3 . How You Can Save Money on Rail Fares
Save 33% with a railcard
Everyone knows about the young person’s railcard —or, to give it its proper name, the 16-25 railcard—but are you aware of the 26-30 railcard’s existence, or that senior railcard is available to all those aged 60 and over?
There are now nine to choose from, and about the only group that doesn’t have one aimed specifically at them, are single people aged 31 to 59.
And even they have the option to buy a Network card for use across the southern half of England, including in and out of London.
The most popular railcards cost £30 a year (or, in many cases, £70 for three years) and typically give a 33% discount on the ticket price.
Users of some of the cards (including 16-25 and 26-30) can use them at peak times—albeit (尽管) with a £ 12 minimum fare. Others, such as senior users, have to travel off-peak, which generally means after 9:30 a.m. or, annoyingly, 10 a.m. in the case of the Network card.
In some cases you will save the card’s purchase price in one or two trips. They are now available digitally (to be kept on a mobile) or in paper form. So don’t forget to keep your phone charged.
Try to commute off-peak
In response to more people working part of their week at home, the rail industry has started offering flexible season tickets that typically allow users to travel on any eight days in a 28-day period.
The problem is that in many cases the discounts are not sufficient to make them worthwhile.
When Money Saving Expert crunched the numbers, it found part-time season tickets offered the best value to those travelling two days a week, but, even then, not in all cases.
If you go into the office for a few days, you are likely to be better off buying daily tickets, or the full season ticket, it concluded.
One of the biggest ways to save while commuting is to shift your travel to off-peak—assuming your boss will allow it. This makes particular sense if you can add a railcard, too.
For others, Carnet tickets offer a 10% discount on certain routes, but again only off-peak.
1. We can learn from the passage that the railcard is available to all the following EXCEPT ___.| A．a 55-year-old professor | B．a 28-year-old office lady |
| C．a retired postman aged 65 | D．a university student aged 20 |
| A．A senior railcard holder can save 33% if he travels at 8 a.m. on Monday. |
| B．Carnet tickets offer a 10% discount on most routes in and out of London. |
| C．Those commuting three days a week are advised to buy part time season tickets. |
| D．Network cards are proper choices for single visitors across the southern half of England. |
| A．drew the outlines | B．updated the statistics |
| C．followed the directions | D．did a lot of calculations |
4 . About 50 years ago, the famous British band The Beatles sang that “money can’t buy me love”. Today, British economists are saying that it perhaps can’t buy you happiness either. This is showed by the happy planet index (HPI, 快乐指数) published recently by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in London.
The index is about how well countries are using their resources. It shows how well they provide people with better health and longer and happier lives, and at what cost to their environment.
It would seem to be common sense that people in richer countries live happier lives, while those in developing countries are having a harder time of it. But the results are surprising, even shocking. The numbers show that some of the so-called developed countries are performing very badly. The United States, for example, comes in at an unbelievable 150th. On the other hand, some little-known developing countries are doing a much better job. A tiny island in the Pacific, Vanuatu, comes in first. There are 178 countries and areas in the index. China ranks 31.
Countries are graded on the basis of information supplied in response to the following questions. How do people feel about their lives? How long does the average person live? How greatly does a country need to use its natural resources—such as oil, land and water—to maintain standards? This is what the index calls the “ecological footprint”.
The NEF found that the people of island nations enjoy the highest HPI rankings. Their populations live happier and longer lives, and use fewer resources.
The results also seem to show that it is possible to live longer, happier lives with a much smaller environmental impact. The index points out that people in the US and Germany enjoy similar lives.
“However, Germany’s ecological footprint is only about half that of the US. This means that Germany is around twice as efficient as the US at producing happy lives,” says Nic Marks, head of NEF’s Center for well-being.
So the happy planet index (HPl) tells us a brand-new concept of understanding “being happy”. HPI figures out different countries or individuals’ HPI through their “Ecological Footprint” and “Life Satisfaction Level” or “Life Expectancy”. Clearly, people’s HPI is related to their consumption of the resources on the earth.
You can find out your own HPI by visiting http://www.happyplanetindex.org
1. The passage is mainly about ______________.| A．why money can’t buy you happiness |
| B．in which country people feel the happiest |
| C．the happy planet index published recently |
| D．what index can influence people's happiness |
| A．wealth, education, resources and health |
| B．lives, health, resources and the environment |
| C．pressure, accommodation, resources and health |
| D．education, money, the environment and resources |
| A．have far fewer happy people | B．are only developing countries |
| C．do not enjoy plenty of resources | D．have a greater impact on the environment |
| A．history and culture play an important role in people’s lives |
| B．not all the people in developed countries enjoy happy lives |
| C．it is possible to live happier and longer lives with fewer resources |
| D．some of the so-called developed countries are performing very badly |
| A. identically B. beaten C. lanes D. curiously E. changing F. hit G. cold H. sample I. rising J. differently K. friction |
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In contrast to airport excursions, which often feature
As it turned out, the greatest source of stress was the frequent reminder that my son changes
While some robots
However, it wasn’t until 1986 that electronic prosthetic limbs
Today, pioneering work in robotics is allowing
| A．He is the journalist of a local newspaper. |
| B．He is a huge fan of international stories. |
| C．He is an experienced editor of a TV program. |
| D．He is an advocate for environmental protection. |
| A．Current trends in economic development. |
| B．Domestic issues of general social concern. |
| C．International relations and foreign policies. |
| D．Conflicts among different political parties. |
| A．Based on what the public wants to know. |
| B．By interviewing people who have stories. |
| C．By analyzing the current social problems. |
| D．Based on public expectations and editors’ judgment. |
| A．First-hand stories. | B．Practical experience. |
| C．Audience’s feedback. | D．Educational background. |
| A．They are available in different languages except Russian. |
| B．They are a range of useful desktop publishing packages. |
| C．They are not allowed to be taken out of the college. |
| D．They can help the students with their language learning. |
| A．Consult him frequently. | B．Use the computer regularly. |
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| A．Micro-computer lab service. | B．Facilities of a college. |
| C．The use of micro-computers. | D．The operating of printers. |
| A．She was born in a poor family. |
| B．She worked as a doctor in her early life. |
| C．She spent her whole life in London. |
| D．She decided to help the poor when she was young. |
| A．Because of the poor living conditions. | B．Because she was sent to a settlement house. |
| C．Because of her health problem. | D．Because her family moved to another city. |
| A．She founded the first settlement house in America. |
| B．She wrote books about the problems faced by the poor. |
| C．She introduced laws to help workers, women, and children. |
| D．She helped those who had come to America from other countries. |
| A．She would rather invite more people to come. |
| B．They prepared too much food at a previous meeting. |
| C．The family members always eat a lot. |
| D．They should prepare more food and drinks. |
