Planning a visit to the UK? Here we help with ways to cut your costs.
AVOID BIG EVENTS Big sporting events, concerts and exhibitions can increase the cost of accommodation and make it harder to find a room. A standard double room at the Thistle Brighton on the final Friday of the Brighton Comedy Festival (19 Oct.) cost £169.15 at Booking.com. A week later, the same room cost £118.15.
If you can be flexible and want to know dates to avoid—or you’re looking for a big event to pass your time—check out sites such as Whatsonwhen.com, which allow you to search for events in the UK by city, date and category.
STAY AWAY FROM THE STATION If traveling to your destination by train, you may want to find a good base close to the station, but you could end up paying more for the sake of convenience at the start of your holiday.
Don’t be too choosy about the part of town you stay in. Booking two months in advance, the cheapest room at Travelodge’s Central Euston hotel in London for Saturday 22 September was £95.95. A room just a tube journey away at its Covent Garden hotel was £75.75. And at Farringdon, a double room cost just £62.95.
LOOK AFTER YOURSELF Really central hotels in cities such as London, Edinburgh and Cardiff can cost a fortune, especially at weekends and during big events. As an alternative consider checking into a self-catering flat with its own kitchen. Often these flats are hidden away on the top floors of city central buildings. A great example is the historic O’Neill Flat on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, available for £420 for five days in late September, with room for four adults.
GET ON A BIKE London’s ‘Boris bikes’ have attracted the most attention, but other cities also have similar programs that let you rent a bicycle and explore at your own pace, saving you on public transport or car parking costs.
Among the smaller cities with their own programs are Newcastle (casual members pay around £1.50 for two hours) and Cardiff (free for up to 30 minutes, or £5 per day).
1. The Brighton Comedy Festival is mentioned mainly to show big events may ________.| A．cause travelers to pay more for accommodation |
| B．help travelers pass time |
| C．allow travelers to make flexible plans |
| D．attract lots of travelers to the UK |
| A．the name of a travel agency | B．a hotel away from the train station |
| C．an ideal holiday destination | D．the tube line to Covent Garden |
| A．to show visitors the importance of self-help |
| B．to tell visitors how to book in advance |
| C．to offer visitors some money-saving tips |
| D．to supply visitors with hotel information |
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Travel six hours northwest of Sydney, and you’ve reached the astronomy capital of Australia. Warrumbungle National Park is a nature and star-lover’s dream. This land is home to the Southern Hemisphere’s first Dark Sky Park, which means you’ll be treated to nights of no light pollution and out of this world stargazing. Besides, the Warrumbungles has several adventurous hikes. The Breadknife and Grand High Tops walk is considered one of the best in Australia!
Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National ParkKu-Ring-Gai Chase is the second oldest national park in Australia. We love this park for its proximity (邻近) to Sydney (a quick 45-minute drive from the city), significant Aboriginal (澳大利亚土著的) sites and breathtaking scenic views. There are many walks you can do here. You can also go kayaking (皮划艇), stopping at some of the secluded beaches that line the park.
Bouddi National ParkLocated on the Central Coast, Bouddi National Park is one for beautiful landscapes and beaches. Just 90 minutes from Sydney, Bouddi is a hidden treasure. The beautiful water makes this park an ideal destination during summer, but it also provides a fantastic point for whale watching over the winter. You can experience Bouddi National Park on a day trip. Pack your picnic goods and head on the 8.5 km (one-way) Bouddi Coastal Walk — it’ll give you a perfect taste of the best of what the park has to offer!
Dorrigo National ParkAs a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Dorrigo National Park is one to explore! Located just shy of four hours from Byron Bay, the park is part of the Gondwana Rainforests and has been made over millions of years. You’d be right then to expect some of the most stunning waterfalls here. For one of the best experiences, head to the Skywalk lookout. This elevated walkway will take you right into the heart of the rainforest, providing soaring views 21 meters over the rainforest all the way to the coast.
1. If you were a fan of stargazing and hiking, which park would interest you most?| A．Bouddi National Park. | B．Dorrigo National Park. |
| C．Warrumbungle National Park. | D．Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park. |
| A．Going kayaking. | B．Watching whales. |
| C．Visiting Aboriginal sites. | D．Seeing breathtaking waterfalls. |
| A．It is the oldest national park in Australia. | B．It offers a perfect view of the Gondwana Rainforests. |
| C．It’s about four hours drive from Sydney. | D．It’s known for adventurous hikes along the coast. |
【推荐2】Based on our purpose of creating a real connection with the beauty of a destination, we have carefully crafted the following Chengdu tours to explore all the highlights in and around Chengdu. All our private Chengdu tours are flexible and can be customized to suit your budget and interests.
1-Day Dujiangyan Panda Volunteer Program Tour
If you’re looking for close contact with pandas, this 1-day panda volunteer experience will make use of your time to its fullest. It’s a memorable chance to look after a cute and fluffy panda as you clean its enclosure, make its food, and watch it be fed.
3-Day Giant Panda, Giant Buddha, and Ancient Town Tour
Two of the most highly rated attractions according to our previous customers are the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Leshan Giant Buddha, both of which you can see on this 3-day smart tour. Furthermore, on this journey, you will discover the real Chengdu by tasting amazing Sichuan food and visiting a traditional ancient town.
5-Day Chengdu, Leshan and Mount. Emei Tour
This tour covers the most popular attractions in Chengdu and nearby cities. You will see the cute pandas, some vibrant scenes that may only happen in Chengdu, and most of all two UNESCO World Heritage Sites - the Giant Buddha cut during the Tang Dynasty, and Mount Emei.
6-Day Sichuan Adventure Tour
Starting from Chengdu, take a 6-day trip to discover incredible western Sichuan, including snowy mountains, forests, grasslands, and Tibetan villages. Be one of the first to journey into beautiful Yala Snow Mountain Scenic Area. There is a large area to the west of Chengdu (western Sichuan) that is a paradise for China’s adventurers and photographers.
1. What can visitors do in the 3-day tour?| A．Clean pandas’ enclosure. |
| B．Enjoy Sichuan Opera. |
| C．Have a bite of Sichuan food. |
| D．Hike on the snowy mountain. |
| A．6-Day Sichuan Adventure Tour. |
| B．5-Day Chengdu, Leshan and Mount. Emei Tour. |
| C．1- Day Dujiangyan Panda Volunteer Program Tour. |
| D．3-Day Giant Panda, Giant Buddha, and Ancient Town Tour. |
| A．Tibetan culture. |
| B．Personalized travel service. |
| C．A close look at pandas. |
| D．A visit to an ancient town. |
【推荐3】Looking for a winter vacation destination? Try these four resorts (度假胜地) on for size.
Solitude Mountain Resort, Utah
Solitude Mountain is a place to go if you love skiing in winter but hate waiting on lift lines. Loving a bargain doesn’t hurt either since the accommodations here are less expensive than at nearby and more well-known Park City, Alta, and Snowbird.
Key West, Florida
The crowds thin out and the prices fall in Key West in winter. Key West, the southernmost point in the United States, has a remote, romantic feel. It has inspired many poets and has drawn such literary greats as Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams.
Taos,New Mexico
Taos, New Mexico is a popular winter ski spot. But if you’re not a skier, you’ll want to head there anytime between Thanksgiving and April since there are fewer people there then. You’ll still be able to experience all the culture and sights, including the thousand-year-old Taos Pueblo, the only living Native American community that is regarded as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Big Sky, Montana
Big Sky, Montana, has more than 5,800 acres of skiing area spreading across several mountains, with a vertical (垂直的) drop of 4,350 feet, as well as 85 km of Nordic tracks. So it s a good choice to head for Big Sky for the fantastic skiing in winter when it is called “the least crowded resort ever”.
1. What’s the advantage of Solitude Mountain Resort?| A．Being close to modern cities. | B．Having warmer climate in winter. |
| C．Having cheaper accommodations. | D．Providing store bargains for visitors. |
| A．It is a hotel in Mexico. | B．It is the name of a skier. |
| C．It is a popular ski spot. | D．It is an ancient community. |
| A．Uncrowded. | B．Risky. |
| C．Cheap. | D．Unpolluted. |
【推荐1】In the United States，many teachers keep fish，hamsters(仓鼠)，and other animals in their classrooms.Teachers say students learn important lessons from the animals.More than 70 percent of teachers who have classroom pets say the animals help students learn responsibility.Research also shows that classroom pets can reduce stress.
“Pets can comfort kids who are having a bad day,”says Lisa Robbins，who works fora group called Pets in the Classroom.
But others think pets should be expelled from classrooms. In January，the Durango School District in Colorado began following a no-pet policy(政策).Now animals can be brought into Durango schools for certain lessons，but they can't stay.Officials were worried that animals might create problems for kids with allergies(过敏症).They were also concerned about the animals getting proper care.
Here's what two of our readers think.
Having classroom pets gives students a fun way to learn about animals. In my class last year，we had a class pet named Elliot.Our teacher also used him to teach us about different subjects.For example，in math，we calculated (计算)how much it costs to feed Elliot for a year.
Pets also help kids learn how to work as a team. My classmates and I took turns feeding Elliot and cleaning his tank,
If teachers are worried about students with allergies，they could get pets that don't have fur.
—D' Lasia Mays，Texas
Classroom pets can take away valuable class time.Some students might have a hard time focusing on the teacher when there are animals in the room.
Plus，having a classroom pet can cause safety problems. You never know how an animal will react to students.Even a cute little hamster might hurt a kid who sticks his or her hand in its cage.
—Patrick McKinney，Ohio
1. What does the underlined word " expelled”in Paragraph 3 probably mean?| A．Allowed. | B．Removed. |
| C．Protected. | D．Educated. |
| A．Classroom pets are not allowed at schools. |
| B．Animals are not allowed at schools. |
| C．Many teachers have pets without fur. |
| D．Many students are allergic to animals. |
| A．He needs special training. | B．He needs more proper care. |
| C．He has educational value for kids. | D．He is not only lovely but very smart. |
| A．The author. | B．Lisa Robbins. |
| C．Patrick McKinney. | D．D' Lasia Mays’ teacher. |
【推荐2】Hearing loss is unavoidable, but listening to loud music when you’re younger can make it worse. To reduce your risk of hearing loss via loud music, learn why and how it can cause hearing loss, and just how loud is too loud.
Hearing loss occurs in four ways: conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss, mixed hearing loss and auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder. Noise-induced (噪音诱发的) hearing loss is a type of sensorineural hearing loss.
Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when your inner ear becomes damaged. In the case of noise- induced hearing loss, most of the damage affects the cells of tiny sensory hairs in your inner ear.
When those cells get damaged or die, the electrical signal that your auditory nerve sends to your brain changes.
Noise-induced hearing loss can be acute or severe, and it can be temporary or permanent. You might be familiar with acute temporary noise-induced hearing loss, even if you didn’t realize what was happening at the time.
Acute temporary noise-induced hearing loss can occur from attending a loud concert or sporting event, going to a gun range without earmuffs or being near an explosion. It can make noises sound “stuffy” or far away, especially when talking on the phone or in a crowded room. Repeated exposure to those loud situations can eventually lead to permanent hearing loss.
Noise levels from earbuds and headphones can get as loud as 139 decibels, according to the journal Noise &Health, far greater than the recommended range of everyday sound exposure, which is 60 to 85 decibels. And the average level of noise from headphones, with the volume turned all the way up, is 94 to 110 decibels. For context, 60 decibels is about the volume of an average conversation, and 130 decibels is about the noise level of a rock concert. 85 decibels is considered the maximum volume at which you can listen to sound for eight hours without damaging your hearing. So if you were to listen to music from your headphones for eight hours a day, listening at a volume louder than 85 decibels can cause permanent damage to your ears.
Unfortunately, the relationship between decibels and time isn’t linear (线性的). For every three decibels, safe exposure time gets cut in half, according to the CDC. At 88 decibels, you can only safely listen for four hours; at 91 decibels, just two hours.
1. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?| A．Noise-induced hearing loss belongs to sensorineural hearing loss. |
| B．Noise-induced hearing loss is always severe and permanent. |
| C．Occasional exposure to the loud situations can lead to permanent hearing loss in the end. |
| D．Listening to music from headphones for long at any volume won’t be harmful to your ears. |
| A．Participating in a heated debate. | B．Attending a rock concert. |
| C．Going to a gun range with earmuffs. | D．Watching an explosion at a distance. |
| A．Two hours. | B．Half an hour. |
| C．One and a half hours. | D．One hour. |
| A．Loud Music Damages Hearing | B．How to Prevent Hearing Loss |
| C．How Loud Is Too Loud | D．Music and Hearing |
【推荐3】Wildfires can burn acres of land—and consume everything in their way—in mere minutes. On average, more than 100,000 wildfires clear 4 million to 5 million acres of land in the U.S. every year.
In recent year wildfires have burned up to 9 million acres of land. A wildfire moves at speeds of up to miles an hour, consuming everything—trees brush, home, even humans—in its path.
There are three conditions that need to be present in order for wildfire to burn, which firefighters refer to as the fire triangle: fuel, oxygen, and a heat source. Fuel is any flammable material surrounding a fire, including trees, grasses, brush and even homes. Air supplies the oxygen a fire needs to burn. Heat sources help spark the wildfire and bring fuel to temperatures hot enough to catch fire. Lightning, burning campfires or cigarettes, hot winds, and even the sun can all provide much heat to spark a wildfire.
Although four out of five wildfires are started by people, nature is usually more than happy to help fan the flames. Dry weather and drought change green vegetation into dry, flammable fuel; strong winds spread fire quickly over land; and warm temperatures encourage combustion. When these factors come together all that’s needed is spark—in the form of lightning, a downed power line, or a burning campfire or cigarette—to start a fire that could last for weeks and consume tens of thousands of acres.
These violent wildfires occur around the world, but they are most common in the US West where heat, drought, and frequent thunderstorms create perfect wildfire conditions.
Although often harmful and destructive to humans, wild fires play an important role in nature. They also remove disease—ridden plants and harmful insects from a forest ecosystem.
1. What are the numbers in paragraph 1 used for?| A．Introducing the wildfires started by people. |
| B．Showing how frequent and strong the wildfires are. |
| C．Warning people the harm of the wildfire. |
| D．Providing some statistical data about wildfires. |
| A．To use up. | B．To clear away. | C．To cup down. | D．To burn up. |
| A．A downed power line. | B．Burning campfire or cigarettes. |
| C．Heat and drought weather. | D．Lighting or hot winds. |
| A．Three conditions can cause a wildfire. |
| B．The most serious wildfires occur in the US. |
| C．Wildfires have advantages to a forest ecosystem. |
| D．Careful enough, a wildfire can be avoided. |
