The Oxford Mal, England
Most prisons are the kind of place you’d be desperate to escape from, not somewhere you’d possibly conceive of escaping to.
But this former Oxford prison has been converted into a boutique hotel by the fashionable Malmaison chain and offers the kind of luxurious living that former convicts could only have dreamed of.
Rates: Double room £140 (US$233). Breakfast £12.95 per person
Jules’ Undersea Lodge, United States
Originally a research laboratory, the world’s only underwater hotel sits at the bottom of the Emerald Lagoon in Florida, and can only be reached by scuba diving down six meters.
The lodge can accommodate two couples and is kitted out with showers, a microwave and a fridge.
The real attractions are the fish; the lodge is like a goldfish bowl in reverse, where you sit and watch angelfish, parrotfish, barracuda and snappers peering in at you through the window.
Rates: From US$400
Das Park Hotel, Austria
Stay overnight in a concrete sewer pipe on the banks of the River Danube.
The drainpipes are two meters in diameter and two and a half meters long, with a porthole to look out of, a front door to close and a cozy nest to snuggle into, which includes a low-slung futon, bedside lamp, woolly blanket and light sleeping bag.
Rates: You pay as much, or as little, as you want.
Sant` Angelo Luxury Resort, Italy
“Four-star boutique cave-hotel” is the proud boast of the Sant’Angelo in the city of Matera, which is famous for its sassi-houses dug into the rock. Matera is the only place in the world where people can boast to be still living in the same houses as their ancestors did 9,000 years ago. The rooms have been fashioned from old sassi stables and workshops. There are two restaurants, a bar and an art gallery.
Rates: A three-night package costs from US$560 per person including some meals, a walking tour and car hire, but not flights.
La Balade Des Gnomes, Belgium
A truly out-of-this-world experience, this hotel makes you feel like you’re on the moon.
You can sleep in a moon buggy, bathe in a lunar capsule, and the walls and ceilings are covered in twinkling stars and planets.
Other themed rooms include a newly opened Trojan Horse, a Troll Forest, a South Seas sailing ship and a Wine Room.
Rates: From ?115 (US$170) per double
【小题1】Das Park Hotel is different from the other hotels in that __________.

The Oxford Mal, England
Most prisons are the kind of place you’d be desperate to escape from, not somewhere you’d possibly conceive of escaping to.
But this former Oxford prison has been converted into a boutique hotel by the fashionable Malmaison chain and offers the kind of luxurious living that former convicts could only have dreamed of.
Rates: Double room £140 (US$233). Breakfast £12.95 per person
Jules’ Undersea Lodge, United States
Originally a research laboratory, the world’s only underwater hotel sits at the bottom of the Emerald Lagoon in Florida, and can only be reached by scuba diving down six meters.
The lodge can accommodate two couples and is kitted out with showers, a microwave and a fridge.
The real attractions are the fish; the lodge is like a goldfish bowl in reverse, where you sit and watch angelfish, parrotfish, barracuda and snappers peering in at you through the window.
Rates: From US$400
Das Park Hotel, Austria
Stay overnight in a concrete sewer pipe on the banks of the River Danube.
The drainpipes are two meters in diameter and two and a half meters long, with a porthole to look out of, a front door to close and a cozy nest to snuggle into, which includes a low-slung futon, bedside lamp, woolly blanket and light sleeping bag.
Rates: You pay as much, or as little, as you want.
Sant` Angelo Luxury Resort, Italy
“Four-star boutique cave-hotel” is the proud boast of the Sant’Angelo in the city of Matera, which is famous for its sassi-houses dug into the rock. Matera is the only place in the world where people can boast to be still living in the same houses as their ancestors did 9,000 years ago. The rooms have been fashioned from old sassi stables and workshops. There are two restaurants, a bar and an art gallery.
Rates: A three-night package costs from US$560 per person including some meals, a walking tour and car hire, but not flights.
La Balade Des Gnomes, Belgium
A truly out-of-this-world experience, this hotel makes you feel like you’re on the moon.
You can sleep in a moon buggy, bathe in a lunar capsule, and the walls and ceilings are covered in twinkling stars and planets.
Other themed rooms include a newly opened Trojan Horse, a Troll Forest, a South Seas sailing ship and a Wine Room.
Rates: From ?115 (US$170) per double

1. 1.

   Das Park Hotel is different from the other hotels in that __________.

   1. A.
      it is underwater
   2. B.
      you decide the pay
   3. C.
      it used to be a prison
   4. D.
      it is not in Europe
2. 2.

   If you want to experience the life on the moon, most probably you will choose to stay in __________.

   1. A.
      Jules’ Undersea Lodge, United States
   2. B.
      La Balade Des Gnomes, Belgium
   3. C.
      Das Park Hotel, Austria
   4. D.
      The Oxford Mal, England
3. 3.

   If Mr. and Mrs Smith put up at the Oxford Mal for one night and have breakfast there, they will have to pay at least _____________.

   1. A.
      £165.9
   2. B.
      £152.95
   3. C.
      £258.9
   4. D.
      £305.9

town

May : Happenings from the past  

May 5,1884

Isaac Murphy , son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history , rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby . He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times .

May 9 , 1754

Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon （漫画）, showing a snake cut in pieces, with the words “ Join or Die” printed under the picture.

May 11,1934

The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl , the result of years of drought（干旱），blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington , D.C. .

May 19, 1994

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis , former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s , died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64 .

May 24, 1844

Samuel F.B. Morsr taps out the first message , “ What Hath God Wrought ,” over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington, D.C. , to Baltimeore , Md .

1. We know from the text that Buchanan is_____________.

A Isaac”s father                 B a winnning horse

C.a slave taking care if horses      D.the first racing horse in Kentucky

2. What is the title of the first American political cartoon ?

A.Join or Die                   B.Pennsylvania Gazette

C.What Hath God Wrought        D.Kentucky Derby

3. In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die ?

A. 1934        B. 1960       C . 1964       D. 1994

4.Which of the following places has to do with the first telegram in history ?

A. Washington , D. C.             B. New York City

C. Kentucky.                    D.  Pennsylvania

In the United States there was an unusual story telling of the daughter of a mechanic（技工）．One day while walking along the bank of a lake, the girl   16   to see 20 eggs laid by a wild goose．After some time the girl   17   the mother would not return to her eggs and she   18   to take them home．There she carefully   19   the eggs in the heat of a lamp．Several days   20   the eggs broke and the baby geese came into the   21   ．

       Geese are known to take the first living thing they see as their mother．  22   , to these young geese, the girl was their mother．

       As they   23  , the girl was able to   24   her birds to run across the grass, but she could not teach them to   25   ．The girl became increasingly worried about this, both when   26   and in her dreams．Later, she had an   27   : She would pilot a plane to guide them in   28   ．She asked her father for a plane and he assembled （组装） a small aircraft for her．

       Caring about   29   safety, the father decided to pilot the plane himself．However, the birds did not __30__ or follow him, and   31   slept in the grass．

       One day, the girl   32   into the plane, started it and soon left the   33   ．Seeing their mother take to the air, the birds   34   flapped（拍打） their wings and   35   ．She flew the plane freely in the sky, her young birds following．

A．managed       B．attempted       C．happened           D．supposed

A．realized      B．expected        C．imagined     D．admitted

A．helped       B．decided          C．afforded      D．meant

A．placed        B．protected       C．treated        D．examined

A．ago         B．out             C．later           D．long

A．family       B．lake            C．home          D．world

A．But         B．Also           C．Thus           D．Still

A．increased       B．improved       C．rose         D．grew

A．ask         B．lead            C．want           D．allow

A．fly           B．race            C．swim          D．sing

A．asleep       B．away            C．around        D．awake

A．idea         B．opinion          C．explanation    D．excuse

A．sky          B．space          C．flight          D．plane

A．his           B．her             C．their               D．its

A．respect     B．remember        C．recognize       D．receive

A．so          B．instead           C．hardly         D．too

A．climbed       B．looked           C．reached       D．fell

A．house       B．floor          C．water          D．ground

A．secretly       B．disappointedly  C．patiently     D．eagerly

looked away      B．set out           C．went by      D．turned back