Stewart Island Ferry Services

While most visitors spend at least one night on Stewart Island, it is also readily accessible by ferry as a day excursion from Invercargill and Bluff.

Experience Foveaux Strait in comfort and style on board our express catamarans. During the one-hour crossing between Bluff and Stewart Island keep a lookout for wildlife, especially seabirds. Watching mollymawks (albatross) soaring behind the ferry is a fantastic sight.

Interesting landmarks commonly seen include Dog Island Lighthouse, Ruapuke Island, Titi Islands and Mt Anglem - Stewart Island’s highest point.

?         Free tea and coffee on board

?         Interpretation handouts are available (English only).

?         Wheelchair access available

?         Personal baggage is carried free on the ferries - max. two bags per person (one stowed and one small carry-on). Additional baggage is by prior arrangement.

?         Vehicle parking available at Bluff (extra cost - reservations recommended)

 FERRY TO STEWART ISLAND

Depart Bluff

All year 9:30am

Sep-May 5:00pm

Oct –Apr 11:00am

Jun –Aug 4:30pm

Late Dec –mid Jan8:00am             FERRY TO BLUFF

Depart Stewart Island

All year 8:00am

Sep –May 3:30pm

Oct –Mar 6:00pm

Apr 5:00pm

Jun-Aug 3:00pm

Late Dec –mid Jan 9:30am

Other departures as locally advertised

Duration 1hr

Check-in 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time. (Check-in and boarding gates are closed 10 minutes prior to times stated above.)

 “20% Multi-Purchase REWARD” on Return Ferry Services

Buy 2 or more different excursions and SAVE 20% off all lower priced!

Kids Go FREE on selected departures during NZ School Holidays!

Kids Go FREE for travel 20 April - 5 May 2013.

1.If leaving a car at Bluff, a traveler had better _____.

A．refer to the handouts first

B．use wheelchair access

C．make a reservation

D．park it 30 minutes before departure time

2.John, who went to Stewart Island on Dec. 28^th, got to the ferry dock at 7:55am. When did he      most probably leave Bluff?

A．At 8:00a.m..       B．At 9:30a.m..        C．At 11:00a.m..       D．At 3:00p.m..

3.Which of the following is false about the ferry services?

A．Tea and coffee are free for passengers.

B．Children go free for travel for about 15 days.

C．Travelers are sure to see some seabirds during the crossing.

D．Passengers have to pay extra cost for extra pieces of luggage.

I love it at night. It’s peaceful. And when it cools down I sometimes do some ironing. I don’t really care for it. I work full-time and too busy for most housework. I remember the old woman who taught me to iron. I was about 15 and somehow got a live-in job taking care of a woman who had been an able-bodied, healthy woman until the accident that caused her to be paralyzed（瘫痪）.

The woman had an electric wheelchair. She could move her head and arms but not her hands or fingers. She had this clamp（夹子）attached to her arm and I’d have to open it and put a cup or a pencil in it and then she could move it. She would tell me how to do things. She would instruct me in great detail on the correct way to do things. Her home was perfect and beautiful. She would follow me around in her electric wheelchair to make sure I did everything exactly right. I’m sure she had been a perfect homemaker. She would have me fold everything, including socks and pillow cases. I would complain silently and wish terrible things on her. She taught me the right way to make the bed and tuck （塞）the corners. I know sometimes she’d get frustrated and impatient with me. I knew she wanted to grab it and do it herself. But she never yelled or scolded. Only insisted I do it right. I didn’t like it much, but I did it.

Today I can iron pretty well. I know where to start on a shirt, the right way to do the collar and sleeves. Now that I think about it, I don’t think she is an old lady. I think she might have been about my age now. Anyway, when I iron, I think of her and silently thank her for all the things I learned.

1.From the passage we can infer that the writer of the passage now is ________.

A．a housewife                           B．a full-time worker

C．a clothes maker                         D．a college student

2.The writer used to take care of the lady because ______.

A．she wanted to learn how to do housework

B．she was a relative of the disabled woman

C．she wanted to earn some money while sleeping and eating there

D．she had to do something in return to the lady for her kindness

3.When the lady taught the writer how to do housework, the little girl was ______.

A．eager to learn                          B．unwilling to learn

C．forced to learn                         D．careful to learn

4.What’s the writer’s attitude towards the lady now?

A．Sympathetic       B．Fearful            C．Hateful           D．Grateful

YOU don’t need millions to be happy. In fact, at The Happiness Institute in Australia, a couple of hundred dollars may be enough.

The institute opened its doors last year, and, since then, men and women of all ages have been paying A$200 an hour (US$140) for l essons on how to feel great.

“You can actually increase your happiness levels. That’s what we teach,” said Timothy Sharp, founder of the institute.

Experts say that only about 15 per cent of happiness comes from income, assets and other financial factors. As much as 85 per cent comes from things such as attitude, life control and relationships.

Most of us are significantly better off financially than our parents and grandparents, but happiness levels haven’t changed to reflect that.

Studies show that once the basic needs of shelter and food are met, additional wealth adds very little to happiness.

Many decades ago, the “sage of Baltimore, Maryland”, editor HL Mencken, defined wealth as earning US$100 more than your “wife’s sister’s husband.”

Behavioral economists now say part of the reason we are richer but not happier is because we compare ourselves to people better off materially.

“The argument is that if you want to be happy there’s a very simple thing you can do: Compare yourself to people who are less well off than you — poorer, smaller house, car,” said Sharp.

The Happiness Institute aims to show you how to overcome these unhappiness factors by focusing on “more than just your bank account.”

“If I compare myself to Bill Gates then I’m always going to be down,” said Sharp.

A better thing to compare with, he said, might be Kerry Packer, Australia’s richest person who has had a kidney transplant and heart surgery in recent years.

1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

  A. You can increase your happiness levels by attending the classes at the Happiness Institute.

  B. Most of us are happier than our parents or grandparents since we earn more.

  C. Earning US$ 100 more than your wife’s sister’s husband if you want to be happy.

  D. Both Bill Gates and Kerry Packer are examples of those who are extremely rich but obviously unhappy.

2. The underlined phrase has the same meaning as the word _______.

  A. healthy          B. unhealthy          C. free           D. wealthy

3. The author wrote the passage to tell us _______.

  A. happiness is everything

  B. wealth is the foundation of happiness

  C. have fun at the Happiness Institute

  D. money doesn’t always mean happiness

If you've been joining in chat room conversations, or trading e-mail with Web pals, you have become one of the millions who write in a peculiarly short form of English.?

And you've got a sense of humor about short forms like SOHF(=sense of humor failure) to describe Internet newcomers who don't understand you.

Across the globe, every night teenagers and their elders are “talking” online—many of them are talking at the same time.?

It's fast: try talking to six people at once. It's brief: three or four words per exchange. It takes wit, concentration, and quick fingers.?

And it requires tremendous linguistic economy. There's neither time nor space for explanations. Why consume precious key-strokes telling six friends you have to leave for a moment to take care of your little brother when BRB(=be right back) will do? Want to enter a conversation? Just type PMFJI(=pardon me for jumping in).  Interested in whom you're talking to? Type A/S/L, the nearly universal request to know your pal's age, sex and location. You may get 15/M/NY as a response from your pal.?

If something makes you laugh, say you're OTF(=on the floor),or LOL(=laughing out loud),or combine the two into ROTFL(=rolling on the floor laughing).?

And when it's time to get back to work or go to bed, you type GTG(=got to go) or TTYL(talk to you later).?

People want to write as fast as possible, and they want to get their ideas across as quickly as they can. Capital letters are left in the dust, except when expressing emotion, as it takes more time to hold down the “shift” key and capitals. Punctuation is going, too.?

In order to talk to several people at the same time on the Internet_______.

A. you have to speak fast and fluently?

B. you have to express your ideas in a brief way?

C. you should speak with wit and humor　?

D. one should pay much attention to the accuracy of the words?

If you get 17/F/NY as an answer to your A/S/L, it means_______.?

A. the person on the other end is 17 from New York and he is fine?

B. you are talking to a girl who is 17 and lives in New York?

C. you are talking to 17 girls who are from New York?

D. the person who are talking to you is a 1.7-foot tall New York girl?

To save time on the Internet_______.?

A. some people leave their letters in the dustbin?

B. some people never use “shift” in their writing?

C. many people leave the capital and punctuation?

D. people seldom use capital letters or punctuation

From Mr. Ward Hoffman.

   Sir, I was halfway through Professor Raj Persaud's article “What's the tipping point"

(Financial Times Weekend, April 9-l0) when it occurred to me that what I was reading was not ironic(讽刺的). If Prof Persaud wants to know why Americans tip in restaurants, he need only ask the first American he meets in London.

   Americans tip in restarts for one reason, and one reason only: we tip to supplement (补贴) the salary of restaurant workers. Quality of service does not enter into it, beyond the fact that one may tip a bit less for poor service, or a little more for good service.

   Not tipping at all in a non-fast-food restaurant is not a choice. In the US, one used to tip about 15 per cent for dining in a family-style restaurant or in an up-market (高档的) restaurant. Here, in San Francisco Bay area restaurants, we me encouraged to tip 20 per cent or more, to help restart workers live in this very expensive area.

   After eating at an Italian restart in my city, I left a tip of 20 per cent on the non-tax part of our dinner bill. It was expected. There is nothing more complicated (复杂的) than that about Americas tipping in restaurants.

Ward Hoffman, 

Palo Alto, CA 94306, US

*                *                  *

From Mr. Philip McBride Johnson.

    Sir, I agree with most of Raj Persaud's opinion about the doubtful value of tipping, but with one exception(例外). Tips can be very useful when one is a repeat customer or diner.

It is only when the tipper is a stranger and likely to remain so that the system does not work to his or her advantage. But frequent a hotel or a restaurant, always tip a bit more, and the difference in service and treatment will ha easily felt.

Phfiip McBnde Johnson,

Great Falls, VA 22066, US

68. What can we learn from Hoffrnan's letter?

     A. Quality of service determines tipping in the US.

     B. Americans don't tip in non fast-food restaurants.

     C. Tipping in US upmarknt restarts is unnecessary.

     D. How to tip in the United States is not complicated.                               

69. Johnson's letter shows ________.

     A. a stranger in a restaurant is likely to tip a bit more

     B. diners receive better service if they frequent a restaurant

     C. repeat dinners may get good service ifthay tip a bit more

     D. the tipping system works to the advantage of new customers           

70. From tbe two letters, we can learn Professor Raj Persaud ______ .

     A. feels doubtful about the value of tipping

     B. believes tipping improves quality of service

     C. wats to ask Hoffman about tipping m the US

     D. thinks tipping a bit mom one can get good service                     

71. The two letters most probably appears in a ______.