. The art gallery

5. What do you think happens to this hotel in the spring?

a. It freezes. b. It melts.

c. It stays open. d. It moves.

Find these idioms in the reading.

■ be into [ to enjoy doing ]

Matt doesn’t like noisy music. So, he isnot intoheavy metal.

■ check in [ to arrive; to go to the hotel’s front desk and get the room key ] You must check inbefore you go to your hotel room.

■ made (out) of [ built of ]

My desk is made ofwood.

Fill in the blanks. Use each of the above idioms once. Change the form of the words if needed.

1. Did John __________ at the front desk this morning?

2. I __________ video games. I really like playing them.

3. Look at that house! What is it __________?

Reading Comprehension

Idiomatic Expressions

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Listen to the dialog and choose the best answer.

1. At the end of the conversation, which person wants to stay at the Ice Hotel?

a. The woman b. The man

c. Both of them d. Neither of them

2. How is the hotel inconvenient?

a. It is too cold. b. It is fantastic.

c. It has an ice art gallery. d. It has no bathrooms.

3. What will they probably do?

a. Stay at the Ice Hotel b. Visit the art gallery in the Ice Hotel c. Go to the bathroom at the Ice Hotel d. Stay at the hotel next door

Fill in the blanks with the correct words.

cozy fantastic freezing

surprisingly unique

The Ice Hotel is a 1._______________

hotel in Canada. It is made of only ice and snow. So, the inside temperature is usually

2._______________ cold. ^3._______________, this hotel is very popular. Many people enjoy looking at the ^4._______________ art in its gallery and eating from special ice dishes. Guests have a good sleep in the cold

hotel rooms under the 5._______________ fur blankets.

Summary

Listening

A Visit to the Ice Hotel

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Discuss the following questions.

1. Would you like to stay in the Ice Hotel? Why or why not?

2. What is the most unusual place that you have heard of?

3. Have you ever visited an interesting place? What was it like?

Write your own short paragraph by answering the questions below.

An Interesting Place

(1)What is an interesting place in your country? (2) Where is it? (3) How/Why is it

interesting? (4) What can people do there?

An interesting place in the United States is Las Vegas. This city is in the state of Nevada. It is interesting because it has big casinos. People can go to concerts, comedy shows and try gambling there.

______________________________________________________________________

Discussion

Wri ti n g

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A. Choose the best word to fill in the blank.

1. He ______ J.K. Rowling. He has every book she has written.

a. hates b. is into c. checks in d. experiences

2. It’s very cold outside. The ______ is below 0^oC.

a. freezing b. ice c. cold d. temperature

3. Picasso painted ______ pictures.

a. designer b. favorite c. problem d. unique

4. Many people enjoy the ______ in that restaurant.

a. atmosphere b. ice c. stay d. drinking glasses

5. I really like The Matrix. It is a ______ movie.

a. married b. fantastic c. furniture d. warm

6. That house is ______ of wood.

a. built b. come c. looked d. gotten

7. In very cold countries, people sometimes wear ______ coats.

a. experience b. inside c. sleeping bag d. fur

B. Choose the correct form of the word to fill in the blanks.

8. I gave her some flowers. She was ______.

a. surprising b. surprised c. surprisingly

9. “It is so cold today.” “Yes, it’s ______!”

a. frozen b. freeze c. freezing

10. It is ______ for me to go dancing. Actually, I don’t dance well.

a. usual b. unusual c. usually

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