阅读理解

    Keeping the kids busy over the school holidays can be discouraging and cost parents a lot. But we've found some cheap and cheerful ways to enjoy family time this Easter from free days out to fun-filled theme parks which won't cost us much. We've done the homework so you can get started on having a great time.

Theme Parks

♦ Save from 10% to 25% off the price of tickets for Legoland in Windor by booking in advance online. A family of four can save up to ₤45.90 on a one-day ticket, paying ₤137.70.

♦Book seven days in advance and save ₤43 off the price of a family of four tickets for Drayton Manor Theme Park. Call 0844-472-1950 or book online and you'll pay ₤65 on the day.

♦ You can pick up a family of four ticket for a day at Alton Towers in Staffordshire for ₤43.80 off the day price.

♦ Save ₤16 off the price for a family trip to The Making of Harry Potter by buying a family ticket (two adults and two children) online. Family of four ₤101, compared to ₤117.

Activities

    Students looking for a cut-price trip to see the animals can save 15% off the ticket price at Bristol Zoo and pay ₤12.71 rather than the full adult price ₤14.53. Teens should show their identity as students.

Freebies(免费赠品)

    Let your kids discover what it's like to be an animal on the African Plain in the ocean. Or, they can learn to love leaf beetles（甲壳虫） or become a scientist for the day at the Natural History Museum in London.

    Through the following four cultural relics, the world has known about Korea's cultural treasures.

Pulguksa Temple

    Pulguksa Temple plays an important part in the history of Korean temples. The building of Pulguksa Temple began in 751. In the year 774 the large temple was finished, becoming an important center for Korean national-protection Buddhism(佛教). The way used to create the store structure gave the temple a look of beauty. The building thus represents the excellent Korean sculpting(雕刻).

Sokkuram Cave

    Sokkuram Cave is a man-made cave, which has been sculpted from white stone in special sculpting ways. In the cave, a seated Buddha is the main statue. On the walls around him are found 38 other statues and the Four Heavenly Kings. This stone cave is one of Korea's greatest places, built when Shilla's religion, science and sculpture were at the height. It shows Shilla's knowledge of math, physics and art.

Haeinsa Temple

    Haeinsa Temple's Changgyong Panjon (藏经板库) is a world-class cultural treasure. It has 81,340 wooden blocks. Millions of Chinese characters were caved on the blocks. In addition to its artistic value, it is famous as the oldest Buddhist canon(教义)in the world today. The building is beautiful. What's more important is that its design allows for natural wind as well as temperature control. Each book is 69.5cm in width and 23.9cm in height. There are 23 lines on each of the blocks and each line contains fourteen characters.

Changdokkung palace

    Changdokkung palace, one of the five places of the Chosen Dynasty, was built in 1405. The oldest structure is Tonhwammun Gate. Other ancient buildings include Injongjon hall, Sonjongjon Hall and Taejojon Hall. The back garden for kings remains a great example of the ancient Korean scenery.

    Grown­ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” or remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

    One explanation is the law of overlearning, which can be stated as follows: Once we have learned something, additional learning trials(尝试)increase the length of time we will remember it.

    In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overlearn.

    The multiplication tables(乘法口诀表)are an exception to the general rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in childhood.

    The law of overlearning explains why cramming(突击学习)for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one's future development.

    There are about 5,000 different kinds of ladybugs(瓢虫)in the world. They are also known as lady beetles or ladybird beetles. They come in many different colors and patterns, but the best-known in North America is the seven-spotted ladybug, with its shiny, red-and-black body.

    In many cultures, ladybugs are thought to be good luck. Most people like them because they are pretty, lovely and do no harm to human beings. But farmers love them because they eat aphids and other plant-eating pests. One ladybug can eat up 5,000 insects in its lifetime!

    Most ladybugs have dome-shaped bodies with six short legs. Depending on the kind, they can have spots, stripes, or nothing at all. Seven-spotted ladybugs are red or orange with three spots on each side and one in the middle. They have a black head. Ladybugs are colorful for a reason. They tell the enemy: "Eat something else! I taste terrible." When threatened, they may play dead. Birds are ladybugs' main predators(天敌), but they are also eaten by frogs, spiders, and dragonflies.

    Ladybugs are happy in many different places, including grasslands, forests, cities, suburbs, and along rivers. Seven-spotted ladybugs are native to Europe but were brought to North America in the mid-1900s.

    Ladybugs are most active from spring until fall. When the weather turns cold, they look for a warm place to hibernate, such as in rotting logs, under rocks, or even inside houses. These hibernating places can have thousands of ladybugs.

    The name "ladybug" was given by European farmers who prayed to the Virgin Mary when pests began eating their crops. After ladybugs came and wiped out the invading insects, the farmers named them "beetle of Our Lady". This later was shortened to "lady beetle" and "ladybug".

Coolest Hotels in the World

    Artau Aragon Towers

    The Ariau Amazon Towers hotel lets you sleep in a tree house. Eight towers make up this hotel that offers over 300 rooms. If you really want to get into the spirit, book the Tarzan Suite which is large enough for a big family. You'll be thirty feet up in the air and can travel between the towers through their wooden walkways.

    Prices: starting at $300 one night for each person for a regular room and going all the way up to $3000 for the Tarzan Suite.

    For more information, visit the website: http://Hwww.ariautowers.com

    The Ice Hotel

    Every winter in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, a special kind of hotel called the Ice Hotel is built. Each year, world-famous artists are invited to design and produce works of art from the ice, many of which can be found in the rooms. You'll have your choice between hot or cold rooms but you will be well advised to stay at least one night in a cold room for a true experience.

    Prices: starting at $318 one night for each person for either a cold room or a warm one. For more information, visit the website: http:Hwww.icehotel.com.

Propeller Island

    Propeller Island City Lodge is a very special hotel that was designed by a German artist. Each room provides you with the possibility of living in a work of art. Every single piece of furniture in the thirty rooms of the hotel has been hand-made and each room is completely different. You'll be able to choose a room based on your own personal tastes.

    Prices: starting at just $91 a night, and an additional (另外) person for only 20 extra dollars.

    For more information, visit the website: http://www.propeller-island.com.

    For information about other cool hotels. In the world, visit the website: http://www.bahamabeachclub.com.

    When I got home after dropping out of college in my junior year because of depression, I didn't want to get out of bed. But my parents wanted me to, so I just transferred myself to the couch in the living room. Sometimes I would turn on the TV and watch marathons of Chopped, but mostly I just sat there, lost in thought.

    One day when I was lying on the couch, not knowing what to do, I wondered since I had been out of school for a long time, I might as well do something productive with my life. I looked at my options. I could attend some kind of online college class, go to in-person events just to get out of the house, or take up a hobby. But none of these things made me happy, and my depression seemed to keep me drowning under the waves.

    There was something that was my thing—entrepreneurship. No matter what kind of day I'm having now, the mere mention of start-ups still perks me up. I have been starting business in some kinds of forms ever since I was a kid, and despite everything, this passion has never changed.

    So I started thinking of ideas, seeing which one could become practical business. I spent my days glued to a wide purple notebook, a pen in hand, sometimes moving from the couch to the table on our back porch in the mornings. If I got up early enough, I'd watch the sun come up. It was there, in the still mornings, that I learned about life and started to look back on mine.

    With time going on, the depression started to lift. I was making more progress in my recovery, and the good days were more frequent than the bad. I started a couple of different businesses, eventually settling on a web design business, and did a lot of experiments and changed my ideas, and after a while, things started to work.