Homestay provides English language students with the opportunity to speak English outside the classroom and the experience of being part of a British home．
What to Expect
The host will provide accommodation and meals．Rooms will be cleaned and bedcovers changed at least once a week．You will be given the house key and the host is there to offer help and advice as well as to take an interest in your physical and mental health．
Accommodation Zones
Homestays are located in London mainly in Zones 2, 3 and 4 of the transport system．Most hosts do not live in the town centre as much of central London is commercial and not residential（居住的）．Zones 3 and 4 often offer larger accommodation in a less crowned area．It is very convenient to travel in London by underground．
Meal Plans Available
? Continental Breakfast
? Breakfast and Dinner
? Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner
It’s important to note that few English families still provide a traditional cooked breakfast．Your accommodation includes Continental Breakfast which normally consists of fruit juice, cereal（谷物类食品），bread and tea or coffee．Cheese, fruit and cold meat are not normally part of a Continental Breakfast in England．Dinners usually consist of meat or fish with vegetables followed by desert, fruit and coffee．
Friends
If you wish to invite a friend over to visit, you must first ask your host’s permission．You have no right to entertain friends in a family home as some families feel it is an invasion of their privacy．
Self-Catering Accommodation in Private Homes
Accommodation on a room-only basis includes shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and often a main living room．This kind of accommodation offers an independent lifestyle and is more suitable for the long-stay student．However, it does not provide the same family atmosphere as an ordinary homestay and may not benefit those who need to practice English at home quite as much．
【小题1】The passage is probably written for___________．

Holidays are really important.Many of us will have childhood memories of summer holidays where we were taken away from home to experience new environments and learn in different ways.

But holidays are expensive and，for those on low wages or living on benefits, they are often unobtainable. Even the cheapest holidays require travel and other additional costs that are difficult for many families to meet.

For working parents，the long summer break can be a very difficult problem for childcare. When an annual leave allowance amounts to only five weeks，there is a need to spread this across the year.Couples can find themselves taking leave in turn in order to care for children who are on holiday. For some，this makes even an affordable family holiday difficult.

The schools that I visit in Nottingham are full of experienced staff committed to giving our children a caring and inspiring learning environment.The number of children receiving free school meals is quite large in Nottingham and many schools have breakfast clubs to make sure that children get a healthy start to the day. Most schools undertake programs of group or individual educational support. Schools also have an important role in safeguarding children's welfare through the ongoing touch and support with their pupils. During the long summer holidays，much of this is missed.

While teachers are holidaying in the UK，many of their pupils spend the whole six weeks on the street where they live. The lack of free school meals for six weeks can result in pressure on a family budget and an inability to afford the inspiring experiences that help children to continue their learning.

   In setting out its plans for a five­term year，Nottingham City Council(委员会)is seeking to reduce the summer holiday down to four and a half weeks, with a more balanced five terms of roughly eight weeks, each followed by a two­week break.We believe this will give real “down time” for school staff and pupils alike but will be short enough not to cause a real break in learning.

We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff，particularly whose own children are educated in other authorities. However, this must be weighed against the benefits for city children for whom we all have the greatest duty of care.

36．The passage is probably written by ________．

A．an experienced teacher  B．a working parent

C．an inspired student  D．a city council member

37．The underlined word “they” in the second paragraph refers to “________”．

A．environments  B．holidays

C．wages  D．benefits

38．It is suggested in the passage that the summer break be reduced to ________．

A．2 weeks  B．4.5 weeks

C．5 weeks  D．6 weeks

39．The plans for a shorter summer holiday will help students ________．

A．obtain the cheapest holidays without additional costs

B．get a chance to spend six weeks a term with teachers in school

C．benefit more from the caring and inspiring learning environment

D．have more school days to receive free school meals

40．It can be inferred from the passage that ________．

A．working parents can enjoy a five­week break to care for their children

B．the suggested plans for a five­term school year can hardly be carried out

C．the long summer holiday gives teachers and students real “down time”

D．some school staff will say “No” to the plans for a shorter summer holiday