Africa Imagine the following scene: on the grasslands, an elephant stands under an umbrella-like tree. Its shadow( 影子 ) grows long and thin. In the distance, you can also see a few zebras running here and there. Such a scene is commonplace in the magical continent of Africa. Africa is the second largest continent in the world. To its southeast lies the Indian Ocean, and toward the west is the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the continent with the world’s second largest population (more than 1 billion) behind Asia. The continent is home to the world’s tallest animal, giraffes. People can also find crocodiles ( 鳄鱼 ) and hippos ( 河马 ) in grassland and rainforests. Africa is great to visit. In east Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro stands 5,895 meters into the sky. It is the highest point in the continent. Since it lies in the tropics ( 热带 ), it is covered with ice and snow year-round. The continent is famous for its hundreds of ethnic ( 种族 ) groups. The three largest ethnic groups are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. They are all in west Africa. Although many places in Africa are poor, this is not the whole picture. South Africa is the poorest country in Africa. Some parts of the country are wealthy. Modern and well-developed roads are common everywhere. You can also spend a day in a large shopping mall or taste delicious seafood in a restaurant. Australia’s Best Beaches There are an awful lot of beaches in Australia and most of them are deserted. Australia boasts some of the best beaches on the planet and the huge coastline stretches for nearly 37,000 km, which includes 11,011 beaches, more than any other nation. Most of Australia’s cities and towns are situated on the coast, within a few kilometres of the ocean, which amounts to 12 million people, or 85% of Australia’s population living within one hour’s drive of the coastline. The following are just some of Australia’s best beaches . Agnes Water is Queensland’s northern most surf beach and is last in a line of beautiful, unspoilt beaches that sweep up the coast from Bundaberg. Agnes Water is also one of the closest points on the mainland to the outer Great Barrier Reef, with tours departing to Lady Musgrave Island and Fitzroy Reef. Arguably Australia’s most famous beach , Bondi Beach is a mecca for tourists, lifesavers, surfers and sun worshippers. Bondi is a definitive example of Sydney’s city beach culture being only a few minutes drive from the city. Bondi Beach is home to the Bondi Surf Bathers, the oldest life saving club in Australia established in 1906. The Gold Coast is south-east Queensland’s playground and a holiday destination of wonderful contrasts – from the sophistication of Main Beach , the glamour of Surfers Paradise , action-packed theme parks and wildlife sanctuaries to championship golf courses, fabulous shopping and rainforest wonderlands right at the back door! It really is...the coast with the most! The Amazon Rainforest The Amazon River Basin is home to the largest rainforest on Earth. The basin -- roughly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States -- covers some 40 percent of the South American continent and includes parts of eight South American countries: Brazil , Bolivia , Peru , Ecuador , Colombia , Venezuela , Guyana , and Suriname , as well as French Guiana , a department of France. Reflecting environmental conditions as well as past human influence , the Amazon is made up of a mosaic of ecosystems and vegetation types including rainforests, seasonal forests, deciduous forests, flooded forests , and savannas . The basin is drained by the Amazon River, the world's largest river in terms of discharge, and the second longest river in the world after the Nile. The river is made up of over 1,100 tributaries, 17 of which are longer than 1000 miles, and two of which (the Negro and the Madeira) are larger, in terms of volume, than the Congo (formerly the Zaire) river. The river system is the lifeline of the forest and its history plays an important part in the development of its rainforests. The Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert is a large desert or brushland region in Asia . [1] In Mandarin, it is called Gobi meaning brushland. It covers parts of Northern and Northeastern China , and of southern Mongolia . The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Taklamakan Desert to the west, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the southeast. The Gobi is notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire , and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road . The Gobi is a rain shadow desert, formed by the Tibetan Plateau blocking precipitation from the Indian Ocean reaching the Gobi territory.