每日一练10.30

每日一练10.30

On two wheels in a green Land

It's often said that the best way to see a country is to use the method of transport which is traditional in that place. So people should see Australia on horseback, Nepal on foot and the US by car. If this is true, then a bicycle is the p__________(1) way to visit Sri Lanka. Although the 18-speed mountain bike I used is not an everyday sight, more traditional types can be seen all over the c__________(2).

Sharing the same kind of transport as local people changes the way you see the place. Y ou are traveling at a speed that fits the environment. It is not so slow that you only see a s__________(3) area each day, and not so fast that the details of the countryside are missed. Better still, you can stop whenever you want to listen to the birds or the sound of water, you can talk to people, smell their cooking or take a photo. H__________(4), this doesn't mean that cycling in Sri Lanka is relaxing. If you want to see the whole country, you have to leave the towns and villages and cycle through forest—where the temperature is 37°C, cross rivers, climb hills and go over paths which are made of mud, rock or sand.

The most pleasant paths in the forest follow the irrigation canals. T__________(5) carry water into the bright green rice fields. During the afternoon, groups of children, farm workers and water buffaloes all come to s__________(6) in canals. Then, when you climb up the hills in the centre of the country, you see that the side of every hill is covered with rows of trees in another lovely green. In fact, the whole country is covered in more different and beautiful shades of green t__________(7) I've ever thought.

Now I'm wondering where to ride my bike next — perhaps along the canals of the Netherlands, or through the city streets of China.

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