You might not want a holiday in your hometown, but there is probably someone who does. And, in exchange, you could have a cheap vacation anywhere in the world.
Just picture the scene: you’re watching the sunset from the balcony of a Caribbean island house. It’s large. And it’s free as long as you don’t mind the owners living in your home at the same time.
All you need to be a home-swapper is the Internet and a rough idea of when and where you want to go on holiday. When you find someone whose dates match yours, and who wants to visit your area, you’re all set to swap.
The advantages are numerous: you can save a fortune in accommodation cost. You could get to use the owners’ car, boat, bikes, pool or gym. You might even be able to come to an arrangement about looking after each other’s pets!
You also get to live like a local, and you might be invited around to neighbors’ homes for tea, barbecues and tips on the area. People say that these cultural experiences are the memories that last. Plus, instead of one tiny hotel room, you have an entire house where you can make yourself at home. And it’s not cold and impersonal like a hotel room.
Of course, there are disadvantages. A lot of effort and communication are needed before the arrangements are finalized. Nobody wants a stranger living in their house, sleeping in their bed and using their bathroom, so you have to get to know each other well beforehand.
Some people are concerned about theft or property damage, but in reality this is very rare. Most home-exchangers have the view that “If they can trust me with their house, I can trust them with mine.” The worse complaint people have is the difference in standards of cleanness.
If you’re interested in home-exchange for your next holiday, start by contacting a famous agency like homelink.org and intervac,co.uk. These agencies will also have advice about preparing for a home-exchange.What will you most probably remember if you have exchanged your home with another?
| A．The sunset. |
| B．The car or boat of the home owner. |
| C．The pet of the home owner. |
| D．A gathering in his neighborhood. |
If you want to exchange your home with another, you should do all of the following EXCEPT_________.
| A．trying to know each other |
| B．surfing the Internet for information |
| C．inviting your neighbors home for tea |
| D．finding someone who wants to visit your area |
Where can you most probably find the passage?
| A．In a story book. | B．In a guide book. |
| C．In a textbook. | D．In a science book. |
Balzac was good at buying things at its lowest price. One day he wanted to buy a vase in a shop window that was much more expensive than he could offer. Not being able to make the shopkeeper cut down its price very much, he left without further talking. Collecting a half dozen of his friends, he explained his wish to them and they worked a plan. The first would enter the shop and make an offer, lower than the marked price. Not getting the vase at his price, he would walk out. Shortly after another would enter and ask for a price lower than the first. In this way, each of the others would offer a price lower than the one before, and the last of his friends made a great effort to attempt to get it at the lowest price. Before long Balzac himself would return, offer more than the last two or three persons made and trust to luck. The plan worked--- Balzac got the vase at his price!Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．A vase in the window was placed much higher than Balzac could reach. |
| B．At first the price of the vase was much higher than Balzac could offer. |
| C．Balzac always wanted to buy a vase that was much more expensive than he could pay |
| D．Balzac was very poor. He couldn’t buy the vase at a high price. |
How many friends did Balzac gather?
| A．Six | B．Twelve | C．Ten | D．Five |
Who asked for the lowest price?
| A．The first one. | B．The second one. |
| C．The last of his friends. | D．Balzac. |
What kind of person does the writer try to tell us about Balzac and his friends?
| A．Unkind | B．Dishonest | C．Selfish | D．Clever |
阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在表格中的空白处填入恰当的单词。
When you are in a place where you are hunting for a new job or career, you will find that there are several things that you should pay attention to. Jobs and careers are fewer than you expect, especially when satisfying employment is something you need to seriously think about. How are you going to find the job that you want and what should you avoid on your way? When you want to make use of your job search, take a moment and think about the things that you must avoid at all costs.
One of the most important rules is never to compromise(妥协) on the things you ask for or desire or it will have a bad effect on your life and peace of mind. Keep in mind your basic expectations of a dream job. They might be something about money or you might find they have something to do with time off. Whatever they are, make sure that you do not accept a job without them. Your requirements might not be easy to meet, but you have the right to try and achieve them.
What’s more, don’t go away from odd (临时的)jobs that might actually take you to the place that you want to be in. Sometimes, finding the right job is a matter of luck and chance after you have been searching and putting in a lot of effort. And if something unexpected happens, remember that taking the chance is of great importance and is something you might want to seriously consider. As long as you keep your goals in mind , you are going to be doing much better than other people during the job search.
If you are looking for the right job, another thing that you can do to make sure that you get the right kind of employment is to market yourself. When you do nothing to push yourself forward, you will be the one suffering for it. If required, give enough encouragement to yourself and try to confidently look at all that you have. Make sure that you can show your skills and abilities. If the jobs that you have set your sights on are challenging , set goals for yourself and work hard at them. The more efforts you put in marketing yourself, the more your chances of obtaining the job you like will be.
Remember that when you are working on a job search, you should not short-change yourself. This is because you will only harm yourself by setting low goals.
| Title |
What to avoid during your job search |
| Brief introduction |
Satisfying jobs are When hunting for a job,there are several things that you should pay |
| Important |
Remembering your expectations Don’t compromise on your requirements or it will have a bad Although your requirements are |
| Taking the chance Take some odd jobs and this might help you When something |
|
| Marketing yourself if required ,look at all you have positively and give yourself enough Show your skills and abilities If the jobs that you want are |
|
| Conclusion |
Don’t short-change yourself because |
The hardworking businessman Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard-working was he that at times he would make the sparks(火星) fly from his hammer.
The son of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see him every day and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the man worked.
“ Young man, why don’t you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks (钉) , even if it is only to pass the time ? ” said Jones. “ Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you .”
The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.
Old Mr. Smith died and the son because of the war lost all his goods. He had to leave home and was forced to live in another country. It so happened that in this village there were many shoemakers who were spending a lot of money buying tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers’ shoes.
Our young Mr. Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that once upon a time he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in the workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village.
“ How funny it seems, ” he used to say, “ even making tacks can make money. My trade is more useful to me than all my former riches.”The young man learnt to make shoe tacks because ___________.
| A．his father told him to | B．he wanted to learn a skill |
| C．Jones encouraged him to | D．he just wanted to pass his time |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ?
| A．Old Mr. Smith enjoyed making the shoe tacks. |
| B．Jones had said the young man must be in need of the skill. |
| C．The higher prices they paid, the more tacks the shoemakers would get. |
| D．The young man earned his living by his skills learnt when he was young. |
What can we learn from the story ?
| A．Practice makes perfect. |
| B．Skill makes life easy. |
| C．A good beginning makes good ending. |
| D．Every man has his gift. |
| AVERAGE RESOURCES |
|
| 620 m3 water |
If we put fresh water and sea water together, we can each have 620 m3 water. But remember, sea water is too salty for us to drink if the factories don’t process it first. So, 620 m3 is little. Saving water in daily use is important. |
| 0.5 hectares of forests |
There are 3.869 billion hectares(公顷) of forests on Earth. But we are losing them mainly because we cut trees too much. If we calculate（计算）at the size of a football field, we are losing 343,000 football fields every day, or 1,431 per hour, or 24 per minute! |
| 1.5 centimeters long corals(珊瑚) |
All the corals that we have now spread for about 100,000 km in 109 countries. But each of us can only have such a little piece, because seas are getting polluted and corals are dying. |
| 33 stars |
According to the latest report, there are 200 billion stars in the Milky Way. Each of us can have 33 of them. Unfortunately, we cannot see most of the 200 billion stars from Earth. We can only see about 6,000 stars. If we don’t use telescopes or we have bad weathers, we can only see about 2,000 stars. |
| 90kg rice |
On average, we harvest 0.54 billion tons of rice each year round the world and each of us can have 90 kg. Asia produces and eats 90% of all the rice. How long will it take you to eat up this 90 kg rice? |
| 1 iceberg |
Luckily, we still have icebergs to share when Earth gets warmer and warmer. Each of us can have an iceberg of 170m×170m×170m. Up to 10% of Earth surface is covered by ice. There is 31,000,000km3 of ice on Earth in all. |
On average we each probably have ________ fresh water in the world.
| A．over 620m3 | B．more than 620m3 | C．far less than 620m3 | D．only 620m3 |
We are losing the forests on Earth mainly because of________.
| A．the man-made damage | B．the climate change |
| C．the construction of many football fields | D．the environmental pollution |
When we don’t use telescopes or the weather is bad, we can see ________ stars from Earth.
| A．all the stars | B．about 2,000 | C．about 200 billion | D．about 6,000 |
According to the table above, we each can only have _____ because of pollution.
| A．less water | B．fewer icebergs | C．fewer corals | D．less rice |
Parking has long been a major headache for drivers in Shanghai. The Transportation Department is mapping out a new plan for the city’s parking system. There are one million cars on the road in Shanghai but only enough public parking space to provide room for 15 percent of these vehicles(交通工具). It is no wonder that local drivers get so worried trying to find a place to park.
The city is seeing a rise in private car owners. In March, the city sent out 2,000 private car licenses, the highest number of licenses ever sent out in a month. And prices rose to 14,600 yuan, 500 more than in February. Industry experts say this suggests that local people have a strong, active interest in buying cars.
By the year 2020, the number of automobiles in Shanghai will probably reach two million. If one parking lot is for each car, then a lot of parking space should be built for these vehicles.
Downtown Shanghai is most short of parking space. However, experts point out that simply building more parking lots in downtown areas is not practical and doesn’t provide an ideal solution. The idea of “ Park & Ride” system has been suggested. This means that drivers can leave their vehicles in car parks nearby subway or bus stations and ride public transport to go downtown. Based on this idea, the city will limit the number of parking lots in downtown areas and demand higher parking fees but build more parking areas near main subway and bus stops.The underlined phrase “mapping out” in the first paragraph means __________.
| A．making | B．arguing | C．demanding | D．requesting |
About __________ drivers can find places to park their cars in Shanghai now.
| A．850,000 | B．1,000,000 | C．150,000 | D．2,000,000 |
What can we infer from the second paragraph?
| A．The city sent out more private licenses in February. |
| B．Less and less people bought cars in March. |
| C．The city sent out less private licenses in March. |
| D．More and more people are going to buy cars. |
According to the idea of a “ Park & Ride ” system, the city will __________.
| A．send out more private car licenses |
| B．build more parking lots near bus stops |
| C．encourage people to buy more cars |
| D．build more parking areas downtown |
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