A
It is 10 in the morning, and I am travelling down the Li River by raft, which is made of pieces of wood tied together. The sun is already burning hot even though it has not yet reached fl strength, but a calm gentle wind cools my skin. So far the day is wonderful, but the purpose of my trip is not just to have fun; I am following in the footsteps of Xu Xiake (1587—1641), the famous Chinese travel writer and geographer. Though Xu was from Jiangsu, he spent more than 30 years traveling throughout the country, and greatly admired my destination today—Ox Gorge.
As we flow down the river, we are surrounded by sharp hill sticking up into the sky—karsts. Unique among mountains, karsts were formed over thousands of years as rain flowed into the acidic soil and melted the soft rock, leaving the harder rock behind. Guangxi is full of karsts, giving it some of the most interesting—and beautiful—-scenery in the world. Xu was one of the first people to make a careful study of Guilin's karsts and their related cave systems. He, like many people today, found them fascinating.
Suddenly, our raft hits some rapids, and I find myself covered in water. I turn to my craftsman and we share a laugh. The water not only keeps us cool, but it is all part of the adventure.
What made someone like Xu spend years travelling thousands of kilometres away from home? Perhaps it's the same reason as mine: to explore the world and to discover new things. As Xu wrote, "A great man should in the morning be at the blue sea and in the evening at Mount Cangwu. Why should I restrict（束缚）myself to one comer of the world?"
_____________. Much like today, the late Ming Dynasty was a golden age of tourism within China. People travelled hundreds of kilometres to visit temples, go mountain climbing, or explore scenery.
21. Which of the following matches the underlined word "ran" in Paragraph 1?
A B
C D
22. Which of the following belongs to karsts mentioned in Paragraph 2?
A B
C D
23. Which of the following best matches Xu Xiake' words in Paragraph 4?
A. The world is a book and those who do not travel rend only one page.
B. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
C. Travel is never a matter of money, but of courage.
D. Travel far enough, you meet yourself.
24. What sentence best fits into the gap in the last paragraph?
A. Why not walk alone across China? B. Our raft reaches Ox Gorge.
C. What an experience! D. Xu was not alone.
25. What type of writing is the text?
A. Book review. B. Short story. C. Travel journal. D. Case interview.
