We might net find it easy to book a seat at the last minute.couldIt____________________ us

You must answer this question.

1. Some British people are coming to your area and you have been asked to help organise the group's visit.

Read the extract from a letter you have received from Mrs Davidson, the leader of the group, and the notes you have made. Then write a letter to Mrs Davidson, using all your notes.

Write a letter of between 120 and 180 words in an appropriate style. Do not write any postal addresses.

t lecturers, cabaret artists, the show company and any special nights. I have to plan each cruise with all the performers and then introduce them at the beginning of the show. There's never a dull moment and if I want time to myself, I have to escape to my cabin because a huge part of my job is to mix with people. There are often parties to attend ... and then, sometimes, dance nights to organize. So, if I'm not in the shows, I'll be out there dancing with the passengers, because that's part of my job too.

You will hear five different people talking about their work on a cruise ship. For questions 19- 23, choose from the list (A-F) what each speaker says about their work. Use the letters only once. There is one extra letter which you do net need to use.

A One aspect of my job is less interesting than others.

B My job involves planning for the unexpected.

C You have to be sociable to do my job.

D I don't like routine in my working life.

E There's not much work to do during the day.

F I provide passengers with a souvenir of their trip.

Speaker 1

FRIENDSHIP

0 I believe that nothing matters as much as having a couple of really good

00 friends. They help you feel like good about yourself and they'll always

listen to your problems for hours on end. Since there are friends for different

reasons, for different ages and stages in life. New made friends and 'best'

friends, friends for playing tennis and going to the cinema with - all

of us are dependent on having friends. So how and why do we make up

friends? Psychologists tell us that we prefer those we see as sharing with

our views and attitudes and who are similar to us in an age and background,

though not necessarily in any personality. We see our friends as reflecting

ourselves, or that what we would like to be. This can be particularly

important when we are teenagers. Many of people-and I'm no exception-

regard their oldest friends as their closest. I have a friend so that

I've known since some schooldays. She lives in Australia and we

rarely see much each other. However, on my last birthday we got together

in Paris and have spent a wonderful weekend sightseeing and talking.

We will know that, no matter how many years go by when we do not

get together at all, the same level of friendship always remains.

(80)

DEALING WITH WASTE PLASTIC

Every year people throw away millions of tonnes of plastic bottles, boxes and wrapping. These create huge mountains of waste 【C1】______ are extremely hard to get 【C2】______ of. Now, a new recycling process promises to reduce this problem by turning old plastic 【C3】______ new.

Scientists have taken 【C4】______ long time to develop their ideas because waste plastic has always been a bigger problem 【C5】______ substances like waste paper. You can bury plastic, but it is years 【C6】______ it breaks down. If you burn it, it just becomes another form. of pollution. A 【C7】______ products, for example bottles, can be re-used but it is expensive or difficult to do this 【C8】______ a lot of plastic products.

Now a group of companies has developed a new method 【C9】______ recycling that could save almost 【C10】______ plastic waste. The advantage of the new process is that nearly every type of waste plastic can be used: it does 【C11】______ have to be sorted. In addition, labels and ink may be left 【C12】______ the products. Everything is simply mixed together 【C13】______ heated to more than 400 degrees centigrade 【C14】______ that it melts. It is then cooled, producing a waxy substance that can be used to make new plastic products such as bags, bottles and, among 【C15】______ things, computer hardware.

【C1】______

You see this notice on your school noticeboard.

SPECIAL PEOPLE

?Who is the most important person in your life?

?Why is this person special to you?

Write us an article for the school magazine answering these questions.

Write your article.

The number of car-owners has risen over the past five years.

rise

Over the past five years, there ____________________ in the number

of car-owners.

THE TRAIN JOURNEY

0 You know I was going down to London to stay with my friend

00 Alice during the holidays. Well, the train journey did turned out

to be a bit of a disaster! I went to a party the night before I had left,

and I woke up quite late enough, so I had to catch the train that

left round about midday. At first, I enjoyed the journey as there was

another student sitting opposite of me and we started talking.

Anyway, when she got out of the train at Oxford, I decided to read

my book but, because I hadn't had much sleep on the night before,

I soon fell asleep. I must have to slept for over an hour, because

I was woke up when all the doors started banging and I realised

that everyone was getting out because we were once in London.

I jumped up and managed to get myself and my luggage out in

a couple of seconds, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. It

was only when I had arrived at Alice's house that I have realised I

had dropped my address book down when I was getting out of

the train. It's a good thing I can properly remember your address,

otherwise I wouldn't have been able to write it to you, would I?

(79)

It was wrong of you to borrow my jacket without asking.

ought

You_____________________ before you borrowed my jacket.

听力原文：Interviewer: In the studio this week we have Anna Stephens who returned last July after a non-stop voyage round the world alone. Anna, welcome to the programme. Tell me, how did you get interested in sailing?

Anna: Well, although I was a teacher of sports in a school for a while, it wasn't until I started working for a travel agency that I first went sailing. A colleague invited me and I loved it straightaway. After that I went on several sailing holidays with friends in the Mediterranean.

Interviewer: So, where did you get the idea to sail round the world alone?

Anna: Well, I read a book, 'High Adventure' was the title, which was about a woman sailing alone, and it really impressed me. I suddenly knew what I wanted to do with my life. So I gave up my job and talked a friend into lending me his boat. It was a bit old and rusty, but basically fine. I then spent the next few months mending the boat.

Interviewer: Did you take the boat out to sea to test it?

Anna: Well, that was the problem -- I had planned to spend three weeks seeing how the boat performed at sea, but after six days I had to return because it got damaged in bad weather. That was good really because if I'd had three weeks of good weather, I wouldn't have realised what problems I needed to sort out.

Interviewer: What did people say when you had to turn back?

Anna: Oh, some of them thought this proved I wasn't ready for the trip. I would have preferred to carry on with my preparations without telling anybody, but because I relied on money from a number of local companies, they all had to be kept informed of my progress.

Interviewer: Right. Once you finally set out and you were out there alone, did you never feel lonely?

Anna: Well, yes I did, but that wasn't my main problem. The trip was ruined for me by the boat making such slow progress that I got bored. I wanted to be doing something all the time. The only time I really felt busy was in the Southern Ocean, where there were enormous storms and I had plenty to think about all the time.

Interviewer: Were the storms really frightening?

Anna: No, they were the really exciting part. My main difficulty was when I got back home and people didn't believe I'd really done it.

Interviewer: Why did that happen?

Anna: Well, as soon as I returned, I got on the phone to the World Sailing Club to say that I had successfully completed the trip and what did I have to do to get my certificate. They told me to fill in all the forms, etc. Then, on television, people began to say that it was strange although I claimed to have sailed around the world, I had not been in touch with any ships along the way. That's what started it. After that the newspapers were saying I hadn't made the trip at alii

Interviewer: So how did you manage to convince people?

Anna: Well, I showed the sailing club my diaries, which I'd been very careful to keep up-to-date throughout the trip, and they checked them and gave me a certificate. I even got an apology from the newspapers in the end.

Interviewer: And what will your next challenge be?

Anna: I haven't got any firm plans as yet, but rm writing a book about the trip.

Interviewer: Well, thank you, Anna. We look forward to reading all about it ...

Anna was employed by a (9)______ when she first started sailing. The idea of sailing round the world came from a book called (10)______ Anna spent some time (11)______ the boat before taking it out to sea. Anna tested her boat on a trip which lasted for only (12)______ because it was damaged. Anna got the money she needed to make the trip from various (13)______ companies. Anna's worst problem during the trip was when she felt (14)______ because the boat was going so slowly. Anna found the (15)______ in the Southern Ocea

of good service in restaurants. Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-I for each part (1-7) of the article. There is one extra heading you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).

A A central figure

B A policy for the times

C Seen but not heard

D A fairer system

E Playing the right part

F Time well spent

G A strong sense of involvement

H The deciding factor

I All-round improvement

At your service

Top chef and restaurant owner Giancarlo Curtis talks about what he looks for, apart from good food, when he eats out.

Recently, I went into a restaurant near my home where I have eaten several times over the years. It used to have old-fashioned traditional style, but it has just re-opened after being completely renovated. The new surroundings seem to have given a lift to everything, from the food cooked by a new chef from Brittany in France, to the atmosphere and the quality of the service.

【B1】______

Many hours of behind-the-scenes work must have gone into getting the service so good. The staff were very pleasant and the speed with which they reacted to customers' needs was excellent. When someone sneezed, a box of tissues appeared. I have never seen that before in a restaurant. The preparation has certainly paid off.

【B2】______

Twenty years ago when people went out to restaurants, they probably never set eyes on the chef— probably didn't even know his name. But the person they did know was the head waiter. He was the important one, the person who could get you the best table, who could impress your friends by recognising you when you arrived.

【B3】______

Things have changed, but I think what is going to happen with so many good new restaurants opening these days is that the waiters are going to become very important again. The level of service is what is going to distinguish one restaurant from another.

【B4】______

But we are talking about modern, unstuffy service, which is not four waiters hovering around your table making you nervous, but a relaxed presence, giving you the feeling there is someone there and providing help and advice when you need it. There is a fine distinction between a server and a servant, and this is what the best waiter has learnt to appreciate.

【B5】______

Although they have to be commercial, the most popular restaurants aim to provide the kind of reception, comfort and consideration you would give to someone coming for a dinner party at your home. Service is not about the correctness of knives and forks and glasses— people really don't care about those things any more—nowadays it is about putting people at their ease.

【B6】______

What's more, waiting staff need to have a stake in the success of the enterprise. I realised that when I opened my own restaurant. The staff, chefs and waiters did all the decorating and the flowers themselves and it worked well because the right atmosphere had been created by people who cared.

【B7】______

Above all, the waiting staff should be consistent, which is why I have always preferred the custom of putting an optional service charge on the bill, rather than relying on discretionary tips, so that all the stall feel valued. I don't like the kind of situation where there is competition going on, with one star waiter trying to outshine the rest. That affects the quality of the service as a whole.

【B1】______