A
Planning a visit to the UK? Here we help with ways to cut your costs.
AVOID BIG EVENTS
Big sporting events, concerts and exhibitions can increase the cost of accommodation and make it harder to find a room. A standard double room at the Thistle Brighton on the final Friday of the Brighton Comedy Festival(19 Oct.) cost £169.15 at Booking.com. A week later, the same room cost £l18.15.
If you can be flexible and want to know dates to avoid or you’re looking for a big event to pass your time — check out sites such as Whatsonwhen.com, which allow you to search for events in the UK by city, date and category.
STAY AWAY FROM THE STATION
If traveling to your destination by train, you may want to find a good base close to the station, but you could end up paying more for the sake of convenience at the start of your holiday.
Don’t be too choosy about the part of town you stay in. Booking two months in advance, the cheapest room at Travelodge’s Central Euston hotel in London for Saturday 22 September was £95.95. A room just a tube journey away at its Covent Garden hotel was £75.75. And at Farringdon, a double room cost just £62.95.
GET ON A BIKE
London’s ‘Boris bikes’ have attracted the most attention but other cities also have similar programmes that let you rent a bicycle and explore at your own pace, saving you on public transport or car parking costs.
Among the smaller cities with their own programmes are Newcastle(casual members pay around £1.50 for two hours) and Cardiff(free for up to 30 minutes, or £5 per day).
21. The Brighton Comedy Festival is mentioned mainly to show big events may .
A. help travelers pass time
B. attract lots of travelers to the UK
C. allow travelers to make flexible plans
D. cause travelers to pay more for accommodation
22. “Farringdon” in Paragraph 5 is most probably .
A. the tube line to Covent Garden B. an ideal holiday destination
C. a hotel away from the train station D. the name of a travel agency
23. The main purpose of the passage is .
A. to offer visitors some money-saving tips
B. to tell visitors how to book in advance
C. to supply visitors with hotel information
D. to show visitors the importance of self-help
B
Fou Ts’ong, a Chinese-born pianist known for his sensitive interpretations(诠释) of Chopin, Debussy and Mozart, died on Monday at a hospital in London, where he had lived for many years. He was 86.
A lover of classical music from a young age, Mr. Fou began taking piano lessons when he was 7. Mr. Fou made his first stage appearance in 1952. The concert caught the attention of officials in Beijing, who selected him to compete and tour in Eastern Europe. Mr. Fou soon moved to Poland, where he studied diligently at the Warsaw Conservatory(音乐学校) on a scholarship.
Mr. Fou was one of the first Chinese pianists to achieve global prominence when he took third place in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1955. He also won a special prize for his performance of Chopin’s mazurkas. Almost overnight, he became a national hero. To China, Mr. Fou’s recognition confirmed that the country could stand on its own artistically in the West. Chinese reporters flocked to interview Mr. Fou, seeking out his father, Fu Lei, for advice on child-raising.
In 1981, a volume of letters written by his father, originally to Mr. Fou, was published in China. Full of advice, encouragement, life teachings and strict paternal love, the book Fu Lei’s Family Letters became a best-seller in China. Besides influencing a generation of Chinese, Mr. Fu’s words resonated(引起共鸣) long after his death with the person for whom they were intended.
“My father had a saying that ‘First you must be a person, then an artist, and then a musician, and only then can you be a pianist,’” Mr. Fou once recalled in an interview. “Even now, I believe in this order — that it should be this way and that I am this way.”
24. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?
A. Fou Ts’ong’s achievements in music.
B. The stage performances Fou Ts’ong gave.
C. Fou Ts’ong’s experiences of learning music.
D. The efforts Fou Ts’ong made for competitions.
25. Why does Fou Ts’ong’s global recognition mean a lot to China?
A. It earns Chinese arts a place in the West.
B. It promotes the spread of Chinese culture.
C. It proves Chinese people’s talent for music.
D. It enables Chinese art education to be recognized.
26. What does the underlined word “they” in paragraph 4 refer to?
A. Young Chinese. B. Mr. Fu’s words.
C. Fou Ts’ong and his family. D. Readers of Fu Lei’s Family Letters.
27. Which of the following agrees with Fu Lei’s ideas in the last paragraph?
A. Pursuing art is a long and painful process.
B. Talent is the most important for a pianist.
C. Everyone should develop an interest in art.
D. It requires various qualities to be a pianist.
