Keeping the kids busy over the school holidays can be discouraging and cost parents a lot. But we’ve found some cheap and cheerful ways to enjoy family time this Easter from free days out to fun-filled theme parks which won’t cost us much. We’ve done the homework so you can get started on having a great time.
Theme Parks
♦Save from 10% to 25% off the price of tickets for Legoland in Windor by booking in advance online. A family of four can save up to ₤45.90 on a one-day ticket, paying ₤137.70.
♦Book seven days in advance and save ₤43 off the price of a family of four tickets for Drayton Manor Theme Park. Call 0844-472-1950 or book online and you’ll pay ₤65 on the day.
♦You can pick up a family of four ticket for a day at Alton Towers in Staffordshire for ₤43.80 off the day price.
♦Save ₤16 off the price for a family trip to The Making of Harry Potter by buying a family ticket (two adults and two children) online. Family of four ₤101, compared to ₤117.
Activities
Students looking for a cut-price trip to see the animals can save 15% off the ticket price at Bristol Zoo and pay ₤12.71 rather than the full adult price ₤14.53. Teens should show their identity as students.
Freebies
Let your kids discover what it’s like to be an animal on the African Plain in the ocean. Or, they can learn to love leaf beetles or become a scientist for the day at the Natural History Museum in London.
1.Which of the following theme parks can save you most on Easter Day?
A. Alton Towers.B. Legoland in Windsor
C. Drayton Manor Theme Park.D. The Making of Harry Potter.
2.How can tourists enjoy a cut-price trip at Bristol Zoo?
A. By showing their birthdays and birthplaces.
B. By showing their family addresses
C. By showing their driving licenses.
D. By showing their students’ cards.
3.Who is the text mainly intended for?
A. The students.B. The scientists.
C. The families.D. The kids
假如你是李华，请根据以下表中提示给某报社写一封信，谈谈农村儿童失学的主要原因及你的个人看法。
失学原因 | 1．学费太高，使许多贫困家庭的孩子不得不辍学； 2．许多家长希望孩子能帮助大人早点赚钱； 3．一少部分人认为女孩上学无用。 |
你的看法 | 1．儿童是祖国的未来，社会和家长都要重视儿童的学校教育。 2．…… （自拟） |
注意：1. 不要逐字逐句翻译；2. 词数在150左右；3. 信的开头结尾已经给出。
Dear Editors,
Now in the countryside, ______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
单词拼写
1.Steel, iron, glass, cloth and paper can all be _____________ (回收利用).
2.Prices have risen sharply for the first _____________ (十年) of the 21st century.
3.Mary hasn’t been back home. Her mother is still waiting with _____________ (焦虑).
4.He entered the room without _____________ (许可).
5.I _____________ (真诚地) hope your father will be well again soon.
Harvard University health policy researcher Ellen Meara says scholars have found some clues as to why some groups of people have more or less disease than others. She says one important factor in people's health is the amount of education they have.
In her most recent paper, Meara looked at data from the United States census(人口普查). These counts of people occur every 10 years. Meara and her colleagues examined data from several decades.
Meara says they found that in 1990, a 25-year-old who only had some secondary school could expect to live for a total of 75 years. In 2000, a 25 year old with some secondary education could also expect to live to the age of 75.
In contrast, for a better educated 25-year-old, they could expect to live to the age of 80 in 1990. Someone with a similar education level in the year 2000 could expect to live to be more than 81 years, 81.6 years to be exact.
Meara says, not only do better-educated people live longer to begin with, but in the past ten years, more educated people have made gains in the length of their lives. Meanwhile, the life expectancy hasn’t changed for less educated people.
Some of these gains can be explained. Meara says researchers know that people who are more educated are more likely to quit smoking cigarettes, or not start at all, compared to people with less education.
“I think it’s a reminder not to be satisfactory,” Meara says. “Just because a population overall appears to be getting healthier, it doesn't always mean that those advantages and successes that many people have enjoyed really extend into all parts of the population. And I think that's something to really pay attention to regardless of whether you live in the US or elsewhere.”
Meara points out that education can often determine income — people with more education frequently make more money. This makes them aware of health care, and purchase other resources and services that can keep them healthier. But the data on income do not show that people who make more money are automatically healthier. Meara says education is key. People need to be educated in order to take advantage of opportunities for better health.
Title: The Amount of Education 1. ____________ to People’s Health.
Groups of people | Less educated people | 2. __________ educated people | |
Analysis of the 3._________ from the census | In 1990 | They could live for 75 years. | They could live to the age of 80. |
In 2000 | Their life expectancy was the same as in 1990. | They could live 4.___________ to the age of 81.6. | |
In the past ten years | Their life expectancy remained 5. __________. | They made gains in the length of their lives partly 6.__________ to their quitting smoking or not smoking at all. | |
7. ____ of the research | People are getting healthier in general, but it doesn’t mean that all parts of the population are enjoying the advantages and successes. | ||
Income is 8._________ to education. People with more education make more money, which helps to 9. _________ their awareness of health care, keeping them healthier. | |||
10. _________ | Education is the key to better health. | ||
I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood. You may think people in such an attractive and exciting, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.
Many intelligent people still consider happiness equal to fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more lasting emotion.
Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful people have constant access to glamorous parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that brings “happiness”. But in memoir after memoir, famous people expose the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun — depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and extreme loneliness.
Ask an unmarried man why he refuses to get married even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he’s honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.
Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness. They can dine out whenever they want and sleep as late as they want. Couples with babies are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children.
The way people stick to the belief that a fun-filled, pain-free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever achieving real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness, then pain must be equal to unhappiness. As a result, they fear the pain unavoidably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment and self-improvement.
But, in fact, the opposite is true. More times than not, things that lead to happiness involve some pain. The very efforts are the source of true happiness. Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations we can ever come to.
1.According to the writer, an important role Hollywood stars have to play is to ________.
A. give audience enough fun
B. write memoirs to introduce their lives
C. show unhappiness behind fun
D. tell people what happiness is
2.In the writer’s opinion, marriage ________.
A. means the end of fun
B. leads to less sleep
C. leads to raising children
D. means responsibility
3.Many people fail to enjoy real happiness because ________.
A. they don’t have religious beliefs
B. they get married and have children
C. they believe fun is equal to happiness
D. they can’t free themselves from commitment
4.If one understands the nature of happiness, he will ________.
A. try to be a responsible person
B. enjoy life by spending all his wealth
C. stop seeking fun from daily life
D. keep himself with his family
In the hit film The bucket List, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman meet in hospital in California after they have been diagnosed with cancer. Between them they cook up a “bucket list” — a to-do list of all they want to do before they kick the bucket. The movie makes you wonder what would be on your bucket list. So let’s pack up some and see what it would cost to go out and have a little fun.
THE PYRAMIDS, GIZA, EGYPT
On to the pyramids, surely on anyone’s bucket list. Exotik Tours can take you there on a variety of trips, including their popular Egypt Express which includes three nights in Cairo and a three-night Nile Cruise. From $1,384, including four-and five-star accommodation, 12 meals and a ton of sightseeing.
www.exotiktours.com 416-646-3347
TAJ MAHAL, AGRA, INDIA
One of the world’s most fascinating images, India’s Taj Mahal makes even Nicholson and Freeman look calm. Toronto’s Goway Travel has many suggestions for India, including a three-day independent visit to Agra. Stay at the attractive Oberoi AmarVilas overlooking the Taj. Include two breakfasts, touring and airport transfer from $1,420.
www.gowaytravel.com 416-322-1034
THE GREAT WALL, CHINA
If the Great Wall of China is on your bucket list, check into Tour East Holiday’s four-day Amazing Beijing Tour for $580 per person, four-star accommodation, sightseeing including the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, breakfasts and two lunches, transportation and guide.
www.toureastholidays.com 416-929-0888
THE HIMALAYAS, NEPAL
And on to the Himalayas. Talk about “something truly majestic(壮丽的). See the top of the world on GAP Adventures’ Everest Adventure tour, a 15-day exploration including Everest Base Camp, teahouse lodge stays, and walking through Sherpa villages. Incredibly affordable at just $665 plus local payment of $250. GAP Adventures warns that this is a physically demanding trip.
www.gapadventures.com 416-260-0999
1.The underlined phrase “kick the bucket” in Paragraph 1 means ________.
A. play a gameB. come to life
C. pass awayD. list interesting places
2.If you take on the Everest Adventure tour, you should be aware that ________.
A. it is a tiring trip
B. the sights may not be so good
C. it is an expensive trip
D. you may not be used to the food there
3.According to the passage, where can you enjoy a view of the whole Taj Mahal?
A. In Sherpa village.B. At Oberoi AmarVilas
C. Near the Forbidden CityD. Through Egypt Express.
