修改时间：2024-07-13 浏览次数：121 类型：月考试卷
The value-packed, all-inclusive sight-seeing package that combines the best of Sydney's harbor, city, bay and beach highlights.
A Sydney Pass gives you unlimited and flexible travel on the Explorer Buses: the 'red' Sydney Explorer shows you around our exciting city sights while the 'blue' Bondi Explorer visits Sydney Harbour bays and famous beaches. Take to the water on one of three magnificent daily harbor cruises (游船). You can also travel free on regular Sydney Buses, Sydney Ferries or CityRail services (limited area), so you can go to every corner of this beautiful city.
Imagine browsing at Darling Harbour, tasting the famous seafood at Watsons Bay or enjoying the city lights on an evening ferry cruise. The possibilities and plans are endless with a Sydney Pass. Wherever you decide to go, remember that bookings are not required on any of our services so tickets are treated on a first in, first seated basis.
Sydney Passes are available for 3, 5 or 7 days for use over a 7-calendar-day period. With a 3 or 5-day pass you choose on which days out of the 7 you want to use it. All Sydney Passes include a free Airport Express inward trip before starting your 3, 5 or 7 days, and the return trip is valid for 2 months from the first day your ticket was used.
Sydney Pass Fares
Adult | Child | Family | |
3-day ticket | $90 | $45 | $225 |
5-day ticket | $120 | $60 | $300 |
7-day ticket | $140 | $70 | $350 |
A child is defined as anyone from the ages of 4 years to under 16 years. Children under 4 years travel free.
A family is defined as 2 adults and any number of children from 4 to under 16 years of age from the same family.
Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers, small, tightly knit(联系) groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.
Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialization, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.
At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages. Often spoken by many people while hot, wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 Languages: the Americas about 1,000, Africa 2,400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800. The median number(中位数) of speakers is a mere 6, 000, which means that half the worlds languages are spoken by fewer people than that.
Already well over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages are close to extinction(消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon (eight remaining speakers), Chiapaneco in Mexico(150). Lipan Apache in the United States(two or three) or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question-mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival.
Is the "Go to College" Message Overdone?
Even in a weak job market, the old college try isn't the answer for everyone. A briefing paper from the Brookings Institution warns that "we may have overdone the message" on college, senior fellow Isabel Sawhill said.
"We've been telling students and their families for years that college is the only way to succeed in the economy and of course there's a lot of truth to that," Ms. Sawhill said. "On average it does pay off… But if you load up on a whole lot of student debt and then you don't graduate, that is a very bad situation."
One comment that people often repeat among the years of slow job growth has been the value of education for landing a job and advancing in a career. April's national unemployment rate stood at 7.5%, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate for high-school graduates over 25 years old who hadn't attended college was 7.4%, compared with 3.9% for those with a bachelor's degree or more education. The difference is even bigger among those aged 16—24. The jobless rate for those with only a high school diploma in that age group is about 20%. At the same time, recent research by Canadian economists warns that a college degree is no guarantee of promising employment.
Ms. Sawhill pointed out that among the aspects that affect the value of a college education is the field of one's major: Students in engineering or other sciences end up earning more than ones who major in the arts or education. The cost of tuition (学费) and the availability of financial aid are other considerations, with public institutions generally a better financial bargain than private ones.
She suggested two ways to improve the situation: increasing vocational (职业的)-technical training programs and taking a page from Europe's focus on early education rather than post-secondary learning. "The European countries put a little more attention to getting people prepared in the primary grades," she said. "Then they have a higher bar for whoever goes to college—but once you get into college, you're more likely to be highly subsidized (资助)."
She also is a supporter of technical training—to teach students how to be plumbers, welders and computer programmers—because "employers are desperate" for workers with these skills.
Everyone looks forward to progress, whether in one's personal life or in the general society. Progress indicates a person's ability to change the way he is living at the moment. Progress must lead to a better life and a better way of doing things. All these, however, remain true only in so far as people want to accept technology and move forward by finding new and more efficient ways of doing things.
However, at the back of the minds of many people, especially those who miss the "good old days", efficiency comes with a price. When communication becomes more efficient, people are able to contact one another no matter where they are and at whatever time they wish .The click of a button allows people miles apart to talk or to see each other without even leaving their homes. With the communication gadets, such as mobile phones and ipads, people often do not take the effort to visit one another personally. A personal visit carries with the additional feature of having to be in the person's presence for as long as the visit lasts. We cannot unnecessarily excuse ourselves or turn the other persons off.
With efficiency also comes mass production. Such is the nature of factories and the success of industrialization today. Factories have improved efficiency. Unskillful tasks are left to machines and products are better made and produced with greater accuracy than any human hand could ever have done. However, with the improvements in efficiency also comes the loss of the personal touch when making these products. For example, many handcrafts(手工艺品) are now produced in a factory. Although this means that supply is better able to increase demand, now that the supply is quick and efficient, the demand might fall because mass production lowers the quality of the handcraft and it is difficult to find unique designs on each item.
Nevertheless, we must not commit the mistake of analyzing progress only from one point of view. In fact, progress has allowed tradition to keep up. It is only with progress and the invention of new technology that many old products can be brought back to their old state. New technology is required for old products to stay old.
It is people's attitude towards progress that causes the type of influence that technology has on society. Technology is flexible. There is no fixed way of making use of it. Everything depends on people's attitude. The worst effects of progress will fall on those who are unable to rethink their attitudes and views of society. When we accept progress and adapt it to suit our needs, a new "past" is created.
Long, long ago people couldn't write and they had no books. But they had stories. People learned the stories by heart and taught new ones to one another. Sometimes it was hard to remember them all.
The ancient Egyptians wrote their stories on something made from papyrus (纸沙草) plants. People in other places wanted to learn from the Egyptians to use papyrus. So, parchment (羊皮纸), made from goatskin, later took its place.
In ancient China books looked a little different. People there used ink to write on bamboo or silk. And then they invented paper. Made of trees, paper was easier and cheaper to make than papyrus or parchment. Paper-making later spread to the West, but there was a big problem with these early books. Every single one had to be copied and written by hand.
They carved (雕刻) a page of words into a piece of wood or stone. They could then print the page by spreading ink on the wood or stone and putting it against paper. But it wasn't until a German printer invented movable, metal letters that books became fast and easy to make. The letters could be used to print copy after copy, and the letters put together again and again to print different pages of words.
Once a luxury (奢侈品) only the rich could buy, they soon became a treasure everyone could enjoy.
A. It took years to finish making just one book.
B. But papyrus grew mainly in Egypt.
C. Things grew a little easier when writing was invented.
D. Finally books could be printed by the thousands.
E. The Chinese were the first to think of a way to speed things up a little.
F. Books in the West didn't change for a long time after that.
G. Its surface was smoother and better for writing on too.
The Keeper of the River
An old man had been working for many years for a town. His job was to clear away natural waste from the pool water in the hills, which made up the lovely river flowing through the town nearby. Quietly and 1, the old man guarded the hills, 2the leaves and branches, and cleaned up the dirt that would have blocked and polluted the fresh flow of water. The town soon became a popular attraction for tourists. Elegant swans(天鹅) floated along the clear river and the view was so beautiful 3words.
Years passed. One evening the town committee met. As they reviewed the budget, one man's 4caught sight of the salary 5 being paid to the seldom seen keeper of the river. He asked "Who is the old man? Why do we 6 to employ him? No one in town ever sees him. For all we know, the strange keeper of the hills isn't doing his job. His position isn't 7 any longer." Then they voted to 8the man.
For several weeks nothing changed...
By early autumn, the trees began to 9 their leaves. Small branches broke off and fell into the pools of the hills, 10the flow of the shining water. One afternoon, someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown color in the river. A few days later, the water was much 11. Within another week, an oily something covered some sections of the water along the banks and a terrible 12 was soon sensed. Swans left, and so did the 13. The only thing that was now visiting the village was disease and sickness.
Quickly, the embarrassed town committee called a special meeting. Realizing their huge error in 14, they rehired the old keeper of the river again, and within a few weeks, the river began to clear up. Swans and tourists came back again and new life returned to the small town in the Alps.
Never ignore the seeming smallness of a task, job or life. They may all make a 15.
There are several reasons why school uniforms are good idea. First of all, uniforms help the school look smart. The students feel that they belong to a particular group. When every pupil in the school wears the uniform, nobody (have) to worry about fashion(时尚). Everybody wears same style of clothes. Uniforms can be useful in unexpected ways. A school in Ireland has introduced an interesting new uniform. On the edge of the jacket, there is a piece of cloth gives off light in the dark. When the children are walking or (cycle) to school on dark mornings, car drivers can (easy) see them.
But can uniforms help improve school standards? The answer this question is not clear. One study in America found that students' grades (improve) a little after the school introduced uniforms. But some students didn't want (wear) the uniform. Other American studies showed no (connect) between uniforms and school performance.
School uniforms are (tradition) in Britain, but some schools are starting to get rid of them. Some very good schools don't have a uniform policy. However, uniforms are still popular. Pupils at about 90 percent of British secondary schools wear uniforms.
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