Sri Lanka is known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean”, and it is easy to see why. This little country never fails to please visitors.
Arrive
The national airline is Sri Lankan Airlines, which flies from Colombo to London and a couple of other European cities. The country’s main airport is Colombo Bandaranaike, located 29km north of the capital city.
Why now?
The best time to visit Sri Lanka’s southern beaches is from November to April. So by going early in the season, you’ll get the best weather. Also in November, Deepavali, known as “Diwali” or the “Festival of Lights”, is Sri Lanka’s main religious festival, celebrated throughout the country.
See
There is plenty to see 
in Sri Lanka. The ancient capital cities of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura are worth seeing, and so are many outstanding ruins. Other mustsees are the rock fortress (要塞) of Sigiriya, towering over the jungle as far as the eye can see, and Dambulla’s cave temple, the country’s largest and best preserved. Both are UNESCO World Heritage (遗产) Sites. Kandy is a picture-like town, which was the last stronghold of the Kandyan Kings. Today it is a cultural relic centre where age-old customs, arts, and crafts remain.
Do
Sri Lanka owns about 1,600km of beautiful palm-shaded beaches as well as warm, pure seas and colourful coral reefs. You can explore the underwater world, and surfing and diving are available too. Away from the shore, wildlife is a big draw for Sri Lanka, and Yala National Park is one of the best places in the world to see wild animals including leopards (豹) and elephants.
Taste
Sri Lanka is celebrated for its excellent food, with a particular emphasis on fresh fruit and vegetables on menus everywhere. Fish and seafood are a big part of the local diet.
Did you know?
Sri Lanka is known for its tea, but it is also the world’s largest producer and exporter of cinnamon(肉桂).Which of the following is a cultural relic centre of Sri Lanka?
| A．Anuradhapura. | B．Kandy. | C．Colombo. | D．Polonnaruwa. |
If you want to know something about “Diwali”, you’d better go there in .
| A．November. | B．May. | C．September. | D．October. |
We can learn from the passage that Sri Lanka .
| A．is in the Pacific Ocean | B．is famous for its excellent food |
| C．is the world’s largest producer of tea | D．has only flights to London |
The author wrote the article in order to .
| A．let readers know what is famous in Sri Lanka |
| B．introduce the picturesque landscape of Sri Lanka |
| C．let people get more travel information about Sri Lanka |
| D．make Sri Lanka well known throughout the world |
• Membership
Hostelling International (HI) is a membership organization, and HI membership gives you much more than a comfy bed! It puts you at the heart of a huge international family, where you can share experiences, travel and friendship with people of all nations.
• Membership Savings Program
Your National Association or Hostelling International Membership card not only opens the door to the world’s largest network of safe, clean and welcoming hostels, but in many HI hostels, being a member now gives you at least a 10 percent saving on the cost of your accommodation – just one of the great reasons to become a member!
In some countries, membership is compulsory if you wish to stay in HI hostels listed on this site. To find out what is applicable in the country you wish to visit, please check the Membership Savings Program.
Apart from cheaper accommodation in many of our 4,000 hostels worldwide, membership also gives you access to thousands of travel-related savings at home and abroad. Please check locally with your HI hostel on arrival for details of these great benefits which can include: reduced-price admission to attractions and museums, discounts on meals, transportation and lots more.
Whatever your budget, membership helps you to explore and “Say HI to the world”, backpack across Europe, discover Down Under, dance to Latin rhythms, chill out on an idyllic Asian beach or simply “Discover the real hostel experience” in one of our unique hostels worldwide.
• How to become a member
Purchase a membership from your nearest HI Youth Hostel Association office or membership selling outlet before you start your journey.
Purchase an international membership when you arrive at an HI hostel outside your country of residence. To check the price and availability of membership on arrival, please contact the hostel directly.
Alternatively, you can purchase a 12-month e-Membership during the booking process with your hostel stay. The e-Membership entitles you to stay in any HI hostel and receive at least 10 percent discount on accommodation charges compared to a non-member.
Please note: when you select your country from the list below you will be given full contact details plus a link to the national HI Youth Hostel Association website. Please select the Membership section on the site.Which of the following is NOT promised by Hostelling International?
| A．A safe and clean place to stay. |
| B．Welcoming atmosphere. |
| C．Membership benefits. |
| D．Opportunities to meet local people. |
Which of the following is TRUE about the HI hostels?
| A．Accommodation discounts for members are not available at every HI hostel. |
| B．For some HI hostels, you have to be a member to find accommodation. |
| C．You will enjoy high quality services at the cheapest possible price. |
| D．Free public transportation to your destination is ensured. |
If you want to be a member of HI, ______.
| A．you can either call the HI Youth Hostel Association office or buy a membership online. |
| B．you should book a room at an HI Youth Hostel first. |
| C．you can buy a membership at an HI Youth Hostel Association office or outlet. |
| D．you can buy a membership when you check in at an HI Youth hostel. |
This time, it is to be worn on wrists. Having already changed the way we communicate with its smartphones, Apple Inc released its next big thing on March 9 in San Francisco, US.
The Apple Watch, according to CNN, is “a simple rectangular (矩形的) shape with a range of stylish and useful wristbands.” “The style is classic... in those respects (方面) it’s up there with the top quality Swiss watches,” commented the news outlet.
The watch will be available in nine places, including the US, the UK and China, from April 24. The starting price is $349 (2,186 yuan).
With six different designs and 30 or so wristbands, the gadget “sets the standard for smartwatches, in style,” agreed The Brisbane Times,“but more importantly, in functionality (功能性).” “With the built-in speaker and microphone, you can receive calls on your watch. I have been wanting to do this since I was 5 years old,” said Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook.
In fact, anything you can do on the iPhone is there on the watch – e-mails, text messages, airline boarding services, and directions from Apple Maps. Using a home security app, you can keep an eye on your home from afar, or even open a locked door.
There are some features that have made Cook sure the watch is “our most personal device yet; a new chapter in the way we relate to technology”. According to NPR, the watch taps you on the wrist to draw your attention to a message or a calendar reminder, and it can send a tap on the wrist to another Apple Watch wearer.
However, the watch can also do things that are just plain fun. You can send a real-time display of your heartbeat to another Apple Watch to “let someone know you are thinking about them.”
Patrick Moorhead, a leading technology analyst in the US, described the tech company as “a master in the art of persuasion”. “The secret weapon is the ability to message each other by tapping on the watch,” he told The Associated Press. “I think people, particularly kids, are going to go nuts (疯狂) over that.”
So far, though, the most impressive part of this new device is “the monitoring of the wearer’s health and fitness,” said AFP. It will even tap you on the wrist if you have been sitting down for longer than is good for your health.Which of the following features of the Apple Watch are mentioned in the article?
a. its price
b. its functions
c. its shortcomings
d. its shape and weight
e. when and where people can buy it
| A．abd |
| B．abe |
| C．bce |
| D．bde |
Which of the following words best describes Tim Cook’s attitude toward the Apple Watch?
| A．Proud. |
| B．Modest. |
| C．Serious. |
| D．Cautious. |
How does the Apple Watch let wearers know there is a new message?
| A．The watch beeps. |
| B．The watch sends out music. |
| C．The watch changes its screen color. |
| D．The watch taps the wearer on the wrist. |
With an Apple Watch, you can ______.
| A．monitor your health and diagnose yourself |
| B．send a real-time display of your heartbeat to an iPhone |
| C．be reminded to move around if you’ve been sitting down for too long |
| D．receive emails, text messages and calls, and open a locked door for your neighbor |
“YOUR password has expired (过期),” a message said on my screen, with instructions for changing it. Coming up with a new code (密码) doesn’t seem like a big deal, unless you work at my company, where we have to change it monthly, using at least one uppercase (大写的) character, one lowercase character, one symbol, and one number. Oh, the whole password can’t be fewer than eight characters. And I can’t use any of the same passwords I’ve used in the past three months.
Suddenly I was furious (很生气的). What didn’t make it any better was that I was deeply depressed after my recent divorce. Disbelief about what she had done to me was all I thought about every day.
I remembered a tip I’d heard from my former boss. He’d said: “I’m going to use a password to change my life.”
I couldn’t focus on getting things done in my current mood. There were clear signs of what I needed to do to get control of my life again.
My password became the sign. My password reminded me that I shouldn’t let myself be a victim of my recent breakup and that I was strong enough to do something about it.
I made my password Forgive@h3r.
I had to type this several times a day. The simple action changed the way I looked at my ex-wife. That constant reminder led me to accept the way things had happened and find a new way of dealing with my depression. As the month wore on, I felt a slow healing begin to happen. By the time my server asked me to reset my password the following month, I felt free.
One month later, my dear Exchange server asked me yet again to reset my password. I thought about the next thing that I had to get done.
My password became Quit@smoking4ever.
I quit smoking overnight.
This password was a painful one to type during that month, but doing it helped me to yell at myself in my mind as I typed that statement. It motivated me to follow my monthly goal.
One month later, my password became Save4trip@thailand.
Guess where I went three months later: Thailand.
Seeing how these reminders helped to achieve my goals kept me motivated and excited. While it’s sometimes difficult to come up with your next goal, keeping at it brings great resultsWhich of the following passwords fits the company’s requirements?
| A．Seeme@2 |
| B．Dream4future |
| C．Visit$me |
| D．Stay@4ever |
Why couldn’t the author focus on doing things?
| A．Because he couldn’t come up with a new password. |
| B．Because he always forgot his password. |
| C．Because he was in low spirits due to his divorce. |
| D．Because his wife stole his password before their breakup. |
What happened to the author after he had used his password to change his life?
| A．He finally overcame his depression and forgave his ex-wife. |
| B．He started smoking to heal his broken heart. |
| C．He quit his job and went traveling around the world. |
| D．He became furious about his passwords getting longer and longer. |
What message does the author intend to convey through his story?
| A．Never let yourself be a victim of others’ faults. |
| B．Be patient with the healing process for any pain. |
| C．Constant reminders can be positive as well as negative. |
| D．Setting yourself a goal and keeping at it can bring great results. |
Ray’s wedding had gone off smoothly. Everyone seemed to have had a good time. A few people had too good a time; they went home with designated (指派的) drivers. All evening, the gift table remained unguarded. Who would steal anything, Ray thought. He had never heard of such a thing happening at a wedding. But his best friend Aaron said there was a first time for everything. He walked out regularly from the inside festivities to check on the gift table, making sure no one doubtful was hanging around it.
Ray and Julia went on a 3-week honeymoon to Italy right after the wedding. When they got back, they opened all the gifts and sent out thank-you notes. But there was one problem. A married couple that used to be good friends had obviously given nothing. This surprised Julia, because Walt and Mary said they were excited to be invited. And, they actually seemed to have had a great time at the wedding. Frankly, Ray didn’t even care if they hadn’t given a gift. He just needed to know whether to send a thank-you note. Ray called Aaron. Aaron said maybe Walt had left an envelope on the gift table like Aaron had. “Yes, but we got your envelope with the cash inside,” Ray said.
“Maybe my envelope looked too thin, and some thief thought Walt’s envelope looked nice and fat.”
Aaron asked Ray if he had looked everywhere for Walt’s gift. Had he called up the wedding site to see if anything had been left behind? Ray said that he had looked everywhere and made a lot of calls that were fruitless.
Ray didn’t know what to do. If he sent Walt and Mary a thank-you note for a gift they hadn’t given, they would be insulted. If he didn’t send them a thank-you note for a gift they had given, they would get angry.
“What would you do?” Ray asked. Aaron said he would call Walt up and tell him the problem.
“You can’t go wrong with simply being honest,” Aaron said.
“Oh, yes, you can,” Ray contradicted (反驳) him. “Sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie.” But he thought about it, and finally decided that Aaron was right. He called Walt and told him the problem. Walt said that yes, he had given an envelope. In fact, the envelope contained $500 cash.
“$500?!” Ray asked. “That’s a lot of cash, Walt!” Walt admitted that it was, but he had gotten a fat raise early that year and Ray’s was the only wedding he’d been to in quite a while. Ray thanked him very much, and apologized sincerely for someone stealing Walt’s generous gift. Walt told him that it was “only money”.
When Ray told Aaron about Walt’s gift, Aaron laughed. “The only thief at the wedding was Walt! I stopped playing cards with him last year because I caught him cheating. And it was only a $10 pot! I’m sure I told you about that.”
“Yes, you did tell me,” Ray said. But, of course, he had to send Walt a thank-you note anyway.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Aaron looked on honesty as the best policy. |
| B．Walt had surely gotten a fat raise early that year. |
| C．Stealing had never happened at a wedding. |
| D．Nobody checked on the gift table all evening. |
The underlined word “insulted” in Paragraph 5 probably means ______.
| A．deeply impressed | B．much discouraged |
| C．badly hurt | D．greatly moved |
What kind of person is Ray?
| A．Friendly and optimistic. | B．Doubtful and experienced. |
| C．Outgoing and stubborn. | D．Thoughtful and polite. |
Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Wedding Party |
| B．The Wedding Gift |
| C．The Thief at the Wedding |
| D．A Secret at the Wedding |
It seems that many parents have a lot to learn about what their children are doing online. According to a recent survey by the Symantec Corporation, which makes many kinds of security software for home and business computers, there’s a “significant digital（数字的）divide between parents and their kids.”
Parents of children under the age of 18 were asked to estimate（估计）how much time their kids spent online each week. The parents said about three hours a week on average. The kids – ages 8 to 17 – who took the survey said they’re spending an average of seven hours online each week.
“I really think that’s due to the time they spend on their mobile phones and computers, when their parents don’t even know they’re online,” says Symantec’s Bill Rosenkrantz. "Remember, cell phones, PDAs and video game machines all make it possible to access the Internet. You don’t have to sit in front of a computer screen."
And what are the kids doing on the Web? “They're doing things like downloading music, they're going to social networking sites, they're actually shopping online when parents don't think they're doing those kinds of activities,” says Rosenkrantz. “They're also, we think, doing some things with research papers and other kinds of activities with homework maybe where they're getting content online and they really shouldn't be.” Nearly a quarter of the kids (23 percent) admit to doing things their parents would not approve.
So how does a modern parent deal with this type of situation? “The first thing we strongly recommend is that parents spend time with their children online,” Rosenkrantz says. “Sit down with them and understand what they're doing. Secondly, have a dialog about it. Have a dialog about what's an acceptable activity, what's an unacceptable activity, and set some ground rules -- time online, things you can and can't do. Really have those conversations. That's the most important.” There are a lot of bad people on the Internet. That’s why it’s so important for parents to know what their kids are doing online.The figures in the second paragraph are used to show _______.
| A．parents don't exactly know kids' online activities |
| B．time spent online changes with children's ages |
| C．children always spend too much time online |
| D．children spend more time online than their parents |
We can learn from the passage that _______.
| A．some kids surveyed may go against their parents’ rules |
| B．kids talk less with their parents due to computers |
| C．special home computers are being made by Symantec |
| D．parents are too busy to pay attention to their kids |
In Rosenkrantz's opinion, the key to the situation is that parents should _______.
| A．shorten their kids' time spent online |
| B．know their kids' online activities |
| C．use security software in computers |
| D．have a talk with their kids |
What's the purpose of the passage?
| A．To advertise a new security software. |
| B．To give a short introduction to a survey. |
| C．To warn children of the danger online. |
| D．To give reasons for kid's Internet addiction. |
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