WANT TO HIRE A LONDON BUS?

London United Busways has been carrying Londoners by horse-tram, electric tramway and omnibus since 1894. Today, working for Transport for London, we have over 650 red London buses.

Getting married?

Why not hire a world famous Routemaster and make your wedding truly special? Our classic bus has been re-sprayed to its original condition and fitted out to look like it did in its heyday(全盛时期). Provided with a polite, fully trained driver and conductor and PA system, we can carry up to 70 of your guests.

Have a special occasion?

Whether it’s a company event, birthday or a sporting experience, we have a bus for every occasion. Our Double Decker buses will hold up to 72 of your guests and Single Deckers up to 30. All of our buses come with a fully trained driver.

Need a Stadium Service?

We carry fans to and from Richmond Station to Twickenham Stadium for matches and concerts throughout the year. We also operate services to the new Wembley Stadium. Download the pdf document for details of our Stadium Services.

HIRE A VEHICLE

Please note, passengers are not allowed to stand on any Private Hire vehicle.

For a customised quotation: Please click Online Private Hire Quotation

Tel: 020 8400 5502   Fax: 020 8400 5101

Email: hireabus@lonutd.co.uk

All the following are the advantages of a Routemaster EXCEPT ____.

  A. being newly produced            B. a fully trained driver

  C. a PA system                    D. carrying up to 70 guests

If you are having a birthday party with 71 guests, what kind of vehicle will you hire?

  A. A Routemaster.                  B. A Double Decker bus.

  C. A Single Decker bus.             D. A horse-tram.

We can learn from the passage that ____.

  A. the buses can only be hired through the Internet

  B. London United Busways has a history of more than 200 years

  C. all the passengers on the Private Hire vehicles should be seated

  D. London United Busways provides matches and concerts throughout the year 

Where is the text most likely to be found?

  A. In a local newspaper.            B. In a traffic handbook

  C. In a magazine.                 D. On a website.

. Please remain __________ until the plane has come to a complete stop. A. to seat  B. to be seated

C. seating       D. seated

A few days ago I asked my sons’ governess（女家庭教师）Julia to come into my study. “Be seated, Julia, ” I said, “Let’s settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money, but maybe you’re too polite to mention it. Now then, we agreed on thirty dollars a month...”

? “Forty.”

? “No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well, um, you’ve been here two months, so...”

? “Two months and five days.”

? “Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take off nine Sundays... you know you didn’t work with Tom on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays... ”Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but - not a word.

? “Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons, as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven - nineteen. Take nineteen off ... that leaves. hmm.... forty one dollars. Correct?”

? Julia’s left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but-still not a word.

? “Around New Year’s Day you broke a teacup and a saucer; take off two dollars. The cup cost more, it was a treasure of the family, but- forget it. When didn’t I take a loss! Then, due to your neglect（疏忽）, Tom climbed a tree and tore his jacket; take away ten. Also due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick’s shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave ten dollars.”

? “You didn’t. ”sobbed Julia.

? “But I made a note of it.”

? “Well... if you say so.”

? “Take twenty seven from forty one -that leaves fourteen.”

? Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose. Poor girl!

? “Only once was I given any money,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “and that was by your wife. Three dollars, nothing more.”

? “Really? You see now, and I didn’t know that! Take three from fourteen.. leaves eleven. Here’s your money, my dear. Three, three, three, one and one. Here it is!”

? I handed her eleven dollars. She took them and pocketed them.

? “Merci（法语: 谢谢）,” she whispered.

? I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger. “For what, this - ‘merci’?” I asked.

? “For the money.”

? “But you know I’ve cheated you - robbed you! I have actually stolen from you! Why this‘merci’?”

? “In my other places they didn’t give me anything at all.”

? “They didn’t give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you... I m going to give you all the eighty dollars! Here they are in the envelope all ready for you... Is it really possible to be so spineless（懦弱）? Why didn’t you protest? Why were you silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws（爪）-to be such a fool?”

? Embarrassed, she smiled. And I could read her expression,“It is possible.”

? I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her the eighty dollars. She murmured her little“merci”several times and went out. I looked after her and thought,“How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!”

1.While talking to Julia, the writer expected from her________.

A. a protest　　　B. gratitude　? C. obedience　　 D. an explanation

2.What shocked the writer was Julia’s ________.

A. nervousness in front of her boss???????

B. acceptance of injustice

C. shyness when talking about money?????

D. unwillingness to express herself

3.The writer said, “Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws?” He was actually telling the governess ________.

A. to be more aggressive??????? B. to be more careful in her work

C. to protect her right?????????? D. to live independently

4.At the end of the story, the writer said,“ How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!” to show ________.

A. his understanding of Julia’s anxiety

B. his worry about Julia’s future

C. his concern on the living condition of working-class people

D. his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited

5.From the story, we can tell that Julia’s employer was________.

A. greedy but honest????? 　 B. ill-tempered but warm-hearted

C. strict but forgiving??????? D. none of the above

         Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination(歧视) have been made illegal. But one popular form continues to exist, that is alphabetism (字母排序法). This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames (姓氏) begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.

         It has long been known that the cars of a taxi firm called AAAA have a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers look through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbot has in life over Zoe Zysman. English names are fairly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a quite large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.

         Thus the American presidents and vice-presidents have surnames starting with B and C separately and 26 of those before George Bush took office (including his father) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged (Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chretien and Koizumi ). The world’s three top central bankers (Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. The same case are the world’s five richest men (Gates, Buffet and so on).

         Can this merely happen by chance? At the start of the first year in primary school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names. So shortsighted Zysman gets stuck in the back row, and is seldom asked the improving questions by those teachers. At that time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.

         The unfairness continues. At university graduation parties, the ABCs proudly get their awards first. However, by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are a little tired. Lists of job interviews and conference speakers and attendees all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their readers lose interest as they plough through them.

1. What does the author intend to show with AAAA cars and Zodiac cars?

         A. An example of competition of two kinds of cars.         B. Some advantages of AAAA cars in the taxi firm.

         C. An example of unfairness caused by alphabetism.     D. Some disadvantages of Zodiac cars in the taxi firm.

2. What can we infer from the first three paragraphs?

         A. The alphabet is to blame for the failure of Zoe Zysman.

         B. In both East and West, names are important to success.

         C. Customers often pay a lot of attention to companies’ names.

         D. The discrimination in alphabetism can be found in many areas.

3. The fourth paragraph suggests that         .

         A. alphabetically disadvantaged students often escape from class

         B. teachers should pay equal attention to all their students

         C. questions are often put to the more intelligent students

         D. students should be seated according to their eyesight

4. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

         A. VIPs in the western world gain a great deal from alphabetism.

         B. People with surnames beginning with N to Z are often ill – treated.

         C. Putting things alphabetically may lead to unintentional unfairness.

         D. The movement to get rid of alphabetism still has a long way to go.

Please remain _________ until the plane has come to a complete stop.