A study of English learning problems was carried out among a total of 106 foreign students. It shows that most students considered understanding spoken English to be their biggest problem on arrival. This was followed by speaking. Writing increased as a problem as students discovered difficulties in writing papers that they were now expected to hand in. Reading remained as a significant(显著的) problem.
The information gained helped us in determining where special attention should be paid in our course. Although many students have chosen to join the course with a reasonable motivation(动机), we considered it important to note what seemed to encourage interest. Nearly all the students have experienced some kind of grammar-based English teaching in their own country. To use the same method would be self-defeating because it might reduce motivation, especially if it has failed in the past. Therefore a different method may help because it is different.
Variety of activity was also seen as a way of maintaining(保持) or increasing motivation. Several years ago we had one timetable that operated throughout, but we soon found that both the students and the teachers lost interest by about halfway through the ten weeks. This led us to a major re-think, so finally we brought it into line with the expressed language needs of the students.What is the text mainly about?
| A．Foreign students have more problems. |
| B．There are many ways to improve English. |
| C．Teaching should meet students’ needs. |
| D．English learning problems should be studied again. |
Writing became a bigger problem when foreign students________.
| A．had to write their papers |
| B．became better at speaking |
| C．became less interested in reading |
| D．had fewer problems with listening |
We may infer from the last two paragraphs that ________.
| A．different teaching methods should be used |
| B．grammar-based teaching seems to be encouraging |
| C．English courses are necessary for foreign students |
| D．teaching content should be changed halfway. |
When 19yearold Sophia Giorgi said she was thinking of volunteering to help the MakeAWish Foundation (基金会)，nobody understood what she was talking about. But Sophia knew just how important MakeAWish could be because this special organization had helped to make a dream come true for one of her best friends. We were interested in finding out more, so we went along to meet Sophia and listen to what she had to say.
Sophia told us that MakeAWish is a worldwide organization that started in the United States in 1980. “It's a charity (慈善机构)that helps children who have got very serious illnesses. MakeAWish helps children feel happy even though they are sick, by making their wishes and dreams come true，” Sophia explained.
We asked Sophia how MakeAWish had first started. She said it had all begun with a very sick young boy called Chris, who had been dreaming for a long time of becoming a policeman. Sophia said lots of people had wanted to find a way to make Chris's dream come true，so with everybody's help, Chris, only seven years old at the time, had been a “policeman” for a day. “When people saw how delighted Chris was when his dream came true, they decided to try and help other sick children too, and that was the beginning of MakeAWish，”explained Sophia.
Sophia also told us the Foundation tries to give children and their families a special, happy time. A MakeAWish volunteer visits the families and asks the children whatever they would wish for if they could have anything in the world. Sophia said the volunteers were important because they were the ones who helped to make the wishes come true. They do this either by providing things that were necessary, or by raising money or helping out in what way they can.Sophia found out about MakeAWish because her best friend had ________.
| A．benefited from it | B．volunteered to help it |
| C．dreamed about it | D．told the author about it |
According to Sophia, MakeAWish ________.
| A．is an international charity |
| B．was understood by nobody at first |
| C．raises money for very poor families |
| D．started by drawing the interest of the public |
What is said about Chris in Paragraph 3?
| A．He has been a policeman since he was seven. |
| B．He gave people the idea of starting MakeAWish. |
| C．He wanted people to help make his dream come true. |
| D．He was the first child MakeAWish helped after it had been set up. |
Which of the following is true about MakeAWish volunteers?
| A．They are important for making wishes come true. |
| B．They try to help children get over their illnesses. |
| C．They visit sick children to make them feel special. |
| D．They provide what is necessary to make MakeAWish popular. |
Homestay provides English language students with the opportunity to speak English outside the classroom and the experience of being part of a British home.
What to Expect
The host will provide accommodation and meals. Rooms will be cleaned and bedcovers changed at least once a week. You will be given the house key and the host is there to offer help and advice as well as to take an interest in your physical and mental health.
Accommodation Zones
Homestays are located in London mainly in Zones2, 3 and 4 of the transport system. Most hosts do not live in the town centre as much of central London is commercial and not residential(居住的). Zones 3 and 4 often offer larger accommodation in a less crowded area. It is very convenient to travel in London by Underground.
Meal Plans Available
♢Continental Breakfast
♢Breakfast and Dinner
♢Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner
It’s important to note that few English families still provide a traditional cooked breakfast. Your accommodation includes Continental Breakfast which normally consists of fruit juice, cereal（谷物类食品），bread and tea or coffee. Cheese, fruit and cold meat are not normally part of a Continental Breakfast in England. Dinners usually consist of meat or fish with vegetables followed by dessert, fruit and coffee.
Friends
If you wish to invite a friend over to visit, you must first ask your host’s permission. You have no right to entertain friends in a family home as some families feel it is an invasion of their privacy.
Self-Catering Accommodation in Private Homes
Accommodation on a room-only basis includes shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and often a main living room. This kind of accommodation offers an independent lifestyle and is more suitable for the long-stay student. However, it does not provide the same family atmosphere as an ordinary homestay and may not benefit those who need to practise English at home quite as much.The passage is probably written for________.
| A．hosts willing to receive foreign students |
| B．English learners applying to live in English homes |
| C．travellers planning to visit families in London |
| D．foreigners hoping to build British culture |
Which of the following will the host provide?
| A．Physical training. | B．Medical care. |
| C．Free transport. | D．Rooming cleaning |
What can be inferred from Paragraph3?
| A．The business centre of London is in Zone 1 |
| B．Zone 4 is more crowded than Zone 2. |
| C．Hosts dislike travelling to the city centre. |
| D．Accommodation in the city centre is not provided. |
Why do some people choose self-catering accommodation?
| A．To experience a warmer family atmosphere. |
| B．To enrich their knowledge of English. |
| C．To enjoy much more freedom.. |
| D．To entertain friends as they like |
Thanksgiving time came and all the relatives were gathered around the long table, or seated behind TV trays．The television was on and some folks were watching it while talking with one another．Something on television got their attention and one of the adults said, "Listen at it!" Someone else replied．"Well, if that don't beat all．"
Simple phrases were spoken by folks whose language was simple and brief．They had several idioms that were just as colorful phrases and words that brightened the room and warmed the conversation．In school we were taught to speak differently．The way our relatives spoke was discouraged．Sometimes our parents would say things we weren't taught in school．They'd often correct themselves, as if getting rid of a mistake．Of course we learned some of their phrases and used them．They were comfortable words to pronounce, familiar．
Our father's side of the family was from Arkansas and Oklahoma and they spoke with the accents native to their birth states．Their voices musical and often high , it was easy to pick up that effect in our own speech and at school my brother and I were often teased for the way we spoke．Our mother's side of the family came from Illinois and they had a tendency to talk fast．They had an accent, too, and my brother and I added that to our own speech, confusing the kids at school all the more．Our father's side of the family loved to laugh and have a good time．Our mother's side of the family was more serious about how they took life in; their joys more silently experienced and enjoyed．It was a rich picture of culture and it gave my brother and me a colorful view in life．
Thanksgiving holiday was always an easy comfortable going day．It was the first real holiday of the season when everyone came together in one place, and a good time was spent happily together by all．From the text we can know that ___________．
| A．parents were worried that their relatives might affect their kids’ language |
| B．parents tried to avoid affecting their kids with their dialects |
| C．parents didn’t allow their children to speak dialects |
| D．parents thought the language taught in school was the best |
It can be inferred from the text that ________．
| A．the language used by his father’s side of the family was fast |
| B．his mother’s side of the family spoke in a high voice |
| C．English taught in school is different from that used in daily life |
| D．the writer and brother were laughed at at school because of their poor English |
Why did the writer and his brother puzzle other kids at school by their speeches?
| A．They had relatives from different parts of Europe |
| B．There were many mistakes in their language |
| C．They added some dialects in their speeches |
| D．Their speeches were lively and colorful |
What’s the writer’s attitude towards dialects?
| A．He liked them very much． |
| B．They should be used everywhere． |
| C．They should be taught in school． |
| D．They were not accepted by others． |
It was already dark when an old man arrived at a small town. He found an inn and wanted to stay there for the night. After he had entered his room, the owner said to his wife, “Look at his luggage, dear. It’s heavy and the old man is so careful about it that he takes it wherever he goes. I’m sure there are lots of valuable things in it. I want to steal some when he is asleep.”
“No, no,” said the woman. “He must search for what was gone tomorrow morning. Then he’ll take you before the judge.” They thought and at last the woman had an idea. “We have forgetful grass,” said the woman, “Why not put some into his food? If he has the food, he will forget to take his luggage away.” “How clever you are! My dear.” said the owner, “Don’t forget it when you prepare supper for him.”
The old man had the food with the forgetful grass and went to bed. The next morning, when the owner got up and hurried to the room that the old man lived in, he found the door was open and the old man had left with his bags. He woke his wife up and said angrily, “What a fool! Your forgetful grass isn’t useful at all.” “No, no,” said the woman. “I don’t think so. The forgetful grass does always work. He must have forgot something.” “Oh, I’ve remembered!” The owner cried out suddenly, “He forgot…”The owner and his wife put the forgetful grass into the food because _______.
| A．the old man always forgot something |
| B．they wanted to make the food better |
| C．they hoped the old man would leave the bags in the inn |
| D．they wanted to know if the grass was useful |
According to the passage the old man forgot _______.
| A．to take his bags away |
| B．to tell the owner when he left |
| C．to close the door when he went to sleep |
| D．to pay them the inn money |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Both the owner and his wife were clever. |
| B．The owner of the inn got nothing from the old man. |
| C．The old man left the inn without his bags. |
| D．The woman forgot to put the grass into the food. |
If it really is what’s on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.
Some doctors now think that the internal(内部的) fat surrounding important organs like the heart or liver could be as dangerous as the external fat which can be noticed more easily.
“Being thin doesn’t surely mean you are not fat,” said Dr Jimmy Bell at Imperial College. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat.
According to the result, people who keep their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits(储蓄,沉淀物)of internal fat, even if they are slim.
Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside. Of the women, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had too high levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent.
According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are actually on the edge of being fat. They eat too many fatty and sugary foods, but they are not eating enough to be fat. Scientists believe we naturally store fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.
Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some think it has something to do with heart disease and diabetes(糖尿病). They want to prove that internal fat damages the body’s communication systems.
The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “If you want to be healthy, there is no shortcut. Exercise has to be an important part of your lifestyle.” Bell said. What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Internal fat leads to many diseases. |
| B．Internal fat is of no importance. |
| C．Thin people may be fat inside. |
| D．Thin people don’t have diabetes. |
According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?
| A．Exercise can help to reduce the internal fat. |
| B．People with heart disease all have internal fat. |
| C．Men are more likely to have too much internal fat. |
| D．People can get rid of internal fat by improving diet. |
From the last paragraph, we can find that ______.
| A．internal fat leading to disease has been proved |
| B．it is easier to burn off internal fat than external fat |
| C．thin people usually have internal fat even if they are slim |
| D．exercise plays an important role in people’s life for keeping healthy |
The underlined part in the last paragraph means ______.
| A．long road | B．clear difference |
| C． short distance | D．easy way |