1 . It’s easy to assume that a vacation to Bali will cost a small fortune. There are plenty of accommodations, food and local transportation, and even the spas offer massages and treatments at value prices. However, you can easily spend a week or two in Bali for under $2,000, without having to sleep on the beach. Here are a few things to consider when planning Bali on a budget.
What is the best time to visit Bali on a budget?
If you’re on a budget, consider visiting Bali during the lower, wetter season, which runs from October through March. The crowds will be fewer, and both hotel rates and flights from abroad are often cheaper, except during the holiday period between mid-December and early January, when crowds swell. The only trade-off for the lower prices is the wet season. This time of year isn’t always ideal for sunbathing, and serious rainfall can make outdoor activities, such as whitewater rafting and visiting waterfalls and rice terraces, less than appealing. That said, even during rainy season, it doesn’t usually rain all day long. Expect bursts of sunshine between the storms.
What is the cheapest way to get around Bali?
The absolute cheapest way to get around Bali is by local bus, but it can take a long time. There are also tourist buses, including hop-on, hop-off options, that travel between different hubs across the island. Bali is well-served by taxis, both of the car and motorbike variety, and the prices tend to be affordable by international standards. Most drivers will offer you a fixed rate for full-day hires or to get from point A to point B, rather than using a meter.
Remember to bargain; doing so is particularly easy when a driver is on his own rather than at a taxi stand.
How much does food cost in Bali?
If you’re into fine dining, you can end up spending a large chunk of your budget on food. Eating at the average restaurant geared towards tourists is the best way to have a meal in Bali on a budget. A good meal should cost you around 100,000 rupiah (around $7), but if you’re willing to subsist mostly off of local specialties such as nasi goreng (fried rice) and eat at local restaurants, you can expect to pay around 30,000 rupiah ($2) to get fed. Best of all, most hotels and guesthouses in Bali come with free breakfast, and many offer heavier options of noodles and meat that may keep you full until lunch.
1. Which of the following situation can be best described by the underlined word trade-off in paragraph 2?| A．Jack got a reward after he returned the lost bag to its owner. |
| B．Lily spent much money buying some handicrafts at the local fair. |
| C．Wendy cancelled her trip in order to prevent the spread of the virus. |
| D．Sam was scolded by his parents for what he did in school last night. |
| A．It’s better for outdoor enthusiasts to visit Bali during the off season. |
| B．Passengers had better fix the price with drivers before the taxi pulls out from the station. |
| C．If on a tight budget, one is advised to visit Bali at the end of December every year. |
| D．It’s relatively economical to eat merely at average restaurants tailored to visitors. |
| A．City and Transport. | B．Travel and Recreation. |
| C．Nature and Environment. | D．Food and Health. |
2 . L. Bean Quad backpack
If you need a backpack that can carry large and small objects and is comfortable to wear, this is the backpack for you. The reasonable price and customers’ 100% satisfaction makes this a great buy any way you look at it. While it’s not the most beautiful backpack on the planet, it does look nice at first sight.
Kanken 15” backpack
This Kanken bag is a great choice for school kids of grade one to six or adults with narrow shoulders. Weighing under 450g, it’s easy and comfortable to carry this bag around. The simple design with a lot of eve-catching colors may have you fall in love with it at once.
Timbuk2 Command backpack
If you want to safely carry your laptop and look stylish, the Timbuk2 Command backpack is the one for you. The soft back is made for a comfortable wearing experience. The clean coloring and lines of the bag may make you more “grown-up”.
Amazon Basics backpack
With a lowest price among all these backpacks, the Amazon Basics backpack is a great choice for college students on a tight budget. There are tons of storage choices in this backpack, so it’s easy to forget exactly where you placed a certain object. It is a basic black backpack with a few designs and is never going to appear on a fashion T stage.
1. What makes L. Bean Quad backpack attractive?| A．The color and the design. | B．The style and the quality. |
| C．The cost and the public praise. | D．The lightweight and the simplicity. |
| A．L. Bean Quad backpack. | B．Amazon Basics backpack |
| C．Timbuk2 Command backpack. | D．Kanken 15” backpack |
| A．NEWSWEEK | B．SMARTSHOPPER. |
| C．NATURE. | D．GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. |
3 . Would you drink water that had once been flushed down a toilet? After it’s been cleaned, that is. The climate is warming, and the population of drought-prone states California continues to grow. So recycling wastewater into drinking water may become a necessity.
But, it can be really hard for people to get over their disgust at the thought of drinking recycled water. People are grossed out by cycled water, because it was once wastewater—you know, the stuff that goes down your kitchen drains, your showers, your toilets. And even though it’s cleaned up to a standard that is identical, if not better, than commercially bottled water, the key barrier to recycled water acceptance is people’s disgust regarding it,” said Daniel Harmon, a psychologist in University of California.
In one experiment, the researchers had some participants watch a short video promoting water conservation. And in another experiment, they added a video explaining why recycled water might trigger disgust even though all pollutants have been removed. And neither video had a strong effect on people’s willingness to drink recycled water or to support the practice.
The messages were not enough to get them to actually use recycled water more. “Disgust is such a powerful reaction that simply giving more information is not going to really be effective.” The study appears in the journal Basic and Applied Social Psychology.
Researchers say it’s probably going to take a lot more to get people to embrace recycled water. For example, it might help to see members of their community drinking water that’s gone, as it’s called, from “toilet to tap,” with no ill effects.
It is clear that these kinds of more direct campaigns for acceptance are necessary to get people to get over that psychological barrier—to take that first sip, so to speak. Cheers!
1. Why is it hard for people to accept recycled water?| A．They have a psychological barrier. | B．Recycled water contains pollutants. |
| C．People know little about recycled water. | D．Drinking recycled water can lead to illness. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Tolerant. | C．Ambiguous. | D．Supportive. |
| A．A news report. | B．A health handbook. |
| C．A science fiction. | D．A popular magazine. |
4 . 
TRAVEL ADVISORY
Here are a few things you should know before you take off on your next trip.
Frontier Airlines Face Covering Requirement
As required by federal law, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Order and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Security Directive, all passengers and employees must wear a face covering over nose and mouth throughout the Frontier travel experience including at ticket counters, gate areas, baggage claim and onboard all flights. Face coverings are not required for children under the age of 2. Face coverings must fit snugly(紧密地) over your nose and mouth and be secured under the chin. Not wearing an approved face covering is a violation of federal law and you may lose future travel privileges on Frontier.
* Persons with a disability who cannot wear a mask, or cannot safely wear a mask, because of that disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act can apply for a face mask exemption(豁免). To learn about pre-travel exemption requirements, click here.
Temperature Screening Requirement
Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher will not be able to board the plane. If time allows, we will give customers the opportunity to rest before receiving a second check. If the second temperature screening is 100.4 degrees or higher, our team will help the customer to rebook travel on a later date when they are feeling better.
Know Your Travel Policy
CDC issued an Order on January 12, 2021(effective since January, 26, 2021) requiring proof of a negative COVID-19 test or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 for all air passengers arriving from a foreign country to the US.
1. Who can legally board a Frontier Airlines flight without wearing a face covering?| A．A senior manager of Frontier Airlines. | B．A blind man in a wheelchair. |
| C．A one-year-old baby. | D．A high school student. |
| A．Passengers without proper face coverings may be banned from flying with Frontier Airlines in the future. |
| B．Passengers can take off their face coverings when they pick up their checked baggage. |
| C．Passengers with a high fever will have their flights rescheduled. |
| D．Passengers without proof of a negative COVID-19 test can’t enter the US on January 20, 2021. |
| A．A website. | B．A brochure. |
| C．A guidebook. | D．A newspaper. |
5 . Whether you are crazy about cycling or not, when it comes to purchasing a bike, the choice is endless, making it tough to know what to go for. Here are the best buys on the market right now.
Boardman CX Comp
This is a cross country bike, and it’s so multi-functional that you can handle any terrain(地势) on it, making it a great choice for those wanting to try various cycling subjects. If you leave on the thick tires it comes with, it can ride on various paths and can even handle some less demanding mountain bike routes. Alternatively, put on thin, smooth tires and treat it as a road bike. It has a basket and conics with Shimano Sora gears(变速器), which are outstanding for its price.(£650, IIalfords)
Planet XRT-58 V2
Planet X is based in Yorkshire, which means you’d probably have to buy this bike without seeing it. But it’s worth it, because this is an excellent machine at a lower price. Planet X is a highly rated manufacturer and this model comes with Shimano Sora gearing.(£585, Planet X)
Specialized Allez E5
Specialized is one of the biggest and most popular brands in cycling, and this is its hugely popular primary road bike. It comes with solid components from front to back and you'll look great out on the road.(£ 75, Evans Cycles)
Boardman Road Team Carbon
If you can push your budget(预算) further still, this bike is worth the extra investment. The frame(框架) is made entirely from carbon, which is lighter, faster and more comfortable than the composition metal(复合金属) models above and gives you an all-round and more enjoyable ride. It also means that if you get really serious about cycling, you don’t have to upgrade as quickly as you would with a cheaper bike. Besides, it also comes with Shimano Sora gearing.(£800, Halfords)
1. What is special about Boardman CX Comp?| A．Its light frame. | B．Its firm tires. |
| C．Its various functions. | D．Its reasonable price. |
| A．Planet XRT-58 V2. | B．Specialized Allez E5. |
| C．Boardman CX Comp. | D．Boardman Road Team Carbon. |
| A．Planet X RT-58 V2 has been sold out so far |
| B．Boardman CX Comp is just a mountain bike. |
| C．Specialized Allez E5 is designed for senior cyclists. |
| D．Boardman Road Team Carbon is made by a special material. |
| A．Travel. | B．Advertisement. |
| C．Health. | D．Culture. |
6 . Fantastic Magazines for Learning English
Digital Photographer
Perfect if you like: taking pictures with your camera or phone.
What you’ll find inside: This magazine is full of colorful photos and very pleasing to look at. There are many tips and guides on how to take great pictures, and they are written in simple and easy-to-understand English though there are some technical camera terms. You feel like the writers are talking to you! You can impress your friends with your improved English and your new photography skills!
Fast Company
Perfect if you like: business and learning how successful companies work.
What you’ll find inside: Fast Company is one of the most approachable magazines about business and companies. It has many interviews of successful people, as well as general news about interesting new companies. It does use a higher level of writing than what is usual for magazines, so give it a try first to make sure you can understand the articles.
Cricket and Cicada
Perfect if you like: excellent literature and short stories.
What you’ll find inside: Cricket and Cicada are literary magazines aimed at teenagers. Each issue is full of wonderful short stories and poems, and beautiful illustrations. Even though these are technically children’s magazines, they are perfect for learning English because they have high quality writing.
Mental Floss
Perfect if you like: interesting trivia and facts.
What you’ll find inside: What does outer space smell like? Why isn’t cat food mouse-flavored? If you’re the kind of person who asks yourself these questions, you’ll love Mental Floss. Each issue is full of bite-sized trivia and mostly short articles with really interesting facts that you’ll want to share with others.
While the print edition of the magazine stopped publishing in 2016, you can still read Mental Floss online. Click here to get more information.
1. Which magazine tells something about business and companies?| A．Digital Photographer. | B．Fast Company. |
| C．Cricket.and Cicada. | D．Mental Floss. |
| A．They focus on drawing skills. |
| B．They can only be bought online. |
| C．They are intended for teenagers. |
| D．They are full of colorful pictures. |
| A．On a website. | B．In a newspaper. |
| C．In an English textbook. | D．From a science magazine. |
7 . From Mr. Ward Hoffman.
Sir, I was halfway through Professor Raj Persaud’s article “What’s the tipping point" (Financial Times Weekend, April 9-l0) when it occurred to me that what I was reading was not ironic(讽刺的). If Prof Persaud wants to know why Americans tip in restaurants, he need only ask the first American he meets in London.
Americans tip in restaurants for one reason, and one reason only: we tip to supplement(补贴) the salary of restaurant workers. Quality of service does not enter into it, beyond the fact that one may tip a bit less for poor service, or a little more for good service.
Not tipping at all in a non-fast-food restaurant is not a choice. In the US, one used to tip about 15 percent for dining in a family-style restaurant or in an up-market(高档的) restaurant. Here, in San Francisco Bay area restaurants, we are encouraged to tip 20 per cent or more, to help restaurant workers live in this very expensive area.
After eating at an Italian restaurant in my city, I left a tip of 20 per cent on the non-tax part of our dinner bill. It was expected. There is nothing more complicated(复杂的) than that about Americans tipping in restaurants.
Ward Hoffman,
Palo Alto, CA 94306, US
* * *
From Mr. Philip McBride Johnson.
Sir, I agree with most of Raj Persaud’s opinion about the doubtful value of tipping, but with one exception(例外). Tips can be very useful when one is a repeat customer or diner.
It is only when the tipper is a stranger and likely to remain so that the system does not work to his or her advantage. But frequent a hotel or a restaurant, always tip a bit more, and the difference in service and treatment will be easily felt.
Philip McBride Johnson,
Great Falls, VA 22066, US
1. What can we learn from Hoffman’s letter?| A．Quality of service determines tipping in the US. |
| B．Americans don’t tip in non fast-food restaurants. |
| C．Tipping in US up-market restaurants is unnecessary. |
| D．How to tip in the United States is not complicated. |
| A．a stranger in a restaurant is likely to tip a bit more |
| B．diners receive better service if they frequent a restaurant |
| C．repeat dinners may get good service if they tip a bit more |
| D．the tipping system works to the advantage of new customers |
| A．feels doubtful about the value of tipping |
| B．believes tipping improves quality of service |
| C．wants to ask Hoffman about tipping in the US |
| D．thinks tipping a bit more one can get good service |
| A．notice | B．handbook | C．book review | D．newspaper |
8 . Tracking wildlife is a tough job. Take the case of a one-eared leopard named Pavarotti.
Kasim Rafiq, a wildlife biologist at Liverpool John Moores University. “So I used to get up at the crack of dawn, follow his tracks and try and find him. So one day, I went out, and I was looking for him. And his tracks took me off road through this woodland area...and...”
Before he knew it, the wheel of his Land Rover was stuck in a deep hole. He wasted several hours getting it out. And then, on the way back to camp, he came across some local tour guides and their safari (观赏野兽的旅行) guests, who’d had way better luck spotting Pavarotti. “Basically, they laughed and they talked to me that they’d seen him that morning.”
Rafiq then realized that tourist wildlife sightings might be an untapped source of information about wild animals.
So he and his team worked with a safari lodge in Botswana to analyze 25,000 tourist photographs of wildlife. They compared those data to the estimates they made with traditional wildlife biology methods.
It turned out that the estimates from tourists’ photos were just as good as those gleaned (四处搜集) from traditional methods. And the tourists were actually the only ones to see elusive (难以捉摸的) leopards — the researchers would have missed the cats without the citizen science data. The results are in the journal Current Biology.
The idea is not to put wildlife researchers out of a job. “The reality is there are so many interesting things we still have to find out about these large carnivores (食肉动物) and so many conservation (保护) projects that need to be carried out that we don’t have the time or resources to do them all.” And tourist photos might help make sure that all the local carnivores are spotted.
Thanks for listening for Scientific American-60-Second Science. I’m Christopher Intagliata.
1. What happened to Rafiq when he tracked Pavarotti?| A．He was lost in the woods. |
| B．He was trapped in a deep hole. |
| C．He found Pavarotti with tourists’ help. |
| D．He met Pavarotti on the way back to camp. |
| A．The photos are sources of information about wildlife. |
| B．The photos are mirrors of the wildlife researchers’ life. |
| C．The photos taken by tourists are of high quality. |
| D．The photos taken by tourists are especially beautiful. |
| A．The researchers have missed the data of cats. |
| B．The information from tourists’ photos was equally good. |
| C．The value of tourist photos hasn’t been proven. |
| D．Only the traditional methods can track wildlife. |
| A．On TV. | B．In a magazine. | C．On a radio. | D．In a book. |
9 . By now, most of us have picked up at least one pandemic hobby. And there's a seemingly common pandemic hobby trend: People who haven't been able to go anywhere are making imaginary travel plans. Maybe you're among those who have spent hours researching locations-even though you're not actually planning to travel.
It turns out that you aren't alone. People who seem to be sticking to public safety recommendations are still planning trips they don't intend to book. And, when I suddenly found myself addicted to an imaginary girls' trip to Joshua Tree, I wondered whether this was a healthy distraction.
"It's an escapist imagination," said Regine Galanti, a psychologist, adding that there's nothing wrong with escapism during a global pandemic.
On the one hand, distractions are often beneficial right now. We are a full year into living with COVID-19 as a pandemic, and that means you've probably had to navigate a range of emotions like discomfort, sadness, or even boredom. So any hobby that doesn't harm anyone or endanger your well-being is probably a worthy attempt.
Even if vacation planning is your happy place, Dr. Galanti suggests you "actually think about what you're trying to achieve." Why? "Maybe what you're saying is, I need a vacation from work," Dr. Galanti explains. "Then take three days off even if you are not going anywhere. "When you figure out what you're looking for, you might be able to find a small socially distanced adventure in your backyard or a quiet place. Vacation planning is a good way to spend some time, but there might be an even better way to get what you're desiring.
Anyway, when uncertainty is all around us, creating things to look forward to isn't a terrible idea. And when things are safer, you'll have all your plans in place.
1. Why do people make imaginary travel plans during the pandemic?| A．To develop a new hobby. | B．To stay safe and sound. |
| C．To be distracted from reality. | D．To get ready for future travel. |
| A．Express. | B．Balance. | C．Adapt to. | D．Deal with. |
| A．Objective. | B．Negative. | C．Supportive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Figures. | B．Lifestyle. |
| C．Food and recipe. | D．Science and technology. |
10 . Tourist Guide to the National Gallery
Opening hours: Daily 10: 00 am- -6: 00 pm; Friday 10: 00 am- 9: 00 pm
Closed: 2426 December
Reasons to visit:
With over 2, 300 paintings in the collection, there are hundreds of reasons to visit the Gallery. Here are some to get you started...
Get into great art. From Leonardo da Vinci to Vincent van Gogh: See priceless works of art for free.
Get creative. Brush up your skills, and create your own great works of art...
Learn about art. Discover more about paintings...
Regulations:
Talk in a low voice when you use your cellphone in the gallery
Please do not touch the paintings or other exhibits. Do not take pets in or cross the barriers.
Consume food and drink in designated areas only i.e. not in rooms that contain paintings.
Follow our no smoking policy in any part of the building.
Follow our no photograph policy in exhibitions where a sign is displayed.
Access:
The National Gallery aims to make access to the paintings enjoyable and welcoming to the widest possible public. There are a range of facilities to help you see the collection, visit exhibitions and come to events.
The Gallery offers British Sign Language-interpreted talks on paintings for visitors who are deaf, and special art sessions(展期) for visitors who can't see.
Address: The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square London WC2N 5DN
Click here to find more information.
1. What are visitors allowed to do in the National Gallery?| A．Make a phone call. | B．Take a dog in. |
| C．Smoke a cigarette. | D．Take photos. |
| A．Young visitors. | B．Deaf visitors. |
| C．Blind visitors. | D．Old visitors. |
| A．In a newspaper. | B．On a poster. |
| C．In a magazine. | D．On the Internet. |
