文本
When you jet off on your summer holiday, the most thought you are likely to give to your home is to worry whether you locked the back door or not. But, your house is almost certainly the most valuable thing you own, so rather than letting it sit idle while you're away, make it work for you and save thousands of pounds on your holiday in the process by trying out a home-swap.

Instead of forking out hundreds or even thousands of pounds for a hotel or villa, the idea is that you swap homes with someone in your holiday destination. While you bask in the Florida sun for nothing, another family gets to explore the delights of your hometown in return.

The financial attractions are clear. Whether you stay a week or a month, you only have to pay for your flights. If you want to rent a villa of the same standard as your own home, you will have to pay a fortune. Swapping saves you all that expense.

But the advantages aren't just financial. If you swap with another family with children everything is there, they have toys to play with and the house is child-proof. And the benefits are not just for the kids - swappers will often include all sorts of things in the exchange that may prove invaluable for adults too. You can swap cars to save on hire-car costs, for example, and even leave your cars at the airport for one another to save on taxis. The host family can also help ease you into their local area, so you can avoid getting sucked into tourist traps. Lois Sealey, who owns exchange service Home Base Holidays, recommends swappers create an information pack, telling people the best places to visit in the local area, where to eat and drink and where to avoid.

There are also precautions you can take to keep your home safe. The main one is getting to know your swapper reasonably well before you travel. Initial contact tends to be by email through home-swap sites such as homebase-hols.com, exchangeaway.com and intervac.com. Then, once you have found a potential swapper, you should make sure you contact them regularly. You should also draw up an agreement in writing, including addresses and dates, what is included in the swap, who will cover costs such as phone calls or gas bills, and what to do if something gets broken.And even once you are fully confident of the other person, it's still quite common to lock away family heirlooms, breakables or confidential documents in the loft or garage, or to leave them with a friend or relative.

However, while it's important to take precautions, home swappers stress that problems are rare, and that exchanging homes can be an uplifting experience, as well as a good way to get a cheap holiday.
佳句讲解
So rather than letting it sit idle while you're away, make it work for you and save thousands of pounds on your holiday in the process by trying out a home-swap.
本句明确点名了易家旅游的必要性和好处.句中出现了常用的词组rather than, 它与instead of同义，表示“与其”try out此处意为尝试.

And even once you are fully confident of the other person, it's still quite common to lock away family heirlooms, breakables or confidential documents in the loft or garage, or to leave them with a friend or relative.
本句指出了易家旅行要注意的事项。句中包含了一个较为实用的句型it’s quite common to do…” “…是相当普遍的事情”.本句还用了be confident of…和lock away这两个词组。前者表示”对…有信心”,而后者意为”锁住，把…锁起来”.
单词释义
Fork out 支付
I had to fork out 20 dollars to have the bike repaired.
我只好出二十元把自行车修了。

Bask 晒太阳
Turtles like to bask in the sun.
海龟喜欢曝于阳光中。

Child-proof 不危害儿童的，对儿童安全的

Precaution 预防，留心，警戒
I took an umbrella as a precaution.
我带了一把伞以防下雨。
We have taken necessary precautions against fire.
我们已采取必要的防火措施。

Heirloom 传家宝
She has gotten jewels and other family heirlooms.
她得到了首饰以及其它祖传遗物。

Confidential 机密的

Loft 阁楼，顶楼

Uplifting 振奋人心的