1 .

Wonders of Australia 22 days from only £6.245 per person Day 1: Depart UK Days 2-5: Singapore Enjoy a city tour including Merlion Park, Marina Bay, and fabulous gardens. As an alternative, you may choose to stop in Dubai at no extra cost. Days 6-11: Melbourne Visit Victoria Markets and Federation Square. Perhaps take an optional excursion to explore Fairy Penguin Parade. Day 12-14: The Ghan Experience one of the world’s most impressive rail journeys. Covering 1,555 kilometres, we see the everchanging landscape as we journey north. Enjoy all inclusive Gold Service with on board meals included as are a wide selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Day 15-17: Uluru (Ayers Rock) We enjoy a refreshing glass of sparkling wine and witness the changing colours as the sun sets. There is a chance to explore the rock in the morning, before visiting the impressive Olgas. Days 18-21: Cairns & The Great Barrier Reef Dive in the sheltered coral lake and view the reef from underwater observatory. Lunch is included. Optional tours on our Freedom Days in Cairns include a scenic railway journey to Kuranda, and a day trip to the nearby World Heritage listed Daintree Rainforest. Day 22: Arrive UK We arrive at your chosen airport, bringing an end to our incredible adventure. Departure Dates Stopover Offer Price Per Person Availability 28 Jul 2024 - £5,895 7 Rooms 06 Oct 2024 £29pp £6,495 New Date 10 Nov 2024 £29pp £6,495 New Date 23 Feb 2025 £29pp £6,495 New Date 08 Mar 2025 £29pp £6,495 New Date 05 Apr 2025 £29pp £6,245 New Date 26 Jul 2025 £29pp £6,795 New Date

Book by 30th April 2024 and enjoy a twin room for a two-night stopover from only £29 per person (£48 for single occupancy). Stopover choices are Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai, or Bali and include return transfers and four-star accommodation with breakfast.

For more details and full booking conditions, please request a brochure or visit www.distantjourneys.co.uk. Call FREE for a brochure 0800 141 3719.

1. If Karen is addicted to railway journeys, ________ are most likely to be her favourites.

A．Cairns and the Ghan

B．Uluru and Melbourne

C．Melbourne and the Ghan

D．Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

2. If you have decided to join the tour, which of the following statements is true?

A．You may be charged an extra £349 in total for daily breakfasts.

B．You will enjoy a day trip to Daintree Rainforest, a world heritage.

C．You may choose to stop in both Singapore and Dubai at no extra cost.

D．You will be offered a meal with drinks when heading north by train in the Ghan.

3. If Jonathan and his two male friends, who have booked the travel, will depart UK on April 5th, 2025, with a two-night stopover in Bangkok, then at least how much will they have to pay for the whole trip in total?

A．£17,791

B．£18,822

C．£18,841

D．£19,572

2 .

Turn a great night into a truly memorable one with our hospitality packages. From dining in Edinburgh Castle to sampling the finest Scotch Whisky, we have a range of options available. Each package below includes a ticket to The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2024 Show, Journeys, at Edinburgh Castle.		2024 HOSPITALITY PACKAGES Make you Journey s experience extra special with Tattoo Hospitality. BOOK NOW
THE ROYAL GALLERY DINING EXPERIENCE Only available in August, enjoy a delicious dining experience in The Royal Gallery overlooking the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade. LOCATION Edinburgh Castle Esplanade PRICES FROM £600.00	THE GATEHOUSE PACKAGE Enjoy authentic Scottish dining presented especially for you. This exclusive dining experience is located in Edinburgh Castle’s historic Gatehouse. LOCATION Edinburgh Castle PRICES FROM £700.00	THE WITCHERY DINING EXPERIENCE New for 2024, this package offers an intimate dining experience in Edinburgh’s renowned fine-dining restaurant The Witchery. LOCATION The Witchery by the Castle PRICE £970.00
THE CASTLE PACKAGE A location like no other. Experience a pre-Show dining experience within Edinburgh’s famous fortress and enjoy a glimpse behind the scenes before the Show begins. LOCATION Edinburgh Castle PRICES FROM £323.00	THE ROYAL GALLERY RECEPTION Enjoy our Show from the best seats in the house then join fellow guests, performers and dignitaries at a post-Show drinks and canapés reception held in The Royal Gallery. LOCATION Edinburgh Castle Esplanade PRICES FROM £415.00	FLAVOURS OF SCOTLAND Designed for those that love whisky and those that want to find out more, Flavors of Scotland will immerse you in the world of Scotch Whisky. LOCATION The Scotch Whisky Experience, Royal Mile PRICES FROM £212.50

（* The price listed is for one single person.）
1. All of the hospitality packages provided above ______.

A．contain a ticket to the 2024 Military Tattoo show

B．are available through the whole year of 2024

C．offer delicate handmade Scottish souvenirs

D．include a well-planned tour around Edinburgh Castle

2. Lindon and Sandra have to pay ______ in total if they intend to enjoy some snacks with the performers after the show.

A．£1200

B．£1940

C．£646

D．£830

3. ______ might be the best option for Ben and Joe to have a taste of the finest Scotch Whisky with various flavors.

A．The Witchery Dining Experience	B．The Royal Gallery dining experience
C．Flavours of Scotland	D．The Royal Gallery Reception

3 . Directions: Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.
你是明启中学高二学生李华，最近上海博物馆推出了三款文创周边产品，吸引了不少年轻人追捧，分别是：（1）馆藏藏品日历 ；（2）中外艺术家明信片；（3） “丝绸之路”主题丝巾。

No. 1	No. 2	No. 3
以上海博物馆馆藏藏品为主题的日历，印有中华古代水墨画、书法、历史文物的展品细节信息。	以中外名画为主题，色彩艳丽，可作为贺卡、明信片、书签使用。	以“帆船”为主题元素、以海上丝绸之路航线为底，以浅蓝色呼应瓷器配色，100%桑蚕丝材料。
售价：79元	售价：10元/ 张	售价：330元

请比较这三个产品，选择一款文创产品以赠予外国笔友Tom，从不同角度（如设计创意、实用价值、文化意蕴、销售价格等）阐述你的选择理由。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. approach     B. bare     C. consistent     D. covered     AB. economies AC. hit     AD. record     BC. set     BD. stormed     CD. tough ABC. updates

The weather has been so warm, and snow so scarce, that Windham Mountain Resort in the Catskills opened its chairlifts to mountain bikers last weekend instead of skiers.

Ski resorts and their fans in the Northeast are hoping for a much better January. It has been a(n)     1    season. Judging by listings on Sno-country.com, which provides     2     on the slopes, roughly half of the ski areas in the Northeast haven’t opened yet for skiers but aimed to do so soon.

Snow making equipment needs temperatures in the high 20s or below. At Windham, eight trails out of 54 had enough snow to open on Friday, but Chip Seamans, general manager at Windham, predicted many more will be     3     next weekend.

“It looks like finally tonight and tomorrow and into next week we’ll get some     4     snowfalls so we’e very excited,” Mr. Seamans said.

Last month was the warmest December on     5     in Central Park, according to the National Weather Service. It said last month the average daily temperature in New York City     6     50.8 degrees, which is 13.3 degrees warmer than normal. Last month beat the previous December record of 44.1 degrees,     7     in 2001.

Tyler Fairbank, chief executive of the Fairbank Group, said the ski industry overall typically did 20% to 25% of its business over the Christmas holidays so the     8     slopes had a terrible impact. It also hurt hotels, equipment stores and local     9    .

Mr. Fairbank said about 25% to 30% of the slopes were open at his group’s mountains and he expected that to rise to 70% in a week.

The National Weather Service predicted Friday’s late night lows would range from the mid-20s inland to the lower 30s for New York City. It said a cold front would     10     Sunday evening, with the chilliest air of the season thus far coming on Monday.

5 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Why We Should Record Travel Moments

On a rainy summer day, I took a train to Switzerland and trekked through the mud to a medieval fortress high atop a cliff. After twisting through its dimly lit corridors, I finally     1     (arrive) at the main viewpoint of Cave of the Fairies: a plunging 77m waterfall that shoots from underground into a sparkling pool. As the waterfall wet my jacket, I closed my eyes and took out my phone     2     (record) the rush of dreamy reality before me.

I had come in search of a sound, not a sight.

Throughout my travels, I’ve found myself     3     (collect) sound recordings the way other people collect souvenirs. Just as some travellers take photos of landscapes or their food, I started doing this as an artistic way to help me remember some of the most interesting details of my trips.

Environmental scientist Lauren Kuehne said, “I think that once you start to listen, once you actually start to listen, you start to appreciate how much     4     (big) the world is.”

This attitude     5     (echo) by Samara Kester, a retired emergency medicine physician who now serves on QPI’s board. “A photograph is two dimensions.     6     you are looking at something you’re seeing, it’s maybe 180 degrees, maybe 270 degrees. Sound is 360 degrees. You hear it all around you.” Kester explained     7     teaching herself to be a better listener has not only expanded her sense of travel, but helped her relive her travels once she’s back home. “You immerse     8     in that place again. You recreate those memories and therefore recreate the feelings you had,     9     are very hard to express clearly. You can re-experience that and that will send you to where you were before.”

Months later back in my L.A. home, I find myself popping on my headphones and listening back to the rush of falling water inside Cave of the Fairies. When I close my eyes, I     10     feel the spray of water against my skin, the sense of letting my ears lead me on a faraway adventure. Mentally, I’m right back there — if only for a moment.

6 . Among all the different types of journey that people undertake there are also those of a spiritual nature. Some of the trips we do in our lives are purely for pleasure, some are meant to make us stronger, sometimes we travel to explore and learn, and in all of these undertakings we grow and become wiser.

There is a lot we can learn from the land that surrounds us and the best way to acquire that knowledge is by traveling and experiencing. This ancient aboriginal initiation ritual involves exactly this: a long spiritual hike across the native land. Although widely known as “Walkabout,” in later years the ritual has been referred to as “temporary mobility,” because the former is often used as an insulting term in Australian culture.

A young man on Walkabout

Historically speaking, the walkabout is a ceremony of passage in which young (adolescent) Aboriginal Australians undertake a journey that will help “transform” them into adults. The journey is usually made between the ages of 10 and 16. During this journey which can last for up to six months, the individual is required to live and survive all alone in the wilderness.

This is not an easy thing to do, especially not for teenagers. That is why only those who have proven themselves mentally and physically ready are allowed to proceed with the walkabout. Only the elders of the group decide whether it is time or not for the child to do it. The children are not completely unprepared for the journey. During the years before the walkabout, the elders instruct them and give them advice about the ceremony and adult life in general; they have been passed the “secrets” of the tribe, the knowledge about their world.

Aboriginal woman

Those who are initiated in the walkabout are also decorated with body paint and ornaments. Sometimes they are marked with a permanent symbol on their bodies. In some cases, a tooth is removed from the mouth, or the nose or ears of the initiated are pierced. Traditional walk about clothes include only a simple loin cloth and nothing more.

During a walkabout, a young person can sometimes travel a distance of over a 1, 000miles. In order to survive this long hike, the participant in the walkabout must be able to make their own shelter and must be capable of obtaining food and water for themselves.

That means he needs to hunt, catch fish, and also recognize and use edible and healing plants. The initiated youngster must learn to identify plants such as bush tomatoes, Illawarra plums, quandongs, lilly-pillies, Muntari berries, wattle seeds, Kakadu plums, and bunya nuts.

1. What can be referred from the first two paragraphs of the passage?

A．Australians like to engage in all kinds of travel.	B．People can gain knowledge through travel.
C．Travel is usually purely for pleasure.	D．Walkabout is a long spiritual journey.

2. What do we know about the young Aboriginal Australians?

A．All young Australians are required to live alone in the wilderness.

B．The difficulties they experienced in hiking turned them into adults.

C．Walkabout should only be done if they are mentally and physically prepared.

D．Walkabout is an unprepared test for the young Aboriginal Australians.

3. According to the passage, what skill does a person need to acquire in the walkabout?

A．Identifying directions.	B．Preserving physical strength.
C．Planting plants.	D．Hunting and fishing.

4. Which of the following options is true about walkabout?

A．Only people who have experienced torture are qualified to the walkabout.

B．Women must decorate themselves with body paint and ornaments.

C．To survive, the participants need to acquire certain survival skills.

D．Native women are not required to participate in the walkabout.

7 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with given words, fill in each blank with the proper form of the word given; for the other blanks, use one word for each blank that best fits the context.

My Life on an Island

We live on the island of Hale. It’s about four kilometers long and two kilometers wide at its broadest point, and it’s joined to the mainland by a causeway     1     (call) Stand—a narrow road built across the mouth of the river     2     separates us from the rest of the country. Most of the time you wouldn’t know we’re on an island because the river mouth between us and the mainland is just a vast stretch of tall grasses and brown mud. But when there’s a high tide and the water rises a half meter or so above the road and nothing can pass     3     the tide goes out again a few hours later, then you know it’s an island.

We were on our way back     4     the mainland. My old brother, Dominic, had just finished his first year at university in a town 150 km away. Dominic’s train was due in at five and he’d asked for a lift back from the station. Now, Dad normally hates being disturbed when he     5     (write) (which is just about all the time), and he also hates having to go anywhere, but despite the typical sighs and moans –why can’t he get a taxi? What’s wrong with the bus? — I could tell by the flash in the eyes that he was really looking forward to     6     (see) Dominic.

So, anyway, Dad and I had driven to the mainland and picked up Dominic from the station. He had been talking non-stop from the moment he’d got in the car. University this, university that, writers, books, parties, people, money…I didn’t like the way he spoke and waved his hands around     7     he was some kind of scholar or something. It was embarrassing. It made me feel uncomfortable—that kind of discomfort you feel when someone you like, someone close to you, suddenly starts acting like a complete idiot. And I didn’t like the way he was ignoring me, either. For all the attention I was getting I     8     as well not have been there. I felt a stranger in my own car.

We were about halfway across when I saw a boy. My first thought was how odd it was     9     (see) someone walking on the Stand. You don’t often see people walking around here. As we drew     10     (close), he became clearer. He was actually a young man rather than a boy. It’s hard to explain…

8 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Volunteer travel involves taking a trip    1     purpose is to participate in an arranged service opportunity helping others. Typically, the volunteer activities take place in a foreign country. However, more volunteer trips     2     (take) place within the same countries in recent years. Sanlian Lifeweek magazine commented that volunteer projects in rural areas are now attracting more urban visitors     3     a break from the fast and stressful pace of urban living.

The Internet has helped make community service in general more popular.     4     (volunteer) in other countries became as accessible as browsing a website and signing up. Instead of travelling with a group that is organised at the volunteer’s home base, the volunteer may join a group that gathers at the worksite from all over the world. Sometimes, this sort of volunteer travel     5     (refer) to as voluntourism or vacanteerism.

People try volunteer travel for several reasons. By working voluntarily while travelling, travellers     6     make a real, positive impact on the world. Besides, it is volunteer travel     7     helps urban dwellers (居民) to get a real taste of rural life. For those     8     are sick of urban pressure but can’t make up their minds whether to move permanently to the countryside, volunteer travel can be a solution.

9 .

A．Extreme sports.	B．Bungee jumping.
C．Travel insurance.	D．Diving safety.

10 . Ancient builders across the world created structures that are still standing today, thousands of years later. Yet the concrete that makes up much of our modern world has a lifespan of around 50 to 100 years. A growing number of scientists have been studying materials from long-ago eras, hoping to uncover how they’ve held up for millennia.

Many researchers have turned to the Romans for inspiration. Starting around 200 BCE, the architects of the Roman Empire were building impressive concrete structures that have stood the test of time. Even in harbors, where seawater has been battering structures for ages, you’ll find concrete basically the way it was when it was poured 2,000 years ago. Most modern concrete starts with Portland cement, a powder made by heating limestone and clay to super-high temperatures and crushing them. That cement is mixed with water to create a chemically reactive paste. Then, blocks of material like rock and gravel are added, and the cement paste mixes them into a concrete mass. According to records from ancient architects, the Roman process was similar. The ancient builders mixed materials like burnt limestone and volcanic sand with water and gravel, creating chemical reactions to stick everything together.

In a study published earlier this year, Admir Masic, a civil and environmental engineer, proposed that this power comes from blocks of lime that are scattered throughout the Roman material instead of being mixed in evenly. Researchers used to think these blocks were a sign that the Romans weren’t mixing up their materials well enough. Instead, after analyzing concrete samples from Privernum—an ancient city outside of Rome — the scientists found that the blocks could fuel the material’s “self-healing” abilities. When cracks form, water is able to flow into the concrete, Masic explained. That water activates the leftover lime, leading to new chemical reactions that can fill in the damaged sections.

The ancient architectures suggested using extracts from local chukum and jiote trees in the lime mix. When researchers tested out the recipe, they found the resulting plaster was especially durable against physical and chemical damage.

Studies have found all kinds of natural materials mixed into structures from long ago: fruit extracts, milk, cheese curd, beer, even dung and urine. The paste that holds together some of China’s most famous structures—including the Great Wall and the Forbidden City — includes traces of sticky rice.

“Some of these ancient builders might have just gotten lucky”, said Cecilia Pesce, a materials scientist at the University of Sheffield in England, “They’d throw just about anything into their mixes, as long as it was cheap and available.”

Today’s builders can’t just copy the ancient recipes. Even though Roman concrete lasted a longtime, it couldn’t hold up heavy loads: “You couldn’t build a modern skyscraper with Roman concrete,” Cecilia said. “It would collapse.” Instead, researchers are trying to take some of the ancient material’s specialties and add them into modern mixes.

1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Lime blocks in Roman concrete indicate poor mixing of materials.

B．Ancient Roman concrete structures have witnessed a long history.

C．Modern builders are confused about the Roman method of construction.

D．The concrete used in modern structures has a lifespan of over 200 years.

2. What is proposed as a possible explanation for the self-healing abilities of Roman concrete?

A．The uniform mixing of lime in the concrete.

B．The use of extracts from chukum and jiote trees.

C．The addition of whatever was within reach in the mix.

D．The scattering of blocks of lime throughout the material.

3. The passage mentions that today’s builders can’t simply copy ancient recipes because ______.

A．ancient recipes were not well-documented

B．ancient materials were too expensive

C．ancient materials couldn’t hold up heavy loads

D．ancient builders used materials that are no longer available

4. According to the passage, why do some researchers believe ancient builders included various natural materials in their mixes?

A．To enhance the beauty of the structures.

B．To make the construction process more cost-effective.

C．To create structures that were resistant to chemical damage.

D．To follow ancient traditions without considering effectiveness.