Although many Chinese students say that their knowledge of English grammar is good, most would admit that their spoken English is poor. Whenever I speak to a Chinese student they always say, “My spoken English is poor.” However, their spoken English does not have to remain “poor”! I would like to suggest that there may be some reasons for their problems with spoken English.
First, they fail to find suitable words to express themselves due to a limited vocabulary. Obviously the better answer is to expand their vocabulary. However, you can speak with a limited vocabulary, if your attitude is positive. Others will follow you as long as you use the words that you know.
Second, they are afraid of making mistakes. Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous. Yet students should remember that their goal should be FLUENCY NOT ACCURACY（准确性）. Your aim in writing is to be accurate following the rules for grammar and using the right words and spelling them correctly. However, in speaking your aim is fluency. You want to get your message across, to talk to someone in English, as quickly and as well as you can, even though sometimes you may use a wrong word or tense, but it doesn’t matter because the person you are speaking to will understand you and make allowances for any mistakes he hears.
The third reason is that not enough attention is paid to listening. You have one mouth but two ears! All that hearing was necessary for you to start speaking.
Fourth, most Chinese students are reactive rather than proactive language learners. Instead of actively seeking out opportunities to improve their spoken English, they passively wait for speaking opportunities to come to them and wonder why their English always remains poor. If you have this proactive outlook, then you will see English opportunities wherever you go.
If you do not use your English beyond the classroom, you will forget what English you know. Remember: USE IT OR LOSE IT! You can learn how to speak English better by speaking English more.What is most probably the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To improve your reading. |
| B．To improve your listening. |
| C．To improve your spoken English. |
| D．To improve your vocabulary. |
It can be inferred from the third paragraph that______.
| A．don’t be fluency , Just be accuracy |
| B．don’t be nervous ,don’t be shy . Just write! |
| C．don’t be afraid of making mistakes . Just speak! |
| D．don’t be shy ,don’t be fluency. Just listen and write! |
The last paragraph is possibly close to the meaning of “_____”.
| A．more hurry, less speed | B．better late than never |
| C．silence is gold | D．practice makes perfect |
The text is most probably taken from a ______.
| A．teacher’s diary | B．report on study |
| C．sports newspaper | D．movie magazine |
Did Steve Jobs kill the music industry? That’s the question on many people’s lips since rock star Jon Bon Jovi accused the Apple boss of personally destroying the music industry.Bon Jovi centers his criticism on how he believes music downloading has robbed young people of what he calls the “beauty of buying an album”. “Kids today have missed the beauty of taking your pocket money and making a decision based on the jacket (封面), not knowing what the record sounded like,” he said.
But far from killing the industry, many young people today think Jobs has been a blessing (带来幸运的人), offering you instant, and selective access to a whole world of music.
Keith Staskiewicz at Enthertainment Weekly speaks for the feelings of many music lovers. He believes listening to MP3s rather than records or CDs “just save money” and doesn’t “remove the sense of discovery they get from new music”. Staskiewicz also argues that it’s wrong to blame Jobs and Apple for destroying anything. “Change is just part of the business,” Staskiewicz said. “No doubt in 50 years, Justin Bieber will complain about how kids don’t listen to ipods anymore.”
For now, though, it appears that music downloading is set to continue for the near future.
According to Summer Redstone, chairman of media company Viacom, iTunes has “resurrected(复兴) the music industry by creating a legal, affordable purchasing system for fans”.
But recent surveys suggested that, despite the “legalizing(合法化)” of music downloading through sites like iTunes, young people are still choosing to download music illegally. A report by Jupiter Research suggested that illegal downloading sites are used three times as much as legal ones. The problem, according to its analyst Mark Mulligan, is how today’s youth grow up viewing music as something they can get for free.
He said, “Unless the musci industry can shift these consumers while they are young away from free consumption to paid music formats(格式), they may never develop music purchasing behavior and the recording industry could suffer long-term harm.”Which one is TRUE about young people nowadays?
| A．They are music lovers and are willing to save money to enjoy music. |
| B．The majority of them download music through legal sites like iTunes. |
| C．They are most likely to go back to the store to buy albums in the near future. |
| D．They are robbed of the change of enjoying music by Apple. |
According to Mark Mulligan, the best solution to the problem of illegal music downloading is to_______.
| A．legalize music downloading through sites like iTunes |
| B．help young people get used to paying for music |
| C．offer young people instant and selective access to a variety of music |
| D．create an affordable purchasing system for fans |
What is the main point of the article?
| A．How Steve Jobs and Apple destroyed the music industry. |
| B．Why young people prefer downloading music to buying albums. |
| C．The problem of illegal downloading of music. |
| D．Different opinions on effects of music downloading. |
The human body has hundreds of muscles. The three types are skeletal(骨骼的) muscles, smooth muscles and cardiac, or heart muscles. Each kind of muscle has a special job to do.
The skeletal muscles are attached to the bones; they actually hold the skeleton together. Strong cords, called tendons(肌腱), help connect these muscles to the bones. Skeletal muscles give us strength and allow us to move in many ways. If you look at skeletal muscles through a microscope, you will see that it has bands of fibers that look like stripes(条纹). These stripes are called striations. Skeletal muscles usually move because the brain has sent a conscious message to them telling them what to do. This is called voluntary movement.
Another type of muscle is smooth muscle. Unlike skeletal muscle, smooth muscle does not have striations. This is found in organs such as the stomach, the bladder(膀胱), the lungs and the eyes. Smooth muscles are smaller than the skeletal muscles and they move involuntarily. The brain tells these muscles what to do, but we aren’t even aware of it. For example, we don’t have to think about breathing or digesting food. The smooth muscles just do their jobs automatically. For this reason smooth muscles are sometimes called involuntary muscles.
Like smooth muscle, cardiac muscle also works involuntarily. It is a very thick muscle that is found only in the walls of the heart. Its job is to pump blood out of the heart and into blood vessels called arteries(动脉). The arteries help carry the blood to all parts of the body. When the cardiac muscles relax, they let blood back into the heart. Cardiac muscles have striations, just like skeletal muscles do. When we _______, the job is done by smooth muscles.
| A．close our eyes | B．kick a ball | C．hug our friends | D．lift a suitcase |
Skeletal muscles and heart muscles are alike because_______.
| A．both can move voluntarily |
| B．both are thick muscles |
| C．both are bigger than smooth muscles |
| D．both have stripes called striations |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Heart muscles are very important because they give us strength and allow us to move. |
| B．The heart of human beings completely consists of heart muscle. |
| C．The skeletal muscles are connected to the bones by tendons. |
| D．Smooth muscle does its work without receiving message from the brain. |
I’ve often had difficulty remembering names. Proper nouns seldom found easy purchase in my brain unless I consciously repeat them over and over again. Needless to say, when people leave my life their names are often soon forgotten. This can have some embarrassing consequences.
Five or six years after high school graduation, I was reading carefully the shelves of a local auto supply shop when I noticed someone familiar enter the store. I knew him. He was in my graduation class and although he was not a good friend of mine, we had shared many classes and knew each other well. I began to feel an increasing sense of foreboding（预感）and quickly hid behind the nearest shelving unit. I should have known his name. How many times had I heard it during class role call? How many conversations had we had in the hallways?
I easily remembered his surname, “Ricca”. His was a large, well know family in the town of my childhood. I couldn’t have just acknowledged him using his surname. I might as well have admitted forgetting his name, which was not a choice. One’s name is important to every person’s identity. Not remembering an old acquaintance’s name is similar to forgetting your wife’s favourite flower, an embarrassing mistake of the highest order.
I quickly ran through the alphabet (字母表), a strategy I developed for just such an occasion. Abe? No, Adam, Andy, Bob? No, Bill? Yes! Bill sounded right. Of course, his name is Bill. I confidently made my way around the shelves and spoke to him as he was studying some cans of motor oil.
“Bill, how are you doing?”, I said offering him my hand which he took with a friendly shake. We talked a bit, some amusing remarks about our college experiences and such. I took his hand again, said how good it was to see him and gave him a happy wave, calling him by name again, as I left.
I was so pleased that I avoided yet another awkward encounter(相遇) that I could feel a big smile on my face as I paid the cashier and exited the store. As I marched merrily across the parking lot, an awful thought came into my mind. John, his name is John! Where did Bill come from? Was that one of my brothers? The sudden realization of what I did made me stop in my tracks. My head dropped when I realized my mistake. There was no way Mrs. Ricca would name one of her sons “Bill”. “Billerica” was the name of a town just north of Boston.Which one can show the charge of the writer’s feelings?
a. guilty b. anxious c. embarrassed d. happy e sure
| A．a-d-b-e-c | B．d-e-b-a-c | C．c-b-e-d-a | D．b-c-d-e- |
According to the passage, which statement is NOT sure?
| A．Forgetting your wife’s favourite flower is a very serious mistake. |
| B．It is common to call an old acquaintance his given name. |
| C．The writer was in his twenties when he met John in the store. |
| D．John and the writer studied in the same college. |
The underlined word “acknowledge” probably means “” here.
| A．accept | B．greet | C．thank | D．admit |
We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．The writer must have experienced such embarrassment many times |
| B．The writer had difficulty remembering names because he was getting old |
| C．Running through the alphabet was always an effective way of remembering an acquaintance’s name for the writer |
| D．Mrs. Ricca would have named one of her sons “Bill” if Billerica was not the name of a town north of Boston |
Ladji Doucoure of France beat Olympic champion Liu Xiang of China in the final meters to claim the title of the men’s 110 meters hurdles at the 10th world championships in Helsinki on Friday.
Doucoure, who led the world this season with 12.97 seconds, over took the Chinese to win the race in 13.07 seconds. Liu was second in 13.08. Four-time world champion Allen Johnson of the United States took the third in 13.10.
The 22-year-old Doucoure said after the race, “ I can not tell you just how long I have been dreaming of this. This victory is the result of a lot of hard work, and also a lot of support from people who have believed in me. I had a bad start, touched a few hurdles, but after the 4th hurdle I picked up my race and went straight to the finish line.”
Liu, who won the Olympic gold with a world record-tying time of 12.91 seconds, said, “I’m very satisfied with the second place. The result could have been worse. I felt quite well and did my best. I’ m not tired, I had some clearance problems at the start, so I should practice that some mor. Finally, I didn’t lose by much, only by a little bit, but I did think I could win it.”
Liu’s coach, Sun Haiping said on Friday he was content with Liu’s performance.
“ Liu Xiang was quite good during his reaction period, but he was a little bit slow in the middle and he finally caught up during the last two hurdles,” Sun told Xinhua.
Although satisfied with the silver medal and the clocking of 13.08 seconds, Sun said Liu might have added the world title to the Olympic championship if Liu had run the track neighboring his major rivals(对手) of Doucoure Ladji or Allen Johnson.
“ If he had run next to Ladji Doucoure or Allen Johnson, Liu could have kept pace with them and then sprinted(疾跑) at the last stage. In this case, he could grab the gold,” said Sun, who had become a household name for coaching China’s first men’s Olympic champion in the track.This passage probably appears_________.
| A．in a story book | B．in a text book |
| C．in a newspaper | D．in a fashion magazine |
The following statements about Doucoure are true EXCEPT_______.
| A．He won the gold medal in the men’s 110m hurdles in Helsinki. |
| B．He led the world in the men’s 110m hurdles with 12.97 seconds this season. |
| C．He did a lot of hard practice before the race in Helsinki. |
| D．He won the world champion title four times. |
Which of the following can be used to replace the underlined phrase“picked up my race”in Paragraph 3?
| A．gathered speed | B．stood up |
| C．make up my mind | D．became better in health |
According to Sun Haiping, Liu Xiang might have won the gold if ______.
| A．he had done better during his reaction period |
| B．he had run the track next to Ladji Doucoure of Allen Johnson |
| C．he had practiced clearance more before that race |
| D．he hadn’t touched a few hurdles in the race |
Use your American Express Card to enjoy one-day privileges at four of America’s greatest museums. Note the participating museums, and their exciting special exhibitions that you will not want to miss, listed below.
Boston
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Chairs
February 11—May 8, 2005
Italian furniture expert Fausto Calderai and Indian photographer Dayanita Singh present an exhibition of chairs from the museum’s collection and “ chair photographs ”from around the world presented in a Venetian-style hall housing world-famous masterpieces.
For more information: www. gardnermuseum.org
New York
The Noguchi Museum
Noguchi and Graham
December 1, 2004---May 1,2005
Noguchi’s long-term collaboration with dancer Martha Graham is regarded by many as high point in the history of both modern dance and art. The exhibition highlights nine of the sets created through this collaboration.
For more information: www. noguchi.org
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
In Full View : American painting ( 1720---2005)
January 11--- April 10, 2005
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy has been home to America’s artists for 200 years. The Academy collects and exhibits the works of famous American artists, and is well-known for training fine artists. 2005 at the Academy begins with the largest exhibition of the Academy’s distinguished American collection in the institution’s history.
For more information: www.pafa.org
Seattle
Seattle Museum of Glass
Murano: Glass from the Olnick Spanu Collection
Through November 7, 2004
This exhibition includes over 200 pieces of beautiful glass from Murano, the island of glassblowers near Venice, Italy. Watch live glass-blowing shows in the Hot Shop and see other modern glass exhibitions.
For more information: www. museumofglass.orgWhich of the following websites offers information about the furniture show?
| A．www. pafa.org |
| B．www. noguchi.org |
| C．www. museumofglass.org |
| D．www. Gardner museum .org |
We learn from the text that Martha Graham is _______.
| A．a dancer | B．a painter | C．a glassblower | D．a photographer |
If you want to know the history of American painting, you may visit _____.
| A．The Noguchi Museum |
| B．Seattle Museum of Glass |
| C．Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum |
| D．Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts |