1 . With gas prices rising and airport security lines snaking longer than ever, why not book your next domestic vacation on a train? Compared to other alternatives, it’s comfortable and relaxing. Here is some advice on how to make a trip by rail as pleasant as possible.
Plan ahead. Most long-distance trains, especially the sleeping car accommodations, sell out very quickly.
Use a travel agent. Consider turning your travel plan over to a travel agent and letting him double-check all the details, make suggestions, and then handle the actual reservations. A good one can sometimes find you discounted tickets.
Bring a blanket. When you’re riding on trains, you won’t be provided with a blanket for free, even if your trip is an overnight one.
Arrive early. Most trains operate just once a day and some run only three times a week, so missing yours can be a disaster.
Have fun.
A.Train trips aren’t for impatient types. |
B.You’ll have views from both sides of the train. |
C.The temperature on rail cars is often hard to control. |
D.That’s particularly true during busy summer months. |
E.You might have to wait longer than 24 hours to catch the next one. |
F.Chances are the cost will be a lot less than the cost of one bedroom. |
G.He may also book you in a sleeping car that’s right next to the diner. |
2 . Rome can be pricey for travelers, which is why many choose to stay in a hostel (旅社). The hostels in Rome offer a bed in a dorm room for around $25 a night, and for that, you’ll often get to stay in a central location (位置) with security and comfort.
Yellow HostelIf I had to make just one recommendation for where to stay in Rome, it would be Yellow Hostel. It’s one of the best-rated hostels in the city, and for good reason. It’s affordable, and it’s got a fun atmosphere without being too noisy. As an added bonus, it’s close to the main train station.
Hostel Alessandro PalaceIf you love social hostels, this is the best hostel for you in Rome. Hostel Alessandro Palace is fun. Staff members hold plenty of bar events for guests like free shots, bar crawls and karaoke. There’s also an area on the rooftop for hanging out with other travelers during the summer.
Youth Station HostelIf you’re looking for cleanliness and a modern hostel, look no further than Youth Station. It offers beautiful furnishings and beds. There are plenty of other benefits, too; it doesn’t charge city tax; it has both air conditioning and a heater for the rooms; it also has free Wi-Fi in every room.
Hotel and Hostel Des ArtistesHotel and Hostel Des Artistes is located just a 10-minute walk from the central city station and it’s close to all of the city’s main attractions. The staff is friendly and helpful, providing you with a map of the city when you arrive, and offering advice if you require some. However, you need to pay 2 euros a day for Wi-Fi.
1. What is probably the major concern of travelers who choose to stay in a hostel?A.Comfort. | B.Security. |
C.Price. | D.Location. |
A.Yellow Hostel. | B.Hostel Alessandro Palace. |
C.Youth Station Hostel. | D.Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes. |
A.It gets noisy at night. | B.Its staff is too talkative. |
C.It charges for Wi-Fi. | D.It’s inconveniently located. |
Ecotourism is commonly regarded as low impact (影响) travel to undisturbed places. It is different from traditional tourism because it allows the traveler to become
Ecotourism has
Due to
·Minimize the impact of
·Build respect for and awareness of the environment and cultural practices.
·Provide
·Make sure that the tourism provides experiences for both the visitors and the hosts.
Komodo National Park, officially recognized in 1980, is popular for ecotourism because of its unique biodiversity.
The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It
We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.
After
We
5 . According to Jessica Hagy, author of How to Be Interesting, it’s not difficult to make yourself interesting at a dinner party.
People love to talk about themselves. If you can start the conversation with a question other than “What do you do for a living?”, you’ll be able to get a lot more interesting conversation out of whomever it is you’re talking to.
And what about that other dinner-party killer: awkward silence? If you’re faced with an awkward silence at a dinner party, the only thing that always gets everyone talking again is to give the host a compliment (赞扬).
So being interesting at a dinner party isn’t that hard.
A.How do you know the host |
B.The first step is to go exploring |
C.If you ask the question “How did you get here?” |
D.Be prepared to have awkward conversations with strangers |
E.Or turn the conversation into a topic where they have little to say |
F.What about that person who had too much to drink or won’t stop talking |
G.He or she is the person who is feeling the weight of that awkwardness the most |
Liu Ruying,
“Sometimes I was tired,“ she said. ”I had to balance my studies and other
When Liu got the news that her region would have a cultural exchange with other countries, she had the idea of
“I
7 . Some documents have been making the rounds lately — where people who work various positions in different industries share how much they’re paid.
Bravo! It’s about time we blew up that old belief that salaries have to stay secret. This is not just a matter of curiosity. Having information about salaries can help narrow the gender wage gap, which has barely changed for more than a decade. Recently released date from the US Census Bureau shows that, on average, women working full time still are paid only 82 cents for every dollar paid to a man. And the gap is even wider for many women of color: Black women make 62 cents, and Latinas just 54 cents. What’s more, the pay gap even extends into her retirement. Because she earned less and therefore paid less to the social security system, she receives less in social security benefits.
Having greater access to salary information is helping to speed things up. A new research report by the American Association of University Women shows that the wage gap tends to be smaller in job sectors where pay transparency (透明) is a must. For example, among federal government workers, there’s just a 13 percent pay difference between men and women, and in state government, the gap is about 17 percent. But in private, for-profit companies, where salaries are generally kept under wraps, the gender wage gap jumps to 29 percent.
Fortunately, salary information is increasingly available on some websites. Certain companies and many human resources departments are pushing ahead with this practice. Of course, it’s going to take more than salary transparency to equalize earnings between women and men. But sharing salaries can and must be part of the solution. The more information women have about how jobs are valued — and what different people earn — the better they will understand their value in the labor market and be able to push for the pay they deserve.
1. Why are the figures mentioned in paragraph 2?A.To reveal the severity of gender wage gap. |
B.To confirm the previous belief about salaries. |
C.To satisfy readers’ curiosity about others’ salaries. |
D.To appeal to readers to share their salary information. |
A.The inequality between men and women. |
B.The need to keep salary information a secret. |
C.The advantage of working for the government. |
D.The benefit of making salary information public. |
A.Critical. | B.Favourable. |
C.Unclean | D.Negative. |
A.Why It Pays to Share How Much You Make |
B.Where Salary Information Difference Lies |
C.What It Takes to Realize Gender Equality |
D.How Woman’s Value Improves at Work. |
8 . School Activities for Kids and Teens
July is a month of fun-filled activities for kids and teens as long as you know where to find them. When you want some fun activities for July, consider these ideas happening this month.
Magic Class Time: Friday, July 1,10:00 a.m. Cost: Free Booking Phone: 34038470 Address: Centenary Community hub,171 Dandenong Note: Would you like to be a magician? Then join David, the magician, to learn about real magic with playing cards, coins, ring ropes and DIY projects and be able to become the life of the party. | Science With Me: Making your own guitar! Time: Saturday, July 4,3:00 p.m. Cost: Free Booking phone: 34031226 Address: 10, Egginton Close Note: Do you want to make a guitar with Katy and her mom?Science With Me is going to be with you. Please remember to bring a piece of wood, a hammer, some rubber bands and some nails with you. |
Secret of the Dragon Time: Monday, July 12,10:30 a.m. Cost: Adult: $7.40 Children under 15: half Booking Phone: 34032578 Address: Brisbane Botanic Gardens Note: Secret of the Dragon is a magical story about two children who ride a dragon to explore the universe. | The Search for Life:Are We Alone? Time: Thursday, July 20,2:00 p.m. Cost: Adult: $14.50 Children: $8.70 Booking Phone:34037689 Address: Brisbane Botanic Gardens Note: Are we truly alone in space? Is there any life out there?These questions are asked in this show. |
A.$23.20. | B.$14.80. | C.$11.10. | D.$7.40. |
A.Magic Class | B.Science With Me |
C.Secret of the Dragon | D.The Search for Life |
A.They are all free. | B.They can all be booked by phone. |
C.They take place in the same place. | D.They all belong to weekend activities. |
9 . My new teacher is cool. Her name is Paula so we call her Miss Paula.
The first time we met her she said we are going to be good friends and that good friends are always nice to each other.
Miss Paula has been teaching us a lot of things. Some of us used to get in trouble for talking in the hallway (过道). Miss Paula says she can’t change the rule that we can’t make noise in the hallway but we can still talk to each other. She is teaching us sign language. I already know how to say “hello” and “how are you” with my hands. Now we love it when we have to walk somewhere and we are always quiet except for a laugh or two.
Miss Paula likes everybody even Sam and nobody likes Sam. He never does what he’s told but now he is doing better. Miss Paula says every single one of us is perfect and beautiful just the way we are. I guess that includes Sam.
This week at school was really the best ever. I didn’t even get in trouble when I thought I would because I spilled (洒) milk on my homework and had to hand it in when it was still wet. Miss Paula just smiled and asked “What’s this?” So I told her what happened. Miss Paula put it near the window to make it dry. She said the sun had been waiting for such an important job as this and would be happy to help us.
Well I have to go and get ready for bed now. I have school in the morning and I want to wake up early so I will have time to pick Miss Paula some flowers.
1. From the passage we know that Miss Paula ________.A.is strict with the writer | B.changed the school rules |
C.is very kind to her students | D.uses sign language in class |
A.Sam dislikes his new teacher. | B.Sam has made some progress. |
C.Sam is often praised by Miss Paula. | D.Sam is one of the writer’s best friends. |
A.Bored. | B.Excited. | C.Relaxed. | D.Worried. |
A.loves and respects her new teacher | B.is a bit afraid of her new teacher |
C.always picks her teacher some flowers | D.wrote this article in the morning |
10 . Ways to Improve Your Health
Sometimes it may seem difficult to improve our health. If so, the following health habits may help you.
●
Research shows that eating a meal in the morning results in less body fat and less chance of overeating. Eating breakfast can help people feel better physically and mentally through the day.
●Get enough sleep.
Poor sleep can influence our memory and learning.
●Take a walk every day.
●Make social connections.
Social groups can provide support. They might include sport teams, art or music groups. The people in the group can offer advice and can help each other in difficult times. Also, being in a group keeps your mind busy.
●Have a hobby.
A hobby could be running, reading or making something with your hands. Hobbies help people to relax and rest. Hobbies bring us joy.
A.Get much exercise. |
B.Eat breakfast every morning. |
C.It can also cause traffic accidents! |
D.An active mind is a healthy mind! |
E.Spending time with others is very helpful. |
F.Everyone could get a little more joy in their lives! |
G.Walking is an easy way to add exercise to our lives. |