Grade 8 Unit 6 Topic 3 Section D

The Tour of Qinghai Lake

Qinghai Lake, the largest salt-water lake in China, lends its name to the province of Qinghai. Twenty-three rivers and streams ^[1]stream: US: [strim]   UK: [striːm]  n. 流；溪；小河；（液）流 empty ^[2]empty: US: [ˈempti]  UK: [’empti]  adj. 空的；空洞的；说话不算数的；无诚意的  v. 倒空；腾空；掏空；变空 into Qinghai Lake.

If you go there, maybe you can see the Tour of Qinghai Lake. It began in 2002. Now it is the largest bicycle road race in Asia ^[3]Asia: 英 [ˈeɪʒə]美 [ˈeɪʒə]   n. 亚洲. It has the highest altitude ^[4]altitude: US: [ˈæltɪˌtud]  UK: [ˈæltɪˌtjuːd]  n. 海拔；海拔高度 among ^[5]among: US: [əˈmʌŋ]   UK: [ə’mʌŋ]  prep. 在…中；周围是；在（其）中；…之一 all the races hosted by the International Cycling Union.

Tour de France ^[6]France: US: [fræns]  UK: [frɑːns]   n. 法国；法兰西；【国】法国；位于西欧

The Tour de France is the most famous bicycle race in the world. It began in Paris, France, in 1903 and was 1500 miles ^[7]mile: US: [maɪl]  UK: [maɪl]  n. 英里；很远的距离；一英里赛跑 long. Today the race covers around 2 000 miles. There are 21 timed stages ^[8]stage: US: [steɪdʒ]  UK: [steɪdʒ]  n. 阶段；步；步骤；戏剧 over three weeks. The athletes have one or two days to rest They go through the Alps, the Massif Central ^[9]central: US: [ˈsentrəl]  UK: [‘sentrəl]   adj. 中心的，中央的；中部的；靠近中心的；核心的 and the Pyrenees Mountains. The roads are very difficult to ride on. The winner ^[10]winner: US: [ˈwɪnər]   UK: [ˈwɪnə(r)]   n. 优胜者；成功者；获胜的人（或队、动物等）；可能成功的人（或事物） is the person with the best total time. He can do that without winning even one of the stages.