C
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 an alternative, consider checking into a self-catering flat with its own kitchen. 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 programmes 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 programmes are Newcastle (casual members pay around £1.50 for two hours) and Cardiff (free for up to 30 minutes, or £5 per day).
51. 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
52. The passage shows that the O’Neill Flat __________.
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
53. “Farringdon” in Paragraph 4 is most probably __________.
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
54. Cardiff’s program allows a free bike for a maximum period of __________.
A. half an hour B. one hour C. one hour and a half D. two hours
55. The main purpose of the passage is __________.
A. to tell visitors how to visit the UK
B. to supply visitors with hotel information in the UK
C. to show visitors the importance of self-help in the UK
D. to offer visitors some money-saving tips on in the UK
D
Being organized is an important skill for school and life. When you’re well organized, you can stay focused ,instead of spending time hunting things down and feeling confused. What does it mean to be organized? For schoolwork，it means having one notebook or place where you store all your assignments, so you know what you have to do and when. Keeping clearly labeled binders (活页夹) and keeping all your schoolwork neat and in a specific place—these are the main parts of organization.
For home stuff, being organized means having a place to put your things and putting them back when you finish using them. It means hanging your coat up instead of dropping it on the floor or throwing it on a chair. It means keeping your schoolbag，your shoes, and your clean underwear in the same places so you always know where to find them.
Planning is part of being organized，too. Planning means deciding what you will do and when you will do it. Calendars, lists, and schedules can help you plan. You can buy or draw a calendar and keep it near your workplace. Making a schedule or a “to-do” list for yourself is a good idea. Looking at your list helps you keep track of what you need to do. Add new things as you get assignments, and check off things when you’ve done them. Use your list to help you decide which thing is the most important to work on first.
It takes some extra efforts to organize yourself and your stuff. But once you’re organized, you feel great. The less time you spend hunting around for things or panicking about homework, the more time you have for better things, like reading a good book or playing.
56. If you are well organized at home，you will_____.
A. 1eave all the things as you will B. hang your coat on a chair
C. know where your clean underwear is D. ask your mom where your shoes are
57. According to the first paragraph，“being organized” probably means“_____”.
A. looking for something with others here and there
B. doing something according to the plan made ahead of time
C. getting together every now and then
D. telling you what you have to do every day
58. We can infer from this passage that_________________.
A. everyone is well organized in the school
B. many people don’t like being organized at home
C. it is very tiring to make a “to-do” list every day
D. being well organized can save us a lot of time
59. Which one of the following is the right order of being organized?
a. Deciding what you have to do and when
b. Finding a notebook where you can write down your “to-do” list.
c. Getting rid of the things that have been done in the list.
d. Making a “to-do” list for yourself.
A. b, a, d, c B. a, d, c, b
C. c, b, a, d D. d, c, b, a
60. What may be the best title for this passage?
A. Planning Is Part of Being Organized.
B. A Good Beginning Is Half Done.
C. Being Organized--an Important Skill.
D. Where There Is a Will There Is a Way.
