(B)DiscoverNewsmagazineofscien-优题课

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.
STAY AWAY 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)．
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

“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

The passage shows that the O'Neill Flat ________．

A．lies on the ground floor

B．is located in central London

C．provides cooking facilities for tourists

D．costs over ￡100 on average per day in late September

Cardiff's program allows a free bike for a maximum period of ________．

A．half an hour	B．one hour
C．one hour and a half	D．two hours

Every time Lionel Messi breaks a record, it seems appropriate to compare him to the legends that came before him.
In 2012, he rewrote soccer history on multiple occasions, and his latest record came when he scored his 86th goal of the calendar year, breaking Gerd Muller’s previous mark, before wrapping up the year with 91 goals.
All statistics indicate that Messi is currently the best player in the world, and that he will go down in history as the top footballer of his generation. But when he is judged against all-time greats like Pele and Diego Maradona, he still has work to do.
We don’t know whether the Barcelona striker will have another year in which he records more than 90 goals, but he must still sustain(维持)a similar level of production for the next several seasons.
Messi has already taken part in three of Barcelona’s victorious Champions League(冠军联赛)campaigns, and he played an important role in two of them. In order to firmly establish himself as the greatest club football player in history, he must win the tournament a few more times.
Most importantly, the Argentine(阿根廷人)needs to win on the international stage. Regardless of what Messi does for Barcelona, his legacy will be incomplete if he cannot win the World Cup with Argentina.
Both Pele and Maradona led their countries to the top of international soccer during their careers, and Messi’s performances for his country have been severely disappointing.
While he was still a teenager in 2006-and his lackluster(平淡的)showing is excusable due to his youth-he cannot brush off the disappointment that characterized Argentina’s performance in 2010.
But the 4-0 loss to Germany in the 2010 World Cup Quarter Final seems to have sparked Messi. He scored 12 times for Argentina last year, and the next World Cup could finally be Messi’s breakout performance in blue and white stripes.
Due to all of his accomplishments, it is easy to forget that the extraordinary footballer is just 25 years old. If he can avoid injury or lengthy slumps(低潮状态)until his speed and skills start to decline due to age, he may continue to break records and win trophies.
What will Messi have to do in order to be complete in his soccer career?

A．He must win the World Cup with Argentina.

B．He must win the tournament a few more times.

C．He must defeat Pele and Maradona.

D．He must avoid injury or lengthy slumps.

How was Messi’s performance in 2010 World Cup?

A．Excellent.	B．Inspiring.
C．Disappointing.	D．Normal.

What can we infer from the passage?

A．Messi has firmly established himself as the greatest club soccer player in history.

B．Messi will try his best to win the next World Cup with Argentina.

C．Messi can avoid injury and lengthy slumps to break records and win trophies.

D．Pele and Maradona led their countries to the top of international soccer during their careers.

What is the best title of the passage?

A．Lionel Messi, the Best Soccer Player of All Time

B．Lionel Messi, the Greatest Soccer Player in History

C．Barcelona and Lionel Messi

D．World Cup and Lionel Messi

There are a lot of things that happen to me in China but would certainly never happen in the US. One of those things is being called “strong”．
The first time was last December. I was walking across the high school campus in Guangzhou where I taught when a student in a gray scarf waved hello. I smiled and waved back, but then she stopped and called my name. “You're so strong！” She smiled and pointed at what appeared to be my arm.
I looked down at my arms. Let's get one thing clear: I'm a very skinny guy. Once, while rehearsing for a high school talent show, I was told by the teacher in charge that I couldn't participate in the men's shirtless dance routine because my visible rig cage(胸腔) would frighten the audience.
“I'm so what？” “You're so strong！” she repeated. “Um, thanks！” I didn't know what else to say, so we both waved goodbye.
The next morning I stepped into my oral English classroom only to be greeted instantly by a unanimous(异口同声的) “Waaa！” of shock and admiration. “What？” I asked. “You're so strong！” shouted a boy from the back of the class.
“Okay, will someone tell me what that means？” I was curious as to the real reason for such praise. So I turned to the monitor, gesturing for him to speak.
“We just mean, you look very strong today，” he offered earnestly.
“What？！ You mean like this？” I curled my arm like a bodybuilder.
“No! But it's so cold, and you're only wearing a shortsleeve shirt.”
Oh, I got it. My “strength” had less to do with my muscle and more to do with my apparent ignorance of the cold weather.
From the passage we can learn that the author is________.

A．a Chinese student

B．an American student

C．a Chinese teacher

D．an American teacher

The author used the example of being refused to join in the dance routine to show that________.

A．many people worry about his bad health

B．he is as strong as a body builder

C．actually he isn't physically strong at all

D．being called “strong” often happens to him

The underlined word “she” in the 4th paragraph refers to________.

A．the girl he met on the campus

B．the teacher in charge of the dance routine

C．the girl who joined in the rehearsing

D．a stranger he met on the way to work

Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A．The Chinese Culture or the Western Culture

B．Am I Strong or Do I Need a Sweater

C．How I Can Get Stronger in Winter

D．How We Can Tell Two Different Cultures Apart

Bright red post boxes, the Queen and queuing—what do they all have in common? They are all important parts of British life. At least I thought so.
However, the ability to queue for long periods of time, once believed to be a traditional characteristic of the British, is no longer tolerated by people in the UK, according to a survey done for British bank Barclays.
Once upon a time, queuing was seen as normal. During World War II, everyone had to queue up to receive their daily supply of foods. In fact, if you didn't stand up and wait in line with all the others, it was seen as uncivilized(不文明的)．
The famous English doubledecker buses, with only one entrance, might also help explain why queuing was seen as a part of British line. Almost always, there is a queue to get on.
But perhaps the British are tired of being pushed past by the Spanish, the Italians or the French as they queue up to get a table at a restaurant. The people of these other European countries have more than one entrance to their houses, which explains their more relaxed attitude to the queue.
Two minutes is now the longest time most British people are prepared to stand and wait. But could it be that the Internet, which allows us to carry out tasks quickly, is the main reason why British people are no longer prepared to queue?
“Used to buying without delay, customers are even giving up purchases rather than wait their turn，” says Stuart Neal of Barclaycard. “Shoppers are also less likely to queue for long if the item they are buying is of low value.”
Perhaps I will have to replace “queuing” with “impatience” in my list of things I relate to the British.
What can we learn about the tradition of queuing in Britain?

A．It was a product of the slow pace of life.

B．It was a long time tradition as old as the Queen.

C．It was considered a symbol of a civilized behavior.

D．It has made the British different from other Europeans.

According to the passage, the British gradually stopped queuing because___.

A．they prefer shopping online

B．they follow the example of foreigners

C．British buses have more than one entrance

D．the Internet has changed their way of life

It can be learned from the text that________.

A．the British get impatient with queuing for long

B．the British have to queue to receive food

C．the British like to eat in foreign restaurants

D．the British prefer to take doubledecker buses

The author's main purpose of writing the passage is______.

A．to tell us the influence of the Internet on the British ways of life

B．to compare the cultural difference between Britain and other countries

C．to talk about the changes in the attitude to queuing in Britain

D．to report his research on the British ways of life

If you were a pilot flying a plane, and suddenly the engine failed, would you eject(跳出), or stay in? For a pilot, the choice is very difficult. If he ejects, he is safe, but the plane crashes. If he stays in the plane, he risks his life.
Recently, Chinese Air Force pilot Li Feng, 38, faced this choice during a training exercise. It was March 7 and he was flying a Jian-10 (Fighter-10) at 4,500 meters. A warning appeared on the plane’s computer screen. He realized the plane might fail at any moment.
Li Feng did a quick check of the engine and asked the base if he could return. When the fighter was 7 km away from the airport, however, the engine stopped working. The plane began to fall at a speed of 25 meters a second at an altitude of 1,160 meters.
Under Air Force rules, fighter pilots may eject if their aircraft loses engine power below 2,000 meters and can't be restarted. Before Li lost contact with the control tower, the commander in the air base asked him to eject. But Li Feng insisted on having another try.
“I knew where the deadline (to give up the aircraft) was and was prepared for the ejection, but I decided not to give up unless the fighter was totally out of control,” Li recalled during a recent television interview.
After 104 seconds, Li was able to bring the fighter to a safe landing. The plane only suffered slight damage.
“You are a hero! Congratulations!” Li's teacher, Xu Yongling wrote in a text message to him after the landing. He said Li was a cool-headed pilot and very professional.
Li's brave and calm act not only saved the 200 million yuan aircraft but also gave him invaluable first-hand experience of dealing with an engine emergency.
For his outstanding performance, the Air Force recently awarded him a gold medal.

When the engine stopped working, Li Feng.

A．was flying a Jian-10 at 4,500 meters

B．saw a warning appear on the plane's computer screen

C．decided not to give up the plane

D．was asked to stay in, but he ejected

When the fighter plane loses engine power below 2,000 meters.

A．pilots must restart it as soon as possible

B．pilots should repair it as soon as possible

C．pilots may eject for safety

D．pilots should bring it to a safe landing

According to the passage, what kind of person is Li Feng?

A．He is cool-headed.

B．He is confident.

C．He is fearless and cool under pressure.

D．All of the above.

What is the best title for the passage?

A．Flying the Fighter Correctly

B．When to Give up the Aircraft

C．How to Deal with an Engine Emergency

D．Bring the Fighter to a Safe Landing