A
One week after I started working in Beijing, I decided to visit a place of interest called the Summer Palace. Before setting off, I researched into it on the Internet. The Summer Palace is composed mostly of a lake, but it's surrounded by beautiful greenery and a walkway that circles the lake. It is recommended that you give the Summer Palace about three hours. If you try to walk around it, it could take five or six hours. With that knowledge of it, I set off.
The highlight of the tour had to be the view from the Tower of Buddhist Incense. It sits on top of a large hill overlooking the lake and that is worth the climb. It was built as a place to worship (敬拜) Buddha. And in the Summer Palace, unlike most of the other places, photography wasn't allowed in most of the buildings. Most of the statues of Buddha and the other artifacts (手工艺品) were offlimits to photos.
Another highlight was seeing the stage created for the Dowager Empress where she watched the opera and other theater items. There are box seats that surround the stage and it was the largest stage created in all of Imperial China. You could almost imagine royalty reviewing the actors from the boxes and the stage.
I do recommend taking a boat ride if you go, which takes you from one side of the lake to the other side where you can see another set of buildings. And it is fun. You can also rent an electric or paddle boat if you want. But since it was just me, I went on one of the biggest boats with other people.
I spent another four hours wandering around the Summer Palace. But I didn't see all of it because it was getting dark. I am looking forward to visiting it again.
1．Before setting off to the Summer Palace, the author ________.
A．asked others about it
B．didn't think it was large
C．didn't know what to see
D．learned something about it
解析：选D 细节理解题。根据第一段的“Before setting off, I researched into it on the Internet.”可知，出发前作者了解了一些颐和园的情况。
2．While visiting the Tower of Buddhist Incense, the author ________.
A．worshipped Buddha
B．touched some artifacts
C．couldn't take photos as she liked
D．wasn't deeply impressed by it at all
解析：选C 推理判断题。根据第二段的“Most of the statues of Buddha and the other artifacts were offlimits to photos.”可推断，作者不能尽情地拍照。
3．What do we know about the second highlight mentioned in the text?
A．It sits on top of a hill.
B．It is the largest stage all over China.
C．Operas are performed there at times.
D．It was for the royalty to watch performances.
解析：选D 细节理解题。根据第三段的“Another highlight was seeing the stage created for the Dowager Empress where she watched the opera and other theater items.”以及后文内容可知，这个地方是供清皇室成员观看表演的。
4．Why did the author choose to take a ride in a big boat instead of other boats?
A．Because the author was persuaded to do that.
B．Because the author wanted to be more comfortable.
C．Because the author wanted to save some money.
D．Because it was more suitable for the author to do that.
解析：选D 推理判断题。根据第四段的“You can also rent an electric or paddle boat if you want. But since it was just me, I wenton one of the biggest boats with other people.”可知，这种选择更适合作者。
