Washington D. C. is a great city to live in and visit – partly because D. C.’s public transportation can get you almost anywhere in the city, D. C.’s subway, the Metro, is great for getting you to the main tourist sites, but the bus is also a great resource and is cheaper. Learn how to conquer the D.C. bus system in a few quick steps will help you to have fun in this city.
* Things You’ll Need, cash or a D. C. Smart Trip card, a transfer (转乘卡) and a map of Washington, D. C.
* To choose a bus line to take from home or your hotel, look at the buses that arrive at the closest Metro stations.
Many bus routes start at a Metro subway terminal and make their way across the greater D.C. area.
*Learn to identify bus stops. They are usually located at the intersections(交叉) of streets. Look for a tall sign with a tall sign with the words of “Metro Bus” that is dark blue at the top, white in the middle and red at the bottom. Once you’ve found one of these signs, check the red section at the bottom of the sign. In it, you should see several number or letter combinations written in white. Those are the bus lines that service that stop.
*Be careful of the direction buses are heading for. All buses have an electronic screen on the front, side and back of the bus that let you know which way they are headed and what line the bus is. The signs will list the last stop on the bus route. Know where your bus terminates on each end so you can get on the bus heading in the direction you want to go.
*To board the bus, you'll obviously need some sort of payment. The bus will only accept cash or a SmarTrip card. SmarTrip cards are purchasable at several Metro stations or at Metro headquarters(总部) and cost $5. You can also buy the card online at www.wmata.com.
*If you do order it online, purchase it in advance as it will take time for it to ship. Riding the bus costs $1.35 if you pay in cash and $1.25 if you pay with your SmarTrip card.
*If you pay in cash, ask for a transfer slip. This will allow you to board the bus within a two-hour time period without having to pay again. These machines are located by the escalators that take you to the waiting platforms. To enjoy a wonderful tour in Washington D. C., you won’t need .
A.a D. C, Smart Trip card B.a transfer
C.a map of Washington D. C D.a tall signAccording to the passage, you can identify bus stops by .
A.looking at the buses that arrive at the closest Metro station from your hotel |
B.checking the red section at the bottom of the sign with a “metro bus” logo |
C.checking electronic screens on the front, side and back of the bus |
D.checking the machines located by the escalators taking you to the platforms |
The underlined word “terminates” probably means .
A.stops | B.decides | C.starts | D.passes |
Where can you get a Smart Trip card?
A.At a platform. | B.At a post office. |
C.At www. wmata. com | D.At a bus station. |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings.
Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
A.Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend | B.The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
C.My Father | D.My Childhood |
What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?
A.Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me. |
B.She had made a ![]() |
C.I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
D.Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
Why did her father listen to her quietly?
A.Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. |
B.Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while. |
C.Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment. |
D.Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?
A.He told her not to pay any attention to what her“enemy” had said. |
B.He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
C.He told her to write down all that her“enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true. |
D.He refused to take the list and have a look at it. |
“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”
This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 wrote it.
We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives.
But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives?
Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How calm and happy do you feel?
Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have not telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simpler lives.
One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.
The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally.” She believed life was less materialistic. “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” She said. The boys said they fought less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy(时髦的), beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.”
Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!
Don’t be available all the time, turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every day.
Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying.The passage is mainly about .
A.problem with technology |
B.improvements of our life with technology |
C.the important roles technology plays in our everyday life |
D.major changes which will be likely to happen to technology |
The writer quoted(引用) what a citizen in ancient Rome said at the beginning of the story in order to .
A.share a truth about life |
B.tell us what life was like long time ago |
C.make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen |
D.point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same |
Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940’s house? Because.
A.they liked to live simple lives |
B.they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions |
C.they were troubled by modern inventions |
D.living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them |
What do you think the underlined word “available” in the 1st suggestion offered by the writer mean?
A.Busy on line | B.Free. | C.Be able to | D.Be found by others. |
My topic today is the Internet. It was prompted(引出)by the first letter, which I am unable to answer fully for the reasons given!
Dear David,
I’m a middle school student. Now I am preparing for a writing competition. Could you please check the mistakes in my article about using the Internet and
Give me some advice? No name David writes: I’m very sorry to say that I think it would be very unfair for me to help you win a competition--- unfair to the other competitors!
But I’ll say that your article is very interesting and I wish you good luck.
Dear David,
I’m now learning English by myself. Can you introduce some useful websites where I can make friends with foreigners? Please help me.
Moonlight
David writes: Well, dear moonlight, I think you made a good choice by using the Net in your self-studies. Two very good websites I’d suggest to you are:
www.britishcouncil.org.cn and www.britishcouncil.org.cn/learn.
By the way, for those readers interested in the teaching of English, there is an Internet discussion group called ELTCSChi-L (English Language Teaching Contacts Scheme China List).
And also, a healthy warning to all my readers: If over-used, the Internet can be a WOMBAT—A Waste of Money, Brains and Time!David is probably a ________.
A.language expert | B.computer expert |
C.college student | D.club chairman |
What is the reason why the first letter is unable to be fully answered?
A.David is unable to think out good advice. |
B.David thinks it is expected to play fair in the competition. |
C.David is going to talk on another topic-Internet. |
D.David finds no mistakes in that article. |
“www.britishcouncil.org.cn” is a (an)________.
A.English newspaper for students and language teachers. |
B.website where one can join a discussion group. |
C.newspaper column for answering readers’ questions . |
D.website where one can make foreign friends. |
A recent trend(趋势) in Californian restaurants shows new eating habits among those people out to have an interesting dining experience. Appetizers(开胃品)seem to be the name of the games as diners turn away from the more traditional three-course meal in favor of smaller snacks served in various types of restaurants, bars and cafes. In this way, in the course of an evening out, you might go to a restaurant for a tasty dish to eat at one end of town, to a bar with some live music at the other end, then for a coffee, and finally back to the restaurant for a further appetizer.
Reasons for this trend are the fact that so many different types of restaurants have been set up recently, each with their own particular type of food and special atmosphere, together with the increased specialty in the type of snacks being offered. Gone are the cheese sticks of the old days, when appetizers were not really taken seriously. Some favorite snacks of the moment are slices of hot pizza, creamy fish-based dishes and crispy cakes and so on.
Prices for appetizers are not equal to a full meal; however, their new popularity has meant that they are by no means as cheap as they used to be. Certainly, for that special occasion, a meal in a nice restaurant, complete with the piano performance, is hard to beat. However, if we see this trend for “butterfly eating”---moving around several different places in one evening continues, then all the traditional style restaurants may well have to provide their own appetizer bars as well!How are the eating habits of the Californians changing?
A.People are dining out less. |
B.Californian restaurants are becoming less popular. |
C.Most people eat less than they used to. |
D.A full restaurant meal is less popular. |
All the places that serve appetizers _.
A.have much the same menu |
B.have their own particular characteristics |
C.have a bar with live music |
D.are located at the end of the town |
If you go out for an evening of appetizers, you are likely to _.
A.need a car or take a bus or other transport |
B.be bored with some kinds of snacks |
C.spend more time for a full meal than you would |
D.eat too much meat |
Appetizers used to be seen as .
A.relatively important | B.a full meal |
C.a cheap meal | D.![]() |
“Football is a very short-term career. Football really prepares you for almost nothing. The only thing I got out of football was the ability to work hard.” says Gales Sayers. So what do you do after your glory days on the field are over? Here’s what one of the top players, Gales Sayers did after he put down the pigskin.
Gales Sayers: #40, Chicago Bears, Running Back.
Gales Sayers became famous in 1965. After recovering from a serious knee injury in 1968, Sayers returned to the Bears in 1969 and was awarded the George Halas Award as “the most courageous player in professional football.” At the award ceremony, he owed his prize to his friend and teammate Brian Piccolo, who was dying of cancer.
Sayers couldn’t get away from the injuries, though, and another blow to his knee put an end to his football career in 1971. His personal life was unfortunate as well, as he and his wife, Linda, split up that year. Shortly after that, Sayers started a new life and career as an assistant athletic director in the University of Kansas. By 1976 he was moving up the ladder at Southern Illinois University, becoming the first African-American athletic director at a major university.
Sayers started a computer supplies company in 1984 with his second wife, Ardie, whom he married in 1973. The couple was looking for a field with a future, and computers seemed to have it all. Seventeen years later, the company that bears his name is a national provider of technology solutions, with 10 locations and over 350 employees across the country. Just like in the old days the honors started rolling in. Sayers was listed into the Chicago Area Entrepreneurship(企业家) Hall of Fame in 1999.What does the underlined sentence “he put down the pigskin” mean?
A. Sayers ended his football career.
B. Sayers was too tired to go on playing.
C. Sayers intended to start a new career.
D. Sayers only wanted to rest for some time.How many times was Sayers honored in his life?
A.Only once as a football star. |
B.Only once as a businessman. |
C.Twice in all. |
D.We are not quite sure. |
Sayers started his new career mainly because of _______ .
A.the first knee injury in l 968 |
B.his unfortunate personal life |
C.another more serious knee injury |
D.a friend’s being deadly ill |
What can be learned from this passage?
A.Football players are not successful all the time. |
B.A successful businessman should be a ball player first. |
C.A retired football player can easily make money. |
D.Whatever you do, working hard is the most important. |