Passage 1

England is not a big country: from north to south and from east to west it is only about three hundred miles across. (76) But for a small country it has a surprising range of climate. People who have never visited England, or who have visited only one part of it, often make the mistake of thinking that it is a cold and wet country. Except for the summer months of June to September, this is probably true of the north of England and the Midlands. In the south, however, the climate is much more pleasant. One result is that when people retire from a job in the north they often prefer to move down to the milder south. Perhaps the warmest part of the country is the southwest, which consists of the counties of Devon and Cornwall. The warm Gulf Stream flows across the North Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Mexico and makes the coastal regions of the southwest quite warm. Palm trees, bamboo (竹) and many semi-tropical (亚热带的) plants grow well in the southwest of England. Flowers and vegetables ripen(成熟) as much as a month earlier than those elsewhere. Farmers in the area obtain a higher price for their vegetables and flowers because they are ready earlier. (77) In winter there may be several feet of snow in other parts of England but there will probably be no snow at all in the southwest. This may be one of the reasons why the southwest is one of England’ s most popular holiday areas.

The distance from the center of England to the south coast is about ______.