GREATBRITISHBREAKSAND EUROPEAN RAIL HOLIDAYS
Five-day breaks from £475pp — chosen departures up until October 2023.
Arena Travel pride themselves on creating unforgettable vacation. Take a look below at a choice of their UK and Ireland breaks, or travel further afield to visit some of Europe's most famous places. All their holidays will allow you to sit back, relax and travel in style while taking in the sights from the comfort of your seat.
REASONS TO BOOK
Price promise
Your holiday will not be sold for less; furthermore, if the price of your holiday does increase, you will not be asked to pay more.
Safety and wellbeing
We have stringent hygiene (严格的卫生) standards and ways to help keep you safe.
Peace of mind
All of our holidays offer customer protection.
WHAT'S INCLUDED?
Well-planned list of the places you will visit.
Inclusive travel by rail, air, or coach (except UK holidays)
Quality accommodation in carefully chosen hotels
Many meals and excursions (短途旅行)
The services of an experienced tour manager
RAIL HOLIDAY | DESTINATION | DEPARTURES | DURATION | PRICE (pp) |
Little Trains of Norfolk | UK | May-September 2023 | 5 days | £475 |
Exploring Ireland's Wild Atlantic Coast | Ireland | May and September 2023 | 6 days | £1,095 |
Glacier Express Winter Magic | Switzerland | February and March 2023 | 5 days | £1,295 |
Nice Carnival and the Menton Lemon Festival | France | February 2023 | 6 days | £995 |
To book or to request a brochure call 01858 438335, or visit radiotimes.com/holidayoffers.
The English Language Assistants Program is very famous in the UK. Every year, it sends many language teachers to support English training in other places around the world. I took part in the program last year and spent six months in a small town called Privas in France.
The small town lies in the southeast of France. It is a beautiful place. The quiet environment and comfortable lifestyle made me fall in love with it. The school where I taught was a great place to learn about French culture. I learned some special French customs (习俗) there.
People greet each other by kissing on the cheek. How many times you may be kissed all depends where you live in France. On my first night in the town, I stayed with a host family. They told me that in most places in France, people kiss twice. In the north of France, they get kissed for four times. And in Privas, the custom is to give three. Sometimes I was not sure which cheek to kiss first. Since I had long hair, when a person kissed me, some of my hair would end up in his or her mouth. That was really funny and awkward (令人尴尬的). But people there were pleased that I was getting used to the local culture.
Six months of staying there made me feel like part of the town. It was an unforgettable experience and I can't wait to return there some day.
Students usually go to school from Monday to Friday. But some schools in the USA are getting shorter weeks. Classes go for four days instead of five.
There are some reasons for this change. School leaders hope longer weekends may give teachers a good rest. And schools could spend less money on buses or electricity.
But is a four-day school week better for students and parents?
Some experts did research to find out the effects. They talked to people about the change. "Some people really like it," said Christopher Doss, an expert. "Parents get to spend more time with their kids. And they think everyone can be less stressed and sleep more."
The experts didn't just want opinions though. They looked at the data. "In fact, we could not find a lot of data to support the parents," Doss said. Parents did spend more time with their kids. But the study didn't find that they were less stressed.
The experts also discovered a problem. "We found that kids probably learned a little less every year," Doss said. "That can add up to a lot less." So the question is while the change is welcomed, is it worth having kids learn less?
Many students have their own ideas about the change. "I think weeks should be four days," Chris said. "Every Sunday, I wish for just one more day to prepare for school." Maya is more in the middle. "I don't mind a four-day week, but I still like school," she said. "The bad side is that Tuesday will feel like Monday!"
Are you for a four-day week? Or are you OK with five?
Julie Thornton Johnson woke up at 4 a. m. one night in May. She could feel one of the dogs sleeping between her and her husband, Jimmy. The couple owns three dogs. Their pets often climb into bed during the night. Julie went back to sleep. She woke up again a few hours later. She heard her husband talking quietly.
"Julie, whose dog is this?" he asked. She was half-awake. She saw a 90-pound dog on her bed. "Jimmy and I were surprised. And I was like. That's not our dog," Julie said. The dog looked well cared for. It belonged to someone.
Julie posted on Facebook at 8:30 a.m. She posted pictures of the dog lying next to her husband. "This is the strangest post I have ever had to make," Julie wrote. "Is this your dog?" She shared the post on local Facebook pages. Two hours later, Cris Hawkins and Felecia Johnson wrote back. They said the dog was theirs. Her name is Nala. She left her home the day before and ran away. They thought she would find her way home.
Julie thinks Nala got inside when the couple let their dogs out for the last time that night. It was after 2 a.m. on a stormy night. Jimmy didn't lock the door. High winds must have blown it open.
The couple's three dogs are named Zeppelin, Mollis, and Jupiter. They often bark (吠叫) at other animals.
But they didn't bark at Nala. They didn't seem to mind her being there at all. "I guess they had a secret pact (条约) to have a spend-the-night party," Julie said. "They chose not to tell me about it."
Felecia came to pick up Nala at 11:30 that morning. The two Tennessee couples met up for an ice cream party about two weeks later.
The start of a school year can be discouraging, but with your own team of imaginary cheerleaders (啦啦队), you can feel confident and supported.
What is an imaginary cheer leading team?
Cheerleading teams are seen at sporting events. ___ An imaginary cheerleading team is a group of people you think about when you need a boost (鼓励). One of the advantages of an imaginary team is that you don't have to see them in person. Your team is there to inspire and support you. ___ Any time you face a challenge, you can think to yourself, "What would my team say?"
___
You can choose anyone. They might be real or fictional (虚构的); they can be living or from the past.
___ You can even add a pet.
Keeping your team with you
When you've decided who's on your team, write out a list. You could find pictures of the members and make a team collage (拼贴画) poster for your bedroom. ___ Or you can share it with your family or friends.
A. Who is part of the team?
B. How can you build your team?
C. You can keep your team to yourself.
D. Think big and let your team grow as you do.
E. You can think of them whenever you'd like encouragement.
F. And they are there to support, encourage and cheer on the athletes.
G. They could be someone you've never met or someone you know very well.
Many years ago not long after we were married, my wife, Margaret, and I went to her parents' place for a weekend visit in the fall. They happened to be pouring cement ( 浇筑水泥) for a new step and walkway outside their back door, so I 1 them. We completed the job and were quite 2 of the result.
Later that night after dinner, I 3 that my wedding (婚礼) ring was4 . The whole family searched the house with no luck. The next day I was not5 . After breakfast we 6 to search outside but again, no luck. At that point we came to the conclusion (结论) that the7 must have slipped off (滑落) my finger while I was doing the cement work and now it was 8 .
We returned home without one wedding ring. I felt9 at the thought and kept 10 myself why I hadn't taken it off before doing the cement work. This was a very hard 11 for me to learn. My wife's family said they would continue12 just in case as you never know — they might get 13 and find it.
The following spring, we got the miracle (奇迹) phone call. It seems that my ten-year-old brother-in-law, Mike, was outside playing in the yard and guess what he 14 ? My mother-in-law phoned to give me the good news.
Luckily, the 15 ended well for us and was quite a learning experience for me!
On August 24, 17-year-old Rutherford ___ (land) his Shark airplane in Sofia, Bulgaria, and became ___ youngest person to fly solo (单独地) around the world.
Rutherford was 16 when he set out from Sofia ___ March
23. He flew about 30, 000 ___ (mile) over 52 countries and spent 221 hours in the air. He stopped in 30 countries along the way ___ (rest).
On the journey, Rutherford faced extreme heat in Dubai, sandstorms in Sudan, ___ Heavy rains in India. After ___ (fly) for 10 hours over the Pacific Ocean, he slept on an Alaska island.
Although there were challenges, Rutherford described his trip as " ___ (wonder)." Although his next goal is to catch up on schoolwork, he will ___ (certain) continue flying. "We should follow ___ (we) dreams," he said. "No matter how old we are."
旅游资源: 许多世界著名的风景名胜，如：九寨沟（湖泊：清澈见底；色彩斑斓）都江堰水利工程（2000多年历史；仍在发挥作用）
相关信息: 气候适宜；交通方便
注意：1. 词数100左右，信的格式及开头已为你写好（不计入总词数）。2. 可根据内容要点适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。3. 参考词汇：省份province；湖泊lake；都江堰水利工程Dujiangyan Irrigation Project
发挥作用play a part
Dear Nick,
I'm glad to hear that you're coming to Sichuan in August.
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
"The cleaners said I could pick up our things today,"Jet's mom said on the drive to school. "Do you think they were able to clean Big Dog?"Jet asked, trying not to sound too worried.
But he was worried. Big Dog was his favorite stuffed ( 填充) animal. Grandpa had won it for him at the fair when he was five years old. Jet was eight now, and he didn't need to sleep with it or anything. But he did need it. He needed it to sit on the shelf (架子) above his bed — the shelf that had been burned by the house fire.
"I'm not sure what they were able to save,"Mom said."They said they weren't able to save our photo albums (相册). I sure will miss those pictures."
Jet could tell she was really sad."I'll pick you up after school, and we'll go through the boxes together,"Mom said before she drove off.
Jet tried to focus on his schoolwork all day, but he couldn't keep his mind off Big Dog.
He held his backpack through the halls as if he were carrying his old stuffed friend. During library time, he checked out a book about dogs.
RRRRRINNNGGG! Time for art class. Mr. Light said it was"artist's choice"day, so they could work on whatever they wished.
Jet stared at an empty page. He thought of his mom picking up the boxes of things that had been damaged by the fire.
Then he remembered how sad his mom was about the photo albums. Most things could be replaced (替换) at the store. But the pictures were gone forever. He knew what to draw.
Jet drew a picture of himself opening presents in front of a Christmas tree. Then one of him and his mom camping. There was one of him playing baseball and one of their visit to see Grandpa. By the time class was over, Jet had made a small album.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150 左右；2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
When Jet's mom picked him up from school, Big Dog was in the back seat.
As they looked at the pictures, Jet's mom laughed and cried, and she noticed a blank (空白的) page at the end of the book.