Here are a few tips we’ve put together to help you learn English well.
Speak, speak, speak!
Practise speaking as often as you can—even speaking to yourself is good practice. Try recording yourself whenever you can. Compare your pronunciation with the master version, see how you can do better and have another try. If you do this several times, you will find that each version is better than the last.
Why not learn with someone else?
It helps if you can learn with someone else. If you can persuade a friend or family member to study with you, it will make you keep working. Agree times to meet and set goals for the week, and test each other regularly.
Don’t get stuck by a word you don’t know
Practise improvising (即兴的) ways of getting your meaning across while speaking spontaneously (本能), even if you don’t know the exact words or phrases. Think of things you might want to say whenever you have spare time. A basic example is the use of tenses. If you don’t know the past tense but want to talk about yesterday, use the verb in the present tense and use the word for “yesterday”. Use facial expressions, hand movements, anything to get your meaning across.
Language learning is also about intuition (直觉)
Guesswork is important in learning a new language. When listening to recorded material, you aren’t expected to understand everything first time round. If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time. Learn to make maximum use of all the clues you can pick up. For example, what do the speakers sound like? Happy? Angry? Calm? Etc.
Build up your vocabulary
A wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning but don’t try to learn too much at once. It’s best to study frequently, for short periods of time. Take a maximum of six or seven items of vocabulary and learn them. Put them into sentences to fix them in your mind, then come back to them later. Much of the vocabulary in the course is presented by topic.
And above all, have fun!
1. Why should one have himself recorded when practicing speaking?
A. To encourage others to start.
B. To record his own progress.
C. To improve his speaking.
D. To compare himself with others.
2. Which of the following is the most important in learning English?
A. Speaking. B. Pleasure. C. Intuition. D. Vocabulary.
3. It is important in Tip 3 that is helpful when you are learning English.
A. body language B. a good memory C. a good friend D. a proper dictionary
4. Which of the following seems NOT to be true in learning a language?
A. Practice makes perfect. B. A good beginning is half done.
C. Rome is not built in a day. D. Don’t run before you can walk.
5.The underlined word “maximum” in Paragraph 5 might mean ________________.
A. 小心的 B. 大胆的 C. 最小量的 D. 最大量的
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OUR KIDS ARE AMAZING－especially compared with everybody else’s (who seem to cry all the time). How do you show your love for your kids this holiday season? With toys that are smooth and colorful, interactive and exciting. And with ones that have educational value－because you are the boss.
| 1. FLAX ART HOSPITAL PUZZLE AND PLAY SET |
Here is a toy that doesn’t need power－and the bike have to put it together themselves. This 50-piece puzzle set is made of soft-edged hardwood and makes a complete hospital, with an X-ray room. It also includes eight patients, a car and a driver. |
$135 |
| 2. TINY LOVE ACTIVITY BALL |
Sure, it’s cool, but this colorful baby toy also develops problem solving and motor skills. It has a head and legs, a magnetic(磁性的) hand and a tail. Suitable for little ones from 6 to 36 months. |
$19．95 |
| 3. ROBOSAPIEN |
This small, remote-control robot is really powerful. It performs 67 preprogrammed functions, including throwing, kicking, picking up and dancing. You can even program your own function-which, sadly, does not include doing windows. |
$99 |
| 4. MINI PEDAL CAR |
Want a Mini Cooper but can’t fit the family inside? Get one for the kids. They can jump into this Mini car, which comes in hot orange with a single adjustable seat, and ride away. But it could spoil them for that used car they’ll be driving when they turn 16．For ages 3 to 5 |
$189 |
69. Which toy is said to have the special design for children’s safety?
A. ROBOSAPIEN
B. MINI PEDAL CAR
C. FLAX ART HOSPITAL PUZZLE AND PLAY SET
D. TINY LOVE ACTIVITY BALL
70. Which toys are fit for three-year-old kids?
A. 1 and 3. B. 2 and 4. C. I and 2. D. 3 and 4.
71. This passage is written for __________.
A. parents B. children C. the salesman D. the boss
.
Section B
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.
I no longer consider myself the center of universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I was a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows(誓约)mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today.
So here’s what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a desire of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house.
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who loves you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. And realize that life is the best thing and that you have no business taking for granted.
It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes. It is so easy to exist instead of to live. I learned to live many years ago. Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my choice, it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all.
I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and totally. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned.
65. How did the writer form her view of life?
A. Through social experience B. By learning from her friends
C. Through an unfortunate experience D. From her children and husband
66. The sentence “It is so easy to exist instead of to live.” means that people tend to _________.
A. waste a lot in life B. work rather than enjoy life
C. make a living rather live a real life D. forget the most important lessons in life
67. It can be inferred from the passage that_________.
A. The author likes travelling very much
B. The author did not try her best to work well
C. The author spent all her time caring for children
D. the author is a success in personal life
68. The best title for this passage probably is______.
A. Love your friends B. Live a real life
C. Don’t waste time D. Be a good wife and mother
Here is what I have been told of the matter.
In the spring of 1842, Marguerite was so weak, so different in her looks, that the doctors had ordered her to take the waters.She therefore set out for Bagneres.
Among the other sufferers there, was the Duke's daughter who not only had the same complaint but a face so like Marguerite's that they could have been taken for sisters. The fact was that the young Duchess was in the third stage of consumption and, only days after Marguerite's arrival, she passed away.
One morning the Duke, who had remained at Bagnerescaught sight of Marguerite as she turned a corner of a gravel walk. It seemed as though he was seeing the spirit of his dead child and, going up to her, he took both her hands, embraced her tearfully and, without asking who she was,begged permission to call on her and to love in her person the living image of his dead daughter.
Marguerite, alone at Bagneres with her maid, and in any case having nothing to lose by compromising herself, granted the Duke what he asked.
Now there were a number of people at Bagneres who knew her,and they made a point of calling on the Duke to inform him of Marguerite's true situation.It was a terrible blow for the old man, for any resemblance with his daughter stopped there.But it was too late.The young woman had become an emotional necessity, his only excuse and his sole reason for living.
He did not criticize her, he had no right to, but he did ask her if she felt that she could change her way of life, and, in exchange for this sacrifice,he would offer all the compensations she could want.She agreed.
It should be said that at this point Marguerite, who was by nature somewhat highly strung(excited and nervous), was seriously ill.Her past appeared to her to be one of the major causes of her illness,and a kind of superstition(迷信) led her to hope that God would allow her to keep her beauty and her health in exchange for her regret and shame.
And indeed the waters, the walks, healthy fatigue and sleep had almost restored her fully by the end of that summer.
The Duke accompanied Marguerite to Paris, where he continued to call on her as at Bagneres.
This connection, of which the true origin and true motive were known to no one, gave rise here to a great deal of talk, since the Duke, known till now as an enormously wealthy man, now began to acquire a name for the prodigality(挥霍).
72. Why did the Duke take Marguerite’s both hands when he saw her?
A. His daughter and Marguerite were once good friends. B. Marguerite is his daughter’s spirit.
C. Marguerite resembles his daughter. D. They haven’t seen each other for long.
73. What’s the right order of the events?
a. The Duke accompanied Marguerite to Paris.
b. Marguerite set out for Bagneres.
c. The Duke took Marguerite as his daughter.
d. The daughter of the Duke passed away.
e. Marguerite took a gravel walk
A. e-c-b-d-a B. c-d-e-b-a C. b-d-e-c-a D. d-a-c-b-e
74. From the passage we can guess that Marguerite _______.
A. doesn’t believe in God B. was once a woman without a good fame
C. was strange to all the people in Bagners
D. kept her own way of life while living with the Duke
75. According to the passage, Marguerite went to Bagners _______.
A. just for a gravel walk B. to find her sister
C. to visit the Duke D. for treatment
“Up until about five years ago, students at this school could have worn anything they wanted on Halloween,” said Rosemarie Nielson, a sixth-grade teacher at St. Theresa School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx where there is a prohibition on toy weapons.
“When you consider all the horrific things that have happened in recent years, including 9/11, I can’t blame any school for wanting to stay away from anything that might promote violence,” Ms. Nielson s aid.
Mary Ellen Manniello, whose daughter, Courtney, 9, is a fourth grader at St. Gabriel School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, said she understood why officials had banned weapons with costumes. “They’re learning more about guns from issues in the street than educational issues.”
This year, the school has gone one step further and is prohibiting all costumes at its Halloween festivities. Ms. Manniello said it had become “a chaotic scene,” with parents helping their children change into their costumes at school.
Some parents said the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes went too far and denied children a chance to express themselves.
“Halloween has always been the one day when it was acceptable for our children to be dressed like somebody they are not, like a cowboy or a pirate or a person from outer space, and now we’re taking that away from them,” said Laura Santoro, a nurse from New Milford, Conn., whose 7-year-old son, Johnny, is a second grader at Northville Elementary School there.
Ms. Santoro said that her son would dress as Capt. Jack Sparrow, the character played by Johnny Depp in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, at the school’s Halloween party, but that he would not be allowed to take a sword — part of a policy that caught her by surprise last Halloween.
“I sent my son to school last year dressed as a special force Power Ranger, and he was told that he couldn’t take along his red laser blaster, which really surprised me, because the laser is red and made of plastic and lights up, and it could never, ever be mistaken for a real gun,” Ms. Santoro said. “I mean, come on, the whole thing is getting really sad.”
68. What do you think is the writer’s purpose of writing the passage?
A. To introduce to the public the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes.
B. To state parents’ attitudes towards the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes.
C. To tell the public that children should bring any weapons for Halloween costumes.
D. To analyze the fact that the no-weapons policy for Halloween costumes goes too far.
69. According to the passage, some parents understand the no-weapon policy for Halloween costumes because ____________.
A. schools should take a cautious approach to Halloween to prevent violence.
B. children are buying real guns in the street and there is always violence now.
C. those parents like to help their children change into their costumes at school.
D. children are learning more about guns from educational issues.
70. Which of the following is probably right according to the passage?
A. Children could bring any weapons into school five or six years ago.
B. The parents surveyed are those whose children are in elementary schools.
C. Guns are necessary on Halloween for children to express themselves.
D. Jack Sparrow is an actor who at one time acted as a pirate in a movie.
71. What do the underlined words “laser blaster” in the last paragraph refer to?
A. A kind of costume. B. A real gun.
C. A toy weapon. D. A kind of plastic.
Since the gene, called DAF-16 in worms, was found in many animals and in humans, the finding could open up new ways to affect aging, immunity(免疫)and resistance in humans, the scientists said.
“We wanted to find out how normal aging is being governed by genes and what effect these genes have on other traits, such as immunity,” said Robin May of the University of Birmingham, who led the study.
Populations across the world are aging at a surprising pace, bringing potentially big challenges for health and social care systems. A study by Danish scientists last year found that half of babies born in the rich world today will live to celebrate their 100th birthdays. Scientists are eager to find out how people age to try to develop drugs to help them stay healthier as their lives extend.
“What we have found is that things like resistance and aging tend to go hand in hand,” May said in an interview.
May’s team compared longevity, stress resistance and immunity in four related species of worm. They also looked for differences in the activity of DAF-16 in each of the four species, and found that they were all quite distinct.
May said DAF-16 was active in most cells in the body and was very similar to a group of human genes called FOXO genes, which scientists believe play a role in the aging process.
“The fact that subtle（微妙的）differences in DAF-16 between species seem to have such an impact on aging and health is very interesting and may explain how differences in lifespan and related traits have arisen during evolution,” May said.
64. In which section may the text appear in a newspaper?
A. Education. B. Science. C. Entertainment. D. Culture.
65. What can we know from the third paragraph?
A. New ways have been found to affect aging. B. Babies in the rich world will all live longer.
C. Present social care systems are poorly managed.
D. Aging populations are causing more challenges.
66. From the text we know that DAF-16._________
A. is a gene that is only found in worms B. can make people live longer
C. has an effect on aging and immunity D. has been quite familiar to scientists
67. What can be the best title of the passage?
A. Scientists Find Gene Linked to Aging B. Population Aging Faster than Expected
C. How to Make People Live Longer D. Gene Determines How Long We Live