Rail passengers are being forced to pay thousands of pounds more in fares as a result of poor advice from the national telephone helpline and individual stations, a consumer organization reveals today. Research by Which? found that in some cases passengers are being charged almost double the cheapest price because of errors made by staff .
Which? asked 25 questions of both station staff and the National Rail Enquiries (NRES) helpline. Only half of the 50 questions were answered correctly. If customers had followed all the advice given ,they would have been ￡1,263.60 worse off .
Bad advice was given for the cheapest fare for a single journey between London and Grantham. For a ticket bought on the day of travel, both NRES and a King’s Cross station clerk quoted GNER’s ￡44.50 fare, ignoring a Hull Trains service which leaves 10 minutes earlier and costs just ￡20.
Some of the most costly misinformation was given for journeys where season tickets should have been recommended. Passengers making a return journey between Swindon and Penzance twice in a week could buy a ticket from one company for ￡70 which would cover all the travel. But both NRES and station staff quoted ￡67 for each journey, making ￡134．However, the NRES website proved to be a much more reliable source of information .
Which ? also checked “the earlier you book, the cheaper the ticket” claims by five companies and found this was not always the case. On some services, prices went up and down at random.
Ithiel Mogridge, 52, gave one example of poor advice :” Last Christmas I found my brother a ticket on the thetrainline.com to travel from Blackburn to Yate. While the direct route was ￡51, this one involved a change in Newport and cost just ￡21．I emailed the details to him and his partner. They went to Blackburn station, where the clerk insisted the fare was ￡51.”
Malcolm Coles, editor of which.co.uk, said :”Staff training needs to be improved. In the meantime, we’ve designed a checklist, available at which.co.uk/ rail advice. “
1．According to the passage “which ?”is a ________.
A．national telephone helpline
B．department under the British Rail
C．consumer organization
D．website under the National Rail Enquiries
2．When the author said that customers “would have been ￡1,263.60 worse off”, he was telling us that customers would have _________.
A．saved ￡1,263.60 if they had followed the advice
B．spend ￡1,263.60 more than the lowest price
C．used ￡1,263.60 for the survey of 25 questions
D．been cheated of ￡1,263.60 from the poor advice
3．The phrase at random in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to “_________”.
A．casually B．purposefully C．exactly D．unavoidable
4．The passage is mainly concerned with the phenomenon that ________.
A．train passengers get bad advice on fares
B．rail passengers are ill-treated by station staff
C．booking clerks and the telephone helpline offer reliable information
D．rail passengers can get cheaper tickets if they book earlier
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
The industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people’s work has taken the form of jobs. The industrial age may now be coming to an end, and some of changes in work patterns which it brought may have to be reversed. This seems a discouraging thought. But, in fact, it could offer the prospect of a better future for work. Universal employment, as its history show, hasn’t meant economic freedom.
Employment became widespread when the enclosures（圈地运动）of the 17th and 18th centuries made many people dependent on paid work by taking them away from the use of the land, and thus from the means to provide a living for themselves. Then the factory system destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from people’s homes. Later, as transport improved, first by rail and then by road, people traveled longer distances to their place of employment until, eventually, many people’s work lost all connection with their home lives and the places in which they lived.
Meanwhile, employment put women at a disadvantage. In pre-industrial times, men and women had shared the productive work of the household and village community. Now it became customary for the husband to go out to paid employment, leaving the unpaid work of the home and family to his wife. Tax and benefit regulations still assume this norm（准则）today, and restrict more flexible sharing of work roles between sexes.
It was not only women whose work status suffered. As employment became the dominant form of work, young people and old people were kept out — a problem now, as more teenagers disappointed and annoyed at school and more retired people want to live active lives.
All this may now have to change. The time has certainly come to switch some efforts and resources away from the utopian（乌托邦）goal of creating jobs for all, to the urgent practical task of helping many people to manage without full-time jobs.
From the passage we can learn that ____.
A. jobs have existed since human came into being
B. the industrial age brought jobs to everyone
C. the industrial age brought the work patterns most people’s work has taken
D. in the future more and more people could get jobs as the industry is developing
Before the enclosures of the 17th and 18th, people lived mainly on ____.
A. paid work B. unpaid work C. taxes and benefits D. land
Before the industrial age women played ____.
A. more important roles in making a life B. less important roles in making a life
C. roles as weak as after in raising their children D. roles as important as men in supporting a family
From the passage we can infer that ____.
A. creating jobs for all must be changed
B. enough jobs must be created by our society
C. more and more jobs are being created
D. industrial age has made many people unable to live without full-time jobs
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Imagine，one day，getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours，and then，after a full day of work，going back home to Beijing and having dinner there．
Sounds unusual，doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic，with the development of China’s high—speed railway system．And that’s not a11．China has an even greater high—speed railway plan—to connect the country with Southeast Asia，and eventually Eastern Europe．
China is negotiating to extend its own high·-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 1 0 to 15 years，eventually reaching London and Singapore．
China has proposed three such projects．The first would possibly connect Kunming withSingapore via Vietnam and Malaysia．Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan，and possibly
to Germany．The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe．
If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward，people could zip over from London to Beiling in under two days．
The new system would still follow China’s high—speed railway standard．And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour，almost as fast as some airplanes．
China’s bullet train(高速客车)，the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou，already has the
World’s fastest average speed．It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours．
Of course，there are some technical challenges to overcome．There are so many issues that need to be settled，such as safety，rail gauge(轨距)，maintenance of railway tracks．So，it’s important to pay attention to every detail．
But the key issue is really money．China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on
domestic railway expansion．
China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital
investment．Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development．
It’11 be a win-win project. For other countries，the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business，tourism and so on，not to mention the better communication among those countnes．
For China，such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources，but would also help develop China’s far west．We foresee that in the coming decades，millions of people will migrate to the western regions，where the land is empty and resources unused．With high-speed trains，people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for a11．And they’11 trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries．
1．China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because ____________．
A．China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions
B．China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways
C．China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries
D． the foreign countries involved will develop their railway transportation，business and tourism
2．According to the passage，the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is____________．
A．technical issues B．safety of the system
C．financial problems D．maintenance of railway tracks
3.Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed
railway plan?
A．Critical． B．Reserved． C．Doubtful D. Positive．
4．Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
A．New Railway Standards B．Big Railway Dreams
C．High—speed Bullet Trains D．International Railway Network
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科目：高中英语 来源：2013-2014学年海南省三亚市高三上学期第二次月考英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days.
It goes like this: You can't take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks to the rail station. We'd take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the train, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn't like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom's friend was waiting to give us a ride home—our first car ride of the day.
The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal (多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.
Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just lightrail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox—and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.
On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestrut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where's the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?
I'm writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn't try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me.
1. According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?
A．Building confidence in herself.
B．Reducing her use of private cars.
C．Developing her sense of direction.
D．Giving her knowledge about vehicles.
2. The underlined word “paralyzed”(in Para.5) is closest in meaning to “________”．
A．displayed B．justified C．ignored D．ruined
3. Which means of transportation does the writer probably disapprove of?
A．Airplane. B．Subway. C．Train. D．Car.
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科目：高中英语 来源：2012-2013学年福建省高二上学期第一学段考试英语试卷（解析版） 题型：完型填空
“You will never walk again．You will have to use a wheelchair．” I heard his 36 fall heavily on my ears, numbing my soul．If I had never felt hopeless before, I felt hopeless then．
The car accident has left me unconscious．When 37 , I found both legs in casts（石膏）．While I had other serious injuries, my 38 were my first concern．Working as a special needs teacher and busy and active by nature, I couldn’t imagine being 39 in a wheelchair．
Lying in my bed, I wondered how I 40 give my ten-year-old son hope that mom would 41 ．He’d been cheerful on every visit, but I saw 42 in his eyes． He needed the ray of hope that I would not be in a wheelchair forever．
Just maybe, I thought, I could use this experience to teach him what to do when misfortune 43 ．
It didn’t take me long to become 44 with my limited movements and even with the pace the doctors were willing to go with me．I was determined to learn everything they showed me．
Every night in my private room, as soon as I knew I wouldn’t be 45 or discovered, I would move myself from the bed to the floor, 46 on to the bed rail（床栏杆） for dear life, and slowly putting my weight 47 my feet．After several weeks of such difficult 48 , my strength and confidence continued to 49 ．
It came the time to share my accomplishments with the person most 50 to me．One night, when I heard my son greet the nurses at the station, I 51 myself up．As he opened the door, I took a few small steps． 52 , he could only watch as I turned and started back to bed．All of the pain, the fear, and the struggle 53 as I heard the words I had longed to hear, “Mommy, you can walk!”
I am now able to walk alone, sometimes using a stick．I am able to take public transportation to shop and visit friends．My life has been blessed with many 54 of which I am proud．But none has ever brought me the satisfaction and joy 55 by those four little words of my son．
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科目：高中英语 来源：2014届四川省高二上学期期中考试英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
No one knows yet the accurate number of lives which have been lost in this terrible fire .But reports suggest that it is more than one hundred .
A wall of flames fifty feet high and at least one hundred and fifty miles wide is now racing towards the forests and rich farmlands of southern Victoria . Towns less than one hundred miles from Melbourne will be in danger unless the wind changes . People are rushing excitedly into the streets . The police have warned them not to see the fire but many people are doing so .
The cause of the fire is unknown . No rain has fallen in this part of Australia for three months , and the hot , north-west wind from the great central desert is blowing at more than thirty miles an hour .
The firefighters are travelling to the fire by road , rail and air . But it is not easy to get there . Flames and fallen trees have cut off or blocked roads and railway lines . The thick smoke often prevents them from finding the air strips (飞机跑道).
It is said that the fire has brought the greater danger to the country since the Second World War .
1.By the time the article was written , the fire .
A．had just broken out B．had been put out
C．was spreading violently D．was coming to an end
2.The writer wrote this article mainly to tell people .
A．the fire was terrible and dangerous
B．it was impossible to put out the fire
C．more than one hundred people died of the fire
D．to join in the fight against the fire
3.In the 4th paragraph , the writer suggested that .
A．the fire would soon be controlled by the firefighters
B．it would be very difficult to put out the fire
C．the government was paying great attention to the fire
D．the fire had caused great losses and the airport was in ganger
4.The underlined word “ accurate” in the first sentence has the same meaning as .
A．recent B．whole C．rough D．exact
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