【推荐1】One is no born able to speak a language. One is born able to make a noise. I have heard babies cry in America and in China. I can’t tell any difference. But when I hear someone from America speak English and hear someone speak Chinese, I can tell you there are a lot of differences.

I believe a common problem with Chinese students’ learning English is that they were not taught to think in English. They have an idea spoken in English and want to translate the idea into Chinese, then they think in Chinese of the proper reply and translate it into English. After a long period of speaking the language, one begins to think in the foreign language naturally. You will learn faster if you begin to think in English at the very beginning of your study. Many students ask me: What can I do to improve my spoken English?

My reply is: The more English you speak, the better English you will speak. There are many things you can do to improve your spoken English. Of course, the best way is to live where English is spoken as a language of the country.

1. The cries of American and Chinese babies are ________.

A．different	B．the same
C．not like each other	D．like each other

2. The underlined word “they” (in Paragraph 2) refers to “________”.

A．Chinese students	B．English students
C．Chinese teachers	D．English teachers

3. According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?

A．You must think in English all the time.

B．You should always translate English into Chinese.

C．After speaking English for a long time, you may probably think in English language naturally.

D．The best way of learning English is to live in America.

【推荐2】Do you want to improve your spoken English?     1    

Repeat the language!

Repeat words and sentences over and over again until you can say them really fluently (流利地). For example, say “I went to the shops, I went to the shops” repeatedly.     2     Then later when you’re speaking, it’ll come out naturally.

    3    

First, write out in note form (笔记形式)the story you want to tell, and then use those notes to practise telling the story. Just choose any story you like, and practise telling it.

Memorize language!

    4     You can do this by writing them out, or by speaking them out loud so that you’ll be speaking normally (正常地). And the more you do this, the more they’ll stick in your mind.

Practise forming questions!

Look at a sentence and see if you can change that into a question.     5     So, for example, when seeing the sentence, “She’s seen the film,” you need to change it into the question, “Has she seen the film?” And the more you do this, the more fluent and quicker you’ll get at making questions.

A．Practise telling stories!

B．Making questions is quite difficult if you haven’t been practising it.

C．Try to remember as many phrases and expressions as you can.

D．The more you say it, the more it becomes fixed in your brain (刻在脑子里).

E．Here are four quick tips for you.

【推荐3】About 10 percent of public school students in the United States learn English as a second language. In some states, that number is much higher. About five million students in the country are considered English language learners, or ELLs. Such students are the fast-growing group in the US public schools.

The most commonly first spoken languages among ELLs in America are Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole and Vietnamese. Speakers of those five languages make up 92 percent of all ELLs included in the report.

English language learners can choose one of several kinds o1 program. There are some programs, in which students are mostly taught in their native language. And there are other programs, which offer students almost all classroom teaching in English. However, These kinds of programs do not always allow students to write and read in their native language.

There are also so-called bilingual programs. These programs offer teaching in two languages-English and another language. Research has shown that English language learners do best in bilingual programs, especially if the second language is their native language.

The lack of high-quality bilingual programs is clear. Nationally, about 83 percent of students complete their high school education. But the graduation rate (比率) among English language learners is far lower 65 percent.

School systems across the country sometimes look for bilingual educators internationally. But education experts say there are ways for states to find and train new teachers in their own areas. This spring, America came up with a list of “grow your own” rules for schools and states to follow. It advised states to offer a series of ways for bilingual teachers. It also suggested training bilingual teachers in their own areas even if they do not have a college degree.

1. What can we learn about English from paragraph 1?

A．It is difficult for most students.

B．It is popular as a second language in American public schools.

C．It is easy for foreign students.

D．It is not welcome by public school students.

2. How many types of programs for English language learners are mentioned in the text?

A．One.	B．Two.
C．Three.	D．Four.

3. What does the underlined word “bilingual” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Learning one language.	B．Using two languages.
C．National.	D．International.

4. Where is the text probably from?

A．An educational magazine.	B．A maths paper.
C．A diary.	D．a storybook.

【推荐1】We all know the dangers of fires. It’s good and necessary for a family to learn how to prepare for a fire. Here are some suggestions.

Put a smoke alarm in the house. Smoke from a fire causes the alarm to go off. The alarm makes a loud sound. The sound tells everyone to leave the house at once.

Make escape plans. We should know all the ways out of the house. If there is a fire, everyone follows the plan to get out. Part of the plan is to check all the windows to make sure they can be opened easily.

Buy fire extinguishers (灭火器) in the house. Everyone in the family should know how to use them.

Practise for a fire. We do fire practice because we teach children about fire safety. Everyone in the family should know the following fire rules:

★Don’t open a hot door! The fire can grow more quickly if you open the door.

★Stay close to the floor! Smoke can be more dangerous than fire. The best air is near the floor because smoke rises.

★What will you do if your hair or clothes start to burn? First, stop! Don’t run! The fire burns faster because of more air. Drop! Fall to the floor. Then roll! Turning over and over will make the fire go out. Put a blanket around you to keep air away from the fire that may still be on you.

There are many possible causes for fires. A wise family is ready all the time. If there is a fire, don’t forget to call 119 for help.

1. When a smoke alarm rings at home, it means _______.

A．you have to get up	B．something is burning
C．water is running to the floor	D．someone breaks your window

2. When a fire happens,________ if you open the hot door.

A．the door will soon be on fire	B．the electricity will be cut off
C．the fire will grow more quickly	D．the house will fall down

3. What is the best title for this passage?

A．Be Ready for a Fire.	B．The Causes of a Fire.
C．Learn to Use a Fire Extinguisher.	D．The Dangers of a Fire.

【推荐2】For as long as we've known about it, humans have searched for a cure for cancer. Across the world, countless amounts of time and money have been spent on researching a way to stop this terrible disease. But now, it seems like the answer could have been inside our own bodies the whole time

Recently, the Food and Drug Administration(FDA)in the U.S., a government agency that's responsible for health care, approved a new form of gene therapy that could mean the end of a certain type of cancer.

The therapy allows scientists to "train" the immune cells of sick patients to fight leukemia—a form of blood cancer that mostly affects young people.

The exciting new treatment works by removing healthy immune cells from the patient, known as T-cells, which are then changed to be able to "hunt down" cancer cells

The cells are then put back into the patient before they begin to get rid of the patient's leukemia over time, similar to how the body fights off other illnesses

"This is truly an exciting new day for cancer patients," Louis J. DeGennaro, president of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, said in a news release.

Up until now, a long and painful marrow transplant was the only option for many leukemia patients.

In this procedure, healthy blood cells are taken from a donor and placed into the sick patient, who also has to go through chemotherapy(化疗)to allow their body to adjust to the new cells.

But with a recovery rate of around 83%—according to a news release published by the FDA—it's hoped that the days of painful trips to the hospital, or even death, are over for leukemia sufferers.

"We're entering a new frontier in medical innovation with the ability to reprogram a patient's own cells to attack a deadly cancer," FDA representative Scott Gottlieb said in the release. "New technologies such as gene and cell therapies hold the potential to transform medicine and our ability to treat and even cure many incurable illnesses."

1. What is the author's main purpose in writing the passage?

A．To compare different ways of curing leukemia.

B．To report on a breakthrough in cancer treatment.

C．To explore the potential of gene and cell therapies.

D．To show scientists' efforts in search of a cure for cancer.

2. How does the new treatment for leukemia work?

A．By using changed T-cells to destroy cancer cells.

B．By replacing sick blood cells with healthy ones

C．By removing sick blood cells during a marrow transplant.

D．By using chemotherapy to improve the patient's immune system.

3. What can be inferred about the new therapy for leukemia sufferers?

A．It can save them many more trips to the hospital.

B．It can improve their ability to fight off all kinds of cancer.

C．It can give them a better charge of survival and recovery.

D．It can reduce their pain in the process of the marrow transplant.

【推荐1】“Homestay is a form of study abroad program. It allows the visitor to rent a room from a local (当地的) family to better understand the local lifestyle. It also helps to improve the visitor's language ability，”said a teacher during a school meeting last term.“Students who wish to learn more about foreign cultures or to get foreign experience should join this kind of holiday. I am sure you won't be disappointed (失望的)．”

After this special meeting，I always thought about this kind of holiday. Last month，I had a chance at last to go on such a holiday with some of my schoolmates and we went to London，a place where I had wanted to go since years ago.

As we were still young，we had a group leader who planned things for us and looked after us. After we got to London，we went to stay with different families. I was lucky that my host family (寄宿家庭) was a white couple who had a daughter about my age. They treated me as a daughter of their family during my stay there. They were interested in me and I learnt a lot of things from them，too.

The holiday was filled with activities every day. After breakfast，a local teacher would come to take us in his car. Then we would have classes or go on a sight­seeing trip to different places of interest like the Big Ben，the London Bridge，and the Buckingham Palace. We would go back to our own homes after the activities.

The holiday was a valuable experience for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. Yet，time really flew fast. Three weeks later，we had to leave “home” for Hong Kong.

1. In the “homestay” program，a visitor can ________.

A．learn more about holidays	B．understand his culture better
C．improve the language ability	D．take part in foreign meetings

2. The writer had wanted to visit London since ________.

A．last month	B．years ago
C．the special meeting	D．her stay abroad

3. The group leader should ________.

A．make plans for the family	B．take care of the students
C．stay with different families	D．rent rooms to the students

4. The writer's host family ________.

A．was very kind to her	B．went sight­seeing with her
C．had two white daughters	D．was interested in her activities

5. From the passage，we know that the writer ________ in London.

A．wished to stay a little longer	B．spent three weeks in her home
C．had classes in many interesting places	D．helped the teacher take the students in a car

【推荐2】Global warming always reminds us of rising sea levels and extreme weather, but it may actually bring other less obvious, long-term changes. How might they influence our lives in the future? Let’s take a look.

Making food less nutritious

The more serious global warming is, the more greenhouse gases the atmosphere contains. According to Science Advances, foods are found to contain low levels of key nutrition when they’re exposed to high levels of greenhouse gases. “If we do nothing, there is potential for negative impacts on human health,” US health researcher Kristie Ebi told the Washington Post.

Ending racial differences

With rising temperatures, more lands in the world will turn into deserts. Many people will be forced to leave their homelands and live elsewhere. In turn, this could mean that the appearance of people could become more similar. “In just 125 years, there may be far fewer people with really dark skin or pale skin,” US biologist Scott Solomon told the Daily Mail. “More and more people will have olive and brown-colored complexions (肤色).” More importantly, this could mean racism may become a thing of the past.

Making insects hungrier

Human beings or other mammals can keep a stable body temperature, while insects usually adapt their body temperature based on the environment. According to Science Daily, insects will become hungrier and need more food in warmer surroundings. That’s because a higher body temperature can increase insects’ metabolism (新陈代谢). “In addition, warmer temperatures will increase the reproductive rates of insects,” Curtis Deutsch, a professor at Washington University in the US, told Science Daily.

Helping scientists find historic sites

Due to global warming, the UK experienced an extremely hot and dry summer last year. As a result, many grassy areas in the country turned yellow or even dried out completely. Because of this, many unusual and interesting patterns hidden in some of these areas were exposed. After studying some of these patterns, scientists found Neolithic (新石器时代的) monuments and a Roman farm, which are believed to date back to around 5,000 years ago.

1. What is this passage mainly about?

A．The harmful effects of global warming.

B．The possible causes of global warming.

C．Some ways to slow down global warming.

D．The influences of global warming on our lives.

2. Which skin color will be more common in the future according to Solomon?

A．Brown.

B．Pale.

C．White.

D．Dark.

3. What was found in Britain because of the hot and dry weather?

A．An ancient farm with patterns.

B．Unusual patterns in some areas.

C．New landscapes with monuments.

D．Grassy areas with different colors.

【推荐3】Sitting up straight in your chair isn’t just good for your posture(姿势)-it also gives you more confidence in your own thoughts, according to a new study.

“Our body posture can affect not only what others think about us, but also how we think about ourselves,” said Richard Petty, co-author of the study.

The study included 71 students at Ohio State. They were told they would take part in two separate studies at the same time, one organized by the business school and one by the arts school.

They were told the arts study was examining factors contributing to people's acting abilities, in this case, the ability to maintain a specific posture while engaging in other activities. They were instructed to either “sit up straight” or “sit slouched(无精打采)forward”.

While in one of these positions, the students participated in the business study, which supposedly examined factors contributing to professional performance. While holding their posture, they listed either three positive or three negative personal traits(特质)relating to future professional performance on the job. After completing this task, they took a survey in which they rated themselves on how well they would do as a future professional employee.

The results were striking.

Students who held the upright, confident posture were much more likely to rate themselves in line with the positive or negative traits they wrote down. In other words, if they wrote positive traits about themselves, they rated themselves more highly, and if they wrote negative traits about themselves, they rated themselves lower.

However, students who assumed the slouched, less confident posture, didn’t seem convinced by their own thoughts-their ratings didn’t differ much regardless of whether they wrote positive or negative things about themselves.

“Their confident, upright posture gave them more confidence in their own thoughts, whether they were positive or negative,” Petty said.

“Sitting up straight is something you can train yourself to do, and it has psychological benefits-as long as you generally have positive thoughts,” he said.

1. When did the business study take place?

A．When the students took the survey.	B．When the arts study was going on.
C．After the arts study was conducted.	D．After the students took the survey.

2. Which can be included in the underlined words "other activities" in' Paragraph 4?

A．Sitting up straight.	B．Working as an employee.
C．Listing personal traits.	D．Participating in the arts study.

3. What do we know about the ratings given by those who sat up straight?

A．They were rather high.

B．They were relatively low.

C．They agreed with the written-down traits.

D．They were different from the written-down traits.

4. What can be the conclusion of the study?

A．Body posture affects our confidence level.

B．Confidence leads to good body posture.

C．Body posture affects professional performance.

D．Personal traits affect professional performance.

【推荐1】The Gatais used to frown when they received power bills that routinely topped $200. Last September the couple moved into a 1,500-square-foot home in Premier Gardens, a subdivision of 95 “zero-energy homes” (ZEH) just outside town. Now they’re actually eager to see their electricity bills. The grand total over the 10 months they’ve lived in the three-bedroom house: $75. For the past two months they haven’t paid a cent.

ZEH communities are the leading edge of technologies that might someday create houses that produce as much energy as they consume. Premier Gardens is one of a half-dozen subdivisions in California where every home cuts power consumption by 50%, mostly by using low-power appliances and solar panels.

Aside from the panels on the roof, Premier Gardens looks like a community of conventional homes. But inside, special windows cut power bills by blocking solar heat in summer and retaining indoor warmth in winter.

The rest of the energy savings comes from the solar units. They don’t just feed the home they serve. If they generate more power than the home is using, the excess flows into the utility’s power grid (电网). The residents are billed by “net metering”: they pay for the amount of power they tap off the grid, less the kilowatts (千瓦) they feed into it. If a home generates more power than it uses, the bill is zero.

That sounds like a bad deal for the power company, but it’s not. Solar homes produce the most power on the hot sunny afternoons when everyone rushes home to turn up the air conditioner. “It helps us lower usage at peak power times,” says solar expert Mike Keesee. “That lets us avoid building costly plants or buying expensive power at peak usage time.”

What’s not to like? Mostly the costs. The special features can add $25000 or more to the purchase price of a house. Tax breaks bring the cost down, especially in California, but in many states ZEHs can be prohibitively expensive. For the consumer, it’s a matter of paying now for the hardware to save later on the utilities.

1. Why are the Gatais eager to see their electricity bills now?

A．They want to see how much they have saved.

B．They want to cut down their utility expenses.

C．They want to know if they are able to pay.

D．They want to avoid being overcharged.

2. What is special about the ZEH communities?

A．They have created cutting-edge technologies.

B．They aim to produce enough power themselves. .

C．They are subdivided into half a dozen sections.

D．They are built in harmony with the environment.

3. How are the residents in the ZEH communities billed for electricity use?

A．They are only charged for the amount of power they consume on rainy days.

B．They needn’t pay a single cent for their power consumption on sunny days.

C．They only pay for the excess power that flows into the utility’s power grid.

D．They pay for the electricity from the grid less their home-generated power.

4. What does the “net metering” practice mean to the power company?

A．More pressure at peak time.

B．Less profits in the short term.

C．Increased electricity output.

D．Reduced operational costs.

5. The author believes that buying a house in a ZEH community ________.

A．is but a dream for average consumers

B．gives the owner substantial tax benefits

C．is a worthy investment in the long run

D．contributes to environmental protection

【推荐2】Can people in developing countries benefit from free trade？I quite think so. The most common advantage of free trade is fewer or no barriers between countries. This allows a freer flow of labor and goods between member countries. As free trade agreements become more common around the world, the positive influence on developing countries has been considered as one of the greatest successes of them. There are several advantages for developing countries that take part in free trade.

As developed countries are able to move their operations into developing countries, new job opportunities open up for local workers. Increased levels of employment lead to a higher standard of living and more consumer purchasing. This finally does good to the country's economy and may help to develop locally-owned businesses. As locally-owned businesses develop, more local people can find jobs there.

Child labor exists in developing countries for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is lack of technology. Free trade allows companies to spend more money on equipment and pay higher wages to adult workers. With higher family incomes, children are able to attend school rather than work.

Not only does free trade allow foreign-owned companies to establish themselves in developing countries, it also allows native companies to sell products to foreign markets. This is particularly true for small businesses in developing countries. These companies no longer have to worry about barriers to market entry and can sell their products freely.

An increase in employment levels and incomes in developing countries can lead to better medical care there. The final result is an increase in the average lifespan（寿命）and a drop in infant（婴儿）deaths.

As is shown above, we can say that free trade really benefits developing countries.

1. What does the underlined word "them" in Paragraph 1 refer to？

A．Positive advantages.

B．Developing countries.

C．Free trade agreements.

D．Barriers between countries.

2. According to Paragraph 2, free trade allows developing countries to have __________.

A．more higher-skilled jobs

B．higher employment rates

C．higher market competitiveness

D．more foreign-owned companies

3. What will happen to children in developing countries？

A．They don't have to work.

B．They can receive higher wages.

C．They don't have to attend school.

D．They can learn more about new technologies.

4. What does the writer mean by saying the underlined part in Paragraph 4?

A．Small businesses can get more skilled employees.

B．Free trade provides small businesses with new markets.

C．Foreign-owned companies can sell their products to developing countries.

D．Free trade can lead to greater competition between foreign and local companies.