All you need to participate in home exchange is a house! You don't need to compare values of the houses or search for a swapping partner in the case of a home similar to yours. It just requires identifying a home where you and your family can stay comfortably in the place you wish to visit. You need to search for a person or a family with whom you would be comfortable exchanging your home with，for a short period of time. In home exchange，you would be taking care of other people's home，as well as enjoying the country while they would be doing the same from your home.
People who have traveled a lot would know that the most expensive part of traveling is paying hotel bills. In many cases, vacations cannot last for long mainly because of the high accommodation (住房) expenses. Holiday home exchange is one of the most simple and intelligent ways to cut down an accommodation expenses. It is an equal trade for bath the families and enables both to enjoy the advantages of a home while traveling to another country.
Home exchanges have become very popular in major cities in the United Kingdom as it allows you to benefit from time-share. Mostly, people participating in home exchanges prefer to involve their friends or neighbors to entertain their visitors, by providing the home exchange visitors with information regarding the local sightseeing attractions. Many families with children try to swap houses with families who have children of the similar age group. It saves time and energy that is often exhausted in carrying around a number of toys and equipment. The individual traveler often finds house swapping a great way of relaxing in the comforts of a home after a tiring day of sightseeing and can spend more time to get to know the area better. The most suitable title for the passage is__________.
| A．Home Exchange for Your Holiday |
| B．How to Find the Best House |
| C．Everyone Loves Exchanging Homes |
| D．Tips for Your Trip |
What does the underlined word “swapping” mean in Line 2? __________
| A．participating | B．enjoying | C．exchanging | D．identifying |
What's the main reason for people exchanging homes during the holiday?
| A．To experience other people's lifestyles. |
| B．To get to know new neighbors and make new friends. |
| C．To avoid paying expensive hotel bills while traveling |
| D．To get more information from locals. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that___________.
| A．more families prefer to exchange homes than individual travelers. |
| B．families with kids are more likely to exchange homes with families with kids. |
| C．it is difficult for individual travelers to find partners to exchange their homes. |
| D．the individual travelers love to introduce their friends and neighbors to the visitors. |
HOTEL INFORMATION
Baymont Inn Ft.Lauderdale
3800 W．Commercial, Ft. Lauderdale．FL 33309
Lowest Prices 110% Guaranteed (保证)
Room Information
Rooms are equipped with Double, Queen , or King bed (s) , smoking or non-smoking based on location and availability. Provided in each spacious guest room is a hair dryer, coffee maker, iron, ironing board, 25’TV and guest voice mail．
Check-in Time：7:00 P. M.
Hotel Amenities：Air Conditioned, Free Parking, 24 Hour Front Desk, Pool, Television with Cable, Coffee Maker in Room, Hairdryers Available．
Beach Plaza Hotel
625 N．Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd, Ft．Lauderdale, FL 33304
Room Information
The oceanfront accommodations at Beach Plaza Hotel are some of the most affordable on Fort Lauderdale Beach．Each room features direct-dial telephone, cable television and daily maid service．The very affordable efficiency studios even include full kitchens! All rooms surround the private poolside garden courtyard．
Check-in Time：7:05 P. M.
Hotel Amenities：Air Conditioned, Coffee Maker in Room, 24 Hour Front Desk, Parking, Hairdryers Available, Pool, Television with Cable．
Fort Lauderdale Plaza Hotel
3711 N．Ocean Blvd, Ft．Lauderdale, FL 33308
Room Information
Guest rooms feature TVs, in-room movies, Internet access, in-room safes, alarm clock radios, hairdryers, refrigerators, microwaves, and balconies．
Check-in Time：7:00 A.M.
Hotel Amenities：Parking，Heated Pool, Television with Cable, and Coffee Maker in Room．Which hotel gives a promise?
| A．Beach Plaza Hotel． | B．Baymont Inn Ft . Lauderdale． |
| C．Baymont Inn Hotel． | D．Fort Lauderdale Plaza Hotel． |
In which hotel parking is the cheapest?
| A．Beach Plaza Hotel． | B．Baymont Inn Ft . Lauderdale． |
| C．Baymont Inn Hotel． | D．Fort Lauderdale Plaza Hotel． |
If you ______ , you will probably go to Beach Plaza Hotel．
| A．enjoy seeing films without leaving your hotel room |
| B．want to eat food cooked by yourself in the hotel |
| C．are fond of swimming in heated water |
| D．are a cigarette smoker |
Which of the following is NOT true to the ads?
| A．In Beach Plaza Hotel a 24-hour maid is available． |
| B．All of the three hotels provide television with cable． |
| C．You can keep your money in the room safe in Fort Lauderdale Plaza Hotel． |
| D．While staying in Fort Lauderdale Plaza Hotel, you can surf the Internet． |
There has been an outpouring of love for a 23-year-old disabled woman whose dog was killed in front of her while a groomer(美容师) tried to trim(修剪) its claws.
Calls and e-mails came from as far away as the Upper Peninsula and Arizona as well as Oakland and Macomb counties, offering Laurie Crouch, who uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis(硬化症), everything from dogs to money, such as that from Jason Daly of Roseville who said, “ I would like to buy her a new dog.”
A story about the death of Crouch’s pet, Gooch, was printed on the front page of Macomb Daily. Crouch said a man sat on the dog to trim its nails. Gooch died after one claw was trimmed.
Crouch yelled at the groomer to stop when she saw Gooch was struggling to breathe, but she said she was ignored. “If I could have walked, I would have put my hands on her and pulled her off my dog and physically stopped her, but I can’t do that.” Gooch was not a trained service animal, but naturally helped Crouch by picking up things for her.
“This case is absolute animal abuse(虐待),” Larry Obrecht, division manager of the Oakland County Animal Shelter in Auburn Hills, said.
People who read the story contacted Oakland Press to offer help. A message, from Rebecca Amett of Giggles N Wiggles Puppy Rescue, in Roseville, said, “We have puppies to donate … and want to help the young woman who lost her service dog.”
“When Gooch was with me, I was happy,” Crouch said, “I think I can be happy again but no animal can replace Gooch. There’s never going to be another Gooch out there but I think I will find a dog that can bring me joy again.”What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．A disabled woman’s service dog. |
| B．A cruel groomer killed a disabled woman’s dog. |
| C．People’s love for a disabled woman who lost her dog. |
| D．Disabled woman loves to have the dog as company. |
People called and emailed to .
| A．offer help and care to Laurie Crouch. |
| B．give their angry voice to the groomer. |
| C．offer a cure for Crouch’s disease. |
| D．tell Crouch how to punish the groomer. |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．Crouch refused to take another dog. |
| B．Crouch must be sad after losing her dog. |
| C．Crouch has accepted another dog from a stranger. |
| D．Crouch can live well without a dog’s company. |
Australians have evidently realized the fact that water means life and we need to he more thoughtful in our use of this rather precious resource．Since the year 2000, Australians have managed to reduce their use of water by 14% ． In the most populous city, Sydney, they've managed to use less water in 2007 than in 1974, even though the city grew by l． 2 million souls in this period．
Across the country nearly 20% of all households have water tanks．That would probably be due, in large part, to the various state governments offering generous rebates． In NSW, for example, where 24,000 households have taken up the offer, you can get $1,500 AUD back if you fix a 7,000 + litre tank and have it attached into your toilet and washing machine．
Creywater use has taken off too． The Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest that it's now the second most common source of water in Australia, with over half of the country's homes reusing water from their washing machines, showers and baths． The state of Victoria leads with 70% using greywater, and Queensland, coming close behind with 63%．
Up in the northern state of．Queensland, some of their dams have been below 20%． Sydney's main dam is only at 56% of its potential capacity．
The country's ongoing drought（干旱） has seen more than 95% of the length of the Murray- Darling Basin （ the two major river systems that supply the nation's 'food basket' ） regarded as ' degraded', Supply of water has become such an issue that hydro-electric power（水力发电） output has dropped 7% in a recent 9 year period for the states of NSW, Victoria and Tasmania．Not good for promoting our uptake understanding of renewable energy in these climate changing times．But at least the message is getting through about making every drop count．The underlined word "rebate" in paragraph 2 probably means ．
| A．discount or allowance | B．water tanks for free |
| C．agreements or payment | D．washing machine of high quality |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The state of Victoria is playing a leading role in greywater use． |
| B．More water has been used in Australia with the growing population． |
| C．The state of Queensland gets its water mostly from the north of its state． |
| D．Some of the dams in Queensland are too weak to hold potential water． |
We can learn from the last paragraph that ．
| A．the country's water shortage is partly due to continuous drought |
| B．large quantities of water are being used to produce electricity |
| C．the author hopes water resource could be used to the fullest |
| D．the author disagrees with the use of renewable energy |
The passage is likely to appear in ．
| A．a scientist's diary | B．a history paper |
| C．a travel guidebook | D．a newspaper |
A study by St． Louis University has found that a lovable dog named Sparky and a robotic dog AIBO, were about equally effective at reducing the loneliness of nursing home residents． The study confirmed previous findings that dogs have a good effect on nursing home residents（居民）．
Dr． Andrew Smith led the Stanford University team出at built a home-assistance robot． "If humans can feel an emotional tie with robots, some day they could be not just our assistants, but also our companions," he said．
To test whether residents responded better to Sparky, a trained dog, or the Sony-made robotic dog, researchers divided 38 nursing home residents into three groups at three long-term care centers in St, Louis.
One group had weekly 30-minute one-on-one visits with Sparky; another group had similar visits with AIBO; a control group had no contact with either dog．The groups' respective levels of loneliness were tested by having them answer a number of questions at the beginning and near the end of the visits．
After two months, both groups that had contact with the dogs were less lonely and more attached． Most of the elderly regarded Sparky, a 9-year-old dog, as an audience for their life stories, said investigator Marian Banks.
"He listened attentively, wagged his tail, and allowed them to pet him," said Banks, who adopted and trained Sparky after finding him in a street behind her home seven years ago．
Those who were together with AIBO took a little longer to warm to the robotic creature．Over time, however, they grew comfortable with him, and petted and talked to him． He would respond by wagging his tail, vocalizing（发出声音）, and blinking his lights．
"AIBO is charming once you start to interact with him," said the study's author, Dr． William Banks, " He's an attractive sort of guy． He gives a feeling: of being personal, not just a robot． "Before the new study, it was known that ．
| A．dogs could help get rid of old people's loneliness |
| B．robots could build close connection with humans |
| C．robots were more effective at reducing people's loneliness |
| D．dogs and robots were equally effective at reducing loneliness |
The first time those who contacted with the robotic dog ．
| A．accepted it immediately |
| B．found it easy to interact with it |
| C．were not quite comfortable with it |
| D．were confused by its behavior |
The findings of the researchers tell us that .
| A． robots are actually attractive sorts of guys |
| B．robots could make a good companion of the old. |
| C．it's easy for people to become close with robots |
| D． the elderly will have a robot assistant in no time |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Robots Serve People Better Than Thought |
| B．No More Lonely Old Age with Emotional Robots |
| C．Dogs equipped with robots to Help the Elderly |
| D．Robots and Dogs Can Equally Cheer up the Elderly |
For incoming freshmen at western Connecticut's suburban Brookfield High School, lifting a backpack weighed down with textbooks is about to give way to tapping out notes and touching electronic pages on an iPad, A few hours away, every student at Burlington High School near Boston．will also start the year with new school-issued iPads, each loaded with electronic textbooks and other online resources in place of traditional texts．Apple officials say they know of more than 600 districts that have launched what are called "one-to-one" programs．
At Burlington High in suburban Boston, Principal Patrick Larkin says the $500 iPads is better than textbooks in the long term, though he said the school will still use traditional texts in some courses if suitable electronic programs aren't yet available." Lark/n said of textbooks, "but they're pretty much outdated the minute they're printed and certainly by the time they're delivered"．
But some experts warn that the districts need to ensure they can support the wireless infrastructure （设施）, repairs and other costs that accompany a switch to such a tech-heavy approach． Mark Warschauer, an education and informatics professor said, "I think people will like it． I really don't know anybody in high school that wouldn't want to get an iPad," he said． "We're always using technology at home, then when you're at school it's textbooks．so it's a good way to put all of that together．" Districts are varied in their policies on how they police students' use．
And the nation's textbook publishing industry, accounting for $ 5.5 billion in yearly sales to secondary schools, is taking notice of the trend with its own shift in a competitive race toward developing curriculum （课程） specifically for iPads． Jay Diskey, executive director of the Association of American Publishers' schools division, said all of the major textbook publishers are moving toward electronic offerings, but at least in the short term, traditional bound textbooks are here to stay．"I think one of the real key questions that will be answered over the next several years is what sort of things work best in print for students and what smt of things work best digitally, "The first paragraph is mainly about ．
| A．a program to promote iPads marketing in new school year |
| B．a program to spread electronic learning in new school year |
| C．a plan of how to use iPads in the coming school education |
| D．a plan of how to use IT technique in die coming school teaching |
What's the problem for iPads to be used in schools at present?
| A．Some students wouldn't like to have iPads in schools． |
| B．The iPads are too expensive for school students to buy． |
| C．Most experts oppose the idea that iPads replace paper textbooks． |
| D．The iPads may be unavailable for some traditional courses． |
The underlined sentence in the passage implies that _．
| A．traditional textbooks are behind the times before they are printed |
| B．traditional textbooks possibly need to he printed again before delivered |
| C．contents of traditional textbooks can't be renewed in time as electronic ones do |
| D． the iPads can deliver information much more rapidly than printed textbooks |
From the passage we can draw conclusion that ．
| A．more students tend to use printed textbooks rather than electronic ones |
| B．textbook publishing houses will develop more electronic textbooks of their own |
| C．it is impossible for the iPads to be widely used in schools in the future |
| D．electronic textbooks will take the place of printed ones in new school year |
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