No budget for your vacation? Try home exchanges ---- swapping houses with strangers. Agree to use each other’s cars, and you can save dollars on car rentals (租赁费), too.
Home exchanges are not new. At least one group, Intervac, has been facilitating such an arrangement since 1953. But trading online is gaining popularity these days, with several sites in operation, including Home Exchanges. Founded in 1992, with some 28,000 listings, this company bills itself as the world’s largest home exchange club, reporting that membership has increased 30% this year.
The annual fee is usually less than US$100. Members can access thousands of listings for apartments, villas, suburban homes and farms around the world. Initial contact is made via e-mail, with subsequent communication usually by phone. Before a match is made, potential swappers tend to discuss a lot.
However, the concept may sound risky to some people. What about theft? Damage? These are reasonable causes for concern, but equally unlikely. As one swapper puts it, “Nobody is going to fly across the ocean or drive 600 miles to come steal your TV. Besides, at the same time they’re staying in your home, you are staying in their home.”
Exchange sites recommend that swappers discuss such matters ahead of time. They may fill out an agreement spelling out who shoulders which responsibilities if a problem arises. It does not matter if the agreement would hold up in court, but it does give the exchangers a little satisfaction.
Generally, the biggest complaint among home exchangers has to do with different standards of cleanliness. Swappers are supposed to make sure their home is in order before they depart, but one person’s idea of “clean” may be more forgiving than another’s. Some owners say if they come back to a less-than-sparkling kitchen, it may be inconvenient but would not sour them on future exchanges.What is the second paragraph mainly about?
| A．How to exchange homes. |
| B．The biggest home exchange agency Intervac. |
| C．The fact that home exchanges are not new. |
| D．A contrast between Intervac and Home Exchanges. |
How do home exchangers normally begin their communication?
| A．By phone. | B．Via a matchmaker. |
| C．By e-mail. | D．Via a face-to-face meeting. |
What is recommended in the passage to deal with the concerns about theft and damage?
| A．One can file a lawsuit in court. |
| B．Both parties can trade online. |
| C．One can damage the home of the other party in return. |
| D．Both parties can sign an agreement beforehand. |
During the Winter Olympics in Sochi（索契）, 25,000 volunteers from Russia and other countries provided services for athletes and guests．The student Oksana Verkholyak helped translate Russian into English and Korean at the Games．She told us about their usual day．
“We get up at 7:30 in the morning．Then we have breakfast．Usually we have porridge for breakfast．There is always tea, coffee, bread and pies．After breakfast, we head for a bus stop and get on a bus which runs to the media center．It takes us 30 minutes to get there,” she said.
When volunteers arrived there, they went through the security （安全） check point．They couldn’t bring water or food with them．“Security guards check our bags．We are not allowed to have things made of metals．They check phones, video cameras, electric equipment and computers,” Oksana added.
In the evening volunteers got back to the apartment buildings．All of them were like one big family．They lived together and got some rest together—after dinner they went to the beach to watch the sunset．
Not only students helped organize the Sochi Olympics．There were many so-called silver volunteers who retired but didn’t lose interest in sports．Some of the volunteers had an experience working at the Olympic Games in other countries and even at the Moscow Olympics in 1980．How many foreign languages did Oksana Verkholyak use at the Games?
A．One． B．Two. C．Three．Where did the volunteers go first after breakfast?
A．To the apartment buildings．
B．To the security check point.
C．To a bus stop.What couldn’t the volunteers take into the media center?
A．Water and computers．
B．Video cameras and phones．
C．Knives and hamburgers.Which is NOT true about the silver volunteers?
A．They’re all young people．
B．They love sports．
C．Some of them have volunteered for the Olympics before．What is the best title of this passage?
A．A volunteer’s day at Sochi Olympics
B．2014 Sochi Winter Olympics
C．Different jobs for volunteers
Once there was a huge apple tree．A little boy loved to come and play around it every day．He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him．
Time went by…the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day．One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad．“Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy．“I’m no longer a kid．I wouldn’t play around the tree any more.” the boy replied．“I want toys．I need money to buy them.” “Sorry, I don’t have money．But you can pick all my apples and sell them．So, you will have money.” The boy picked all the apples on the tree and left happily．The boy never came back after he picked the apples．
One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited, “Come and play with me,” the tree said．“I don’t have time to play．I have to work for my family．We need a house for shelter．Can you help?” “Sorry, I don’t have a house．But you can cut off my branches to build your house.” So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily．The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then．The tree was again lonely and sad．
One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was pleased．“Come and play with me!” the tree said．“I am sad and getting old．I want to go sailing to relax myself．Can you give me a boat?” “Use my trunk to build your boat．You can sail far away and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat．He went sailing and never showed up for a long time．
Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years．“Sorry, my boy．But I don’t have anything for you any more．The only thing left is my dying root,” the tree said with tears ①.
“Good! Old tree root is the best place to lean on and rest．Come and sit down with me and rest.” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears ② …----Why did the boy pick all the apples on the tree?
----Because __________．
| A．he wanted to eat them |
| B．he needed money to buy toys |
| C．he liked the tree without apples |
| D．he wanted to share them with friends |
----When did the boy come back to the apple tree?
----He came back _________．
| A．whenever he was happy |
| B．if he missed the apple tree |
| C．when he was in times of difficulty |
| D．as soon as he was free |
----What did the boy want at last?
----He wanted ___________．
| A．to have a house to live in |
| B．nothing except a place to rest |
| C．the root of the apple tree |
| D．anything that the apple tree had |
----What can we learn from the story?
----We should _________．
| A．plant more apple trees |
| B．learn from the boy |
| C．always stay at home |
| D．be thankful to our parents |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．The phrase “with tears ①” means that the apple tree was sad because the boy asked for too much． |
| B．The phrase “with tears ②” means that the apple tree was still happy because she could help the boy for the last time． |
| C．Each time the boy asked the apple tree for help, the tree tried her best to satisfy him. |
| D．After reading the passage, we can easily think of the old Chinese saying “Parents’ love is universal!” |
Every school has notice boards．Let's see what is on the notice board of an American school.
| School Policy ·Fighting, saying bad words and all other behavior will not be allowed ·Do not throw rocks, snowballs or sticks on the school grounds ·Hand in a note or telephone to school if your child will be absent for the day ·Parents and visitors need to check in at the office when entering the school. |
Report Card Report card about your school life and work will be given to your parents. Look at the marking key for your school work. MARKING KEY 【评分标准】 Goes beyond grade level standards 4 Meets grade level standards 3 Does not meet grade level standards 2 Making progress Does not meet grade level standards, 1 Not making progress |
| Class Announcement【通知】 Testing Dates: The math test in June 12-13 The science test is June 15 Parents Meeting: The next parents meeting is on Friday June 22 at 7:00 pm in the meeting hall. Homework: Please check the Homework Board at the school homepage to find your homework. |
After-school program The after-school programs will continue for the year 2012. The programs will be open from 3:30 to 6:00 pm every day. ·3:30-4:30 Homework & Reading ·4:30-6:00 Acitivities If you have any questions, feel free to call the school at 524-9752 |
According to School Policy, visitors have to when entering the school.
| A．hand in a note |
| B．call at 524--9752 |
| C．check in at the office |
| D．telephone to the school |
From , parents can get information on the parents meeting.
| A．School Policy | B．Report Card |
| C．After--school Program | D．Class Announcement |
Report Card shows parents．
| A．certain school rules |
| B．after--school activities |
| C．plans for classes and tests |
| D．children's school life and work． |
Suppose Tony doesn't do well at school but makes progress, he will get______ on the Report Card．
| A．1 | B．2 | C．3 | D．4 |
Students do their homework and read books．
| A．from 3:30 to 4:30 | B．from 3:30 to 6:00 |
| C．from 4:30 to 6:00 | D．from 6:00 to 7:00 |
In the past years a lot of people migrated from one country to another in Europe. They had to leave their countries with their traditions, their cultures and sometimes also their families. People migrate because they think that they will have a better life, they will find a job and they will make a lot of money for their families to survive. Sometimes it's true, and they find a job, they make a lot of money and then they go back to their families to help them. But sometimes they are not that lucky.
The problem that those people create is that a lot of people from Europe are unemployed and they don't have jobs because immigrants have taken so many jobs. But the question is also: Would European people want a job such as cleaning or hard labor? I think that most of them wouldn't. So we should stop criticizing for a moment and think. We would then maybe realize that it's not that bad to have immigrants at home.
The only problem is that it's not right that immigrants want to impose( 强加于 )their religion on other countries by leading and building mosques ( 清真寺). Because if they had done that in other countries they would have caused trouble. Phenomena like these happened a few years ago in Great Britain: It was forbidden to switch on Christmas lights outside, because Christmas is a Catholic ( 天主教的 ) recurrence and it was offensive for the Islamic people who lived there. That is not right. The country that gives hospitality to immigrants has the task to allow them to enter society, to be free to believe in their religion and their culture, but every country does not have to forget its tradition and culture. This is one of the many facts which happened in the past years, and I think that many others are going to happen because this phenomenon is developing every day more and more.The first paragraph is mainly about__________.
| A．what a life Europeans lived |
| B．why some Europeans migrated |
| C．how Europeans migrated |
| D．what migration caused |
What's the main problem between the immigrants and the native people according to the passage?
| A．Native people and immigrants fight for the same job opportunities. |
| B．Native people always leave the worst jobs to the immigrants. |
| C．Different religions and cultures often result in some conflicts. |
| D．Native people refuse the immigrants to enter their country. |
What does the author think of the European immigrants?
| A．It takes them too much trouble to migrate. |
| B．They have made contributions to the host country. |
| C．They are offered hard jobs but paid less. |
| D．They should be accepted in the host country. |
We may learn from the passage that__________.
| A．some people reject foreigners' immigrating to their own country |
| B．the author thinks immigrating can help mix different cultures together |
| C．immigrants to Great Britain were all Islamic people |
| D．immigrants can only find hard and dirty jobs in other countries |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that__________.
| A．people with different religions won' t be allowed to migrate to another country |
| B．immigrants are not free to believe in their own culture |
| C．no other European countries but Great Britain have conflicts |
| D．problems caused by different religions and cultures will exist long |
Renault's new Twizy could be the future of motoring ... or at least a big part of it. This is not some crazy future concept -- this is a real vehicle, fully electric, and on sale now. Prices for the Twizy start at £6,690, with battery hire from £45 a month. But is it a car? Technically no, it' s classified under UK law as something closer to a moped (摩托自行车).
A two-seater (the passenger sits behind the driver), the Twizy runs on electric power only, and is designed to cover all those little trips we do. And as 87 percent of Europe’s drivers do less than 37 miles a day -- 50 per cent less than 12—there’s really no need to be burning gas for that sort of journey.
The Twizy is arguably the most unusual vehicle in this country. Other cars have been beautifully designed, others have been small, but no car has turned motoring on its head in quite the same way.
The Twizy’s batteries have a range of 62 miles, and it plugs into a standard socket like any other electrical equipment, going from flat to full power in three and a half hours. There are no full doors on the vehicle, so think of it like a covered moped with four wheels, but no noise and no need for a helmet. There's also a lower-powered type being designed, the Twizy 45, for which you don' t need a license.
Seeing the Twizy in the flesh, you' re surprised by how striking it looks. Sit in it and everything feels right --just car enough to be easy, but different enough to be exciting. With the battery underneath you, the vehicle is suckered (吸) to the road, and the electric power means it accelerates with real energy up to about 50 mph. You don't feel you need any more. In the UK, the weather alone may make it a good buy, but the lack of easy access to outdoor sockets is the biggest challenge. Only time will tell if this brave move answers enough problems to find a place in our lives.According to Paragraph 1, Renault' s new Twizy________
| A．is a concept car |
| B．is classified as a car |
| C．can be hired by the day |
| D．has been put on the market |
Which of the following is TRUE about the appearance of the Twizy?
| A．Attractive. | B．Awkward. |
| C．Traditional. | D．Colorful. |
What do we know about the Twizy 45?
| A．A helmet is needed to drive it. |
| B．It makes more noise than the Twizy. |
| C．You can drive it without taking a test. |
| D．Its batteries are better than the Twizy' s. |
What will probably prevent the popularity of the Twizy?
| A．Its low speed. |
| B．Its weak batteries. |
| C．Its limited inner space. |
| D．Its demand for outdoor sockets. |
In which part of a magazine can we most probably read this text?
| A．Travel. | B．Technology. |
| C．Economy. | D．Environment. |