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).
21. "Farringdon" in Paragraph 5 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
22. The passage shows that the O'Neill Flat ____.
A. lies on the ground floor B. is located in central London
C. provides cooking tools for tourists
D. costs over £100 on average per day in late September
23. The main purpose of the passage is ____.
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
B
Several years ago, Jim Turner heard a program on the radio for the N.C.Children's Hospital
and decided he could use his love of origami(折纸) art to help the hospital raise money for much-
needed programs.
So at the age of 13, Turner began making origami greeting cards and selling them to help
the hospital. His program, known as Heartbeats for Kids, has since raised more than $2,500 for
the hospital. “The first cards I made had a heart in them and you could remove the heart from the
card and make it beat,” Turner says, explaining how he came up with the name for the program.
Now as a 17-year-old high school student, Turner has less time to devote to card-making,
because origami costs a lot of labor and each card can take up to 30 minutes to design. But
Turner still enjoys origami art and has created designs that have been chosen for exhibits that
tour the country and world.
Turner is an engineer and artist. His mother, Peggy Turner, says folding origami has helped
her son develop his sense of space for 3-D objects. Turner also provides community ( 社区、团
体) service at school and at his church. He was named the Good Spirit of Community Awards for
his community service activities, including the Heartbeats for Kids program. In the process of his
volunteer efforts, Turner also managed to be one of the only 381 youths in the country to earn the
top score of 2,400 on his SAT test.
Making and selling the greeting cards has taught Turner about managing a small business,
but most important thing Turner learns is that the cards benefit not only the hospital, but also the
people who buy the cards or get the cards. Turner sees it as a way to bring people together.
24. At first Turner's purpose of making and selling his cards was to ____.
A. collect money for a hospital B. bring more people together
C. learn how to manage a business D. show his love for origami art
25. From Paragraph 2, we can learn that card-making ____.
A. is difficult to learn B. takes time and energy
C. is popular with young people D. makes people active and intelligent
26. What does the writer tell us about Turner?
A. He has already become a successful businessman.
B. He spends most of his time working for his church
C. He designs a heart in each card that has been made
D. He does well in both his lessons and community service
27. The passage is mainly about ____.
A. offering community service B. origami art that helps make money
C. a teenager who makes a difference D. making and selling greeting cards
C
Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only”. I live my life with the goal
of never having to say those words, because they express regret, lost chances, mistakes, and
disappointment.
My father is famous in our family for saying, “Take another minute to do it right.” I always
try to live by the “another minute” rule. When my children were young and likely to cause
accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment, whether it was
something small like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a table, or something
that required a little more work such as taping padding ( 粘贴衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a
glass coffee table.
I don’t only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It’s equally important to
avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and
regretted that they had foregone a chance to say “I love you” or “I forgive (原谅) you.” When my
father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told
him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn’t be here. But then I thought about the
fact that he’s 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn’t give up a chance to see him. I called him
and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.
I know there will still be times when I have to say “if only” about something, but my life is
certainly better because of my rule of doing everything possible to avoid that possibility. And
even though it takes another minute to do something right, or it sometimes takes an hour or two
in my busy timetable to make a personal connection, I know that I’m doing the right thing. I’m
buying myself peace of mind and that’s the best kind of insurance for avoiding saying “if only”.
28. Why does the writer regard “if only” as two of the saddest words in the English language?
A. Because people use them when they feel sad.
B. Because they mean sadness in the English language.
C. Because they mean regrets and disappointment in life.
D. Because they make the writer think of some sad experiences.