Hello everybody．You can use this website to learn English and other languages．Click the links below to explore our language learning resources．
Find an English conversation partner
You can speak English online with another person or practice any other language on our Live English Conversation Linkup service through Skype，Google Talk，MSN，etc．You can use the service to get information about travel，language，food，customs，climate，travel，business，work，study etc．Or，you can speak any foreign language on our Live Language Linkup page．
World English course
Learn English with our free World English Course．Listen，speak，read，write and understand English through our free weekly online activities and linkups．Join the English Classroom!
English courses
Take a look at some of the courses we offer．
●Be Aware：Use this free English course to brush up your grammar，vocabulary，and writing skills．
●Interactive Stories：Learn a new technique for learning languages by using stories with this free English training course．
●The Business Trip：Develop your business English with this unique free business English course．
●The Water Car：A full-length interactive story English course for intermediate(中等的)level leamers．
●The Children of Kenji Takeuchi：A full-length interactive story English course for upper- intermediate level learners．
●World English：A free English course designed for topic-based discussions．
English dialogues
Follow a story in English through free English dialogues．There are three levels：
●Lower Intermediate：Hiromi’s Trip to Thailand
●Intermediate：Miyako’s Education
●Upper Intermediate：A New Life in Mosquito City
Real conversations
We provide recordings of real conversations and interviews，with transcripts(文字记录)of the conversations so you can read and listen at the same time．It is a good way to learn real English．
This website mainly provides users with _____________．
| A．free courses on traveling abroad |
| B．plenty of language resources |
| C．interesting conversations |
| D．1ots of amazing stories |
If one wants to enrich his grammar and words，he should click _____________．
| A．Be Aware | B．The Water Car |
| C．The Business Trip | D．Interactive Stories |
Which of the following is designed for intermediate level learners?
| A．The Children of Kenji Takeuehi． |
| B．A New Life in Mosquito City |
| C．Hiromi’s Trip to Thailand． |
| D．Miyako’s Education． |
Real conversations is a good may to learn real English because ____________．
| A．you can read while listening |
| B．you can see a native speaker |
| C．you can record your own voice and listen to it |
| D．you can transcript every word of real speakers |
Lie in bed, by an open window, and listen…
“No air conditioning? How can you sleep?” a friend asks, horrified. I tell her my family has decided to shut the air conditioner off and reduce our electric bill. On this first night of our cost-cutting plan, it’s only 85 degrees. We’re going to suffer, but the three kids complain anyway.
They have grown up in 72-degree comfort, protected from the world outside.
“It’s too hot to sleep,” my 13-year-old daughter complains. “I’m about to die from this heat,” her brother complains down the hall. “Just try it tonight,” I tell them. In truth I’m too tired to turn for long. My face is sweaty, but I lie quietly listening to the cricket choirs outside that remind me of childhood.
The neighbor’s dog howls. Probably a passing squirrel. It’s been years since I took the time to really listen to the night.
I think about grandma, who lived to 92 and still helped with my mom’s gardening until just a few weeks before she died. And then, I’m back there at her house in the summer heat of my childhood. I move my pillow to the foot of grandma’s bed and turn my face toward the open window. I turn the pillow, hunting for the cooler side.
Grandma saw me turn over and over. “If you just watch for the breeze(清风),” she said, “you’ll cool off and fall asleep.” I stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to move. Lying still, waiting, I suddenly notice the life outside the window. The bug chorus. Neighbors, porch(门廊)-sitting late, speak in unclear words that calm me.
“Mom, did you hear that?” my seven-year-old son cries, “I think it was an owl(猫头鹰)family.”
“Probably,” I tell him, “just keep listening…”
Without the working air conditioner, the house is peaceful, and the natural night noises seem close enough to touch. I hope I’m awake tonight when the first breeze comes in.On the first night of the writer’s cost-cutting plan, her children ______.
| A．live a comfortable life as usual |
| B．begin to be unhappy |
| C．are protected from the world outside |
| D．are about to die from the heat |
The author talks about her grandmother and her childhood to show that ______.
| A．people used to live a hard life |
| B．people at that time were hardworking |
| C．it’s OK for people to live a simple life |
| D．she has learned a great deal from her grandma |
In the writer’s eyes, her children are ______.
| A．free from parents’ protection |
| B．full of dissatisfaction with life |
| C．dependable because of parents’ love |
| D．lacking in real test of hardships in life |
Which of the following titles best suits the passage?
| A．Waiting for the Breeze. |
| B．An Interesting Experience. |
| C．Life at Present and Life in the Past. |
| D．Different Times, Different Children |
How much do you want to pay for a CD by your favorite singer Jay Chou? Five Yuan for a pirated(盗版的) one, or more for a real one? Wang Ye, 14, said she would like the real one although the pirated one is cheaper.” A real one is worth keeping for years.” said the girl from No.1 middle school in Wu Han, Anhui. “Real CDs always sound better to me.”
What can we do? People want to do more to help those like Wang to get real CDs.
This week the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry asked many countries to act against piracy(盗版行为).
In many places in China, the government is checking audio and video products. Pirated ones are broken into pieces.
Piracy is in your daily life. Don’t believe it? A study by 21st Century Teens found that more than 75 percent of juniors had listened to pirated music. They say this is because pirated products are usually much cheaper than the real ones.
Why are real CDs so expensive? When a music company makes music, it needs to pay the song writers and singers. It costs a lot of money! This makes the price of the CDs go up. Piracy like stealing. People who make pirated copies of CDs take away the writers’ and singers’ work without paying them. They even don’t ask them if they can.
So next time you’d better keep your eyes brightened when you see cheap CDs. Remember you’re helping someone to do something wrong if you buy them.
How do you know what’s real.
Already made up your mind to buy real ones? Well, you should get to know what real CDs look like. A real CD has the name and trademark(商标) of the music company on the cover. The company’s address, telephone number and fax number are on it.
If you open the CD box you'll see the singer's name and the album title. Most important of all, a real CD has a number from the IFPI on it.
But people who make pirated CDs only need the real CD and disks to copy them. That’s why some CDs are only five Yuan, but some many sell for 150 Yuan.Real CDs are more expensive because ______.
| A．it takes longer to make them |
| B．more people are needed to make them |
| C．a lot of money is paid to singers and writers. |
| D．better ways are used to make them |
Buying pirated CDs is just like _______.
| A．stealing |
| B．robbing |
| C．helping someone to do something wrong |
| D．helping someone |
From the passage we get to know that some pirated company are_______.
| A．moved away | B．doing something wrong | C．broken | D．made smaller |
Kites have been around for a long time.The Chinese invented kites over 2000 years ago. A determined man named Mo Zi had an idea as he watched hawks(鹰) fly. He spent three years making a wooden hawk“kite”. It broke after one flight! Mo Zi and his Chinese friends did not give up. Soon they perfected the art of creating kites.
Kites became part of many Chinese festivals. Pictures of kites were also on vases and in paintings. But kites were meant to fly in places other than China! Marco Polo visited China in the 13th century and brought kites back to Europe with him. Europeans loved them, and the art of kiting“took off”!
Many kites have stories behind them. One Chinese novel, called Journey to the West, was written around 1400 AD. In the story, a priest(僧侣) traveled with three students. One student was a monkey. The second student was a man with pig ears. The third student was a former river monster. These characters often appear on Chinese kites. Another splendid Chinese kite is the dragon kite. A dragon kite is made of many round discs strung together. Often the dragon is bright red, with fat horns and white teeth. The dragon is the king of beasts in Chinese myths. It represents goodness, even though it looks scary. Two kinds of kites have pictures of birds on them. One kite is called the phoenix(凤凰) bird kite. The phoenix bird symbolizes peace. Another kite shows the red-headed crane. The crane represents happiness, good fortune, and a long life.
Kites come in all shapes and sizes. Flat or bowed kites have a simple shape, such as a diamond or a rectangle(长方形). Delta(三角形) kites are triangular. Rokkaku kites are six sided and often bear a striking image. Sometimes these kites“flight”each other until one kite drops from the sky. The other kite then wins the“battle”.Who introduced Chinese kites to Europe?
| A．A foreigner from Europe. |
| B．Three students in Journey to the West. |
| C．The priest in Journey to the West. |
| D．A Chinese artist. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The novel Journey to the West mainly talks about the art of kiting. |
| B．The characters in the novel Journey to the West are often painted on kites. |
| C．The dragon kite represents happiness, good fortune and a long life. |
| D．A phoenix bird is a main character in the novel Journey to the West. |
Which statement expresses an opinion rather than a fact?
| A．Kites became part of many Chinese festivals. |
| B．There are many different kinds of kites. |
| C．The dragon kite is the most splendid Chinese kite. |
| D．Kites were invented 2000 years ago. |
Which kind of kite is NOT used to fight“battles”in the air?
| A．Flat. | B．Delta. | C．Dragon. | D．Rokkaku. |
It is difficult for doctors to help a person with a damaged brain. Without enough blood, the brain lives for only three to five minutes. More often the doctors can’t fix the damage．Sometimes they are afraid to try something to help because it is dangerous to work on the brain. The doctors might make the person worse if he operates on the brain.
Dr．Robert White, a famous professor and doctor, thinks he knows a way to help. He thinks doctors should make the brain very cold. If it is very cold, the brain can live without blood for 30 minutes. This gives the doctor a longer time to do something for the brain．
Dr．White tried his idea on 13 monkeys. First he taught them to do different jobs, then he operated on them. He made the monkeys’ blood go through a machine. The machine cooled the blood. Then the machine sent the blood back to the monkeys’ brains. When the brain’s temperature was 10 ℃, Dr．White stopped the blood to the brain. After 30 minutes he turned the blood back on. He warmed the blood again. After their operations the monkeys were like they had been before. They were healthy and busy. Each one could still do the jobs the doctor had taught them．The biggest difficulty in operating on the damaged brain is that____ ．
| A．the time is too short for doctors |
| B．the patients are often too nervous |
| C．the damage is extremely hard to fix |
| D．the blood-cooling machine might break down |
The brain operation was made possible mainly by____ ．
| A．taking the blood out of the brain |
| B．trying the operation on monkeys first |
| C．having the blood go through a machine |
| D．lowering the brain’s temperature |
With Dr. White’s new idea, the operation on the damaged brain____ ．
| A．can last as long as 30 minutes |
| B．can keep the brain’s blood warm |
| C．can keep the patient’s brain healthy |
| D．can help monkeys do different jobs |
What is the right order of the steps in the operation?
a．send the cooled blood back to the brain b．stop the blood to the brain
c．have the blood cooled down d．operate on the brain
| A．a,b,c,d | B．c,a,b,d | C．c,b,d,a | D．b,c,d,a |
There was a story many years ago of a school teacher--- Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn’t play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.
Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother’s perfume(香水)。
Teddy said, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to.” After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. The boy’s mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. He went to college. Mrs. Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed: Theodore F. Stoddard, M. D.(医学博士).
The story doesn’t end there. On his wedding day, Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference.”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”What did Mrs. Thompson do on the first day of school?
| A．She made Teddy feel ashamed. |
| B．She asked the children to play with Teddy. |
| C．She changed Teddy's seat to the front row. |
| D．She told the class something untrue about herself. |
What did Mrs. Thompson find out about Teddy?
| A．He often told lies. |
| B．He was good at math. |
| C．He needed motherly care. |
| D．He enjoyed playing with others. |
In what way did Mrs. Thompson change?
| A．She taught fewer school subjects. |
| B．She became stricter with her students. |
| C．She no longer liked her job as a teacher. |
| D．She cared more about educating students. |
Why did Teddy thank Mrs. Thompson at his wedding?
| A．She had kept in touch with him. |
| B．She had given him encouragement. |
| C．She had sent him Christmas presents. |
| D．She had taught him how to judge people. |
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