Travel can be a lifesaver. But in today’s economy (经济) with airlines adding new fees almost daily and ticket prices sharply on the rise, many have written off travel as too expensive. However, with a few saving tricks and a little research, there are still lots of great deals to be had on airline tickets and more.
Early Bird Gets the Deal.
Travel experts say that there are certain times of day when more deals are available. Airfares can change three times a day as airlines adjust their prices to fill up flights. Early morning is when the fares tend to be lowest.
What Wouldn’t a Business Traveler do?
Flying when business travelers don’t can save you big money. Most business travelers fly on Mondays and Fridays, so Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days. Airlines will usually lower their prices on these days to aggressively try and fill empty seats.
Fly to popular places at unpopular times. The slowest time of the year for travel is in the Fall between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Again, to try and fill more empty seats, the airlines will lower prices and offer better deals to get people to fly during this time of the year.
Package Deals
Many times the best deals on airfare can be found as part of a package rate. Most travel sites have package rates available. Often, the entire package (hotel, airfare, rental car) is cheaper than just the plane ticket on another site. Even if you don’t need the rental car, with the money you’ve saved on the flight, you can afford to take a taxi. These deals are especially good on last minute bookings.
With a little inside knowledge and some good timing, you can get yourself a steal on a ticket to the vacation you thought was out of reach.Which would be the best title for the text?
| A．Tips on Vocation Travelling |
| B．Advice for Business Travelers |
| C．The Effect of Economy on Airlines |
| D．Tricks of Finding the Cheapest Flights |
Many people have to cancel their travel plan because they _____.
| A．have no saving tricks | B．consider economic reasons |
| C．seldom do research | D．can’t have great deals |
Which of the following can be filled in the blank in the text?
| A．Fly to popular places. |
| B．Don’t Miss the Holydays. |
| C．Better Avoid the Crowds. |
| D．Lose No Chance for Travelling. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Saving tricks can make the seemingly impossible vacation possible. |
| B．Inside knowledge and good timing help you to steal tickets from airlines. |
| C．Vacation will be out of reach without inside knowledge and good timing. |
| D．Who thinks the vacation is out of reach never grasps the tricks of saving. |
A city child's summer is spent in the street in front of his home，and all through the long summer vacations I sat on the edge of the street and watched enviously the other boys on the block play baseball. I was never asked to take part even when one team had a member missing—not out of special cruelty, but because they took it for granted that I would be no good at it. They were right，of course.
I would never forget the wonderful evening when something changed. The baseball ended about eight or eight thirty when it grew dark. Then it was the custom of the boys to retire to a little stoop(门廊) that stuck out from the candy store on the corner and that somehow had become theirs. No grownup ever sat there or attempted to. There the boys would sit, mostly talking about the games played during the day and of the game to be played tomorrow. Then long silences would fall and the boys would wander off one by one. It was just after one of those long silences that my life as an outsider changed. I can no longer remember which boy it was that summer evening who broke the silence with a question；but whoever he was，I nod to him gratefully now. “ What’s in those books you're always reading？” he asked casually. “Stories,” I answered. “What kind？”asked somebody else without much interest.
Nor do I know what drove me to behave as I did，for usually I just sat there in silence，glad enough to be allowed to remain among them；but instead of answering his question，I told them for two hours the story I was reading at the moment. The book was Sister Carrie. They listened bugeyed and breathless. I must have told it well，but I think there was another and deeper reason that made them so keen an audience. Listening to a tale being told in the dark is one of the most ancient of man's entertainments，but I was offering them as well，without being aware of doing it，a new and exciting experience.
The books they themselves read were the Rover Boys or Tom Swift or G．A. Henry. I had read them too，but at thirteen I had long since left them behind. Since I was much alone I had become an enthusiastic reader and I had gone through the booksforboys series. In those days there was no reading material between children’s and grownups' books，or I could find none. I had gone right from Tom Swift and His Flying Machine to Theodore Dreiser and Sister Carrie. Dreiser had hit my young mind，and they listened to me tell the story with some of the wonder that I had had in reading it.
The next night and many nights thereafter，a kind of unspoken ritual(仪式) took place. As it grew dark，I would take my place in the center of the stoop and begin the evening's tale. Some nights，in order to taste my victory more completely，I cheated. I would stop at the most exciting part of a story by Jack London or Bret Harte，and without warning tell them that was as far as I had gone in the book and it would have to be continued the following evening. It was not true，of course；but I had to make certain of my newlyfound power and position. I enjoyed the long summer evenings until school began in the fall. Other words of mine have been listened to by larger and more fashionable audiences，but for that tough and athletic one that sat close on the stoop outside the candy store，I have an unreasoning love that will last forever.The writer feels grateful even now to the boy who asked the question because the boy ________.
| A．invited him to join in their game |
| B．liked the book that he was reading |
| C．broke the long silence of that summer evening |
| D．offered him an opportunity that changed his life |
According to Paragraph 3，storytelling was popular among the boys basically because ________.
| A．the story was from a children's book |
| B．listening to tales was an age-old practice |
| C．the boys had few entertainments after dark |
| D．the boys didn't read books by themselves |
Sometimes the writer stopped at the most exciting part of a story to ________.
| A．play a mean trick on the boys |
| B．experience more joy of achievement |
| C．add his own imagination to the story |
| D．help the boys understand the story better |
What is the message conveyed in the story?
| A．One can find his position in life in his own way. |
| B．Friendship is built upon respect for each other. |
| C．Reading is more important than playing games. |
| D．Adult habits are developed from childhood. |
Do you enjoy seeing the stars twinkling at night? Or do you love the ocean and sea, diving and racing with lovely dolphins? With heavy burdens on their shoulders, teenagers find it hard to pull out. Even if they are free, they prefer to occupy themselves with computer games or watching TV. How to get children away from screens is a great concern for parents. Now there is some good news for those concerned parents and teachers.
A campaign is being launched to encourage children to surrender 30 minutes of screen time a day to head for the great outdoors.
The newly formed Wild Network, a collaboration of nearly 400 organizations, is attempting to attract youngsters away from television and computer screens and into fields, woods and parks.
Organizers say it is the UK's biggest ever campaign to reconnect children with nature and outdoor play, and claim it could help improve fitness, mental alertness and general well－being.
A documentary film, Project Wild Thing, will herald the launch at more than 50 cinemas across the UK from Friday. It looks at the increasingly fragile link between children and nature.
Members of the network include the National Trust, RSPB, Play England and the NHS Sustainable Development Unit.
Andy Simpson, chairman of Wild Network, said, “The tragic truth is that kids have lost touch with nature and the outdoors in just one generation.” Time spent outdoors is down, roaming ranges have fallen drastically, activity levels are declining and the ability to identify common species has been lost.
Suggestions of how to get more time in nature include collecting conkers(七叶树果实), camping, snail racing, and observing autumn colors on trees.
From January, the network will aim to make suggestions to politicians on how government can do more to get children muddy and bright－eyed.
This is not the first time the message of fewer screens, more play has been brought up. Children in the 1980s were entreated to do the same by the BBC TV series Why Don't You, which somewhat confusingly called on its viewers to “switch off your TV set, and go to do something less boring instead”．What is the main purpose of the campaign in the UK?
| A．To save 30 minutes for watching TV programs each day. |
| B．To encourage children to play outdoors. |
| C．To see the documentary film Project Wild Thing. |
| D．To teach students how to learn more efficiently in schools. |
According to the organizers of Wild Network, there will be many advantages from the campaign EXCEPT ________．
| A．improving health conditions |
| B．keeping touch with nature |
| C．learning more about wildlife |
| D．teaching children how to make full use of their spare time |
The underlined part “to get children muddy and bright－eyed” in Paragraph 9 means “________ ”．
| A．to make children covered with mud |
| B．to urge politicians to do more things for children |
| C．to encourage children to take part in outdoor activities |
| D．to help children identify common species |
Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?
| A．A new campaign |
| B．Fewer screens, more play outdoors |
| C．A newly formed Wild Network |
| D．Children get to know wild things |
Some inventions are so useful, but seem so simple, that we wonder why no one thought of them long ago.
Post-it Notes were invented about twenty years ago by Art Fry, a scientist at 3M Company. The idea for the product came from an awful experience he often had while singing in his church choir. Fry used pieces of paper as bookmarks to mark the places in his book of songs, but these bookmarks were always falling out. Around that time, Fry heard about a new adhesive (粘合剂) that a colleague, Dr. Spence Silver, had created. This adhesive was special because it was strong enough to hold papers together, but not strong enough to tear the paper when it was removed.
A short time later, Fry realized that his new invention had even more uses than being a great bookmark. He came to this realization when he wrote a note on one of his new “bookmarks” and attached it to a report he was going to give to a colleague. Soon, co-workers were asking Fry for more of his invention so that they could use the new type of notes themselves.
Fry and some other people at 3M believed so much in the new product that they asked the company to give away thousands of the “sticky pieces of paper” for trial use. When some salespeople at 3M went to offices and showed workers just how helpful the new type of notes could be, they immediately received many orders. As more and more people discovered how useful Post-it Notes could be, the product took off.How did Dr. Spence help Art Fry?
| A．He created the Post-it Notes. |
| B．He offered the new adhesive to Art. |
| C．His adhesive made Art’s invention possible. |
| D．He often worked and discussed science with Art. |
Which of the following is a possible use of Post-it Notes?
| A．A note on a friend’s door |
| B．An ad in a newspaper. |
| C．A postcard from abroad. |
| D．An e-mail to a friend. |
Which of the following shows the proper order of the events?
a. The company gave away many “sticky pieces of paper” for people to try.
b. Dr. Spence created a new adhesive.
c. Many orders were received and the Post-it Notes became successful.
d. Fry invented Post-it Notes.
e. His colleagues began to use the new types of notes themselves.
| A．d b a e c | B．b a e d c |
| C．d e a b c | D．b d e a c |
In which column of a newspaper can we read this passage?
| A．Economy | B．Recreation |
| C．Science | D．Culture |
If you and your friends wish to share a secret, you can write it in code, and no one else will be able to read it. Codes are one way of writing in secret. Ciphers (暗码) are another. In a code each word is written as a secret code word or a code number. In a cipher each letter is changed.
Codes and ciphers have played an important role in the history of the world. Julius Caesar, the Roman ruler who defeated almost all the countries in Europe about 2,000 years ago, used a cipher when he sent secret messages to his troops. During the American Revolution, George Washington's spies used a kind of code to send his information about the enemy before his military action. In World War II, the Americans“broke”or figured out Japan's most important navy codes and got enough information to destroy a powerful Japanese fleet.
Storekeepers use codes to mark their goods. The codes show how much is paid for the goods or when they are added to the stock. Businessmen use codes to hide plans from their business enemies. Sometimes personal letters or diaries are written in code. Many people enjoy figuring out codes and ciphers simply as a hobby.
In the 16th century, codes and ciphers were very popular among scientists. They wrote messages to each other in code so that no one else would learn their secrets. Geronimo Gardano, an Italian astrologer (占星家), mathematician, and doctor, invented the trellis cipher. He took two sheets of paper and cut exactly the same holes in each one. Then he sent one sheet, which he called a trellis, to a friend and kept the other for himself. Whenever he wanted to write a message, he put his trellis over a clean sheet of paper and wrote the secret message through the holes. There he removed the trellis and filled the rest of the paper with words that would make sense. When his friend received it, he put his trellis over the writing and read the secret message.The best title of this passage would be________.
| A．Codes and ciphers |
| B．Differences between codes and ciphers |
| C．History of codes and ciphers |
| D．Inventors of codes and ciphers |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Ciphers can be broken or figured out more easily than codes. |
| B．You could read some words in Geronimo’s letter without his trellis. |
| C．The first person who ever used a cipher in history was Julius Caesar. |
| D．Fondness of using codes was the hobby of the scientists in the 1600s. |
According to Geronimo Gardano, a trellis is ________.
| A．a piece of paper with many small holes |
| B．a secret message with a lot of small holes |
| C．a letter with unreadable words and sentences |
| D．a sheet of paper with groups of Arabic figures |
It is NOT mentioned in the passage that codes and ciphers are used for the purpose of ________.
| A．military affairs |
| B．commercial secrets |
| C．scientific achievements |
| D．personal enjoyment |
Here is the tour that’s voted “3rd best tour in London” on the Best Things to Do--TripAdvisor! Hairy Goat is the best and most original tour company in London.
Do you like walking around a city and discovering something that makes a great photo? London is full of interesting photo chances and maybe you need someone to lead you to them. The tour is perfect for team events,
families, groups of friends and school or college classes.
Bring: A fully charged camera and plenty of memory cards or film, a drink and wear comfortable walking shoes. Dress for three hours’ walking outside.
Price: £45 per adult (18yrs and over), £40 per child (12-15yrs) and full-time students (student ID required). Some tours to be booked and paid in advance. Please call or email for details. Please follow the links on the website or call Corinna at +44(0)7540832771.
Meet: Meet in front of the Royal Exchange Building at Bank Underground Station. Take Exit 3 or 4 from the underground station.
When: See the website for scheduled dates.
Duration: Three hours, at a comfortable walking pace.
Finish: By an underground station within the city. Location varies daily.A family of four, including a son of 19 and a daughter of 13, should pay ________.
| A．£180 | B．£175 |
| C．£170 | D．£160 |
According to the passage, the tour _________.
| A．is intended for individuals only |
| B．takes three hours on a sightseeing vehicle |
| C．has been voted the best tour in London three times |
| D．offers chances to take great photos |
According to the passage, which statement is NOT true?
| A．Hairy Goat organizes the tour. |
| B．All the tours are not to be booked in advance. |
| C．People can go through the website to find the date. |
| D．The tour finishes at the same location every day. |
The passage is written mainly to __________.
| A．introduce the best thing to do in London |
| B．show more information about London |
| C．attract people to take the tour in London |
| D．encourage people to walk instead of driving |