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 go. 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 a family member to study with you, it will make you keep working.
Don’t get stuck by a word you don’t know.
Practise improvising（即兴的）ways of getting your meaning across when speaking spontaneously（本能地）, even if you don’t know the exact words or phrases. Think of things you might want to say whenever you have spare time. Use facial expressions, hand movements, anything to get your meaning across.
Language learning is also about intuition（直觉）.
Guesswork is an important way to learn a new language. When listening to recorded material, you aren’t expected to understand everything first round. If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time.
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 at most 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.
And above all, have fun!Why should one have himself recorded when practicing speaking?
| A．To improve his speaking. | B．To record his own progress. |
| C．To encourage others to start. | D．To compare himself with others. |
In the writer’s opinion, which of the following is the most important in leaning English?
| A．Speaking. | B．Pleasure. | C．Intuition. | D．Vocabulary. |
It is implied in the passage that _______ is helpful when you are learning English.
| A．body language | B．a good material |
| C．a good friend | D．a proper dictionary |
According to the passage, one should ______ when you are learning English.
| A．always work with other people | B．be able to guess everything new |
| C．often review what he has learnt | D．take little notice of grammar |
Harbour Cruises LTD.
Dining, Sightseeing and Special Events
Get on board to experience Vancouver from a different perspective (视角). Join Harbour Cruises Ltd. For Vancouver's only guided tour of the inner harbour, the always popular dinner cruise(乘船巡游), or a luncheon cruise through a quiet coastal mountain bay(海湾). Special event cruises are available throughout the year including during the yearly fireworks competition and December's Christmas Carol Ships. Harbour Cruises Ltd. is located next to world-famous Stanley Park. Dates of Operation: April - October and December Seasonal Hours: 8 : 00 am - 7 : 00 pm, 7 days a week Directions: Drive west on Georgia and turn right at the lights at Denman Street. Take the # 135 Stanley Park bus or walk west along Georgia for 15 minutes towards Stanley Park from downtown.
Information: 604.688.7246
Reservations(预订): 1. 800. 663. 1500
Website: www. boatcruises. corn
Email: tours@boatcruises . corn
# 1, North Foot of Den-man Street, Vancouver, BC V6G 2w9
The Lookout at Harbour Centre Tower
Not sure where to start? The Lookout，which is high atop Harbor Center Tower，is your best first choice in Vancouver．Majestic cruise ships，mountains sprinkled with fresh snow and a west coast sunset are but a few highlights of this grand 3600 view．Drink your cappuccino，join a free guided tour，learn something new about Vancouver and enjoy the view！
Dates of Operation：Open 365 days/year
Seasonal Hours：Winter 9：00 am - 9：00 pm
Summer 8：30 am - 10：30 pm
Directions：Located downtown at the SeaBus and SkyTrain station．
Just steps away from the Cruise Ship Terminal and historic Gastown．
Infonnation and Reservations：604．689．0421
Website: www. vancouverlookout.com
Email: info@vancouverlookout.com
555 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 4N4
Burnaby Village Museum And Carousel
Step back in time to 1925. The museum features a village, a farmhouse and the historic CW Parker Carousel. Costumed townspeople welcome you to exhibits that include a schoolhouse, a blacksmith, a Chinese medicine store and an ice - cream parlour.
Seasonal Hours: May 4 - Sept 2 (11: 00 am - 4:30 pm )
Christmas Hours: Nov 23 - Dec 13 & Dec31 - Jan 4(12:00 - 5:30 pm) and Dec 14 - 30 (12:00 - 8:00 pm) Closed Dec 24& 25
Directions: Take exit 33 from Hwy 1 to Canada Way. Follow the signs along the sidewalk to Deer Lake Park. 20 minutes from downtown Vancouver.
Information: 604. 293. 6501
Telephone: 604. 293. 6500
Website: www. city. burnaby.cb.ca.
6501 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5G 3T6If you want to visit one of the places from 8:30 am to 10:30 am on Christmas Day, you can get further information on ___________.
| A．Website: www.vancouverlookout.com |
| B．Email: info@vancouverlookout.com |
| C．Website: www.city.burnaby.cb.ca |
| D．Website: www.boatcruises.com |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．A guide is necessary for people to visit Harbour Center Tower. |
| B．There is fresh snow at Harbor Center Tower for people to enjoy. |
| C．Harbour Cruises LTD is closer to downtown than Burnaby Village Museum. |
| D．The ice - cream parlour provides you local delicious food at lunch time on Christmas Day. |
The main purpose of the advertisements is to attract tourists to Vancouver
| A．for the view of mountains | B．for a ship sightseeing |
| C．for a cultural visit | D．for great fun |
On the wall in my mother’s bedroom there was a photo, which showed a soldier with a gun. Below the photo was the word “Speaking”.
“Who’s that soldier called Speaking?” I asked one day.
“He was Harold.” She said. “He was my only brother. When the Second World War began, Harold was eighteen. I was twelve then, and my sisters were ten and nine”.
“Harold liked to play with us, and we often quarreled. When we quarreled, we said：We’re not speaking to you. But before long we were all happy again, and then we said: I’m speaking now. Are you speaking to me?”
“When the war broke out, Harold joined the army. A month later, he came to see us. He brought the gun to show us. Then he went miles away to the war. We didn’t see him for three years, three long, empty years. We didn’t often hear from him. But one day in May there was a loud bang（砰）on the front door…”
“I ran to open it. It was Harold! He was an old Harold, a thinner Harold. He looked at me with his two green eyes and smiled. That smile was just the same as before, then he said one word: ‘speaking’”.
“I didn’t…I couldn’t…answer. I just fell into his arms and he dropped his gun. He stayed with us for a month. We played all our old games again. Then he went back to the war, and never came back again. So I wrote the word on the photo.”How old was the storyteller when Harold came back for the last time?
| A．Thirty-five | B．Eighteen. |
| C．Fifteen. | D．Twenty-one. |
Harold never came back again because________.
| A．he didn’t want to speak to his sister any more |
| B．he died in the war |
| C．his sister had not answered him when he came back |
| D．he went far away to the war |
Why did the mother hang the photo in her bedroom?
| A．She wanted to keep a memory of her childhood. |
| B．It could awake her happy memories. |
| C．It could show that her brother was a great man. |
| D．She hung it there in memory of her brother. |
Generational differences and the economy are shifting more responsibilities for children from their parents to grandparents, according to a new survey.
More than one-third of grandparents aged 50 and older contribute financially to their grandchildren’s upbringing, and 11 percent have a grandchild living with them, the poll by AARP showed.
40 percent of people who responded to the telephone survey, whose average age was 69, reported spending more than ＄500 on grandchildren over the past year beyond traditional gifts. Education costs accounted for about 50 percent, daily expenses for about 32 percent and medical and dental costs for about 18 percent.16 percent provided daycare for grandchildren.
“They are the safety nets for American families, helping to pay for practical expenses and necessities,”said Amy Goyer, AARP’s multigenerational and family issues (问题) expert.
“We see many providing daycare services, while growing numbers even have grandchildren living with them,”she said, referring to the 16 percent who watch their grandchildren while the parents are at work or at school.
Overall, nearly 90 percent of the 1,904 grandparents questioned said they play a very or somewhat important role in their grandchildren’s lives, and about 70 percent live within 50 miles of the closest one.
The poll conducted by Woelfel Research Inc. also showed that grandparents increasingly adapted to the younger generation’s life issues and preferred ways of communicating.
More than one-third connect with their grandchildren via email, Skype or text messaging, while half said they routinely discuss topics ranging from values to drug and alcohol use.
Nearly 40 percent said they had discussed dating or sex with at least one grandchild. About 60 percent said they spoke with their grandchildren at least once a week.
Most of the grandparents said they had five or more grandchildren, while one-fourth said they have grandchildren of a different race, mixed race or different ethnicity.According to Paragraph 3, what did the spending of over ＄500 last year NOT involve?
| A．Traditional gifts. |
| B．Education cost. |
| C．Daily expenses. |
| D．Medical and dental costs. |
When do the 16% of the grandparents polled take care of their grandchildren?
| A．When the parents are retired. |
| B．When the parents are working or buying gifts. |
| C．When the parents are at work or at school. |
| D．When there are three generations in the family. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?
| A．One-third of grandparents aged 50 and older assist in bringing up their grandchildren. |
| B．The grandparents surveyed offered nets to their grandchildren. |
| C．Many grandparents polled said they play an important role in their grandchildren’s lives. |
| D．A majority of the grandparents surveyed said they had five or more grandchildren. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．American grandparents are more responsible for grandchildren |
| B．Woelfel Research Inc. and AARP |
| C．Generational differences and the present economy |
| D．Grandparents and their grandchildren |
Outside her shabby cottage, old Mrs. Tailor was hanging out laundry on a wire line, unaware that some children lay hidden in the leaves of a nearby tree watching her every move. They were determined to find out if she was really a witch.
They watched as she took a broomstick to clean the dirt from her stone steps. But, much to their disappointment, she did not mount the broomstick and take a flight. Suddenly, the old lady’s work was interrupted by the cackling of her hen—a signal that an egg had been laid in the warm nest on the top of the haystack.
The old broomstick was put aside as she hobbled (蹒跚) off towards the haystack followed by Sooty, a black cat she had rescued from a fox trap some time back. With only three legs, it was hard for Sooty to keep up with the old lady. The cat provided proof—the children were sure that only a witch could own a black cat with three legs.
There, standing on a wooden box, was Mrs. Tailor, stretching out to gather her precious egg. Taking the egg in one of her hands, she began to climb down when, without warning, the box broke and the old lady fell.
“We have to go and help her,”whispered Amy.
“What if it is a trick?”replied Ben.
“Don’t be silly, Ben. If she were a witch, she would have turned us into frogs already,”reasoned Meg.“Come on, Amy! Let’s go.”The girls climbed down the tree and ran all the way to the haystack.
Approaching carefully, they could see a wound on the old lady’s face. She had knocked her head on a stone and her ankle was definitely broken.“Go and get Dad,”Amy yelled at her brother.“Tell him about the accident.”
The boys did not need another excuse to leave. They ran as fast as they could for help, hoping that Mrs. Tailor would not wake and turn the girls into frogs.Why were the children hiding in the tree?
| A．Because they wanted to watch Mrs. Tailor do her housework closely. |
| B．Because they were playing a hide-and-seek game. |
| C．Because they wanted to find out if the rumors about Mrs. Tailor were true. |
| D．Because they were pretending to be spies. |
Mrs. Tailor stopped sweeping when __________.
| A．her front steps were clean |
| B．she noticed the children in the tree |
| C．she was ready to take a flight |
| D．she heard the hen cackling |
Ben did not rush into helping Mrs. Tailor because _________.
| A．he thought that she could be tricking them |
| B．he knew that they could not have been in the tree |
| C．he did not see the old lady fall down |
| D．he was afraid of the three-legged cat |
Compared to the other parts of the body, our ears don’t ask for much. They don't need to be brushed once a day like your teeth. But they need some special care, especially if you like listening to music with earphones.
Maybe your mum or dad has told you, "Turn that down before you go deaf!" Well, they are quite right. Loud noise might cause hearing loss for a short time or even forever. Think that earphones are a good way to escape from tour parents’ eyes? Well. It may not be as good a way as you expect. American doctors have studied a group of 44,000 people who used earphones more than 15 hours per week. The doctors found that 37,000 of them were getting hearing problems.
If you use earphones for too long a time, your ears might feel painful. You could also lose your hearing for the rest of your life. So don’t wear your earphones too long. Use them less than one hour a day. Want sharp hearing? Don’t forget to do the following: Try to stay away from places where there is too much noise, like a disco. If you have to go, wear earplugs. When swimming, remember to put earplugs into your ears to stop water from getting in. Never put anything sharp into your ears. If you think you have too much earwax, ask your mum or dad to help you clean it out.
Keep these things in mind! Then you won't be saying "WHAT???" when you are older.Using earphones "may not be as good a way as you expect" because _______.
| A．your parents know what you're doing |
| B．it can cause hearing problems |
| C．it makes your parents angry |
| D．most of you use them improperly |
If you want sharp hearing, you should _____.
| A．have your ears specially trained |
| B．often wear earplugs and clean out the earwax |
| C．take good care of your ears |
| D．choose what you listen to carefully |
"WHAT???" in the last sentence is an expression showing that the speaker____.
| A．has become impatient |
| B．speaks in a loud voice |
| C．is slow in understanding |
| D．asks for a lot of repetition |