Planning a visit to the UK? Here we help with ways to cut your costs.
AVOID BIG EVENTS Big sporting events, concerts and exhibitions can increase the cost of accommodation and make it harder to find a room. A standard double room at the Thistle Brighton on the final Friday of the Brighton Comedy Festival (19 Oct.) cost £169.15 at Booking.com. A week later, the same room cost £118.15.
If you can be flexible and want to know dates to avoid—or you’re looking for a big event to pass your time—check out sites such as Whatsonwhen.com, which allow you to search for events in the UK by city, date and category.
STAYAWAY FROM THE STATION If traveling to your destination by train, you may want to find a good base close to the station, but you could end up paying more for the sake of convenience at the start of your holiday.
Don’t be too choosy about the part of town you stay in. Booking two months in advance, the cheapest room at Travelodge’s Central Euston hotel in London for Saturday 22 September was £95.95. A room just a tube journey away at its Covent Garden hotel was £75.75. And at Farringdon, a double room cost just £62.95.
LOOK AFTER YOURSELF Really central hotels in cities such as London, Edinburgh and Cardiff can cost a fortune, especially at weekends and during big events. As an alternative consider checking into a self-catering flat with its own kitchen. Often these flats are hidden away on the top floors of city centre buildings. A great example is the historic O’Neill Flat on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, available for £420 for five days in late September, with room for four adults.
GET ON A BIKE London’s ‘Boris bikes’ have attracted the most attention, but other cities also have similar programmes that let you rent a bicycle and explore at your own pace, saving you on public transport or car parking costs.
Among the smaller cities with their own programmes are Newcastle (casual members pay around £1.50 for two hours) and Cardiff (free for up to 30 minutes, or £5 per day). (358 words)
1.The Brighton Comedy Festival is mentioned mainly to show big events may __________.
A. help travelers pass time
B. attract lots of travelers to the UK
C. allow travelers to make flexible plans
D. cause travelers to pay more for accommodation
2.“Farringdon” in Paragraph 5 is most probably __________.
A. a hotel away from the train station
B. the tube line to Covent Garden
C. an ideal holiday destination
D. the name of a travel agency
3.Cardiff’s program allows a free bike for a maximum period of __________.
A. half an hourB. one hour C. one hour and a halfD. two hours
4.The main purpose of the passage is __________.
A. to tell visitors how to book in advance
B. to supply visitors with hotel information
C. to show visitors the importance of self-help
D. to offer visitors some money-saving tips
Dear All，
Happy New Year! A list of important dates for this term is attached to this letter．
Interviews for our April and September Primary One classes will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday，18th&19th January．Now is the time to apply for admission to Peak School．
Children are expected to wear their uniforms this term．As is usual at this time of the year，mornings at the school are quite cold and l would suggest children wear their sweaters to school．As the temperature goes up during the day，children tend to take off their outer clothes，so it is important that all sweatshirts are labeled(贴有标签)．
I have received a few requests from parents asking if their children can wear summer uniforms this term．I am of the view that all children in the school should follow the school policy and be dressed in the appropriate uniforms．In the longer term，a number of US at school have questioned the need to have a winter and summer uniform．Perhaps．with careful consideration，we can develop a uniform that will serve children for the whole academic year．
As the foggy(多雾)mornings start to appear，a number of parents have raised concerns over the safety of those children who walk to school． Our dark green uniforms are not particularly visible to motorists．Hopefully, the “Uniform Committee” to be set up this term will deal with this particular issue．I will keep parents informed of the channels through which views may be expressed in future newsletters．
We still have a “No Hat，No Play” rule on the playground，so children need to ensure that they have their sunhats in school at all times．
Yours sincerely，
P D Tunesi
Principal
1.The letter was most probably written ．
A．when the school year ended
B．before the new term started
C．after kids were admitted to school
D．after kids were interviewed
2.This letter was mainly written to ．
A．teachers B．visitors C．students D．parents
3.What do we know about the present school uniforms?
A．The school has solved the problems．
B．They are invisible to motorists on foggy days．
C．The school is considering changing them．
D．There is a winter and summer school uniform．
4.We can infer from the text that ．
A．the school has strict rules on uniforms
B．kids can’t have classes without wearing hats
C．parents are satisfied with the uniforms
D．most kids walk to school on foggy mornings
Robert Frost was at heart a mean-spirited human being, not the kind of man one would expect to write poetry. He was born in San Francisco. Frost entered Dartmouth University in 1893, but dropped out, and switched to Harvard, which he attended for two years. He started a brief teaching career, where he was inspired to become a poet by some of his students’ work. Frost stopped teaching and became a farmer. During this time he wrote numerous poems, and a couple of short stories. While he was a farmer he started to think seriously about becoming a famous poet.
In almost all of his poems, Frost wrote in the first person. The first widely-read poem that he published was called My Butterfly. At first his audience was very small, but with his Collected Poems he became famous. Robert Frost received almost all the awards that there were for poetry. His poetry describes the forces of nature, and the violence and deep emotional(情感的) needs of human beings, which reflect the experiences of his childhood.
Robert Frost will always be known as one of the best poets in history. His way of putting emotion and violence into words is remarkable(非同寻常的). His talent for poetry is natural-born and he had discovered this when he started to farm. Even though he treated his wife and children terribly, he still became one of the best-known poets of his and our day.
1.We can learn from the passage that ________.
A. Robert Frost had been a famous writer before he started teaching
B. Robert Frost wrote his poems mostly in the first person
C. Robert Frost was very famous at the beginning of his writing career
D. Robert Frost began to write poems when he was a teacher
2.According to the passage, Robert Frost was famous for ________.
A. his teaching career
B. his life experiences
C. showing strong feeling in his poems
D. his interest in poems
3.The last paragraph of the passage mainly tells us ________.
A. why Robert Frost stopped farming
B. why Robert Frost was so famous
C. about his masterpieces(杰作)
D. about the way he treated his wife and children
4.From the passage we know that ________.
A. Robert Frost’s most famous poem is My Butterfly
B. Robert Frost began to write when he was in college
C. Robert Frost gave up studying at Dartmouth University
D. his poetry showed the violence of war and his childhood
A week ago, I had the great pleasure of reading an e-book, When Money Talks, Listen! by Rich Ezzo. It took only about an hour to read.
When I first received a copy, I thought it was a Get Rich Quick type of publication. Nothing is wrong with Get Rich Quick, but my mind just doesn’t run after dreams of wealth. I think that if God ever wants me to be rich, he knows where to find my purse.
When I began reading When Money Talks, Listen!, I was overjoyed to find that Rich Ezzo isn’t money hungry either. He, too, is hungry for more important than money.
Since I love this e-book so much, why wait a week to write the review? Simple. I wanted to see if the effect it had on me was a keeper. After reading the last word of the e-book, I totally agreed with the subtitle (副标题) which promised to forever change the way we thought about money. I had so many thoughts running around my mind that I had to install (安装) a stoplight to stop some while others made their way into the picture, then I yielded (让路) them as a few ones arrived in town. I had a mental traffic jam, which only goes to show how slow the traffic usually is.
It has been a week and the effect is the same. I truly do look at money differently and have even done a few things differently this week. This is an e-book you ‘ll want to read, I promise. I often recommend books to my daughter, and this is one that I didn’t just ”suggest”----I left it open at the bottom of the compute and told each one ,”Read it, you’ll love it “.
I would never point someone in a direction I wouldn’t go myself. I strongly advise you to visit the author’s website, Myster Money, and to download the e-book. You won’t regret it.
1.The author wrote this passage to _________.
A. strongly recommend an e-book
B. show the author’s attitude to money
C. introduce the general idea of an e-book
D. point out Rich Ezzo isn’t money hungry
2.According to the passage, a Get Rich Quick type of publication _________.
A. is more popular than e-books
B. deals with how to make money
C. is what the author really cares for
D. is also an e-book written by Rich Ezzo
3.Why didn’t the author write the review as soon as he finished reading the book?
A. Because he was not sure whether he did well.
B. Because he was too excited to write anything.
C. Because he had to wait for Rich Ezzo’s permission.
D. Because he wondered if it would have a long influence on him.
I used to be a very self-centered person, but in the past two years I have really changed. I have started to think about other people I think about myself. I am happy that I am becoming a person.
I think my started when I was at Palomar College. At first, I just wanted to get my and be left alone. I thought I was smarter than everyone else, so I hardly ever to anyone in my classes. By the end of my first semester, I was really . It seemed as if everyone but me had made friends and was having fun. So tried a(n) . I started asking people around me how they were doing, and if they were having trouble I to help. That was really a big for me. By the end of the year, I had several new friends, and two of are still my best friends today.
A bigger cause of my new , however, came when I took a part-time job at a Vista Nursing Home. One old lady there who had Alzheimer’s disease became my . Every time I came into her room, she was so because she thought I was her daughter. Her real daughter never her, so I took her place. She let me that making others feel good made me feel good, too, when she died, I was , but I was very grateful to her.
I think I am a much person today than I used to be, and I hope I will not these experiences. They have me to care about other people more than about myself. I who I am today, and I could not say that a few years ago.
1.A. since B. before C. or D. unless
2.A. famousB. simpleC. different D. skilled
3.A. education B. careerC. tourD. change
4.A. balanceB. homeworkC. degree D. interest
5.A. talked B. wrote C. lied D. reported
6.A. carefulB. lonelyC. curiousD. guilty
7.A. argument B. game C. experiment D. defence
8.A. dared B. offered C. hesitated D. happened
9.A. dream B. problemC. duty D. step
10.A. usB. which C. them D. whom
11.A. attitude B. hobbyC. hope D. luck
12.A. friendB. partner C. guide D. guest
13.A. politeB. happy C. strange D. confident
14.A. bothered B. answered C. visited D. trusted
15.A. explainB. guessC. declareD. see
16.A. homelessB. heartbroken C. bad-tempered D. hopeless
17.A. quieterB. busier C. better D. richer
18.A. forget B. faceC. improve D. analyze
19.A. forced B. preferred C. ordered D. taught
20.A. missB. like C. wonder D. expect
This pop star is very ______ with young people, who like his songs and style.
A. familiar B. similar C. particular D. popular
