Our plan was to drive into Cambridge, catch the 7:34 train to Liverpool Street Station, then to separate and meet again for lunch. We should have arrived at Liverpool at 9:19, but due to a typical London fog, the train had to move along so slowly that it was not until 10:30 that it got there. In spite of our late arrival, Joan, my wife's sister, decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping. It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn't decided where we should meet for lunch. Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket, this was indeed a problem. There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London, and try to find her there. Needless to say, we didn't find her. It was now one o'clock, and the concert began at 2:30. "Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall," suggested my wife hopefully. By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop, and the only way to get there was by underground railway. Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be. An hour later we were still trying to find it. Just as I was about to lose my temper completely when we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog. With his help we found Tower Hill tube station just fifty yards down the road. By now it was far too late even to try to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30, so we decided to return to Cambridge. It took seven long hours instead of the usual two to make that journey. Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train. Tired and hungry we finally reached home at ten, opening the door to the sound of the telephone bell. It was Joan; she had seen the Crown Jewels, had managed to get another ticket for concert, and had had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel where she decided to stay for the night. Now she was ringing to discover whether we had had an... It's quite clear that for Joan the trip to London had been _ . A) spilt by the fog B) quite tiring C) rather disappointing D) very enjoyable
D
A great-grandfather has put up his Christmas tree for the 85thtime after his father first bought it from a toy shop. Douglas Hewitt, 85, has celebrated every Christmas with the artificial tree since he was born. His father bought the tree from a toy shop in Sheffield just months after Douglas was born. The four-foot tree remains the centre point of the Hewitt family household during every festive season. Mr. Hewitt, of South Anston, South Yorkshire, said, "It reminds us of my childhood, our children's childhood and our grandchildren and great-grandchildren's after that. They all come and look at it and smile; it's become part of the furniture. If we didn't put that Christmas tree up, it wouldn't feel like Christmas." The tree was passed down to Mr. Hewitt when he married Mavis. Mrs. Hewitt said, "Year after year we have just carried on using that one. You have to be a bit more careful with it now, as it's _ ." Their daughter, June Murphy, also has fond memories of the Christmas tree. She said, "It was in my grandparents' home and then it was given to us. It looks a little thin now, as each time you get it out something else falls off. It's become a bit of a family joke. Each year someone has to comment 'not again!' But it's a Christmas tradition of getting the tree out that we all love. We'd all be sad to see it go, as I think it would be hard to find such a loved replacement." Mr. Hewitt said, "There were a lot more branches on it, and it's lost its feathers that were all along the edge. There were little candle holders on the ends and little legs on it, but unfortunately they've been lost over the years." Why does her family put up the Christmas tree every year according to June Murphy? A) To honor her grandparents. B) To save the family money. C) To keep up the family tradition. D) To create a friendly atmosphere.
C
Q: The Tropical Paradise Holiday Welcome to St Anna, our tropical paradise just off the coast of Latin America. You can spend two weeks in our luxury four-star hotel. The cost of your flight is included in the holiday, and you can be picked up from your home by our special airport bus. On your arriving, our coach will be waiting to take you to the hotel. All flights leave from Heathrow on a Monday morning. The Cowrie Hotel is built right on the beachfront, and many rooms have wonderful ocean views. If swimming and surfing are not enough for you, the hotel also offers horse rides on the island, and a discount membership of the golf club. The Rain Forest Adventure Holiday Every year Broughton holidays offer twelve days of unforgettable adventure in a tropical rain forest. You may have a choice of Borneo, Malaysia, Indonesia, or even to the greatest rain forest of them all, the mighty Amazonian forest. You will fly to our special base camps at the edge of the forest, where you will be given five days of survival training, and talks on the local wildlife. Then you take a bus into the forest. You will have to walk the final five miles to the camp sites to avoid disturbing the local ecology. All of the camp sites have been carefully built to cause the minimal amount of disturbance to the local wildlife. Remember that these adventure holidays take you deep into the wilderness,and they are not suitable for families with young children. Also remember that no more than two dozen guests can stay at any camp at one time, so if you want to go on one of these very special holidays, you will need to book early ![: _ What can we learn about the rain forest holiday? A) Different means of transportation will be used. B) Travelers will learn to talk with wild animals. C) The holiday will end with a survival training. D) Booking early, travelers will get a discount.
A: A
Pollutants coming from automobile operation have begun to cause many environmental problems. It has been calculated, for example, that 70% of the carbon monoxide , 45% of the nitrogen oxides , and 34% of the hydrocarbon pollution in the United States can be traced directly to automobile exhausts . In addition, rubber, motor oil and other materials accumulate on roadways and are washed into streams, with effects nearly as serious as those of untreated waste water. In an effort to improve the situation, the U.S. government has made regulations on the use of the constituents of automobile exhaust gas that are known to cause air pollution. These constituents fall roughly into three types: hydrocarbons that pass through the engine unburned; carbon monoxide, also a product of incomplete burning; and nitrogen oxides which are formed when nitrogen and oxygen are in contact at high temperatures. Besides their own poisonous character, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides react in the presence of sunlight to form harmful smog. Carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are rather easily controlled by the use of higher burning temperatures in engines. Unfortunately, the conditions that produce minimum emission of hydrocarbons tend to raise emission of nitrogen oxides. In a way this difficulty is solved by adding recycled exhaust gas to the fuel mixture, thus avoiding the oversupply of oxygen that favors formation of nitrogen oxides. California, which has the most strict air-pollution laws in the United States, requires further special compounding of gas to control emissions, and several states have ordered that alcohol be mixed with gas, as this will reduce emissions of the carbon monoxide by 35 per cent and the hydrocarbons by 15 per cent. According to the text, alcohol is added to gas in order to _ . A) increase awareness of environment protection B) control air pollution C) increase the fuel efficiency D) replace gas gradually
B