Searching for airfares often seems like a game that passengers are bound to lose.

Prices change from day to day, even minute to minute. Looking through various websites for the best deal can be a big challenge. Even when you do book, there’s no guarantee that you are going to get the best price.

“You just don’t know when to pull the trigger. It’s not like buying anything else I can think of,” said George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog. com.

Harriet Levy paid $ 179 for a recent round-trip flight on American Airlines between New York and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sitting just one row behind her, Shirley Harrison paid $ 215. A few rows back, Ellis and Dianne Traub paid $ 317 each. There were at least 12 fares on the flight, ranging from $ 169 to $ 360.

“There’s no reason for it,” Harrison said.

Fares can vary significantly in just a few hours. One Delta flight from New York to Los Angeles jumped from $ 755 to $ 1,143 from a Friday to Saturday in late April, and then fell to $ 718 on Sunday.

The flight was one of a dozen the Associated Press（美国联合通讯社）followed over three months for a vacation between July 16 and 22. The number one finding: avoid booking tickets on weekends. It’s the most expensive time to buy.

There’s no way to guarantee the best fare. But before booking, travelers should pay attention to this additional advice:

● Book on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. That’s when airlines most often offer sales.

● Buy in advance, but not too early. The best time is four to six weeks before traveling. In general, prices for any given flight are the highest when tickets are booked eight to ten weeks and two to three weeks in advance.

● Make use of social media. Airlines are giving more benefits like exclusive（专有的）sales to travelers who interact（交流）with them on Twitter and Facebook. Those specials are often gone within hours.

● The so-called discount airlines — JetBlue, Air-Tran, Southwest and Frontier — adjust their fares less frequently than other airlines, so you can feel more confident that the price will stay the same. But their prices aren’t always the lowest. Researching multiple airlines’ fares is the only way to get a good deal.

【小题1】What can we infer from the first sentence of the text?

A．Passengers are unable to search for airfares.

B．Airlines often play games with passengers.

C．Airfares are set in different situations.

D．It’s difficult for passengers to get the best price.

【小题2】What does the underlined phrase “pull the trigger” Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Start searching.

B．Get the highest price.

C．Make a purchase.

D．Get on the plane.

【小题3】By using a lot of figures, the author intends to ________________.

A．show there is a standard price for every single airline

B．discover the rules behind airfares

C．guarantee passengers a low price

D．prove airfares can vary widely

【小题4】Passengers are advised to book flights __________________.

A．in the middle of the week	B．on special websites
C．several months before traveling	D．with discount airlines

短文改错

Nowadays many people drive to work. It causes more traffic accidents. As students, how can we do to guarantee our safe？First of all, the traffic rules must be strict obeyed. When we cross streets, wait until the traffic light turn green. Next, don't forget walk on the pavement. Finally, I think it is the danger to us to wear headphones while we're walking or cycling. Since we can't pay enough attention on the traffic around us, an accidents may happen. Taking good care of ourselves and don't let our parents worry about them.

语法填空
At one time, making a film was an expensive activity only for a small group of people and film companies. Not only were the tools and machines expensive but the cost of a film was also far 【小题1】(high) than most people could afford. However,modern technology 【小题2】(change) all that.
New technology has really opened up the world of film-making for film fans. Now a camera does not cost much and the 【小题3】(major) of young people are certainly able to pay for it. So what you need is 【小题4】(get) one for yourself. With that, you may then start your own film-making.
However, film-making is 【小题5】(challenge) work. You probably need many other people to help you.
For example, the actors and actresses play a very important part in your film, 【小题6】 may be your schoolmates, friends or family members.
【小题7】(additional), you need to make up a story. Can you write one 【小题8】 yourself? If you have good imagination, you can create 【小题9】 attractive story character. Many world-famous film-makers and producers are also good screenwriters. If not, perhaps you need someone else to write it for you.
An excellent story is the key to 【小题10】(make) a successful film.

   It’s great fun to explore new places, and it may be like an adventure, even when you know you’re not the first to have been there. But to make sure not to get lost or waste time going round in circles, the following tips may be helpful.

• Do the map reading if you’re being driven somewhere. It’ll be easier if you keep the map following the direction you’re traveling in. Keep looking ahead so that you can give the driver lots of warning before having to make a turn or you’ll have to move to the back seat.

• Get a group of friends together and go exploring. You’ll need a good map, a compass, a raincoat, a cell phone to call for help in case you get lost, and a bit of cash for emergencies. Tell someone where you’re going before you set out and let him know what time you expect to be back. The purpose of the activity is in not getting lost, not in seeing how fast you can go, so always stick together, waiting for slower friends to catch up.

• See if your school or a club organizes orienteering (越野识途比赛), in which you need a map and a compass to find your way. This can be done as a sport, with teams trying to find the way from A to B (and B to C, etc.) in the fastest time, or simply as a spare-time activity. It enables you to be familiar with the use of maps and compasses and gain some practical skills. In some way, it’s not only good fun, but also a great way to keep fit.

No matter which way you choose, it’s not only good fun, but a great way to keep fit.

【小题1】Sitting beside the driver, you should ________.

A．direct the driver when necessary

B．look ahead to see where there’s a gas station

C．move to the back seat if feeling uncomfortable

D．keep looking at the map to find another place to go to

【小题2】Why do you need to wait for the slower friends in exploration?

A．To show them how fast you can go.

B．To avoid yourself or your friends getting lost.

C．To share the fun with your friends in exploration.

D．To tell them fiat’s going on with the group members.

【小题3】Orienteering can ________.

A．make people work fast	B．help people stay healthy
C．help people organize other activities	D．make people get prepared for sports

【小题4】The text mainly talks about ________.

A．the fun of exploration	B．what to bring for exploration
C．the way to use a map in exploration	D．how to prevent people getting lost in exploration

   So let’s say that you’re sitting at a restaurant and when your food arrives, you take one bite and decide that something is preventing you from taking a second bite. No matter what the reason is, this dish is going back to the kitchen, and now it’s up to you to find a way to send it back politely.

First of all, the single most important thing to do when you’re sending something back is to do it immediately. If you eat half the dish before sending it back, the server and kitchen will believe that you really don’t need to send it back.

If a dish is too salty that it cannot be eaten, you should first let the server know what the situation is, and they’ll take it back to the kitchen and bring you a new one. Remember that it is not the server’s fault, so don’t take it out on them. Also, don’t be afraid that they’ll get angry at you, or someone will spit (吐) in your food. It’s their job to make sure that you’re satisfied, and if the kitchen clearly makes a mistake the server will be frustrated with the kitchen, not with the diner who has been served an inedible meal. A new dish will be cooked, and nobody’s going to spit in it.

There is, however, one example when you are sending back a dish which will really annoy both the server and the kitchen. If you order a pasta dish that contains pancetta but then send it back to the kitchen because you’re a vegetarian (素食者) and don’t know what pancetta is, and then congratulations because you’re one of the most unbearable types of customers a restaurant can have. A perfectly good plate of food is just thrown out because you don’t ask what pancetta is before ordering.

So the bottom line: Use common sense if you think that you need to send your dish back. If the kitchen do something wrong, then they’re on the hook for a new plate of food. If you do something wrong, then hopefully you’ve learned a lesson.

【小题1】When the diners find something wrong with the dishes they ordered, they should __________ .

A．send them back immediately	B．eat half the dishes before sending them back
C．go back to the kitchen themselves	D．wait until the cook apologizes to them

【小题2】The underlined word “inedible” in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by “ __________”.

A．unbearable	B．unpleasant
C．tasteless	D．uneatable

【小题3】What will happen when you are sending back a dish owing to your own mistake?

A．You’ll be fined by the restaurant.

B．Your request will be refused immediately.

C．You’ll be forced to leave the restaurant.

D．Your food will be thrown out of the restaurant.

【小题4】The passage is intended to __________.

A．guide diners how to enjoy a good meal in a restaurant

B．introduce the best way to send back food in a restaurant

C．introduce the bottom line people should have in a restaurant

D．inform the diners of the most important things to do in a restaurant