Good morning. My name’s Erica Matthews, and I’m the owner of Matthews Island Holidays, a company set up by my parents. Thank you for coming to this presentation, in which I hope to interest you in what we have to offer. We’re a small, family-run company, and we believe in the importance of the personal touch, so we don’t aim to compete with other companies on the number of customers. What we do is build on our many years’ experience – more than almost any other rail holiday company 【Q11】 – to ensure we provide perfect holidays in a small number of destinations, which we’ve got to know extremely well.
I’ll start with our six-day Isle of Man holiday. This is a fascinating island in the Irish Sea, with Wales to the south, England to the east, Scotland to the north and Northern Ireland to the west. Our holiday starts in Heysham, where your tour manager will meet you 【Q12】, then you’ll travel by ferry to the Isle of Man. Some people prefer to fly from Luton instead, and another popular option is to go by train to Liverpool and take a ferry from there.
You have five nights in the hotel, and the price covers five breakfasts and dinners, and lunch on the three days when there are organised trips 【Q13】: day four is free, and most people have lunch in a café or restaurant in Douglas.
The price of the holiday includes the ferry to the Isle of Man, all travel on the island, the hotel, and the meals I’ve mentioned. Incidentally, we try to make booking our holidays as simple and fair as possible, so unlike with many companies, the price is the same whether you book six months in advance or at the last minute, and there’s no supplement for single rooms in hotels. If you make a booking then need to change the start date, for example because of illness, you’re welcome to change to an alternative date or a different tour, for a small administrative fee. 【Q14】
OK, so what does the holiday consist of? Well, on day one you’ll arrive in time for a short introduction by your tour manager, followed by dinner in the hotel. The dining room looks out at the river 【Q15】, close to where it flows into the harbour, and there’s usually plenty of activity going on.
On day two you’ll take the coach to the small town of Peel, on the way calling in at the Tynwald Exhibition. The Isle of Man isn’t part of the United Kingdom, and it has its own parliament, called Tynwald. It’s claimed that this is the world’s oldest parliament that’s still functioning, and that it dates back to 979. However, the earliest surviving reference to it is from 1422 【Q16】, so perhaps it isn’t quite as old as it claims!
Day three we have a trip to the mountain Snaefell. This begins with a leisurely ride along the promenade in Douglas in a horse-drawn tram. Then you board an electric train which takes you to the fishing village of Laxey. From there it’s an eight-kilometre ride in the Snaefell Mountain Railway to the top 【Q17】. Lunch will be in the café, giving you spectacular views of the island.
Day four is free for you to explore, using the pass 【Q18】 which we’ll give you. So you won’t have to pay for travel on local transport, or for entrance to the island’s heritage sites. Or you might just want to take it easy in Douglas and perhaps do a little light shopping.
The last full day, day five, is for some people the highlight of the holiday, with a ride on the steam 【Q19】 railway, from Douglas to Port Erin. After some time to explore, a coach will take you to the headland that overlooks the Calf of Man, a small island just off the coast. From there you continue to Castletown, which used to be the capital 【Q20】 of the Isle of Man, and its mediaeval castle.
And on day six it’s back to the ferry – or the airport, if you flew to the island – and time to go home.
Now I’d like to tell you …
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
听前预测：定位词为 company。
题目解析：定位词 company 原词重现后，首先听到选项 C 中的原词 customers：“... we don't aim to compete with other companies on the number of customers.” 此处只说不打算和其他公司在客户数量上竞争，并未对客户数量进行比较，故 C 不能选;接着听到选项A的相关信息：“What we do is build on our many years' experience - more than almost any other rail holiday company ..." 其中 many years' experience 和 more than 对应选项 A 中的 in business for longer than，故A正确; 之后听到选项 B 中的原词 destinations，但录音中的 a small number of destinations 与选项 B 中的 more destinations 矛盾，故排除B，因此答案为A。
听前预测：定位词为 tour manager; 限定词为 before。
题目解析：本题需要注意题干中的限定词 before，此处考查的是出发前在哪里见领队人员。before在听力录音中表示时间顺序的推进，有此作用的还有 start、then 等，在做题过程中可注意听这类词。答案句为：“Our holiday starts in Heysham，where your tour manager will meet you, then...” 因此答案为B。
听前预测：定位词为 lunches、price; 限定词为 included in the price。
题目解析：本题定位词price原词重现，另一定位词 lunches 以单数形式出现，很容易即可锁定答案句：“... the price covers five breakfasts and dinners, and lunch on the three days when there are organised trips: day four is free...” 其中 covers 替换了题干中的 included，需要注意本题考查的是费用中包含的午餐有多少顿，因此跟午餐和费用无关的信息均为干扰信息，录音中的 five breakfasts and dinners 与午餐无关后半句中的 day four is free 则与费用无关，因此答案为A。
听前预测：限定词为 extra。
题目解析：本题没有较好的定位词，可带着选项中的关键信息去听录音并分别判断选项是否正确。首先听到选项B的相关信息：“... the price is the same whether you book six months in advance or at the last minute ...” 其中 at the last minute 对应选项B 中的 at short notice (临近最后)，而该期间预订与提前很长时间预订的价格是一样的，故 B 不能选;接着听到选项A的相关信息：“... there's no supplement for single rooms in hotels.”此处出现了否定信号词 no，且 single rooms 并非选项 A 中a larger room 的同义替换，故 A 不能选; 之后出现选项C的相关信息：“If you make a booking then need to change the start date ... change to an alternative date ... for a small administrative fee." 其中 change the start date 和 change to an alternative date 均为选项 C 中 transferring to another date 的同义替换，因此答案为C。