Choosing where to lay your head in London can be a tricky affair. But with a lot of fashionable design hotels to choose from, you can surely book into a satisfying one. Trust us.

The Ham Yard Hotel

If you need to be in Mayfair or Soho, Ham Yard is perfectly located as it's housed in an “urban village” setting at the bottom of Regent Street. The light-filled modern building is decorated with signature Kit Kemp inside.

Doubles from £ 662 per night

The Hoxton Hotel

East London's first "destination" hotel opened in 2006 and it's since won fans for its affordable rooms in a great location. Sure, its “shoebox" rooms are on the small side, but they're smartly designed and you'll get a fridge filled with snacks, a cool phone to use and fast WiFi.

Doubles from £ 138 per night

The Artist Residence Hotel

Occupying a handsome five-storey terrace in Pimlico, this hotel's grand surroundings cover up its cool inside. You'll find other artist living houses in Brighton, Penzance and Oxfordshire, but the touches to this London branch make it a must-visit.

Doubles from £ 225 per night

The Great Northern Hotel

London's first railway hotel has just got a multi-million-pound redecoration. Dating back to 1854, the Great Northern Hotel now stands proud between the Eurostar's St. Pancras terminal and King's Cross. Mini rooms modelled on sleeper carriages sit beside store rooms filled with tea, coffee and cakes, but the main attractive thing is the extra hours' sleep you'll get being so close to the train platform ----we calculate it as a three-minute dash.

Doubles from £ 188 per night

1. How much should a couple spend in the Ham Yard Hotel for two nights?

A．£ 225.

B．£ 276.

C．£ 662.

D．£ 1,324.

2. Which hotel will you choose if you want to get online quickly?

A．The Ham Yard Hotel.	B．The Artist Residence Hotel.
C．The Hoxton Hotel.	D．The Great Northern Hotel.

3. What is special about the Great Northern Hotel?

A．It is quite near to the railway station.	B．It has some artist living houses around.
C．It is a railway hotel with a short history.	D．It is the first railway hotel in the world.

P.S. 139, in Brooklyn, New York, has a school garden where students grow their favorite fruits and vegetables. It also has a school cookbook filled with recipes that use those foods, as well as a technology club, a soccer club, an artists' club, and a teachers’ lounge.

All of this is partially thanks to a process called PB. Through PB, students, parents, teachers, and P. S. 139 staff decide each year how to use some of the school’s money. Over the past three years, P. S. 139 has spent nearly $50,000 this way. Usually, only school leaders get to decide how to distribute a budget, but PB lets others weigh in. Shari Davis is one of the heads of the PB Project, a nonprofit group based in New York and California. '' PB opens the door and invites folks to participate in decisions. People who are closest to the problems in a community are often also closest to settling them. ''   she told TIME for Kids.

To start the PB process, members of a school community think about changes they’d like to see. Then they submit their ideas to a committee. It organizes the ideas into complete proposals (议案), which include the cost of each project. Lastly, every member votes for the winning projects that will be supported financially.

PB Project co-founder Josh Lerner helped bring the approach to P. S. 139. He finds that leaders are pleasantly surprised by the winning projects, which help them '' better understand what their communities need'', he says.

PB isn't just for schools. It’s also used by city and state governments around the world. New York City has been using PB since 2011. New Yorkers have spent more than $210 million this way. They've provided money for playgrounds, dog parks, and trees for city sidewalks, among other projects.

4. What is special about PB?

A．It allows ordinary people to play a role in decisions.

B．It accepts money from local government.

C．It helps P S. 139 build a school garden.

D．It focuses mainly on public schools

5. What is the first step for the PB process?

A．Applying to the head master.	B．Putting forward project ideas.
C．Gathering members to vote.	D．Making a specific budge.

6. How do the leaders in P.S. 139 feel about the agreed projects?

A．Proud.	B．Shocked.
C．Delighted.	D．Embarrassed.

7. What is the author' s purpose in writing the text?

A．To introduce the PB approach.	B．To bring up a social problem.
C．To offer proposals to communities.	D．To help leaders make better preparation.

Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old girl. One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl necklace priced at $2.50. How she wanted that necklace! When she asked her mother if she would buy it for her, her mother said," Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money. I'll tell you what. I'll buy you the necklace, and when we get home we can make up a list of housework that you can do to pay for the necklace. And don't forget that for your birthday, Grandma just might give you a whole dollar bill, too. Okay?" Jenny agreed, and her mother bought the pearl necklace for her.

Jenny worked on her housework very hard every day, and sure enough, her grandma gave her a brand-new dollar bill for her birthday. Soon Jenny had paid off the pearls. How Jenny loved those pearls. She wore them everywhere to kindergarten, bed and when she went out with her mother to run errands(跑腿).The only time she didn't wear them was in the shower. Her mother had told her that they would turn her neck green!

Jenny had a very loving daddy. When Jenny went to bed, he would get up from his favorite chair every night and read Jenny her favorite story.

One night when he finished the story, he said," Jenny, do you love me?"

"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you," the little girl said.

"Well, then, give me your pearls."

"Oh! Daddy, not my pearls!" Jenny said. "But you can have Rosy, my favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. And you can have her tea party outfit, too. Okay?"

"Oh no, darling, that's okay." Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss. "Good night, little one."

A week later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story, and Jenny gave the same reply.

Several days later, when Jenny's father came in to read her a story, Jenny was sitting on her bed and her lip was trembling. "Here, Daddy," she said, and held out her hand. She opened it and her beloved pearl necklace was inside. She let it slip into her father's hand.

With one hand her father held the plastic pearls and the other he pulled out of his pocket a blue box. Inside of the box were real, genuine, beautiful pearls. He had had them all along. He was waiting for Jenny to give up the cheap stuff so that he could give her the real thing.

8. Why did the mother tell Jenny the plastic pearl necklace "cost an awful lot of money"？

A．She was discouraging Jenny from buying it.

B．She was telling Jenny to ask her grandma for help.

C．She was reminding Jenny of its true value.

D．She was encouraging Jenny to get it by her hard work.

9. Which of the following was unrelated to the fact that Jenny could get the plastic pearl necklace?

A．She promised to work on the housework hard.

B．She was lucky to have her birthday coming near.

C．She went out with her mother to run errands.

D．She got supported from her grandma with a dollar bill.

10. The last time the father came in to read Jenny a story, why was her lip trembling?

A．She was disappointed that her father always asked for her necklace.

B．She was struggling in her mind about the decision to make.

C．She was pleased to give the necklace to her father.

D．She was unwilling to exchange her necklace for the real one.

11. What caused Jenny to make the final decision to give up her necklace?

A．Her father's request.	B．Her father's tolerance.
C．Her father's real necklace.	D．Her father's love.

Apple has filed a patent for ''a wearable electronic ring'' that could let you control your other devices (设备) without touching them. The file includes drawings of the potential design and lists intend functions like a rechargeable power source (电源). The ring is designed to be worn on one finger and doesn't appear to be a stand-alone product. Instead, it aims to improve the user experience of bigger devices like iPhone and iPad. Apple also throws attention onto the potential safety functions of the ring by stating that the light given off by some touchscreen devices could be ''inappropriate in certain social environments or even dangerous if it gives away the position of a user who is in danger''.

The tech giant (巨头) explains in the patent that touchscreen devices we are using now can be seen as ''burdensome, inconvenient, or useless for certain tasks and applications''. It suggests that holding an iPhone or iPad for too long could tire some users and obviously, Apple can’t ignore such situations! It says the Apple Ring could be a more effective way to control those devices from a distance.

Apple isn't alone with this ''smart ring'' idea.

Amazon recently put the Echo Loop on the market, a smart ring that uses Alexa. The device is similar to the smart speaker but is worn on your finger instead. It’s currently only available in the US and has an introductory price of $129. 99 (￡100). Google recently presented its Pixel 4 smartphone and one of the top new functions is called Project Soli, which provides a '' Motion Sense'' effect. It lets you control the Pixel 4 without actually touching it. You can wave your hands in the air to pause or skip songs, alarms and phone calls, and more.

As with all patents, we can’t know for sure if Apple is going to bring out a smart ring device until official word is given.

12. What can Apple's smart ring do potentially?

A．Work as a mobile phone.

B．Charge itself automatically.

C．Promote users own security.

D．Stop viruses attacking phones.

13. What made apple develop the wearable product?

A．The drawbacks of its touchscreen devices.

B．The huge marketing potential of touchscreens.

C．The fierce competitions from across the country.

D．The introduction of other companies’ technology.

14. What do we know about the Echo Loop?

A．It's popular with users.

B．It's under development.

C．It's not sold internationally.

D．It's not accepted by Apple.

15. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Tech Firms' Smart Rings

B．Apple's New Device Patent

C．The Future of Touchscreen Devices

D．New Technologies, New Products