The main source of public transport in London revolves around the Underground (or the Tube as it is known to Londoners). This network of 12 lines can get you to most places in the center of the city quickly.
It’s almost necessary to get an Oyster Card or a Travelcard. Single tickets are priced starting at the intentionally absurd price of £4.80 (Zone1-3), if you pay cash. Using an Oyster Card, a single fare is £2.30 if you are traveling within the central Zone 1.
On hot days it is also advisable to take a bottle of water with you as Underground trains are not air-conditioned.
Last trains leave central London at around 00:30 weekdays, 23:30 Sundays. First trains leave the suburbs at around 5:00.
The Bus System
Outside the center of London, Tube Stations are farther apart, so buses help fill the gaps. Also, the bus offers a cheaper alternative, even if it is a slower journey.
Cash fares for London buses have been abolished — you cannot pay cash. A bus fare costs £1.50 if people only use buses, and the fare is capped at £4.40 per day for Oyster or contactless card users.
Light Rail and Trains
You can think of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and the Tramlink as extensions of the Underground, Travelcards purchased at Tube Stations in East London. The DLR connects with a number of the other train services (including connections at Tower Hill or Bank Stations) and can be used to reach Greenwich, Canary Wharf, and Stratford.
River Services
There are a number of different routes along the River Thames. The faster commuter services operate all day from Greenwich Pier to Embankment and from Putney and Chelsea harbour to Blackfriars during Peak Hours only. These routes will pass a number of places of interest including the Houses of Parliament and London Bridge. A return fare from Putney to Blackfriars will cost about 12 pounds.
National Rail
Once you leave Central London or if you are traveling South of the River Thames, the best public transport option will often be National Rail. There are numerous connections to the Rail System from the Tube. Travelcards can be used for travel on the National Rail (but not the Heathrow Express). Oyster cards can be used up to Zone 6 except certain services including Heathrow Express, Heathrow Connect and HS1.
1. When taking the London Underground, you _______.| A．should buy tickets with cash |
| B．can go to any place in London quickly |
| C．can save more money with a single ticket |
| D．are advised to take a bottle of water along on hot days |
| A．London Bridge | B．Stratford |
| C．Canary Wharf | D．Tower Hill |
| A．the London Underground | B．the Bus System |
| C．the DLR and the Tramlink | D．National Rail |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】London’s transport services offer you a special experience of the city. Here’s a round up of the transport choices available to you.
♦ London Underground
There are 11 colour-coded Underground lines. Services run regularly from around 05:00 to 00:30 (Sunday 07: 30 to 23:30) on most-routes.
Visit tfl. gov. uk/tube for more information.
Tip：
Always stand on the right when using the escalators (电动扶梯) at Tube stations. It can get hot and busy on the Tube during peak (高峰) travel times, so you may prefer to travel outside these hours.
♦ Buses
A cheap and easy way to travel around London. They generally run from 05: 00 to 00: 30. Night buses operate on many major routes from around midnight to 05:00, and some operate a 24-hour service.
It is not possible to pay for your London bus fare in cash. Instead, you can pay with a Visitor Oyster card, Oyster card, Travelcard or UK-issued contactless payment card. A single bus journey is £l. 50 with an Oyster card or UK-issued contactless payment card.
To help you get home, if you don’t have enough credit on your Oyster card, you will be able to make one more bus journey.
After this you will need to top up the credit on your card before you use it again. If you’re your contactless payment card has been issued outside the UK, please check tfL gov. uk/contactless before you use your card to travel on our bus services. For any international transaction fees (手续费) that may apply, please check with your card issuer.
For more information visit tfl. gov. uklbuses.
Tip:
Some bus routes are especially good for sightseeing—try routes 9, 14, 15 and 22. The New Routemaster bus featured in the James Bond film Skyfall and runs on routes 9, 11, 24, 38 and 390. If you run out of credit on your Visitor Oyster card, it’s easy to add more at:
● Touchscreen ticket machines in Tube, DLR, London Overground and some National Rail stations.
● Around 4, 000 Oyster Ticket Stops cross London (Find your nearest one at ticketstoplocator. tfl. gov. uk).
● Travel & Visitor Information Centres.
● London Overground station ticket offices.
1. During the rush hour, visitors at Tube stations are advised to ________.| A．stand side by side | B．avoid using the escalators |
| C．take the tube at fixed times | D．take advantage of off-peak hours |
| A．use up | B．add |
| C．think about | D．balance |
| A．tfl. gov. uk/tube | B．tfl. gov. uk/buses |
| C．tfl. gov. uk/contactless | D．ticketstoplocator. tfl. gov. uk |
Yang Xiaomeng lives 11 km away from her company in Beijing. The 26-year-old has been cycling to work for three months. “I used to take the subway before the COVID-19 outbreak. But now riding a bike seems to be a safer choice.”
Finding it relaxing and healthy, Yang said she would keep cycling in the future. In fact, many people have turned from public transportation to riding bikes these days. On Beijing’s bike-only lane (自行车专用道), from Huilongguan to Shangdi, the number of cyclists has increased by 17.6 percent due to the outbreak, Xinhua reported.
In fact, biking has been booming globally since the COVID-19 outbreak. In Spain, bike sales increased 22-fold (倍) in May compared with last year. In London, large parts of the city are being closed off to cars so that people can walk and cycle safely. Cities like Berlin and Montreal have also added new, wider bike lanes.
How will this change influence life in the city? The environmental advantages are clear. According to studies, cycling can clearly reduce the pollution of the environment. Since most gyms are still not open, cycling can also give people a chance to exercise and enjoy fresh air.
Increased biking can also bring economic benefits (经济效益) to the society. Compared with drivers, cyclists tend to spend more money in stores, bars and restaurants, according to Huff post. “When you make an area become attractive to people on foot or on a bike—when you slow down the pace (节奏) of life in that neighborhood just a little—suddenly visitors are staying longer and stopping in more stores,” Rachel Quednau wrote for Strong Towns.
1. How did Yang go to work before the COVID-19 outbreak? (no more than 5 words)2. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 3 probably mean? (1 word)
3. Why are large parts of London being closed off to cars? (no more than 10 words)
4. What are the advantages of riding a bike? (no more than 10 words)
5. What’s your attitude towards cycling? Please explain. (no more than 20 words)
【推荐3】Bicycles are very popular in China. In our country you can see bicycles almost everywhere. When you walk on the road, you will find a lot of people riding bicycles to schools, shops and anywhere else. Therefore, China is known as “the kingdom of bicycles”. In China, many families have one or two bicycles. Compared with (与……做比较) cars, bicycles have many advantages. First, they are much cheaper than cars. Most Chinese can’t afford cars, but they can afford bicycles. Second, bicycles are small enough to park anywhere, while cars need a larger piece of land to park. What’s more, with lower speed, bicycles are safer than cars. However, bicycles also bring some problems. Some riders don’t obey the traffic rules and some riders don’t think about others safety. So they ride too fast. During the rush hour, too many bicycles may cause traffic accidents. We still have a long way to solve the problem.
1. Where can you see bicycles in China?| A．In the big city. | B．In the town. |
| C．In the country. | D．Almost everywhere. |
| A．China has plenty of bicycles | B．China makes bicycles |
| C．only China has bicycles | D．bicycles are a kingdom |
| A．Bicycles are much cheaper than cars. |
| B．Bicycles are more beautiful than cars. |
| C．Bicycles are easy to park. |
| D．Bicycles are safer than cars. |
| A．Bicycles are more and more expensive. |
| B．Riding bicycles is more dangerous than driving cars. |
| C．There are no places for so many bicycles. |
| D．Too many bicycles may cause traffic accidents. |
| A．We should drive cars instead of riding bicycles. |
| B．It’s too far to ride bicycles. |
| C．We still need to do much to solve the problem. |
| D．We can ride bicycles if it is too far. |
【推荐1】Do you ever want your kids to read by themselves so you can save the trouble to read them bedtime stories? If so, the following four learning apps may be of some help to you.
Learn With HomerPrice: Free
Skill: Comprehension, Phonics (拼读法)
Grade level: Pre-K, K
Device: iPad
It’s a learn-to-read app for kids aged 3 to 6 that includes drawing, voice recording and stories. This app can be helpful for kids who have speech production problems and language organization problems.
Inspiration MapsPrice: $9.99
Skill: Comprehension, Writing
Grade level: 4th and above
Device: iPad
Inspiration Maps is a mind-mapping tool that helps kids visually organize ideas. They can create maps, organizers, and text outlines. Outlines can be changed to maps, and maps can be changed to outlines.The Lite version (简化版本), which is free, lets kids create up to five mind maps.
Aesop’s QuestPrice: $0.99
Skill: Comprehension
Grade level: 2nd, 3rd, 4th
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Aesop’s Quest, based on Aesop’s Fables, is a learning game where the student must remember parts of a story to complete a level. At the end of each story level, the student is rewarded with tests. After solving the tests, the story is complete and the child can continue to the next story.
LightSailPrice: Free
Grade level: Pre-K, K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th and above
Skill: Comprehension
Device: iPad
LightSail is an e-reading platform that helps teachers support their students’ independent reading. Students can use LightSail to check out texts from their schools’ online libraries. As students progress through a book, questions appear to check their comprehension. As students complete these assessments, they earn prizes.
1. Which apps are accessible to people for free?| A．Inspiration Maps and LightSail. |
| B．Learn With Homer and LightSail. |
| C．Aesop’s Quest and Inspiration Maps. |
| D．Learn With Homer and Aesop’s Quest. |
| A．Kids can draw at most 10 mind maps on Inspiration Maps. |
| B．Students must know all the Fable stories to better use Aesop’s Quest. |
| C．Learn With Homer can mainly help kids with the language problems. |
| D．LightSail can serve as a tool to check students’ ability to understand texts. |
| A．School kids’ Parents. | B．App designers. |
| C．High school students. | D．iPad salesmen. |
【推荐2】Dancing is a kind of physical activity. Kids who take dance lessons often could see a great improvement in their physical health. The following are some great dance schools for kids in New York City.
American Tap Dance Center
Here kids will learn basic steps and how to join them together properly to produce their own dances. Every year a competition is held here for kids to show their works. In addition, kids also explore the history of dance steps and watch videos of Tap’s greatest performers. Once they have the basic skills down, kids can move on to more difficult classes like Hoofers and Hitters and Shim Sham Crew. Kids aged three and a half years old and above are welcome.
Ballet Hispanico
Kids will learn the art of flamenco, a Spanish dance that is danced to a special type of guitar music.The Spanish dance program offers classes in ballet, jazz, hiphop and tap and some others that will have little ones moving to the music. The Los Pasitos：Early Childhood Program is a great introduction to movements for the tiniest dancers aged 2 to 5. Older ones aged 6 to 18 can sign up for Encuentros: Open Class Program, which will cover different dance traditions.
Ballet Academy East
All young swan princesses start in the Young Dancer Division, which has several programs, including Petit Dancers classes for toddlers (学步儿童) and preballet and tap for students aged 3 to 6.Some go on to the intensive (强化的) program(ages 7 to 19), where they’ll study how to dance with a partner well. Kids aged 18 months and above are welcome.
The Ailey School
The Ailey School has been training worldclass dancers since Alvin Ailey first opened his school in Brooklyn, NY in 1969.This school has beginning classes including First Steps for kids aged 3 to 6 and Bounding Boys for boys aged 4 to 6. Fun exercises help little ones learn basic skills. If kids aged 7 and above wish to continue their dance studies for more difficult classes, they can go for an interview, performing a short dance in front of some teachers.
1. What does American Tap Dance Center encourage kids to do?| A．Make use of their creativity. |
| B．Organize some kinds of dance competitions. |
| C．Share short videos of their performances. |
| D．Perform in front of some famous dancers. |
| A．Kids can learn to play the guitar for free. |
| B．The Open Class Program is the most popular one. |
| C．Different dance classes are offered to meet kids’ needs. |
| D．Kids have chances to join some competitions in Spain. |
| A．It mainly teaches boys under six years old. |
| B．It focuses on basic skills in modern dances. |
| C．Kids can tour the country with some worldfamous dancers. |
| D．Kids need to show their dance skills before taking higherlevel classes. |
【推荐3】2022 Beijing Winter Olympics presented the world fantastic events and bunches of brilliant athletes, among whom certain young athletes stood out and went viral among audience.
Yuzuru Hanyu
Aged just 19, Hanyu became the first Asian man to win an Olympic gold medal in Sochi, becoming the youngest men’s champion since 1948. Hanyu’s technique is outstanding, but he combines his ability with an astonishing creativity and artistry. Though the “ice prince” tumbled (摔倒) in his performance and thus failed the gold medal in Beijing 2022, he still makes a deserving figure skating icon.
Alexandra Trusova
Alexandra Trusova is a Russian figure skater who is the Beijing 2022 Olympic silver medalist (representing ROC). The 17-year-old is best known for her quadruple-jumping abilities. She was the first female to land each of the quad Lutz, flip and toe jumps in competition, and was also the first to land two- and then three-quads in a free skate.
Eileen Gu
Nicknamed “Snow Princess”, Gu initially represented the United States of America in competition, but she chose to compete for China, the birth land of her mother who is from Beijing. As a Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games gold medalist in big air, the 18-year-old girl is the first female Chinese freestyle skier to top the podium (领奖台).
Yiming Su
Born in 2004 in Jilin, Su is the first Chinese snowboarder to ever land on World Cup podium in either big air or slopestyle. He is also the first rider ever to land 1800s two ways in a FIS competition. This year he won China’s sixth gold medal in the Olympics.
Click here for more information about the above athletes.
1. Who is the youngest among the four athletes?| A．Yuzuru Hanyu. | B．Alexandra Trusova. | C．Eileen Gu. | D．Yiming Su. |
| A．They are skilled at big air events. | B．They have a big impact on skating. |
| C．They are pioneers in their own fields. | D．They won gold medals in the 2022 Olympics. |
| A．A sports website. | B．A game brochure. |
| C．A fashion magazine. | D．A sports star magazine. |
【推荐1】If there is one person who has left a deep impression on me，it’s my teacher，Mrs Pathak，who was my class teacher for three years. In my childhood，how I wished I had a mother or a sister like her. One moment she could be tough (严厉的) and strict，another moment caring and compassionate (富有同情心的)．
She always encouraged us to tell the truth. For instance，if one had not done the homework，he need not lie. She allowed us to make mistakes，saying we couldn’t be perfect all the time，but we should try.
Another thing she taught me early on was punctuality. She set a good example with her own behavior. She was always on time，so we students tried our best to be on time.
She surprised us with her sense of humour. Her classroom teaching was always humorous. After class，she talked to us and told us jokes.
We really felt free to ask questions and Mrs Pathak would give the answers. If she did not know—there had been some occasions (场合)—she would say so. We all then tried to find out the answers. Whoever came up with the answer was appreciated and given the due credit (应有的称赞)．Now I sometimes wonder whether Mrs Pathak was pretending just to encourage us to explore and find answers by ourselves.
1. According to the passage，which of the following is NOT suitable for describing Mrs Pathak?| A．Tough. | B．Humorous. | C．Compassionate. | D．Careful. |
| A．being on time | B．being honest | C．being patient | D．being clean |
| A．Because she didn’t like answering the questions. |
| B．Because she didn’t know the answers to the questions. |
| C．Because she wanted the students to find them out by themselves. |
| D．Because she thought the students knew the answers already. |
【推荐2】Recently I spoke to some of my students about what they wanted to do after they graduated, and what kind of job prospects they thought they had.
Given that I teach students who are trained to be doctors, I was surprised to find that most students thought that they would not be able to get the jobs they wanted without “outside help”.“What kind of help is that?” I asked, expecting them to tell me that they would need a relative or family friend to help them out.
“Surgery (整形手术)”, one replied.I was pretty alarmed by that response.It seems that the graduates of today are increasingly willing to go under the knife to get ahead of others when it comes to getting a job.One girl told me that she was considering surgery to increase her height.“They break your legs, put in special extending screws, and slowly expand the gap between the two ends of the bone as it regrows.You can get at least 5 cm taller!”
At that point, I was shocked.I am short.I can’t deny that, but I don’t think I would put myself through months of pain just to be a few centimeters taller.I don’t even bother to wear shoes with thick soles, as I’m not trying to hide the fact that I am just not tall!
It seems to me that there is a trend toward wanting “perfection”, and that is an ideal that just does not exist in reality.
No one is born perfect, yet magazines, TV shows and movies present images of thin, tall, beautiful people as being the norm（标准）.Advertisements for slimming aids, beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery clinics fill the pages of newspapers, further creating an idea that “perfection” is a requirement, and that it must be purchased, no matter what the cost.In my opinion, skills, rather than appearance, should determine how successful a person is in his chosen career.
1. We can know from the passage that the author works as ________.| A．a doctor | B．a model | C．a teacher | D．a reporter |
| A．marry a better man/woman | B．become a model |
| C．get an advantage over others in job-hunting | D．attract more admirers |
| A．Excited. | B．Surprised. | C．Happy. | D．Angry. |
| A．everyone should pursue perfection, whatever the cost |
| B．it’s right for graduates to ask for others to help them out in hunting for jobs |
| C．media are to blame for misleading young people in their seeking for surgery |
| D．it is one’s appearance instead of skills that really matters in one’s career |
China is going green. In order to reduce air pollution and oil shortages, carmakers have announced their plans to develop hybrid vehicles (混合燃料汽车) for the Chinese market. Toyota’s hybrid car Prius will be ready to drive in China this week. Let’s have a look at the new car.
Any vehicle is a hybrid run on a rechargeable battery and gas. Hybrid cars have special engines, which are smaller than traditional gas engines. The gasoline engine provides 99 percent of the power when the car is going at a steady speed. A specially designed battery motor provides extra power for running up hills or when it needs to speed up.
Step into a Prius, and turn on the engine. The first thing you notice is that it is quieter than a traditional car. At this point, the car’s gas engine is at rest. The electric motor will provide power until the car reaches about 24km/h. If you stay at a low speed, you are effectively driving an electric car, with no gas being used, and no waste gas given off.
The computer decides when to use the gas engine, when to go electric, and when to use a combination of the two. If you go over 24km/h, when you step on the gas pedal (油门), you are telling the computer how fast you want to go.
The electric motor recharges automatically using a set of batteries. And when driving at a high speed, the gas engine not only powers the car but also recharges the batteries. When you use the brake, the electric motor in the wheels will work like a generator (发电机) to produce electricity to recharge the batteries. As a result, the car’s batteries will last for around 200,000 miles.
1. The underlined sentence probably means ________.| A．there will be more and more green land in China |
| B．China’s new cars are combinations of different green models |
| C．China is still young and lacking in experience |
| D．the environment is getting better in China |
| A．They are powered by both a rechargeable battery and gas. |
| B．They have smaller engines than traditional gas ones. |
| C．They only use 99 percent of their power to run up hill. |
| D．They are much quieter than traditional cars. |
| A．the gas engine recharges the batteries as well as powering the car |
| B．using the brake suggests that the gas engine should work |
| C．the car’s batteries will last for around 200,000 miles without being recharged |
| D．the batteries can be recharged at any time you want |
| A．announce plans to develop hybrid vehicles for the Chinese market |
| B．let people know how to save their gas when driving a car |
| C．teach people how to drive a hybrid car |
| D．introduce a new kind of “green” car |
| A．The hybrid car is environmentally friendly. |
| B．The hybrid car is unable to get itself recharged. |
| C．The hybrid car has been made in mass. |
| D．The hybrid car can decide what power to use |
