【推荐1】“Film" and “movie" often mean the same thing. Either of the words you use may help others guess where a person lives or is from. First, let's look at the word “film". One definition （定义）of it is the special material used for taking photographs. But you can also see a film in a theater. Used this way, “film" and “movie" mean the same thing.

And as a verb, to film means to record something with a video camera. Here is an example: “Do you want me to film the important moment so you can remember it?"

Now let's turn to “movie". The word—a noun—comes from the phrase “moving pictures". Movies and films are recordings of moving pictures that tell a story. Here are some example sentences with the word “movie"： “Do you want to go to the movies tonight?" “If you go to Hollywood in California, you might see a movie star. " In the United States，it is common to say “the movies" when you talk about going to a movie theater.

Stephen Follows is a writer, producer and film researcher who lives in England. He wrote that people who work in the film industry use “film" more than “movie" . However, he found people who live in the US usually say “movie", while those in Britain use both. “Film" is still more popular in Europe and parts of Africa, but “movie" is best used in America, as well as in Japan and India. So that is why Americans say “English at the movies" and not “English at the films"!

1. What's the same meaning of “film" and “movie"?

A．The thing we see in a theater.

B．The actors' performance in a film.

C．The material used for making a film.

D．Recording something with a video camera.

2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The use of the word “movie".

B．The definition of the word “film".

C．The difference between “film" and “movie".

D．The places where people use “film" and “movie".

3. In which place do people prefer using “movie" to using “film" according to the text?

A．In China.

B．In France.

C．In America.

D．In England.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．English at the Movies or English at the Films?

B．Judge a Person's Identity Just by English Words

C．The Difference between American and British English

D．Is “Movie" Older than “Film" in the World?

【推荐2】You may study English for years and still not understand a native speaker of English when you meet one. Many language learners know that native speakers say a lot of things that you can’t find in a dictionary. Well, here’s a secret for you: A lot of British people can’t understand each other either!

Across the UK, a number of regions have different dialects. There are many different accents (口音) in London, because it is not just where a person is born in the UK that decides their accent. Language and accents also change across social class and level of education. Therefore, “Multicultural London English” was created at the end of the 20th century.

Other factors are also important in the invention of new accents and ways of speaking. These include the influence of people from different countries and different age groups, too.

“Yoof culture” is an example. The word “yoof” is a slang (俚语) spelling of “youth”. Young people are creating their own language, ideas and identity. By using words that their parents don’t understand, children can talk about things that their parents might not agree with. For example, instead of saying something like “That’s good!” or “I understand”, yoof will use a single adjective like “Safe!”, or “Sorted!” Yoof would use “kind-a-thing” or “sort-a-thing” to replace “if you understand what I’m saying”. In this way, they are starting to find freedom, independence and self-expression.

As learners of English, we may wonder how well we can talk to a native speaker, but perhaps we should worry less about this. Research by the British Council shows that 94 percent of the English spoken in the world today is spoken between non-native speakers of the language. In fact, when we think about “international English”, there is no such thing as a native or non-native speaker. The UK no longer owns the English language.

1. What do we know about “Multicultural London English”?

A．It was invented by Londoners in the 1900s.

B．It is now spoken by people around the world.

C．It’s a dialect specific to a particular social class.

D．It’s a modern accent that crosses educational levels.

2. Which of the following contributed to the rise of “yoof culture”?

A．A mix of many different cultures.	B．The way to simplify English spelling.
C．Young people’s desire to express themselves.	D．Young people’s longing for more attention.

3. What does “Sorted!” mean in “yoof culture”?

A．Got it!

B．No way!

C．With pleasure!

D．No worries!

4. What message does the author intend to convey?

A．Mastering English is next to impossible.

B．The English language is always changing.

C．Don’t worry if you cannot understand native speakers.

D．It helps for a non-native speaker to talk to a native speaker.

【推荐3】For centuries, the body’s blood has been linked closely with the emotions. People who show no human emotions or feelings, are said to be cold-blooded killer. For example, the police are searching for a cold-blooded killer. He seems to kill for no reason, and no emotion, as if taking someone’s life as nothing.
Cold can affect other parts of the body. The expression “get cold feet” has nothing to do with cold or your feet. The expression means being afraid to do something you have decided to do. For example, you agree to be president of an organization. But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned, and all the work of the organization will be your responsibility. You are likely to get cold feet about being president when you understand the situation.
The expression “give someone the cold shoulder” probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instead of speaking to him face to face. You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you. Or, to someone who has lied about you to others.
A cold fish is not a fish.It is a person.But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth. A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone.Someone who is a cold fish could be cold-hearted. Now a cold-hearted person is someone who has no sympathy.Several popular songs in recent years were about cold-hearted men or cold-hearted women who, without feelings, broke the hearts of their lovers.
Out in the cold means not getting something that everybody else got.A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise---he was left out in the cold.And it is not a pleasant place to be.
1. When you refuse to speak to a man and treat him in a distant way, you may express by “____”.

A．I think he is a cold fish

B．I give him the cold shoulder

C．I think he is a cold-blooded man

D．I’m likely to get cold feet

2. If Sue shows absolutely no reaction to those awful pictures of starving children in Africa, you will say _________.

A．she is a cold fish	B．she is out in the cold
C．she is a cold-blooded killer	D．she gets cold feet

3. We can use the expression “__________” to describe a man who abandons or hurts his lover without mercy.

A．cold feet	B．cold shoulder
C．cold-hearted	D．cold-blooded

4. The topic of this passage is about _________.

A．some expressions about friendship

B．how cold weather comes into being

C．some expressions connected with cold

D．the relationship between cold and our body

【推荐2】People are motivated to do activities by many different factors. For me the main factors that are involved are competition, the satisfaction of completing projects, and enjoyment.

Since I am a twin, a sense of competition is deep rooted in my brain. Healthy competition can push us to do fantastic things. It makes us strive for a certain goal and gets us to do things faster. However, I do not think competition should become harmful. When anger, frustration, and depression is a result of competition, it is not healthy. Yet, competition can bring about respect, friendship, and mutual gain. In the case with my twin brother, we have pushed ourselves to be good at sports, music, school, and even at work. This competitive spirit has leaked into my life without my twin around. In a sense, I reproduce my twin brother in other people. I always try to be number one at whatever I do — or at least in the top three. There are times this attitude becomes unhealthy, as I get frustrated if I give everything to a competition or activity and produce only average results. But as the years passed, I have gotten better at handling failure and defeat. All in all, I think I finish and do well in many areas of my life for the simple fact that I want to do well in them. The feeling of doing well against competent opponents is satisfying.

I enjoy the feeling of completing an important project. For instance, last year, I finished a poetry collection with my late father’s poems and my own poems. It was an honor to him and his work. In a way, I felt that his death was not in vain and that his work was proved even more through this collection. It is hard to describe the moment of knowing when such an important project is set to rest: it is almost like you are ready to die. You sense that a chapter of your life has closed and you are now a new person. These deep emotions motivate me to complete projects on a regular basis.

The simplest factor that motivates me to do something is enjoyment. There are people who do activities they do not enjoy for decades. I am not one of those people. I can work on tasks I do not like for a while, but in the end, my main focus should be on something that I enjoy. If I find joy in doing a certain work, I engage in it for a large part of the day, or even all day without tiring. Tiredness in most cases, in my life, is due to a lack of enjoyment in the work being done.

Each person has his or her own motivating factors. I hope this reflection has allowed you to dip deeper into your true nature.

1. By the poetry collection, the author intends to ________.

A．describe the sense of a chapter of his new life

B．honor his father and himself for years to come

C．appreciate the satisfaction of completing projects

D．allow his father to rest and get himself to ready to die

2. What attitude does the author take towards tasks?

A．He usually lacks enjoyment in the tasks being done.

B．He feels angry, frustrated and depressed in his tasks.

C．He enjoys the tasks that other people are reluctant to do.

D．He works without tiredness if he takes pleasure in tasks.

3. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．Motivation

B．Competition

C．Reflection

D．Satisfaction

【推荐3】Rivers are very important. Humans rely on them for food and water. But rivers can destroy things, too. They can flood, or rise over their banks, making the water run into the nearby land. Floods can also kill humans and wildlife. However, floods are not always bad. Some ecosystems need them every once in a while.

Flooding can not only drown animals but also destroy habitats. For example, a flood in India in 2012 killed many one-horned rhinos. Flood waters can pick up dirt from riverbanks, which makes the water dirty. Too much dirt will clog rivers and streams, preventing the river from flowing. Sometimes flood waters can carry pollution to the sea and harm marine (海洋的) life. In addition, flood waters can carry disease, including hepatitis A and cholera.

However, not everything about floods is bad. Sometimes they bring new life to ecosystems. Flood waters carry nutrients (营养物) to the nearby land. Over time, the water dries up and leaves behind particles (微粒) of dirt and mud. The particles are called sediment (沉淀物) which can be good due to its ability to improve the dirt and helps plants grow. Floods are important to some animals as well. For instance, some animals see floods as a sign that it is time to mate or migrate. Floods leave sediment on river beds where baby fish can grow and carry nutrients for small animals in the water to eat. Moreover, in dry seasons, water might dry up, but floods help refill the wetlands, keeping the ecosystem going.

Floods are a part of nature. They can destroy living things and the environment. But some ecosystems need floods to survive.

1. What’s the possible meaning of the underlined word “clog” in paragraph 2?

A．Block.

B．Pollute.

C．Become.

D．Develop.

2. How do floods help ecosystems?

A．Tiny fish going with floods feed some animals.

B．Floods make all the animals migrate more easily.

C．Nutrients carried by floods can make soil richer.

D．Floods can clean the dirt and help plants grow.

3. What’s the main idea of paragraph 3?

A．The way in which floods feed animals.	B．The benefits of floods to ecosystems.
C．An effective means of improving soil.	D．The reason for people’s hating floods.

4. What’s the best title of this article?

A．The Good Effects of Flooding	B．The Secret of Flooding
C．Floods—a Part of Nature	D．Floods—Everything Is So Bad