Is learning a foreign language ever easy? Yes. If you are five and move to another country, you will quickly pick up the language. But what about for the rest of us who are no longer five, and need to be polite when traveling for business or for pleasure? I think that answer is also yes. Language learning can be easy if you don’t want or need to learn too much.
The key to successful language learning in my mind is not to set the goal too high. It is rather like running. Even if you run twice a week, you don’t necessarily want to be able to run a marathon (马拉松). You might just want to keep a level of fitness. I think the same can be true for language learning.
Let’s get back to the goal. If you decide to learn ten words in a foreign language before visiting the country, you know that you will be sure to do this. However, if you decide to talk to people with great fluency (流利), unless you are quite a talented person, you will probably fail and give up in half-way.
It is also far easier to start learning a foreign language than to finish. In other words, the better you are, the slower it can be to improve, because you will not be able to move further because of grammar, making sentences, learning less common words, etc. If you are only trying to learn a few foreign words and sentences, you will enjoy faster progress, have more fun, and won’t have to spend too much time.
The idea of learning only a few hundred words in a language, and then stopping, isn’t the usual way to language learning, but it can be a very meaningful and enjoyable activity.In the writer’s opinion, it is easy for adults to learn English if _______.
| A．they are especially talented people |
| B．they don’t want or need to learn too much |
| C．they have to spend a lot of time on it |
| D．they have a chance to go abroad |
The writer believes that if you want to be good at a foreign language, you will probably _______.
| A．forget your own goal |
| B．become a talented language learner |
| C．get tired of learning it |
| D．reach your learning goal |
The best title of this passage would be _______.
| A．Easy Language Learning |
| B．Hard Language Learning |
| C．Fluency in a Foreign Language |
| D．A way of Language Learning |
Every year there is the Spring Festival in China. Usually it is in January or February. It’s the most important festival in China. So before it comes, everyone has to prepare things. They buy beef, pork, chicken, fruit and many other things. And they often make a special kind of food called “dumplings”. It means “come together” in Chinese. On the day before the festival, parents buy new clothes for their children and children also buy presents for their parents. On the festival eve, all the family members come back to their home. This is a happy moment. They sing, dance and play cards. When they enjoy the meal, they give each other the best wishes for the coming year. They all have a good time.
Which is the most important festival in China? .
| A．Mid-autumn Festival | B．Spring Festival |
| C．Children’s Day | D．May Day |
The Chinese usually have their Spring Festival in .
| A．January or February | B．February or March |
| C．September or October | D．December or January |
What’s the special kind of food for the Spring Festival in China? .
| A．Pork | B．Fish | C．Dumplings | D．Noodles |
The food “dumplings” mean “ ”.
| A．be delicious | B．be hungry |
| C．come together | D．come back |
When they are having dinner on the festival eve, the Chinese
| A．sing, dance and play cards |
| B．buy each other presents |
| C．never drinks |
| D．give each other the best wishes |
Everything happens for the best.” Whenever I faced disappointment, my mother would say this to me.
After I graduated from college in 1932, I decided to find a job in radio as a sports announcer. I went to Chicago and knocked at the door of every station. But unluckily , I was refused every time.
At one station, a kind lady told me that big stations wouldn’t hire (雇佣) an inexperienced person and suggested that I try my luck at smaller stations. Following her advice, I went back to Dixon, where I had grown up. There were no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, and my father said a newly-opened store wanted a local athlete to work for it. I applied for the job, but I was refused again.
“Everything happens for the best,” Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to look for a job. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.
As I left his office, my frustration(挫败，失意) boiled over. “How can I become a sports announcer if I can’t get a job in a radio station?” I asked aloud.
While I was waiting for the elevator, I heard someone calling. It was MacArthur. “What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?” Then he asked me to broadcast (广播) an imaginary game. Pleased with my performance, he offered me a chance to work there.
On my way home, I thought of my mother’s words: “If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn’t have happened if not for” that previous disappointment.Why couldn’t the writer find a job at big radio stations?
| A．Because he never graduated from college. |
| B．Because he didn’t work hard in college. |
| C．Because he didn’t have much experience. |
| D．Because he didn’t know about sports. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The writer’s parents didn’t want him to be a sports announcer. |
| B．There were no radio-announcing jobs in the writer’s hometown. |
| C．The writer became uninterested in sports announcing. |
| D．The writer got a job as a sports announcer in Dixon at last. |
The underlined word boiled over means______.
| A．达到极点 | B．随遇而安 |
| C．无影无踪 | D．无法诉说 |
According to the last paragraph, what did the writer’s mom want to tell him,?
| A．He shouldn’t be a sports announcer. |
| B．Disappointment leads to failure. |
| C．He should be proud of himself. |
| D．Everything will be OK if he keeps trying. |
A habit is any action that we have performed so often that it becomes something that we do almost without thinking. Some of them are thought to be bad habits. People spend countless hours and dollars each year trying to get rid of these bad habits but often fail. Why? Change is hard work and there is no shortcut to achieve it. However, there is still some advice for you to follow.
First, look at why you do it. In other words, what’s the result of doing this thing? If your bad habit is shouting at people when you are unhappy or under pressure, what do you get from it? It may make you feel a little better for the moment. Or maybe you have a bad habit of leaving your homework undone. The result could be that you get more time to spend on the Internet!
Next, take a look on the other hand. What are you losing because of your habit? Shouting at other people is a bad habit because it makes people around you feel bad and unhappy. Leaving your homework undone is a bad habit because you may be punished by your teacher. Having more Internet time means that you are losing the chance to learn the things that you need to learn. When you think that way, you’ll find that it’s not wise to keep your bad habit! Now it is time to make a decision. What will you choose? I’m sure you will choose to do what you think is more important.From the first paragraph we know that __________.
| A．a habit is a terrible thing that we can never change |
| B．people take countless hours and dollars to get rid of habits |
| C．none of the people who try to break bad habits are successful |
| D．though it is difficult, we can still do something about our bad habits |
The underlined sentence “there is no shortcut to achieve it” means that ________.
| A．it is not easy to get rid of bad habits |
| B．there is a long way and a short way |
| C．something dangerous may happen |
| D．we must cut it in a short time. |
The main purpose of this passage is to __________.
| A．introduce and describe | B．complain（埋怨）and disagree |
| C．explain(解释) and advise | D．discuss and argue（争论） |
Is your TV connected to the Internet? What about your chair,or your fridge? Probably they are not. But in the future, most things in your home may be connected, thanks to the so-called “Internet of things”.
The Internet of things may be coming sooner than you think. Earlier this year, Aamsung CEO spent a lot of time talking abput the Internet things. He said that five years from now,every Samsung product will be part of the Internet of things,no matter whether it’s a remote control or a washing machine.
So, how do household(家用的) objects that are part of the Internet of things work? Well,think of a common chair. When connected to the Internet, the chair warms up when it knows the user has just walked into the room and is feeling cold.
An Internet-connected camera could help people feel safer in their homes. It can know people’s faces and has an infrared sensr(红外传感器),so even if it’s dark it can see when someone passes by and send you a message on your smartphone to let you know who’s there. If the person is someone you don’t know,it can tell you that ,too.
But according to MIT Technology Roview, whether companies are connecting dog food bowls or security systems to the Internet, there may be some problems. For example, many early connected-home objects don’t have much built-in security, which means they could be hacked(被黑客攻击). Morever, it could be difficult to get these new machines to work together especially when they are made by different companies. To fight this ,many companies have joined the Open Interconnect Consortium, which had 45 menbers by late 2014.
So, picture this: you enter your home.The temperature changes to make you feel comfortable. Your favorite music starts playing for you. Do you think that this would be a good thing? I t may happen sooner than you think.What does the article mainly talk about?
| A．Advantages of living with the Internte |
| B．Disadvantages of living with the Internte |
| C．The coming ” Internet of things” |
| D．The imposslble ” Internet of things” |
Which of the following can support the idea “how will household objects connected to the Internet work?”
| A．A warm chair connected to the Internte |
| B．Dog food bowls connected to the Internte |
| C．A remote comtrol made by the Samsung Company |
| D．An Internet-connected camera with an infrared sensor. |
Paragraph 5 is mainly about _________
| A．the possible problems of” the Internte of things” |
| B．the problems with early connecten-home objects |
| C．how to get different new machines working together |
| D．how to solve the ” the Internte of things” problems |
Which of the following words best describes the writer’s tone(语气) in the article?
| A．Doubtful | B．Hopeful |
| C． Humorous | D．Worried |
Jane Austen(1775-1817),an English novelist, started writing young and completed six novels in her life. Today Austen’s books are more popular than ever. In the last 10 years, five of her six novels have been made into Hollywood films, while her books continue to be best-sellers.
Richard Jenkyns, a professor of English at Oxford University, says that her novels are about marriage, friendships and the family, which are still with us today. “The stories are timeless,”Jenkyns said.
Pride and Prejudice(偏见)(1813) is Austen’s most famous work. It is a love story about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. At first, these two dislike each other. Elizabeth is pretty ,smart and lively. She is proud because Darcy doesn’t know about her family. Mr. Darcy is handsome, rich and has a better family background. So, he is proud as well. At the same time, Darcy holds a prejudice against the Bennet family. He has no nderstanding of why the family, especially its mother and daughters should try so hard to find wealthy and powerful husbands. He thinks they are vulgar. Anyway, Elizabeth and Darcy finally fall in love and become a romantic couple but their families don’t want them to.
In Pride and Prejudice, some of the main things that Jane Austen wants to teach people are as follows. Opposites can attract each other. Lovers should not ony make each other feel relaxed or comfortable, but also educate and improve each other.
Austen is often called the greatest romanti writer,so it is surprising she remained unmarried. ‘Maybe she was too romantic, waiting for the perfect man,” Jenkyns says.
From Paragraph 1and Paragraph 2,we can know .
| A．Jane Austen passed away in her fifties |
| B．Austen’s works remain popular today |
| C．all of Austen’s works have been made into Hollywood films. |
| D．Austen’s works are mostly about war and the family. |
Which of the following sentences is True?
| A．Elizabeth and Darcy fall in love at first sight. |
| B．Elizabeth has a better family background than Darcy. |
| C．Darcy has a first good impression of Elizabeth’s family. |
| D．Elizabeth and Darcy become a romantic couple in the end. |
What does the underlined word”vulgar” in Paragraph 3 mean?
| A．粗俗的 | B．鲁莽的 | C．吝啬的 | D．伪善的 |
From what Jenkyns says,we can learn __________.
| A．opposites can attract each other |
| B．lovers should improve each other. |
| C．Austen’s works go beyond her times |
| D．Austen married a perfect man at last |
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