ThousandsofpeoplelivingintheChineseeapitalwillcelebratethestartoftheChineseNewYearbyheadingfortheskiresorts(滑雪场).NevermindthatBeijing’sdryweatherseldomproducesnow.Itiscoldenoughinwinterforsnow-makingmachinestomakeacoveringforthehillsnorthtothecapital.Andtherapidgrowthofapleasure-seekingmiddleclasshasformedthebasisforthisNewcraze(热潮).

SinceBeijing’sfirstskiresortwasopenedtenyearsagothesporthasenjoyedanastonishingincrease.Therearenowmorethanadozenresorts.Clothesmarketsinthecityhaveaddedbrightcoloredskisuitstotheirwintercollections.Mr.Weiamanagerofanewly-openedskiresortinBeijingseesthegrowthofanindustrythatcouldsoonleadChinesetoheadfortheskiresortsofEurope.InrecentyearsskiresortsofferingnaturalsnowhaveopenedinChina.Butmanyareinfarawayareasofthecountryandcan’treallymatchtheequipmentandservicesofsomeskiresortsinEurope.

Beijing’sskingcrazeispartlyaresultoftherecentincreaseinprivate(私有的)cars.Thishasledtothegrowthofaleisureindustryinthecapital’ssuburbs(郊区).whichuntilthelate-1990swereunreachabletoordinarypeople.AccordingtoMr.WeiAbout40％ofthevisitorstohisresortsomeintheirowncars.Therestarebusedinbyschoolsbusinessesorgovernmentoffices.

Theproblemismakingmoney.Startingskiresorturequiresquitealotofmoney:hiringlandfromthelocalgovernmentpreparingthehillsbuyingsnowmachinesmakingsurethereareenoughwaterandelectricitytorunthemandbuyingskiequipmentforhiringouttocustomers.TheskiresortwhereMr.Weiworkscostnearly$4mtosetup.AndassoofteninChinawhensomeonecomesupwithagoodideamanyothersrushinandpricewarsbreakout.Beijingnowofferssomeofthecheapestskitrainingclassesintheworldthoughwithmostpeoplerathernewtothesportexpectingafewmoredoingthesamejob.

1.Whatdoesthistextmainlytalkabout?

A．Convenienceforskiersbroughtaboutbyprivatecars

B．Skiingasanewwayofenjoyingone’ssparetime

C．Thingstobeconsideredwhenstartingaskiresort

D．AsuddenincreaseofskitrainingclassesinBeijing

2.WhyaresomeChineseli