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PASSAGE 1.
INTERNATIONAL POSTAL SERVICES
It pays to get the postage right when you're sending mail abroad,
Anything intended
for airmail but underpaid stands the risk of being sent by surface
mail instead.
So make sure that you check the postage when mailing abroad.
STAMP BOOKS
For extra convenience. international stamp books. There are two
available: 4 x 41p
stamps with airmail labels, for sending 10 g letters anywhere
outside of Europe.
4 x 35p stamps with airmail labels, for sending postcards to
anywhere in the world.
PRIORITY TREATMENT
PRIORITY SERVICES FOR YOUR INTERNATIONAL MAIL
These three new services incorporate the latest barcode technology
to track and
trace your mail up to despatch from the United Kingdom
1. INTERNATIONAL RECORDED
Peace of mind when posting abroad
Like using recorded delivery in Britain. this service gives you a
signature on
delivery and is recommended for items of little or no monetary value
sent worldwide.
Valuable items should be sent by the international registered
service.
Priced at ￡2.50 per item plus airmail postage, it provides
compensation to a maximum
of ￡25.
Advice of delivery (documentary confirmation of delivery) is
available for an extra
40p.
2. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED
Greater security for your valuables
Gives you extra security in the UK and abroad. and a signature on
delivery.
Available to 140 destinations, it costs ￡3.00 plus airmail postage
for compensation
up to ￡500;￡4.00 plus airmail postage for compensation up to ￡1000.
Lower limits apply to some destinations; 10 others, registered is
not available.
Please check at your local post office. Advice of delivery
(documentary confirmation
of delivery) is available for an extra 40p.
3. SWIFTAIR
The express airmail service
Although it is not a courier service, and therefore cannot guarantee
delivery the
following day, swiftair is faster than ordinary airmail.
international recorded and
international registered. It is the economical alternative to
courier services when
next day delivery is not essential.
Price ￡2.70 plus airmail postage.
7 If you do not pay enough postage for airmail, how may your
letter or
package be sent?
8 How much does it cost to send a postcard by airmail?
9 What does the post office use to follow the movement of priority
mail?
10 Which is the best priority service if you want to send expensive
jewellery a
broad?
11 If you send something by either international recorded or
international
registered. What does the person receiving it have to do?
12 What kind of service is faster than swiftair?
Passage 2.
UNDERGROUND CITIES-JAPAN'S ANSWER
TO OVERCROWDING
A nation running out of room seeks a down-to-earth solution
The Japanese may find a solution to the nation's space shortage
right beneath their
feet. Some of Japan's largest construction companies are planning
underground cities
that would not only ease urban crowding but also provide protection
against
earthquakes and increase energy efficiency.
Japan's soaring real-estate prices provide reason enough. In a
country with nearly
half as many people as the United States, but squeezed onto an
archipelago which
is only one hundredth the size, land shortages have led to
construction becoming
prohibitively expensive.
Another plus for subterranean construction is that the
underground earth's movement
during an earthquake is far less than the surface's-a big
consideration in
could to some extent have been avoided if much of the cities
affected were largely
located underground.
In addition, the near-constant temperature would reduce the
fuel costs for
subterranean cities. Underground areas would need much less heating
in winter and
much less cooling in summer.
Taisei Corporation of Tokyo is planning a network of `Alice
Cities', named after
the fictional Lewis Carroll heroine who fell down a rabbit hole into
a wonderland.
Taisei proposes turning cramped downtowns into airy underground
spaces connected
by subway trains and subterranean roads. The cities will be designed
for
self-sufficiency, but could be linked to sister cities by
underground railway.
Although some buildings and roads would remain above ground. much
surface space would
be freed up for trees and public parks.
Each Alice City would be divided into three sectors. The first
sector, Town Space, would
comprise verdant underground boulevards and open-air and atrium-type
plazas
-all free of automobile traffic. These boulevards and plazas will
include shopping
malls. entertainment complexes and fitness centres. Secondly, the
Office Space
sector will house business operations. hotels and parking lots. A
solar dome above
each office complex will ease feelings of claustrophobia. Express
elevators
or an extension of the underground railway system will run to the
bottom level.
Some workers will ride to work vertically from residential areas
within the sector.
while others will commute from the suburbs. Isolated from the town
and office sectors
will be the third sector. Infrastructure Space. This will contain
facilities for
power generation. regional heating and air-conditioning. waste
recycling. and
sewage treatment.
Existing cities could be redeveloped beneath the surface using
the Alice system.
The downtown areas could be retained above ground in a slightly
modified form and
most of the future growth of the cities could be accommodated
underground.
An alternative to the Alice City concept is the Shimizu
Corporation's proposed
Urban Geo Grid. a vast network of smaller subterranean city spaces
linked by tunnels.
The $ 80.2 billion project would cover 485 square miles and
accommodate a
half-million people.
The Urban Geo Grid provides for a much more complicated
interaction of many
underground spaces over a larger area. Each 'grid station'-a complex
of
under-ground offices, shopping malls and hotels-would be connected
to several
smaller `grid points', which would provide local services such as
public baths and
convenience stores. The Grid would provide a network for road and
rail transportation,
communication, and energy supply both within a city and between
cities. Individual
facilities for various services such as power generation and waste
treatment will
be on a smaller scale, but more numerous.
Whichever concept is ultimately applied, one obstacle that
will need to be overcome
before Japanese cities have real`involves the nation's
geology. Japan's
densely populated lowlands are mostly founded on loose geologic
strata. making
underground construction particularly difficult. Thus Japanese
construction firms
are conducting extensive research and development on technologies
for drilling.
excavation and underground construction.
Some of the technology is already available. Robots similar to
those that built
the Channel Tunnel between France and England could be used for
excavation and
construction in some areas. It is anticipated that within 10 to 15
years most of
he remaining technological obstacles will overcome.
Underground city spaces in Japan are therefore coming much
closer to reality. It
may be difficult to imagine people adapting to life underground. but
in Japan it
many be one of the most practical solutions to the problem of
limited living space.
The next century may see many similar developments in other
countries.
Questions 26-30
Indicate whether the following characteristics apply to Alice Cities
or Urban Ge
o Grids or both or neither by writing:
AC if applies to Alice Cities
UGG if it applies to Urban Geo Grid
BOTH if it applies to both
NEITHER if it applies to neither Alice Cities nor Urban
Geo Grids
26.cities linked by underground railways
27.a large number of separate underground spaces linked together
28.one large space for city facilities such as waste treatment
29.cities largely independent
30.construction has already started
Questions 31-35
Using information from the reading passage, complete the
sentences below IN NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.
31. Real estate is expensive in Japan because __________
32. By moving many buildings and roads underground, surface land in
Alice Cities could be used for_____
33. In Alice Cities, some people will in the sector called______
34. Underground cities in Japan cannot yet be built because of two
factors: loose geologic strata and____________
35. In the Urban Geo Grid, hotels would be located in the_______
Key:
7. by surface mail
8.35P
9. latest barcode technology
10. international registered service.
11. sign on delivery/ give a signature
12. courier service
26. BOTH
27. UGG
28. AC
29.AC
30. NEITHER
31. of land shortages
32. trees and parks.
33. Office Space sector
34. technological obstacle
35. grid station
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