Backpacking in Europe is a wonderful experience for young people around the world. After high school or university, you can plan a European backpacking trip.

Packing

As you plan the things you will carry, bring warm clothes and a raincoat or umbrella to deal with changing weather in different European countries. Europeans like dressing nicely, and good clothes will make you feel less like a dusty backpacker. It is not worth taking the trouble to bring a hair dryer or shampoo, as you can buy basic necessities in Europe.

Hostels

The cheapest places to sleep when backpacking in Europe are hostels (where people can stay and eat fairly cheaply). Most hostels have a lot of information about low-cost ways to see local attractions, and many offer tours. The cost for hostel beds differs from country to country. In Paris, you might pay 30 euros, but in Bulgaria, you can get a bed for 10 euros. In general, hostels are more expensive in large, popular cities such as Paris, Rome and London.

       _____

Many backpackers use rail passes (火车通票), which allow unlimited (不受限的) travel within country groups over a period of time. If you have the time to travel by train and will be traveling in a country group, this can be a good deal. Otherwise, you may consider point-to-point tickets, local trains, buses and airlines such as Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air, which offer cheap flights.

Food

Eating out in Europe can come with a high cost, and the best way to cut your food budget (预算) is to cook meals in the shared kitchens in hostels. You can make several meals into picnics to take advantage of Europe’s parks. When shopping for your picnic, try and buy at a local market. You save some euros while supporting the local industry at the same time. When eating out, choose restaurants away from tourist attractions.

21. Which of the following is an advantage of hostels?

A. They are often built in popular cities. 

B. They are mainly open to young people. 

C. They usually provide tour information.

D. They always ask the same price for their beds.

22. Which of the following can be put in the blank in the text?

A. Traveling.                B. Shopping.

C. Entertainment.         D. Transportation.

23. To make a cheap trip in Europe, you’d better _____.  

A. eat meals on the train     

B. choose a restaurant near a park

C. enjoy a meal sold at a local market  

D. cook your own meals at the hostel kitchen

The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when warmer weather begins. People celebrate the coming of summer with customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter. Today, May Day activities have been moved to the May Day holiday on the first Monday of the month. It is a public holiday when families take advantage of the time off to visit some of the UK’s many attractions, including parks, zoos, historic buildings, ancient towns and villages and beautiful countryside.

May Day celebrations have their origins in the Roman festival of Flora, the goddess of fruit and flowers, which marked the beginning of summer. People would decorate their houses and villages with leaves and flowers they picked at daybreak in the belief that the vegetation spirits would bring good luck. In the very early morning, young girls went into the fields and washed their faces with dew (露水). They believed this made them very beautiful for the following year.

May Day was an important day in the Middle Ages and was a favorite holiday of many English villages. People of the time used to cut down young trees and stick them in the ground in the village to mark the arrival of summer. This is the origin of the maypole (五月柱). People danced around them in celebration of the end of winter. Maypoles were once common all over England and were kept from one year to the next. The tallest maypole is said to have been put up in London on the Strand in 1661. It stood more than 143 feet high and was cut down in 1717, when it was used by Newton to support a new reflecting telescope (反射式望远镜) invented by Dutch scientist Huygens.

24. How do British people celebrate May Day?

A. They visit friends and family members. 

B. They spend a lot of time shopping around. 

C. They show great love for the long winter.

D. They celebrate it on the first Monday of May.

25. The underlined word “this” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.

A. going into the fields         B. picking flowers at daybreak

C. washing the face with dew    D. getting up early in the morning

26. What can we learn about the maypole? 

A. People climb it on May Day.    B. It dates from the Middle Ages. 

C. It was usually found in the cities.  D. People used old, tall trees to make it. 

27. The purpose of the text is to _____.

A. describe Roman customs     B. introduce a British festival

C. suggest spring family activities   D. explain the origins of maypoles

A study of 27,000 men showed those skipping (不吃) breakfast were at a greater risk of heart problems. The British Heart Foundation said breakfast helped people resist (抵制) sugary snacks before lunch.

The men, aged 45-82, were studied for 16 years. During that time there were more than 1,500 heart attacks or cases of deadly heart failure. However, people who skipped breakfast were 27% more likely to have heart problems than those who started the day with a meal. The researchers took into consideration other lifestyle risk factors (因素) such as smoking and exercise.

Researcher Dr Leah Cahill told the BBC: “The take-home message is to eat in the morning when you wake up, preferably within an hour. The results show that something is better than nothing, but it’s always better to have something healthy and balanced.”

She said the timing of the meal seemed to be key and waiting until lunch rather than “having breakfast” may be straining (损伤) the body over time. This could be increasing the risk of high blood pressure and fatness which could in turn damage the heart. “Don’t skip breakfast,” Dr Cahill suggested.

Victoria Taylor, an expert with the British Heart Foundation, said: “These researchers only looked at men aged over 45, so we would need to see further research to prove that breakfast has the same effect on the heart health of other groups of people. What we do know is that a healthy breakfast can make that mid-morning biscuit less tempting, as well as giving you another opportunity to widen the variety of foods in your diet. Cereals (谷类食品) with low fat milk are a good way to start the day. Try a banana or dried fruit on top and you’ll be on your way to a fine day before you’ve even left the house.”

28. What does the text mainly deal with?

A. The effects of snacks on the health of the heart.

B. An interview by the BBC on people’s lifestyles.

C. What a healthy and balanced diet should contain.

D. The relationship between breakfast and a healthy heart.

29. Dr Leah Cahill’s suggestion is that we should _____.

A. fix the time for each meal we eat in a day

B. make sure our breakfast is always balanced

C. eat our breakfast immediately after getting up

D. have breakfast within an hour after waking up

30. The underlined word “tempting” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to “_____”.

A. attractive                       B. valuable           C. obvious                  D. familiar

31. According to Victoria Taylor, _____.

A. men over 45 are more likely to get heart diseases

B. fresh fruits like bananas are necessary for a healthy breakfast

C. it’s healthy to eat some biscuit between breakfast and lunch

D. the researchers should have covered other age groups in their study

Car washes are a common sight throughout Nigeria, but Madinat Aliyu’s roadside business is very special: she is the only woman car-washer in the north of the country.

“This job has caused me a lot of problems,” said the 27-year-old, checking cars waiting to be cleaned in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara state.

Aliyu took up her work two years ago, hoping to use the 7,000 naira (£28) she earned every month to put her younger sisters and brothers through school following the death of their mother, the only one who made money to support the family. But her family begged her to stop doing this job, and she has received “judgment and warnings” from strangers too.

“My grandmother cried for many days. Some people thought it was a joke to bring more customers. Others said if she is doing it for money, let’s just give her money to stop bringing us shame,” she said as she got water from a well by the roadside. “But I hate laziness or depending on somebody else.”

However, Aliyu has admirers. “Some customers only allow her to wash their cars,” said her colleague (同事) Shamsudeen Mohammed. “I was trained to wash cars by men, and I can honestly tell you women are better to work under,” he added.

Recently another woman came to Aliyu to ask for advice on starting her own car wash. “Unfortunately her family discouraged her. I told her, if you listen to them, you will find yourself begging or marrying a man who is older than your grandfather,” she said.

Though she is considered a pariah (贱民) by many, Aliyu has no plans to stop her work. “I see men doing something and I think I can do it too.”

32. Madinat Aliyu washes cars mainly to _____.

A. make a living              B. learn about cars

C. meet her future husband       D. know the life of the poor

33. From the fifth paragraph, we know Shamsudeen Mohammed _____.

A. thought Aliyu did a good job       B. trained Aliyu to wash cars

C. had more customers than Aliyu      D. liked to work with men

34. As a woman car-washer, Aliyu _____.

A. gets her family’s support       B. dreams of going to school

C. is thought highly of by strangers   D. sets an example for the women in Nigeria

35. Which of the following can best describe Aliyu?

A. Shy but smart.           B. Independent and confident.             

C. Honest but lazy.         D. Humorous and imaginative.

What do you do in a situation like this? You’re eating dinner with friends in a nice restaurant. You’re having a great time when a phone rings at the table next to you. A man takes out his phone and starts talking loudly about problems he’s having with his girlfriend. He talks for almost ten minutes!  36 

Many people find cell phones useful in their day-to-day lives. But we’ve all sat next to someone talking too loudly on a cell phone. You may want to tell the loudmouth to end the conversation, but let the management take care of noisy customers.  37  Here are a few rules:

       • Off means off!  38  If a sign says “turn off cell phones”, don’t use your phone.

       •  39  Speak softly and for a short time. Try to move away from other people.

• Lights off, phone off! Never take calls in a theater or at the movies.

•  40  Talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous. And watch where you’re going when you’re walking down the street and talking on the phone.

As more people use cell phones, things are only going to get worse. So, the next time you’re getting ready to make a call, stop and consider the people around you.

A. Pay attention!

B. Try to make yourself understood!

C. Keep private conversations private!

D. You can only control your own behavior.

E. Always make yourself available to your phone.

F. Follow the rules of restaurants and other public places.

G. This happens all the time — on buses, in restaurants, everywhere!