The key to learning English well is to overcome your shyness and fear , said taxi driver Zhang, who is attending the English training program run by the West Lake Taxi Company. “Out teacher Mrs.Yang encourages us many times to open our mouths and speak English out loudly in her class ,” said Zhang.
Chen Zhong, another fluent(流利的) English speaker, shared his opinion. “I didn’t think English was important to us at the beginning since many foreign passengers could speak some Chinese to me. But when I did speak some English, the foreigners were always pleased and said I was the first taxi driver they had met who could speak English.
Chen said he found studying English extremely interesting. The 160 minutes’ study per week was simply not enough for him. He bought books , tapes and VCDs to learn English on his own.. “Though it cost me a lot of time and energy , I did find it is useful in the long term” he said.
The reward of learning English is more than Chen has expected. Now he has made several foreign friends who book his taxi when they need. Some foreign passengers even give him tips (小费when he communicates with them in English.
To facilitate their studies, the company developed a bilingual(双语的) tape which includes the most frequently used sentences for taxi drivers and the names of major streets and buildings in Shenzhen.
“It has helped me out, ” said Chen. “Once I failed to express ‘Chinese Folk Culture Villages’ in English when I was asked to go there by a foreigner, I played the tape and got its meaning.”
59. What difficulty did Mr.Zhang have learning English at first?
A. He had no time to study English
B. His company didn’t allow them to study English
C. He had no courage to speak out.
D. He had no chance to speak English.
60. Which of the following is NOT the benefit Chen gets from learning English?
A. He gets some good advice on learning English from foreigners.
B. He earns more money from some regular foreign customers.
C. He has to spend both money and effort learning English.
D. He gets great fun and encouragement in learning English.
61. We can infer from the passage that _____.
A. the company is the first to encourage its drivers to learn English
B. all the drivers have made money after learning English
C. the company has developed and English tape for its drivers
D. the tape is welcomed by the drivers learning English
62. What is the probable meaning of the underlined word “facilitate” in the fifth paragraph?
A. To make easy B. To increase C. To encourage D. To check
People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions — and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why. Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly(均匀的) across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.
"We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions," Jack said. "Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and neglect (忽略) the mouth. "
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Caucasian and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of. expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than did Westerners. "The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions," Jack said. "Our data suggest that, whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less. "
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation.The discovery shows that Westerners _________________.
| A．pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth |
| B．consider facial expressions universally reliable |
| C．observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways |
| D．have more difficulty in recognizing facial expressions |
According to the fourth paragraph, what were the people asked to do in the study?
| A．To make a face at each other. |
| B．To get their faces impressive. |
| C．To classify some face pictures. |
| D．To observe the researchers' faces. |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．The Eye as the Window to the Soul |
| B．Cultural Differences in Reading Emotions |
| C．Effective Methods to Develop Social Skills |
| D．How to Increase Cross-cultural Understanding |
No poem should ever be discussed or “analyzed”, until it has been read aloud by someone, teacher or student. Better still, perhaps, is the practice of reading it twice, once at the beginning of the discussion and once at the end, so the sound of the poem is the last thing one hears of it.
All discussions of poetry are, in fact, preparations for reading it aloud, and the reading of the poem is, finally, the most telling “interpretation” of it, suggesting tone, rhythm, and meaning all at once. Hearing a poet read the work in his or her own voice, on records or on film, is obviously a special reward. But even those aids to teaching cannot replace the student and teacher reading it or, best of all, reciting it.
I have come to think, in fact, that time spent reading a poem aloud is much more important than “analyzing” it, if there isn’t time for both. I think one of our goals as teachers of English is to have students love poetry. Poetry is “ a criticism(批判) of life”, and “a heightening(提升) of life”. It is “an approach to the truth of feeling”, and it “can save your life”. It also deserves a place in the teaching of language and literature more central than it presently occupies.
I am not saying that every English teacher must teach poetry. Those who don’t like it should not be forced to put that dislike on anyone else. But those who do teach poetry must keep in mind a few things about its essential nature, about its sound as well as its sense, and they must make room in the classroom for hearing poetry as well as thinking about it.To have a better understanding of a poem, one should________.
| A．discuss it with others |
| B．analyze it by oneself |
| C．copy it down in a notebook |
| D．practise reading it aloud |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a function of poetry?
| A．Extending your life | B．Saving your life |
| C．Criticizing life | D．Heightening life |
What does the last sentence in the third paragraph mean?
| A．More stress should be laid on the teaching of poetry. |
| B．Poetry is more important than any other subject. |
| C．One cannot enjoy life fully without an understanding of poetry |
| D．Poetry is the foundation of all language and literature courses |
In the animal kingdom, weakness can bring about aggression in other animals. This sometimes happens with humans as well. But I have found that my weakness brings out the kindness in people. I see it every day when people hold doors for me, pour cream into my coffee, or help me to put on my coat. And I have discovered that it makes them happy.
From my wheelchair experience, I see the best in people, but sometimes I feel sad because those who appear independent miss the kindness I see daily. They don‘t get to see this soft side of others. Often, we try every way possible to avoid showing our weakness, which includes a lot of pretending. But only when we stop pretending we‘re brave or strong do we allow people to show the kindness that‘s in them.
Last month, when I was driving home on a busy highway, I began to feel unwell and drove more slowly than usual. People behind me began to get impatient and angry, with some speeding up alongside me, horning (按喇叭) or even shouting at me. At the moment I decided to do something I had never done in twenty-four years of driving. I put on the car flashlights and drove on at a really low speed.
No more angry shouts and no more horns!
When I put on my flashlights, I was saying to other drivers, ―I have a problem here. I am weak and doing the best I can. And everyone understood. Several times, I saw drivers who wanted to pass. They couldn’t get around me because of the stream of passing traffic. But instead of getting impatient and angry, they waited, knowing the driver in front of them was in some way weak.
Sometimes situations call for us to act strong and brave even when we don‘t feel that way. But those are few and far between. More often, it would be better if we don‘t pretend we feel strong when we feel weak or pretend that we are brave when we are scared.The author feels sad sometimes because ______.
| A．he has a soft heart |
| B．he relies much on others |
| C．some people pretend to be kind |
| D．some people fail to see the kindness in others |
What did the other drivers do when they saw the flashlights?
| A．They speed up to pass. |
| B．They waited with patience. |
| C．They tried their best to help. |
| D．They put on their flashlights too. |
In this passage, the author advises us to ______.
| A．handle problems by ourselves | B．accept help from others |
| C．admit our weakness | D．show our bravery |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A Wheelchair Experience. | B．Weakness and Kindness. |
| C．Weakness and Strength | D．A Driving Experience |
How to deal successfully with a child showing outstanding musical ability? Its not always clear how best to develop and encourage his gift. Many parents may even fail to recognize and respond to their children’s need until discouragement explodes into uncooperative behavior. And while most schools are equipped to deal with children who are especially able in academic subjects，the musically gifted require special understanding which may not always be available in an ordinary school. Such children may well benefit from the education offered by a specialist music school.
The five music schools in Britain aim to provide all environment where gifted children can develop their skills under the guidance of professional musicians. Children here spend about half of a day on musical activities，for example，individual lessons，orchestras，chamber(室内音乐的)groups，voice training，conducting and theory. They also spend several hours a day practicing in private rooms. The rest of their time is taken up with the subjects: English, maths and basic sciences.
What are the disadvantages? An obvious problem is that the fees are high. However, each school will offer scholarships and other forms of financial aid. Secondly, not all parents want to send their children to boarding school, especially at an early age. Almost all the directors of the specialist schools express doubts about the wisdom of admitting children as young as seven into such a tense and disciplined (守纪律的) environment. They stress，however, that their main aim is to turn out “well-rounded and well—balanced individual.”If a child’s musical ability is not recognized, ___________.
| A．the child may behave badly |
| B．the ability may fade away |
| C．the child may lose interest |
| D．the parents may become anxious |
What probably may musically gifted children face in ordinary schools?
| A．Their academic work may suffer. |
| B．Schools lack musical equipment. |
| C．Music is not seen as an important subject. |
| D．Parents and teachers don’t work together. |
What makes specialist music schools different from other schools?
| A．Their working day is longer. |
| B．A range of musical training is offered. |
| C．More than half the day is spent on music. |
| D．The children have mostly one-to-one lessons. |
According to school directors，what is a possible disadvantage for pupils?
| A．Poor children may not be included. |
| B．They may lose their individuality. |
| C．There may be a discipline problem. |
| D．They may be too small on arrival. |
The passage mainly talks about__________.
| A．education and development about children |
| B．disadvantages of music schools |
| C．music schools for children with music gift |
| D．how to deal with music talented children |
One day, when I was working as a psychologist in England, an adolescent boy showed up in my office. It was David. He kept walking up and down restlessly, his face pale, and his hands shaking slightly. His head teacher had referred him to me. "This boy has lost his family," he wrote. "He is understandably very sad and refuses to talk to others, and I'm very worried about him. Can you help?"
I looked at David and showed him to a chair. How could I help him? There are problems psychology doesn't have the answer to, and which no words can describe. Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and sympathetically.
The first two times we met David didn't say a word. He sat there, only looking up to look at the children’s drawings on the wall behind me. I suggested we play a game of chess. He nodded. After that he played chess with me every Wednesday afternoon - in complete silence and without looking at me. It's not easy to cheat in chess, but I admit I made sure David won once or twice.
Usually, he arrived earlier than agreed, took the chess board and pieces from the shelf and began setting them up before I even got a chance to sit down. It seemed as if he enjoyed my company. But why did he never look at me?
"Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with," I thought. "Perhaps he senses that I respect his suffering." Some months later, when we were playing chess, he looked up at me suddenly.
"It's your turn," he said.
After that day, David started talking. He got friends in school and joined a bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times about his biking with some friends, and about his plan to get into university. Now he had really started to live his own life.
Maybe I gave David something. But I also learned that one - without any words can reach out to another person. All it takes is a hug, a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch, and an ear that listens.When he first met the author, David________.
| A．felt a little excited |
| B．walked energetically |
| C．looked a little nervous |
| D．showed up with his teacher |
As a psychologist, the author_______.
| A．was ready to listen to David |
| B．was skeptical about psychology |
| C．was able to describe David's problem |
| D．was sure of handling David's problem |
David enjoyed being with the author because he ______.
| A．wanted to ask the author for advice |
| B．needed to share sorrow with the author |
| C．liked the children's drawings in the office |
| D．beat the author many times in the chess game |
What can be inferred about David?
| A．He recovered after months of treatment. |
| B．He liked biking before he lost his family. |
| C．He went into university soon after starting to talk. |
| D．He got friends in school before he met the author. |
What made David change?
| A．His teacher's help. |
| B．The author's friendship. |
| C．His exchange of letters with the author. |
| D．The author's silent communication with him. |