Below is a housing guide for students going to London.
University accommodation (住所) offices
Many university accommodation offices have their own list of registered landlords. Others also provide information on accommodation agencies and other housing organization. The advantage of using your university accommodation is that you can get support if you have a problem. The disadvantage is that they are unlikely to have enough registered landlords to house all their students.
Property papers: Loot and Renting
Loot is an important source of information about private housing for co-renters. The offers are from private landlords, agencies and individuals looking for other co-renters. They also have a website: www.loot.com. The advantage of using Loot is that there are some excellent bargains. The disadvantage is that there is no quality control over the offers.
Renting is another useful paper. The offers in this paper are mainly from accommodation agencies. Their website is at www.renting.co.uk.
Accommodation agencies
The majority of rented accommodation in London is probably advertised through accommodation agencies. The advantage of using accommodation agencies is that you will have a large number of accommodations to choose from. A good agent will listen to your requirements and can save you time in looking for the right accommodation. The disadvantage is that they will make a range of charges to potential renters. Noticeboards
Around the universities you will find a number of noticeboards where offers of accommodation will be posted. These will either be from landlords or from students. Some universities will also have online noticeboards where students can advertise to other students. Advertisements from students can be an excellent way to find accommodation. However, advertisements from landlords can be problematic.
Word of mouth
Some of the best housing in London is never advertised but is passed on from one group of students to another by word of mouth. It might be that you can find out about good offers from final year students. However, don’t suppose that just because you have found out about housing from a friend, it is necessarily going to be better than that found through any other source.
Family
Faced with the very high rents charged in London, some students and their parents will consider buying as an alternative. In some cases this might be a good choice.
1.What is the advantage of using Loot?
A.It has more offers from accommodation agencies than Renting.
B.It gives you personal information about other co-renters.
C.Their website is designed mainly for students.
D.There are some good bargains.
2.A good agent can help you ______.
A.know more people
B.find cheap accommodation
C.get the right accommodation quickly
D.get free information about most accommodations
3.The information passed on by word of mouth is important because ______.
A.it is better than that found through any other source
B.it helps you find some of the best housing never advertised
C.the final year students always offer better information
D.the landlords have little valuable information
I passed all the other courses that I took at my university, but I could have never passed botany. This was because all botany students had to spend several hours a week in a laboratory looking through a microscope at plant cells, and I could never once see a cell through a microscope. This used to make my professor angry. He would wander around the laboratory pleased with the progress all the students were making in drawing the structure of flower cells, until he came to me. I would just be standing there. “I can’t see anything,”I would say. He would begin patiently enough, explaining how anybody can see through a microscope, but he would always end up angrily, claiming that I could too see through a microscope but just pretended that I couldn’t. “It takes away from the beauty of flowers anyway.”I used to tell him.“We are not concerned with beauty in this course,”he would say.“We are concerned with the structure of flowers.” “Well,” I’d say.“I can’t see anything.” “Try it just once again,” he’d say, and I would put my eye to the microscope and see nothing at all, except now and again something unclear and milky. “You were supposed to see a clear, moving plant cells shaped like clocks.” “I see what looks like a lot of milk.” I would tell him. This, he claimed, was the result of my not having adjusted the microscope properly, so he would readjust it for me, or rather, for himself. And I would look again and see milk.
I failed to pass botany that year, and had to wait a year and try again, or I couldn’t graduate. The next term the same professor was eager to explain cell-structure again to his classes. “Well,”he said to me, happily, “we’re going to see cells this time, aren’t we?” “Yes,sir,” I said. Students to the right of me and to the left of me and in front of me were seeing cells; what’s more, they were . Of course, I didn’t see anything.
So the professor and I tried with every adjustment of the microscope known to man. With only once did I see anything but blackness or the familiar milk, and that time I saw, to my pleasure and amazement, something like stars. These I hurriedly drew. The professor, noting my activity, came to me, a smile on his lips and his eyebrows high in hope. He looked at my cell drawing. “What’s that?”he asked.“That’s what I saw,”I said.“You didn’t, you didn’t, you didn’t!”he screamed, losing control of himself immediately, and he bent over and looked into the microscope. He raised his head suddenly. “That’s your eye!” he shouted. “You’ve adjusted the microscope so that it reflects! You’re drawn your eye!”
1.Why couldn’t the writer see the flower cells through the microscope? .
A.Because he had poor eyesight
B.Because the microscope didn’t work properly
C.Because he was not able to adjust the microscope properly
D.Because he was just playing jokes on his professor by pretending not to have seen it
2.What does the writer mean by “his eyebrows high in hope”in the last paragraph?
A.His professor expected him to have seen the cells and drawn the picture of them
B.His professor hoped he could perform his task with attention
C.His professor wished him to learn how to draw pictures
D.His professor looked forward to seeing all his students finish their drawings
3.What is the thing like stars that the writer saw in the last paragraph?
A.Real stars B.His own eye
C.Something unknown D.Milk
4.In what writing style did the writer write the passage?
A.Realistic B.Romantic C.Serious D.Humorous
My husband kissed me goodbye, stroke (轻抚) the baby’s cheek and then rushed out of the door, into his busy day. With the cold of the morning fading, I fed my baby and it fell fast asleep. Usually I would place it in bed and quickly have the house somewhat in _______.
However, this morning, I stayed seated, just _______, with the baby in my arms. The thoughts ran into _______of the mornings with my husband, a father rushing out of the door to meet the obligations of life. It was only a small jump to thoughts of my own _______.
My mother passed away when I was ten, and as I looked _______, I could see how much of a family man my dad was. He went to work every morning and _______ to his family every evening. He _______ food, clothing, warmth, and protection. He was a faithful father.
Setting the baby down, I dialed the _______ number. I had just realized the _______ of the ordinary － the daily life going on around us that we often took for granted, and that it needed to be ________.
“Hi, Dad.” I said, ________ back tears.
“Hey, Bud. How are you?” ________ was in his voice.
“Fine, I’m just calling to say…thank you.” I got it out before my throat ________ too much for me to speak.
“What for?”
“For getting up and going to work every morning of my life. Now that I have my own ________ and I see my husband doing the same, I just wanted to thank you for being ________.”
There was ________ for a moment as my dad composed himself, and with a small ________ in his voice he said, “You’re welcome, Bud.”
I don’t remember much of the rest of the call, ________ that moment of revelation (显露) about my father, I will never forget. There are those who are known for their heroic ________, and also those who are known for their fortunes and fame, but it is the ________ everyday fathers who are the true heroes. I’m thankful that my father was one of them.
1.A.use B.line C.order D.fashion
2.A.thinking B.dreaming C.imagining D.praying
3.A.conversations B.struggles C.incidents D.memories
4.A.baby B.husband C.mother D.father
5.A.out B.away C.back D.around
6.A.moved B.returned C.escaped D.walked
7.A.provided B.collected C.sought D.bought
8.A.popular B.relative C.regular D.familiar
9.A.difference B.significance C.balance D.absence
10.A.recognized B.arranged C.reduced D.achieved
11.A.sending B.pushing C.holding D.putting
12.A.Sympathy B.Stress C.Doubt D.Concern
13.A.cleared B.hurt C.ached D.tightened
14.A.child B.duty C.life D.career
15.A.inspiring B.faithful C.considerate D.admirable
16.A.peace B.calm C.silence D.rest
17.A.tremble B.hesitation C.passion D.sigh
18.A.and B.but C.or D.nor
19.A.ideas B.deeds C.remarks D.words
20.A.outstanding B.patient C.ordinary D.honest
It was the culture, rather than the language, ________ made it hard for him to adapt to the new environment abroad.
A.where B.why
C.that D.what
If you had brought your swimming suit with you, we ___________ swimming in the lake now.
A.could go B.could have gone
C.can go D.have gone
When Alice woke up, she didn’t know how long she ______ there.
A.was lying B.lay C.has been lying D.had been lying
