【推荐1】Tips on Learning a New Language Before Travelling

Whenever you travel to a foreign place, it is helpful knowing a bit of the local language. You may not know how to pronounce the words correctly. But speaking the local language shows you care and it will help you mix with the locals easily. To learn a language, you do not have to take full time classes.     1    .

Practise

The more you study the language, the better. Learning a language doesn’t happen overnight. Think of it like learning an instrument or training for a marathon.     2    , how often you practice and your learning style.

    3    

One good way to practise is to use the language you’re learning. Speaking to a native speaker is the best choice because they can train you better and correct your mistakes. Find one on the Internet or in real life and strike a conversation with them. There are some free language exchange websites where you can find native speakers to practise with.     4    .

Download a language app

Your app store offers a large number of apps for language learning. Apps like Google Translate, Duolingo, Bilingual or Hi Native can help you to learn languages quickly. Those apps can help you learn the language effectively.     5     , they are not necessarily the best choice. They can also help a lot when you’re struggling to communicate while on vacation.

A．Speak to native speakers

B．Constantly use the language

C．You can also find a private class to attend

D．Trips can help make the process fun and easy

E．The amount of time you’ll need depends on the language you’re learning

F．But if you’re short on time and trying to master the basics

G．You can follow some of the tips to pick up some basics quickly before that trip

【推荐2】English is an important global language-but that doesn't mean it's easy to learn. Many experts have tried to make English easier for students to learn, but they weren't always successful.

In 1930, Professor C. K. Ogden of Cambridge University invented Basic English. It had only 850 words (and just 18 verbs!), and Ogden said most people could learn it in just thirty hours. The problem was that those people who learned Basic English could write and say simple messages, but they couldn't understand the answers in "real" English! It was also difficult to explain a word which wasn't in the Basic English word list. If you wanted a watermelon(西瓜), you asked for "a large

green fruit with the form of an egg, which has a sweet red inside and a good taste."

R. E. Zachrisson, a university professor in Sweden, decided that the biggest problem learners of English was spelling, so he invented a language called Anglic. Anglic was similar to English but with much simpler spelling. "Father" became "faadher", "new" became "nue","years" became "yeerz". Sadly, Anglic never became popular.

Even easier is the language which ships' captains use: it's called "Seaspeak". It uses a simple phrases for every possible situation. In "Seaspeak", for example, you don't say "I'm sorry, what did you say?" or "I didn't understand. Can you repeat that?"... it's just "Say again." No more grammar!

In the age of computers and international communication through the Internet, a new form of English might appear. A large number of the world's e-mail messages are in English and indicate examples of NetLingo like O.I.C. (Oh, I see!) and T.T.Y.L. (Talk to you later). In another fifty years English as we know it might not exist. We will probably all speak fluent Internetish!

1. What did Professor C. K. Ogden invent?

A．Basic English.	B．Anglic.
C．Seaspeak.	D．NetLingo

2. R. E.Zachrisson invented Anglic to solve the problem of_.

A．listening   .	B．speaking
C．spelling	D．reading

3. In "Seaspeak", what do people say "I didn't understand. Can you repeat that?"

A．Faadher.	B．Say again.
C．O.I.C.	D．Talk to you later

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Why English has become popular.

B．What English has brought to people.

C．Where people have used English widely.

D．How people have tried to make English easier.

【推荐3】Everybody wants to learn English and improve their communication skills these days. They know exactly what they need in today's highly-globalized world.    1    

1.Set goals. Small steps are easier to work through. For example, if learning 40 new words each month seems tough, tell yourself to learn 10 new words each week. The smaller goal might be easier to work toward.    2     For example, if your current goals are too stressful and difficult to meet, you’ll become discouraged and may quit your studies as a result .On the other hand, if your current goals do not challenge you enough, you may become bored and quit your studies because of that.

2.    3     Formal English classes work well because they are led by professional teachers. Trust your English instructor. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes or ask questions; correcting you and answering those questions are part of your instructor’s job. Besides, when learning English informally, try to work in small groups instead of large groups. Smaller crowds may make you feel more comfortable and less embarrassed.

3.Be confident. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes when you practice your English.    4    When you don’t feel confident, review the progress you’ve already made with your English studies. By realizing how much you’ve already accomplished, you might feel encouraged to continue improving yourself.

4.Keep practicing. Practice consistently. If you do not study or review past lessons on a regular basis, you might forget about the information you learned. Regular practice is the only way to remember English on a long-term basis.    5     No one can fluently speak or write English after only studying for a few months, and you will probably need to study for at least one or two years before you can hold conversations in English. It will probably take an even longer amount of time before your English sounds natural and fluent.

A．Study with others.

B．Change your goals if you need to.

C．Learn from professional teachers.

D．So set the small goals first and try to achieve them.

E．Below is some advice on how to improve your spoken English.

F．Don’t be discouraged about how long the process of practice takes.

G．If you stop yourself from practicing because you feel insecure about your current skill level, you won’t be able to improve.

【推荐2】The word proactivity is fairly common in management literature, but you won't find it in the dictionary. It means that as a human being you take responsibility for your own life．
Look at the word responsibility: ability to choose your response, response-ability. Effective people are proactive because they take responsibility. Their behavior is a product of their own decisions, based on values, rather than being a product of their own conditions, based on feelings．For instance, you are planning a picnic with your family．You're excited．You have all the preparations．You've decided where to go, and then it becomes stormy, killing your plan．Proactive people carry weather within them. They realize what their purpose really was, and they creatively have a picnic elsewhere even if it's in their own basement with some special games, and make the best of that situation．The opposite of being proactive is to be reactive．Reactive people would say, "What's the use?" "We can't do anything．" "Oh this is so upsetting after all of our preparations and arrangements." They try to persuade the people around them and usually the picnic will be cancelled．
Being proactive is really just being true to your human nature. Your basic nature is to act, and not to be acted upon．That's true, despite widely accepted theories of determinism used to explain human nature. Determinism says that you don't really choose anything and that what you call choices are nothing more than automatic responses to outside conditions．
The language of reactive people is like: " I can't．" " Don't have time．" " I have to．" " I must．" The whole spirit of that language is the transfer of responsibility．They think things are determined by their environment, or by their conditions, or by their conditioning or their genetic makeup．Psychologically, people who believe they are determined will produce the evidence to support the belief, and they increasingly feel victimized and out of control．They're not in charge of their life at all．
On the contrary, a proactive person exercises free will, the freedom to choose the response that best applies to his values．In that way, he gains control over the circumstances, rather than being controlled by them．
1. According to the passage, a proactive person's behavior can result from ______．

A．the environment	B．an inner belief
C．the genetic makeup	D．a temporary feeling

2. When a picnic plan is threatened by a sudden storm, reactive people will probably ____．

A．have the picnic as planned

B．make the best of the picnic

C．complain and give up the picnic

D．find somewhere else for the picnic

3. What does "carry weather within them" in the second paragraph probably mean?

A．Manage to improve the weather．

B．Give in to the weather passively．

C．Stress the influence of the weather．

D．Find a solution to the weather problems．

4. It can be concluded from the passage that determinists (宿命论者) ______．

A．accept things passively

B．are in charge of themselves

C．are similar to proactive people

D．respond to outside conditions actively

【推荐3】Each nation has many good people who help to take care of others. For example, some high school and college students in the United States often spend many hours as volunteers in hospitals, orphanages or homes for the aged. They read books to the people in these places, or they just visit them or listen to their problems. Other young volunteers go and work in the homes of people who are sick or disabled. They paint, clean up, or repair houses, do their shopping and mow their lawns(修整草坪).

For boys who no longer have fathers, there is an organization called Big Brothers. College students and other men take these boys to basketball games or on fishing trips and help them to get to know things that boys usually learn from their fathers.

Such city has a number of clubs where boys and girls can go to play games or learn. Some of these clubs show movies or organize short trips to the mountains, the beaches, museums or other places. Most of these clubs use a lot of high school and college students as volunteers. They are young enough to remember the problems of younger boys and girls.

Volunteers believe that some of the happiest people in the world are those who help to bring happiness to others.

1. What can you find volunteers doing in the United States according to the passage?

A．Helping passengers get on a bus.	B．Guiding visitors in the park.
C．Helping old people in their daily life.	D．Cleaning streets on weekends.

2. How do volunteers usually help patients or the disabled?

A．They do their shopping and other housework.

B．They cook, sew or wash their clothes.

C．They tell stories and sing and dance for them.

D．They clean, wash and repair their cars.

3. Why do most of the clubs use many high school or college students as volunteers? Because they ______.

A．have more free time than others	B．can understand them more easily
C．know how to work with younger people	D．are energetic to manage it

4. What might be the best title of this passage?

A．Please be happy with others.	B．How to be a happiest man in the world.
C．To help others is to help yourself.	D．Give others a hand, and you’ll be happy.