The Hearst Castle
Hearst Castle is a palatial park on the central California coast and a National Historic Landmark.It was designed by architect Julia Morgan for William Randolph Hearst from 1919 until 1947.In 1957 , the Hearst Corporation donated thefortune to the state of California.Since that time it has been maintained as a state historic park where the estate and its considerable collection of art and antiques are open for public tours.Despite its location far from any urban center, the site attracts roughly one million visitors per year.
Guided Tours
There are several tours which highlight various parts of the castle and gardens.
●Tour One is recommended for first time visitor.It now includes the movie, Hearst Castle Building the Dream.
●Tour Two gives visitors a closer look at the main house's upper floors, Mr. Hearst's private suite, the libraries, and the kitchen.
●Tour Three looks at the Castle's North Wing, guest rooms and guest house Casa Del Monte.
●Tour Four features the impressive gardens and grounds, the largest guesthouse, the wine basement, and the Hidden Terrace.
●The evening tour is a special tour that allows visitors to experience the Castle at night as one of the Hearst's own visitors might have.
Ticket Prices
Hearst Castle accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.Free day use parking is available for automobiles, motorcycles, tour buses and recreational vehicles.
TOURS |
ADULT |
Ages 6 – 17 |
Experience Tour |
$24 |
$12 |
Tours 2, 3 or 4 |
$ 24 |
$ 12 |
Evening tour |
$30 |
$15 |
* Children under 6 are free when accompanied by a paying adult.
Reservation Information
While tickets may be purchased at the Visitor Center upon arrival, tour reservations are strongly recommended and may be reserved online now or by calling 1 - 800 - 444 - 4445, see below for times.
Reservation Call Center Hours |
||
Dates |
Monday-Friday |
Saturday-Sunday |
March-September |
8AM to 6PM |
8AM to 6PM |
October-February |
9AM to 5PM |
9AM to 3PM |
Visit www. Hearstcastle. org for more information.If you are quite interested in wine, which tour will you choose?
A.Tour One. | B.Tour Two. |
C.Tour Three. | D.Tour Four. |
If a young couple take Tour One with their 5-year-old son, how much will they pay for the tickets?
A.36. | B.60. | C.48. | D.75. |
Which of the following is the available time to book tickets by phone?
A.At 8 AM on Monday in February. |
B.At 9 AM on Sunday in March. |
C.At 7 PM on Friday in September. |
D.At 6 PM on Saturday in October. |
The booking notes of the play “the Age of Innocence”:
Price: $10
BOOKING
There are four easy ways to book seats for performance:
------ in person
The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a. m.—8 p. m.
------ by telephone
Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card(Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted)
------ by post
Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office.
------ on line
Complete the on-line booking form at www. Satanfiedtheatre. Com
DISCOUNTS:
Saver:$2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday. Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students.
Supersaver: half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion. It is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show.
Standby: best available seats are on sale for $6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible(suitable)for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers.
Group Bookings: there is a ten per cent discount for parties of twelve or more.
School: school parties of ten or more can book $6 standby tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free.
Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. If you want to book a ticket, you CANNOT _____
A.use the Internet. |
B.ring the booking number and pay for the tickets by credit card. |
C.go to the Box Office on Sundays. |
D.complete a booking form and post it to the Box Office. |
According to the notes, who can get $2 off?
A.The people who book the tickets on Fridays. |
B.A 20-year-old full-time college student. |
C.A 55-year-old woman. |
D.An 18-year-old teenager. |
If you make a group booking for a group of 14 adults, how much should you pay?
A.$120 | B.$140 | C.$150 | D.$126 |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A.A school party of 15 students should pay $90 for the standby tickets. |
B.There are only 8 wheelchair spaces in the theatre. |
C.A group of 12 persons can get 10 per cent discount. |
D.The audience can’t refund money if the performance is on show. |
What kind of tickets are the cheapest?
A.The standby tickets. |
B.The standby tickets for school parties of ten or more. |
C.The tickets for Saver discount. |
D.The tickets for group booking. |
Low-Cost Gifts for Mother's Day
Gift No. 1
Offer to be your mother's health friend. Promise to be there for any and all doctor's visits whether a disease or a regular medical check-up. Most mothers always say "no need," another set of eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor's visit. The best part? This one is free.
Gift No. 2
Help your mother organize all of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what times she takes them. "Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother's life," Dr. Marie Savard said.
Gift No. 3
Enough sleep is connected to general health conditions. "Buy your mother cotton sheets and comfortable pillows to encourage better sleep," Savard said. "We know that good sleep is very important to our health."
Gift No. 4
Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother's Day by picking gifts in which 10 percent of the price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构). Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful but inexpensive things — many of which are "green" and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift, she will be told that she has helped the chosen charity.What are you advised to do for your mother at doctor's visits?
A.Take notes. | B.Be with her. |
C.Buy medicine. | D.Give her gifts. |
Where can you find a gift idea to improve your mother’s sleep?
A.In Gift No. 1. | B.In Gift No. 2 |
C.In Gift No. 3. | D.In Gift No. 4. |
Buying gifts from Presents for Purpose allows mothers to .
A.enjoy good sleep | B.be well-organized |
C.bet extra support | D.give others help |
Exercise is one of the few factors with a positive role in long-term control of body weight. Unfortunately, that message has not gotten through to the average American, who would rather try switching to "light" beer and low-calorie bread than increase physical efforts. The Centers for Disease Control, for example, found that fewer than one-fourth of overweight adults who were trying to lose weight said they were combining exercise with their diet.
In rejecting exercise, some people may be discouraged too much by caloric-expenditure(热量消耗)charts; for example, one would have to quickly walk hard three miles just to work off the 275 calories in one delicious Danish pastry(小甜饼). Even exercise professionals accept half a point here. "Exercise by itself is a very tough way to lose weight," says York Onnen, program director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
Still, exercise's supporting role in weight reduction is vital. A study at the Boston University Medical Center of overweight police officers and other public employees confirmed that those who dieted without exercise regained almost all their old weight, while those who worked exercise into their daily routine maintained their new weight.
If you have been sedentary (极少活动的) and decide to start walking one mile a day, the added exercise could burn an extra 100 calories daily. In a year's time, assuming no increase in food intake, you could lose ten pounds. By increasing the distance of your walks gradually and making other dietary adjustments, you may lose even more weight. What is said about the average American in the passage?
A.They tend to hate "light" beer and low-calorie bread. |
B.They usually ignore the effect of exercise on losing weight. |
C.Most of them were combining exercise with their diet. |
D.They know the actors that play a positive role in keeping down body weight. |
"Even exercise professionals accept half a point here" means "They ".
A.agree that the calories in a small piece of pastry can be easy to work off by exercise |
B.partially believe diet plays a supporting role in weight reduction |
C.are not fully convinced that dieting can help maintain one's new weight |
D.are not sufficiently informed of the positive role of exercise in losing weight |
What was confirmed by the Boston University Medical Center's study?
A.Controlling one's calorie intake is more important than doing exercise. |
B.Even occasional exercise can help reduce weight. |
C.Weight reduction is impossible without exercise. |
D.One could lose ten pounds in a year's time if there's no increase in food intake. |
What is the author's purpose in writing this article?
A.To stress the importance of maintaining proper weight. |
B.To support the statement made by York Onnen. |
C.To show the most effective way to lose weight. |
D.To introduce the study of the Boston University Medical Center. |
Almost every machine with moving parts has wheels, yet no one knows exactly when the first wheel was invented or what it was used for. We do know, however, that they existed over 5,500 years ago in ancient Asia.
The oldest known transport wheel was discovered in Slovenia. It is over 5,100 years old. Evidence suggests that wheels for transport didn’t become popular for a while, though. This could be because animals did a perfectly good job of carrying farming tools and humans around. But it could also be because of a difficult situation. While wheels need to roll on smooth surfaces, roads with smooth surfaces weren’t going to be constructed until there was plenty of demand for them. Eventually, road surfaces did become smoother, but this difficult situation appeared again a few centuries later. There had been no important changes in wheel and vehicle design before the arrival of modern road design.
In the mid-1700s, a Frenchman came up with a new design of road — a base layer (层) of large stones covered with a thin layer of smaller stones. A Scotsman improved on this design in the 1820s and a strong, lasting road surface became a reality. At around the same time, metal hubs (the central part of a wheel) came into being, followed by the pneumatic type (充气轮胎) in 1846.Alloy wheels were invented in 1967, sixty years after the appearance of tarmacked roads (柏油路). As wheel design took off, vehicles got faster and faster.What might explain why transport wheels didn’t become popular for some time?
A.Few knew how to use transport wheels. |
B.Humans carried farming tools just as well. |
C.Animals were a good means of transport. |
D.The existence of transport wheels was not known. |
What do we know about road design from the passage?
A.It was easier than wheel design. |
B.It improved after big changes in vehicle design. |
C.It was promoted by fast-moving vehicles. |
D.It provided conditions for wheel design to develop. |
How is the last paragraph mainly developed?
A.By giving examples. | B.By making comparisons. |
C.By following time order. | D.By making classifications. |
What is the passage mainly about?
A.The beginning of road design. |
B.The development of transport wheels. |
C.The history of public transport |
D.The invention of fast-moving vehicles. |
Mothers and daughters go through so much — yet when was the last time a mother and daughter sat down to write a book together about it all? Perri Klass and her mother, Sheila Solomon Klass, both gifted professional writers, prove to be ideal co-writers as they examine their decades of motherhood, daughterhood, and the wonderful ways their lives have overlapped (重叠).
Perri notes with amazement how closely her own life has mirrored her mother’s: both have full-time careers; both have published books, articles, and stories; each has three children; they both love to read. They also love to travel — in fact, they often take trips together. But in truth, the harder they look at their lives, the more they acknowledge their big differences in circumstance and basic nature.
A child of the Depression (大萧条), Sheila was raised in Brooklyn by parents who considered education a luxury for girls. Starting with her college education, she has fought for everything she’s ever accomplished. Perri, on the other hand, grew up privileged in the New Jersey suburbs of the 1960s and 1970s. For Sheila, wasting time or money is a crime, and luxury is unthinkable while Perri enjoys the occasional small luxury, but has not been successful in trying to persuade her mother into enjoying even the tiniest thing she likes.
Each writing in her own unmistakable voice, Perri and Sheila take turns exploring the joys and pains, the love and bitterness, the minor troubles and lasting respect that have always bonded them together. Sheila describes the adventure of giving birth to Perri in a tiny town in Trinidad where her husband was doing research fieldwork. Perri admits that she can’t sort out all the mess in the households, even though she knows it drives her mother crazy. Together they compare thoughts on bringing up children and working, admit long-hidden sorrows, and enjoy precious memories.
Looking deep into the lives they have lived separately and together, Perri and Sheila tell their mother-daughter story with honesty, humor, enthusiasm, and admiration for each other. A written account in two voices, Every Mother Is a Daughter is a duet (二重奏) that produces a deep, strong sound with the experiences that all mothers and daughters will recognize.Why does Perri think that her own life has mirrored her mother’s?
A.They both have gone through difficult times. |
B.They have strong emotional ties with each other. |
C.They have the same joys and pains, and love and bitterness. |
D.They both have experiences as daughter, mother and writer. |
The word “luxury” in Paragraph 3 means ______.
A.something rare but not pleasant |
B.something that cannot be imagined |
C.something expensive but not necessary |
D.something that can only be enjoyed by boys |
What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?
A.The content of the book. | B.The purpose of the book. |
C.The influence of the book. | D.The writing style of the book. |
How are women’s lives explored in this book?
A.In a musical form. | B.Through field research. |
C.With unique writing skills. | D.From different points of view. |