Visitors worry that London is an expensive city but there really are so many things to do for

free in London from museums and galleries to free music and walking tours.

Art Galleries

Tate Modern and Tate Britain are exceptional national art galleries housing some of the finest artworks in the world. Tate Modern focuses on contemporary art while Tate Britain displays British Art from the sixteenth century to the present day.

Museums

All of London's major museums are free, but most offer some special exhibitions for a fee. My favorite is the Museum of London where you can learn the history of London from Roman times to today. Other great major museums are the British Museum, the V&A, the Science Museum, and the      Natural History Museum. Oh, and I love the Geffrye Museum. And the. Now I can't decide which is the best!

Many of London's major art galleries and museums are open in the evening and often have special evening events. This can be a great way to relax at the end of a busy day seeing the sights. The main London galleries and museums are air-conditioned so it can be a wonderful way to cool down in the height of summer in the city. Galleries and museums are not open late every night so here is a handy list to help you plan your days and evenings.

Royal Parks

Many people say the Queen Mary's Rose Gardens in Regent's Park is their favorite spot in London, and who am I to argue? I would also recommend St. James's Park as it offers one of the best views of Buckingham Palace. Hyde Park is enormous and includes the ever popular Diana Memorial Fountain and the Peter Pan Statue.

There are often free talks and guided walks in the royal parks so do check the What's On section of the Royal Parks website.

Changing of the Guard

No visit to London is complete without seeing this military tradition. The Queen's Guard in London changes in the Forecourt inside the gates of Buckingham Palace at 11:30am every day in the summer and every other day in the winter. Get there early and view the spectacle from outside the front gates.

53. The passage is intended to _________.

 A. recommend some free scenic spots to tourists       

 B. help visitors save money while visiting Ireland

 C. advise travelers how to choose art articles      D. tell readers London’s wonderful history

54. If you visit some museums in London in the evening, you ________.

 A. can see all the artworks free of charge                B. have to endure the heat of the summer

 C. need to pay admission for general exhibition  

D. may have a chance to enjoy some special events

55. In order to watch Changing of the Guard in summer, visitors have to _________.

  A. gain access to the front gates after 11:30 a.m.

  B. pay a sum of money to enter the Royal Parks

 C. arrive at Buckingham Palace before 11:30 a.m.

 D. come through the gates of Buchingham Palace

This year 2,300 teenagers ( young people aged from 13-19 ) from all over the world will spend about ten months in U.S. homes. They will attend U.S. schools, meet U.S. teenagers, and form impressions (印象) of the real American teenagers. American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and have a new understanding of the rest of the world.

   Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George's family. In return, George's son, Mike, spent a year in Fred's home in America.

   Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months study, the language began to come to him. School was completely different from what he had expected — much harder. Students rose respectfully (尊敬地) when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.

   Family life, too, was different. The family's word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual (个人). Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car.

   “Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.”

   At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I should criticize (批评) American schools.” he says. “It is far too easy by our level (水准). But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens (市民). There ought to be some middle ground between the two.”

1. The whole exchange program is mainly to ____.

 A.help teenagers in other countries know the real America   B.send students in America to travel in Germany

 C. let students learn something about other countries        D. have teenagers learn new languages

2. What did Fred and Mike agree on?

 A. American food tasted better than German food.   B. German schools were harder than American schools.

 C. Americans and Germans were both friendly.      D. There were more cars on the streets in America.

3. What is particular (特别的) in American schools?

A. There is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings.

B. There are a lot of activities after school.

C. Students usually take 14 subjects in all.  

D. Students go outside to enjoy themselves in a car.

4. What did Mike think after experiencing the American school life?

 A. A better education should include something good from both America and Germany.

 B. German schools trained students to be better citizens.

 C. American schools were not as good as German schools.

 D. The easy life in the American school was more helpful to students.

Back those photos up
The images were striking. Homes on the East Coast were washed away by Superstorm Sandy. People were in tears, picking up faded photographs, among their only remaining possessions.
If that doesn’t move you to get serious about safekeeping your lifetime of memories, what will? The digital age offers tools never imaginable before—including one-click access to a lifetime of family photos.
Here is a brochure on how to back up (存) your photos and save them online, where they can live forever and be accessible in good times and bad.
Scanning
The first step for those old photos is to scan them and save them to a digital format. Most printers come with scanners these days, so that’s an easy but extremely time-consuming step.
Storing the photos
With your scans in place, import the photos into your computer, and back them up.
You could make multiple copies of the disks and spread them to loved ones. Or you could choose external(外接的) hard drives or USB thumb drive, and add your photo and video collection from your computer. 
Online backup
If you need lots of space, look at a pure online backup service, Caronite.     
Caronite backs up 300 million files daily. Once you sign up, it starts to pick up everything you have on your hard drive. But photo collection on your computer’s main hard drive charges for $59 a year.
Cloud Storage
For folks who don’t need automatic backup, but instead want to take a more active approach, Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft’s SkyDrive let you store files online by yourself, share and instantly access them. All offer free options—2GB of free storage for Dropbox, 5GB for Google and 7GB for SkyDrive. But if you want more, you need to pay.
Bottom Line
The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and easiest. But drives can fail. Online services are more expensive, but more secure. With more of us switching back and forth between our computers, such services are the best way to get access to our data from wherever we are. 
【小题1】Why does the author mention Superstorm Sandy?

 句子填空（每空1分；共15分）（每空一词）

1.           96         97    take the aeroplane all the way, they decided to fly to Vancouver and then take the train from west to east across Canada.

2.       Why they suddenly disappeared still     98     a mystery.

3.       At this moment, they see a penniless young man     99    on the pavement outside their house.

4.       Just     100     you sit here is a great honour!    101         102     the bill, sir, please forget it.

5.       He could not have Yong Hui     103     away with telling people lies.

6.       For forty years Jane Goodall has been     104     about making the rest of the world understand and     105     the life of these animals.

7.       He made people laugh at a time when they felt     106    , so they could feel more     107   with their lives.

8.       Tony     108     Julia, touched her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek!

9.       With all these attractions, no wonder     109     is increasing     110     there is a Disneyland.

One evening I heard a loud crash in our quiet neighborhood．  26 that evening, my wife had asked me to go to the store to get some soft drinks．It was a good time to let my teenage daughter Holly practice her  27  , so I sent her to the store in my truck．At dinner my son talked about how much he liked my 28 ．I enjoyed having it, but I said: "Guy, my heart is not set on that truck．I like it but it is 29  metal and won' t last forever．" After hearing the loud noise, the whole  30  ran outside．My son shouted: "Dad, Dad, Holly crashed your truck．"
My heart sank and my mind was  31 with conflicting thoughts. Was anyone hurt? Who else was involved? As I ran to the door, I heard a voice in my   32 saying: "Here is a chance to show Holly what you really  33 ．She' 11 never forget it．"
The accident had occurred in my own driveway．Holly had crashed my truck into our other car. Holly was not  34 physically but when I reached her, she was crying and saying: " Oh, Dad, I’m sorry．I know how much you love this truck．" I held her in my arms as she cried．
Later that week a friend  35 by and asked what had happened to my truck．I told her the whole  36 ．Her eyes moistened(润湿) and she said: "That happened to me when I was a girl．I  37 my dad' s car and ran into a log that had fallen  38 the road．I ruined the car．When I got home my Dad knocked me to the ground and began to kick me．
Over 40 years later, she still felt the  39 of the night．It was a deep wound on her  40  .
I remember how  41  Holly was on the night she crashed our truck, and how I  42 her．One day, when Holly thinks  43 in the future, I want her to know that I love her a thousand times more than anything else．
I repaired the car, but the dent(凹陷)in my truck is   44 there today．Every day it reminds me of what really  45 in my life．