题目内容
Reading Comprehension
Q My husband and I would like to spend five or six days in the Maldives. Could you suggest some low-priced hotels? We'll be there in November.
Jan Davies, email.
A Prices in the Maldives are high. The cheaper hotels (and there aren't many) mightn't be much to look at, with unpleasant rooms, iron roofs, old buildings, poor and rough vegetation and basic facilities, but they get their atmosphere from cheerful customers and an untidy, free island feel.
Angaga (South Ari Atoll, phone 0011 960 450510), Asdu Sun Is-land (North Male Atoll, email info@asdu. com.mv) are both a bit like this.
You'll be there in the low season (May to November), when it's still warm, but there's a greater likelihood of rain, so you should be able to get a double (standard) room with full board (three meals a day) fo $100 a night.
However, pricing structures for the hotels are enormously complex for standard, superior and luxurious rooms.
Q My husband and I are from Australia. We are planning a four-week trip to London, Dublin and Paris in October and we are shocked by the cost of hotels. We have searched the Internet and hotel books given to us by tourist authorities but we can't find anything cheaper than $150 a night.
Joan Maloney, email.
A For Australians travelling Europe, especially its capital cities, is expensive. You may have to increase your budget (预算). However, if you can't afford these costs, then you should consider staying in hotels where the cheapest twin rooms with shared hathroom cost about $20 a person in Dublin and Paris and $35 in London. The minimum you would pay for a double room in a central area is $50 a person in Dublin and Paris and $70 in London. These prices are for shared bathroom facilities, though you will get a wonderfully unhealthy cooked breakfast thrown in.
Not all hotels are equal, of course, and it's a good idea to consult a guidebook with a good reputation.
1．The hotel Angaga in the Maldives
[ ]
A．attracts untidy people
B．has some basic facilities
C．has the best landscape
D．can be contacted by cmat
2．If you spend your holiday in the Maldives in February, ________.
[ ]
A．there is a greater likelihood of rain
B．the weather will probably be better than that of the low season
C．standard, superior and luxurious rooms are all available
D．a standard room with full board will cost less than $100 a night
3．What is the advice for the couple planning to visit Europe in October?
[ ]
A．They could live in hotel rooms of lower standard.
B．They should put up with the wonderfully unhealthy cooked break fast
C．They should buy a rcliable guidebook instend of increasing the budget
D．They should stay in hotels in a central area
ents are mostly from nontraditional families| Welcome to my Message Board! | |
| Subject Slimming down classics? | |
| Mr. Handsome  2007-5-12&24 AM | Orion Books,which decides there is a market in creating cut-down classics(经典著作)，is slimming down some novels by such great writers as L.Tolstoy,M.Mitchell and C.Bronte.Now,each of them has been whittled down to about 400 pages by cutting 30 to 40 per cent of the original,with words,sentences,paragraphs and,in a few cases,chapters removed.The first six shortened editions,all priced at ￡6.99 and advertised as great reads “in half the time”,will go on sale next month,with plans for 50 to 100 more to follow.The publishing house believes that modern readers will welcome the shorter versions. |
| Mr. Edwards  2007-5-12 9:40 AM | Well,I’m publisher of Orion Group.Thanks for your attention,Mr.Handsome. I must say,the idea developed from a game of “shame”in my office.Each of us was required to confess(承认)to the most embarrassing blanks in his or her reading.I admitted that I had never read Anna Karenina and tried but failed to get through Gone with the Wind several times.One of my colleagues acknowledged skipping(跳读)Jane Eyre.We realised that life is too short to read all the books you want to and we never were going to read these ones. As a leading publishing house,we are trying to make classics convenient for readers but it’s not as if we’re withdrawing the original versions.They are still there if you want to read them. |
Ms.Weir 2007-5-12 11:35 AM | I’m director of the online bookclub www.lovereading.co.uk. Mr.Edwards,I think your shortened editions is a breath of fresh air.I’m guilty of never having read Anna Karenina,because it’s just so long.I’d much rather read two 300-page books than one 600-page book.I am looking forward to more shortened classics! |
| Mr. Crockatt  2007-5-124:38 PM | I’m from the London independent bookshop Crockatt & Powell. In my opinion,the practice is completely ridiculous.How can you edit the classics?I’m afraid reading some of these books is hard work,and that is why you have to develop as a reader.If people don’t have time to read Anna Karenina,then fine.But don’t read a shortened version and kid yourself it’s the real thing. |
| A．opposes the reading of original classics |
| B．is embarrassed for cutting down classics |
| C．thinks cut-down classics have a bright future |
| D．is cautious in its decision to cut down classics |
| A．make them easier to read |
| B．meet a large demand in the market |
| C．increase the sales of literary books |
| D．compete with their original versions |
| A．speaks highly of the cut-down classics |
| B．shows gailty of the original classics |
| C．feels guilty of not reading the classics |
| D．disapproves of shortening the classics |
| A．reading the classic works is a confusing attempt |
| B．shortening the classics does harm to the original |
| C．publishing the cub-down classics is a difficult job |
| D．editing the classic works satisfies children’s needs |
Britain is set to face an increase in cold winters, with up to one-in-seven hitting the UK with longer periods of time when temperatures are below freezing, a study has suggested．The prediction was based on research that found out how low solar activi
ty affected winter weather patterns．
However, the researchers were eager to stress that their findings did not suggest that the region was about to fall suddenly into a "little ice age"．The findings appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters．"We could get to the point where one-in-seven winters are very cold, as we had at the start of last winter and all through the winter before last," said co-author Mike Lockwood, professor of space environment physics at the University of Reading．
Using the Central England Temperature （CET） record, the world's longest instrumental data series that dates back to 1659, the team said that in general temperatures during recent winters had been obviously lower than the longer-term temperatures．"The mean CET for December, January and February for the recent relatively cold winters of 2008 ~ 2009 and 2009~2010 were 3．50℃ and 2．53℃ respectively," they wrote．
"However, the mean value for the previous 20 winters had been 5．04℃．The series of lower winter temperatures in the UK during the last three years had raised questions about the probability of more similar, or even colder, winters occurring in the future．"
Last year．Professor Lockwood and colleagues published a paper that found a link between fewer sunspots and atmospheric conditio
ns that "blocked" warm westerly winds reaching Europe during winter months, opening the way for cold easterly winds from the Arctic and Russia to sweep across the region．Professor Lockwood, while acknowledging that there were a range of possible meteorological factors （气象因素） that could influence blocking events, said the latest study moved things forward by showing that there was "impro
vement in the predictive skill" when solar activity was taken into consideration．
【小题1】We can know from the second paragraph that _____．
| A．research shows that Britain will soon fall into an ice age |
| B．Mike Lockwood's research focuses on space environment physics |
| C．it was quite cold in Britain over the entire winter last year |
| D．so far one-in-seven winters have been very cold in Britain |
| A．average | B．stable | C．ungenerous | D．changeable |
| A．It was sunspots that blocked warm westerly winds reaching Europe． |
| B．Meteorological factors hardly have any influence on blocking events． |
| C．The latest study done by Professor Lockwood was of little practical value． |
| D．Considering solar activity or not affects the accuracy of weather forecasting． |
| A．Another big danger approaching the UK |
| B．Research finds out solar activity is to blame for the cold |
| C．UK faces more cold winters due to weaker solar activity |
| D．Changes in weather patterns should be responsible for low solar activity |