2 . 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.
STAYAWAY 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 a choice consider checking into a self-catering flat with its own kitchen, where you can cook. Often these flats are hidden away on the top floors of city centre 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.help travelers pass time |
B.attract lots of travelers to the UK |
C.allow travelers to make flexible plans |
D.cause travelers to pay more for accommodation |
A.a hotel away from the train station | B.the tube line to Covent Garden |
C.an ideal holiday destination | D.the name of a travel agency |
A.lies on the ground floor |
B.is located in central London |
C.provides cooking facilities for tourists |
D.costs over £100 on average per day in late September |
A.half an hour | B.one hour |
C.one hour and a half | D.two hours |
A.to tell visitors how to book in advance |
B.to supply visitors with hotel information |
C.to show visitors the importance of self-help |
D.to offer visitors some money-saving tips |
A.were throwing | B.will be throwing | C.would have thrown | D.had thrown |
It says 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of permanently damaging their hearing by listening to “too much, too loudly”.
It said audio devices(音频设备), concerts and bars were causing a “serious threat”.
WHO figures show 43 million people aged 12-35 have hearing loss and the number is increasing. In that age group, the WHO said, half of the people in rich and middle-income countries were exposed to unsafe sound levels from personal audio devices. Meanwhile 40% were exposed to damaging levels of sound from clubs and bars.
The proportion of US teenagers with hearing loss went from 3.5% in 1994 to 5.3% in 2006.
“What we’re trying to do is raise awareness of the problem that is not talked about enough, but has the potential to do a lot of damage that can be easily prevented,” said Dr Etienne Krug, the WHO’s director for injury prevention.
The full report argued: “While it is important to keep the volume down, limiting the use of personal audio devices to less than one hour a day would do much to reduce noise exposure.”
Dr Krug said: “That’s a rough recommendation, it is not by the minute, to give an idea to those spending 10 hours a day listening to an mp3-player. But even an hour can be too much if the volume(音量)is too loud.”
1. What might be the main cause of hearing loss according to the passage?
A.Listening to music frequently. |
B.Listening to music at concerts. |
C.Listening to too much and too loud music. |
D.Listening to music from poor audio devices. |
A.3.5%. | B.5.3%. | C.40%. | D.50 %. |
A.Safe noise exposure is based on the limitation to both volume and time. |
B.One hour of exposure to loud music a day will do no damage to hearing. |
C.With proper volume, one can listen to an mp3-player for 10 hours a day. |
D.It will be OK to be exposed to loud noise from personal audio devices. |
A.Away from music |
B.How to enjoy music |
C.Risk of hearing loss |
D.Warning of hearing damage |
According to a study, people participating in meaningful activities were happier and felt that their lives had more purpose than people who only engaged in pleasure-seeking behaviors.
Try giving these four things to others to start your journey to a happier and healthier lifestyle.
1. Your Time
With a busy life, it can be hard to find any time to give away. However, volunteering your time has great benefits, including making new friends and connections, learning new skills and even advancing your career.
According to a paper about the link between health and volunteering, volunteering is connected with lower instances of depression and reduces the risk of dying by 22 percent.
2. Your Attention
Most of us think we’re good listeners, but according to psychologist Paul Donoghue, most people are aware that others don’t listen as well as they could. In addition, they’re not fully aware that they themselves aren’t listening.
When practicing mindfulness meditation(正念禅修), you focus on what you experience in the moment and let your thoughts and emotions pass through without judgment. Did you know that giving someone your undivided attention helps you also? When done well, active listening strengthens your focus-which is a major part of good meditation.
3. Your Compassion
The psychological meaning of compassion is the ability to understand another person’s emotional state. Compassion differs from empathy(移情) in that those who experience compassion not only put themselves in another person’s shoes, but also want to reduce that person’s suffering.
A brain-imaging study showed that the brain’s pleasure centers are equally active when we give money to the poor as when we receive money ourselves.
4. Your Money
According to an experiment, those who spend money on other people are significantly happier than those who spend the same quantity of money on themselves.
Whether or not you can offer other gifts, donating money helps make real change happen. It represents time spent, compassion and careful attention to the needs of others.
1. Who is the happiest according to the study mentioned in Paragraph 2?
A.Bill, who is often invited to play golf by his wealthy uncle. |
B.Tom, who is on the way to be the richest man in the world. |
C.Mike, who is not well-off but often does what he can to those in need. |
D.John, who is a disabled young man but has married a very beautiful girl. |
A.pleasure | B.unhappiness |
C.connection | D.misunderstanding |
A.Time. | B.Money. | C.Attention. | D.Compassion. |
A.To encourage people to help others. |
B.To give the meaning of “happiness”. |
C.To offer a practical way of life. |
D.To show his kindness. |
Many people would not like the idea of eating insects distasteful, even if it were not disgusting. Not so long ago Brantley-Rios was among them. But for the last month he has been eating insects for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“I’m mainly sticking to three kinds,” he says.
Occasionally he has included different insects. Preparing these he “actually cried”, though he insists they were surprisingly good.
Insects consume fewer resources than animals, like pigs and cows, to produce the same amount of protein(蛋白质), Brantley-Rios says – and more than two billion people worldwide include insects in their regular diet, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
“There’s not really a need to eat insects in America because we have it so nice,” Brantley-Rios says. “We have finer meats and we’re lucky to have that luxury(奢侈), so there’s not much of a pressure to eat insects right now. But what a lot of people are trying to do is make it a little bit more marketable.”
He has ordered insects from farms that usually supply zoos, which need them “to feed certain animals”. He has always made sure the insects have been fed on an organic diet, he says, and only bought species he knows are safe to eat.
He knows that one person eating insects won’t make much difference. To have a real environmental effect, millions would have to follow his example.
1. Why has the US student tried out an “insect diet”?
A.To seek for future vegetables. |
B.To advocate traditional meats. |
C.To make up for the lack of meat. |
D.To explore new forms of protein. |
A.He is tired of meats like pork and beef. |
B.He didn’t like the idea of eating insects. |
C.He had nothing to eat but insects last month. |
D.He advised people to eat insects though disgusted. |
A.was scared | B.was pitiful |
C.was sorry | D.was puzzled |
A.He tests each species before eating it. |
B.He has insects raised on his own farm. |
C.He feeds his insects on an organic diet. |
D.He orders insects for certain zoo animals. |
Many stores have special offers and
There are
A.traveling | B.shopping | C.visiting | D.cooking |
A.prepare | B.check | C.lower | D.raise |
A.shorten | B.enlarge | C.reduce | D.extend |
A.popular | B.outstanding | C.splendid | D.ordinary |
A.many | B.two | C.few | D.no |
A.leaving for | B.leading to | C.coming out | D.sticking to |
A.Prices | B.Interests | C.Losses | D.Benefits |
A.particularly | B.specially | C.obviously | D.eventually |
A.In other words | B.On the contrary |
C.Sooner or later | D.On the other hand |
A.is closely monitored |
B.closely monitors |
C.has been closely monitored |
D.closely monitored |