My English Learning Tricks
When I found my English was not enough to use, I nearly tried no stone unturned. I love English, and was once a student of English major. Here are some tips based on my personal experience.
1 ) Read as much as you can. We learn Basic English from readings. It helps roundly ！ You can read English books and English-learning books both. Don't use Crazy English. They say Mr. Li Yang is a merchant more than a teacher. I never recommend him or his books.
English is increasingly seen in our daily life. When I was a middle school student, I already began to notice the words I saw. Slogans, banners, product instructions, and many more in English.
2) Dictionary is the best dumb teacher ！ Buy a BIG dictionary. When I was a university student, I had more than one dictionary, an easy one, and a comprehensive one. And of course, they were in both English and Chinese. I often read dictionaries for 1 to 3hours just after I look up a strange word, and it greatly helps to enlarge my vocabulary. When I graduated, I bought a third one, which was a total English one, without any Chinese characters all through. And I think this kind of dictionary should agree with those with higher English level.
As for oral English, there are many regular oral example sentences in dictionaries. And a good dictionary may tell you which word is formally written, as well as which is orally spoken.
3 ) Listen to English songs and videos, and watch English movies. This is the funniest way!
4) Get a western English teacher, if you find a Chinese English teacher is not that professional. It is wise to make friends with him/her, other than try to make the most out of them by endlessly speaking or practicing. A good teacher is a good friend, not a free-of-charge cookie. Remember this, because many Chinese have ignored it, which makes me feel ashamed instead. People WONT love offering something for nothing.
5 ) Love English, NOT for money or benefit. Never ！ Language is of art and culture, and they say interest is the best teacher of all ！The last not the least, practice makes perfect. Every learner knows this simple idiom. Make progress day by day, and one day you will surprisingly find you speak fluent English！ You make it! Congratulations then!
I hope my suggestion helps a little. Which do you think are good for a learner of English except __________
| A．English books |
| B．English-learning books |
| C．talking with native-speaking people |
| D．reading Crazy English |
As a student of English at first, you can use a dictionary better which is __________.
| A．English-English | B．English-Chinese |
| C．Chinese-English | D．Chinese-Chinese |
A good dictionary should be __________
| A．an easy one |
| B．a comprehensive one |
| C．a one with regular oral example sentences |
| D．a one with formally written and orally spoken rules |
If you want to learn oral English better, you had better __________.
| A．listen to reading materials |
| B．listen to others speaking more |
| C．get a western English teacher |
| D．endlessly speak or practice |
What do you think is very important to learn English?
| A．An English teacher | B．A good English book | C．One's interest | D．Some good chances |
My daughter recently asked me what a Travel Agency does. There is one located on our street and it has just been completely rebuilt. I told her that they helped people book their trips and vacations. “Why haven’t we ever been in there?” she wanted to know. “Because we do everything ourselves online these days” I explained. “But why do it yourself if other people want to do it for you?” she wondered out loud.
The answer is that the travel agency makes a little bit of money on each ticket you book through them. If you book your ticket yourself, online, you save that money. Saving money sounds great except that when you think about it you typically spend three evenings comparing prices to end up saving $30 on a $300 trip. All those $30 discounts add up of course so I guess we should be happy with that.
Still, how bad is it really to pay someone $30 and trust them to buy you something decent? Wouldn’t you say your free evenings are worth more than $10 a piece?
Consider books for a moment. Buying your book at Amazon saves you maybe 30% to 40% on each book. Add to that the convenience of shopping from home and getting the package delivered to your home address. So far so good.
Unfortunately that does mean you spend way too much time browsing Amazon. com while you could do something fun instead. Like maybe reading an actual book?
Then the package arrives and you aren’t home and end up having to pick it up at the local post- office. All in all I wonder how much time I end up investing in the whole process.
Time sounds free, but to most of us, it is more valuable than money.
The Internet Economy promised to get rid of the middle-men and we loved it. Somehow, I’m starting to get the feeling that we ourselves ended up doing thework of that middle-men we were so eager to get rid of.
In any project you can always pick two of these: fast, cheap or good. We seem to have focused a lot on ‘cheap’ and ‘good’ but the extra time we need to invest to keep it ‘fast’ comes out of our own pockets.
You can always make more money but you can never make more time.What is the purpose of the first paragraph?
| A．It mainly shows the curiosity of the author’s daughter. |
| B．It indicates that the Internet has influenced our daily life. |
| C．It tells us the importance of a travel agency. |
| D．It shows why people need a travel agency. |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the Internet Economy?
| A．The author thinks online shopping saves time and is a convenient way to buy products. |
| B．The author worries about sending personal information over the internet. |
| C．The author doesn’t think online shopping is satisfactory in every way. |
| D．The author likes the convenience but is concerned about the e-commerce environment. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．The convenience of the Internet Economy. |
| B．How to save money in the Internet Economy. |
| C．The hidden cost of the Internet Economy. |
| D．How to save time in the Internet Economy. |
Celebrated in the city of Munich, Germany, the Oktoberfest, as it is popularly called, is a 3-week festival that takes place in the months of September and October. Also called the largest beer festival in the world, the Oktoberfest gathers about 6 million visitors worldwide every year. Seeing the popularity of the festival, many countries around the world have adapted to what they call their own version of the Oktoberfest. So if you are not able to make it to Germany, you can always enjoy the festival in the areas mentioned below. Don’t miss out on it!
Brazil: welcome to the German town of Blumenau in Brazil. Well, we are not talking about Germans living in the town, but the place was originally founded by immigrants from Germany in the year 1850. The town is built in a traditional German style and there are a fair number of people who still live the way it used to be in good old days. The Oktoberfest is celebrated in a small village called Parque Vila Germanica between the dates of October 1st to October 18th. Guests can enjoy the festival in addition to exploring the town and its sites which include a beer museum.
Vietnam: celebrated in Ho Chi Minh City since 1992, the Oktoberfest event over here is conducted between the 6th and the 11th of October and the decorations are like the original festival in Munich, with large wooden tables lined with beer.
The Philippines: unlike the original Oktoberfest which is celebrated in a certain area, the Oktoberfest in the Philippines is a recent addition to the already existing festival which takes place between the 4th of September and the 9th of October. Now the event is set to be celebrated in a total of 30 parties in various cities around the country.
Canada: over 700,000 guests (second highest after Munich) in and around Canada take part in the Oktoberfest celebrated in Ontario between the 9th and the 17th of October.In which place does the Oktoberfest take place from September to October?
| A．In Blumenau. | B．In Ontario. | C．In Ho Chi Minh City. | D．In Munich. |
From the first paragraph we can know that _______.
| A．the Oktoberfest in Germany is the biggest beer festival in the world. |
| B．every year about 600,000 people celebrated the Oktoberfest in Germany |
| C．the Oktoberfest lasts longer in Germany than in any other country |
| D．in Germany the name “beer festival” is better known than the Oktoberfest |
About the Germany town of Blumenau, we know that ______.
| A．only Germans live in the town |
| B．the town was first founded by Germans |
| C．people in the town all live in the old German way |
| D．the town has many beer festivals |
The author’s purpose in writing this passage is ______.
| A．to call on more people to travel abroad |
| B．to attract more tourists to the Oktoberfest in Munich |
| C．to introduce Oktoberfest celebrations in the world |
| D．to describe the development of the Oktoberfest |
A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher stressed the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.
One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished. Gently shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, he said, “You don’t say!”“You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not a proper topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him, “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was wonderful.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it”. Soon I was interrupted again by his words：“You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t request you to do so,” he answered, greatly surprised. I said, “Didn’t you say ‘you don’t say’?” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really?’ It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.” Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions.
Always remember: what the English teachers say is always right to us students.A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because_______.
| A．I didn’t have the slightest interest in them |
| B．English idioms are not important |
| C．My teacher didn’t emphasize the importance of them |
| D．I was not careful with English idioms |
At first, on hearing “You don’t say,” I thought the foreigner meant_______.
| A．I had talked too much |
| B．he was not interested in the topic |
| C．he was only interested in the Great Wall |
| D．he had something to tell me |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The Englishman left China without seeing the Great Wall. |
| B．The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it. |
| C．The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide. |
| D．The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting. |
After the Englishman explained the idiom, _______.
| A．I felt very silly |
| B．the Englishman became a real fool |
| C．I thought he had made me a fool |
| D．I became more careful in everything |
Farming is moving indoors, where the sun never shines, where rainfall is irrelevant (无关的) and where the climate is always right. The perfect crop field could be inside a windowless building with controlled light, temperature，humidity，air quality and nutrition. It could be in a New York high- rise or a complex （建筑群） in the Saudi desert. It may be an answer to the world’s food problems.
The world already is having trouble feeding itself. Half the people on Earth live in cities, and nearly half of those – about 3 billion – are hungry or ill–fed. Food prices, currently increasing, are badly affected by dryness, floods and the cost of energy required to plant, harvest and transport it. And prices will only get more unstable. Climate change makes long-term crop planning uncertain. Farmers in many parts of the world already are using water available to the last drop. And the world is getting more crowded: by mid-century, the global population will grow from 6.8 billion to 9 billion.
To feed so many people may require expanding farmland at the expense of forests and wilderness, or finding ways to greatly increase crop output.
Gertjan Meeuws and three other Dutch bioengineers grow vegetables and house plants in closed and regulated environments. In their research station, water flows into the pans when needed, and the temperature is kept constant. Lights go on and off, creating “day” and “night”, but according to the rhythm of the plant.
Meeuws says a building of 100 square meters and layers of plants could provide a daily diet of 200 grams of fresh fruit and vegetables for the entire population of Ken Bosch, about 140,000 people. Their idea isn’t to grow foods that require much space, like corn or potatoes.
Sunlight is not only unnecessary but can be harmful. Plants need only specific wavelengths of light to grow. Their growth rate is three times faster than under greenhouse conditions. They use about 90 percent less water than outdoor agriculture. And city farming means producing food near the consumer, so there’s on need to transport it long distances.According to the text, Gertjan Meeuws’ farming _______.
| A．can be used for corn production |
| B．is much like greenhouse farming |
| C．is adaptable to any environment |
| D．uses more water than outdoor farming |
What is the second paragraph mainly about ?
| A．The effect of climate | B．The hungry people in cities. |
| C．The world’s food problem. | D．The world’s increasing population. |
What is the purpose of the text ?
| A．To compare traditional and indoor farming. |
| B．To discuss the influence of climate change. |
| C．To explain the world’s food problem. |
| D．To introduce a new model of farming. |
Last Sunday, I waked into the house in the afternoon to find my brother rushing around in a hurry. As soon as I took my coat off, my little brother placed a bunch of papers in my hands and asked me to fold them up so they could fit into an envelope as quickly as possible. He said it needed to get done quickly before it turned dark.
I was a little surprised that something could be so urgent on a Sunday. It wasn’t until I was halfway through that I actually looked at what I was folding. After I read it, it put the biggest smile on my face. It was a lovely letter to all the residents （居民）in my neighborhood. My brother was asking everyone to let him know if anyone needed help. He left his contact information and said that anyone that needed help should get in touch with him and he would figure something out. He also asked people to get in touch if they were able to help out.
London received an unusual amount of snow last week, and the city was completely under- prepared for it. So it was quite difficult to get anywhere. Only the major roads had been cleared, and smaller roads and pavements could be quite treacherous. There are a good number of old people in our little community. So my brother thought that the snow may have posed （造成）some difficulty for some of them, particularly because we live on a hill.
A few elderly people got in touch with him asking for help for things they needed. One of them was especially grateful because his caregiver couldn’t make it. To our surprise, he got more responses from people offering to help. Then he received help from people who wanted to help. Everyone was really touched and wrote to my brother wonderful email. One of our neighbors wrote email saying that although she wasn’t able to help, she was “very proud of having a neighbor like him who puts other people’s interests first.”The author’s brother wrote the letter to _______.
| A．ask for help from his neighbors |
| B．give a hand to those in need of help |
| C．require his neighbors to clear the snow |
| D．raise money for the old people in his community |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Few people were willing to help out. |
| B．The snow was unexpectedly heavy. |
| C．Most residents in the community are elderly people. |
| D．The community was completely cut off from the outside world. |
The underlined word “treacherous” in Paragraph 3 probably means “_______”.
| A．dirty | B．dangerous | C．safe | D．crowded |
One of their neighbors sent email to the author’s brother to ________.
| A．express thanks | B．lend a hand |
| C．show appreciation | D．ask for help |