Bear once had a long tail and he liked it very much. Fox didn’t like Bear’s tail, so he decided to play a trick (诡计) on Bear.

It was a freezing winter. The lake was covered (覆盖) with _______. Fox made a hole in the ice, _______ near Bear’s house. By the time Bear _______, all around Fox were big fish. _______ he saw Fox pulling out a big fish from the hole with his tail.

“Good day, Fox. What are you doing?” asked Bear in _______.

“I’m _______,” answered Fox. “Would you like to try?”

“Oh, yes,” said Bear. He _______ Fox to a new place where the lake was _______ shallow (浅的) to catch fish. Fox helped him make a hole and asked him to place his tail _______ it. Bear waited and waited but he caught no fish. What’s _______, when he tried to pull his tail out, it broke off.

From then on bears had short tails and no love for foxes.

1.

A．water

B．leaves

C．ice

D．holes

2.

A．ever

B．right

C．always

D．hardly

3.

A．came about

B．came in

C．came from

D．came by

4.

A．Though

B．And

C．If

D．Because

5.

A．satisfaction

B．danger

C．anger

D．surprise

6.

A．fishing

B．shopping

C．exercising

D．cooking

7.

A．led

B．advised

C．followed

D．drove

8.

A．too

B．so

C．much

D．quite

9.

A．across

B．over

C．on

D．in

10.

A．longer

B．worse

C．better

D．less

We each have a memory. That’s why we can still remember things after a long time. Some people have very good memories and they can easily learn many things by heart, but some people can only remember things when they say or do them again and again. Many of the great men of the world have got surprising memories.
A good memory is a great help in learning a language. Everybody learns his mother language when he is a small child. He hears the sounds, remembers them and then he learns to speak. Some children are living with their parents in foreign countries. They can learn two languages as easily as one because they hear, remember and speak two languages every day.
At school it is not so easy to learn a foreign language because the pupils have so little time for it, and they are busy with other subjects, too. But your memory will become better and better when you do more and more exercises.
11. Some people can easily learn many things by heart because _______________.

A．they always sleep very well

B．they often eat good food

C．they read a lot of books

D．they have very good memories

12. Everybody learns his mother language _______________.

A．at the age of six	B．when he is a small child
C．after he goes to school	D．when he can read and write

13. Before a child can speak, he must ______________.

A．read and write	B．make sentences
C．hear and remember the sounds	D．think hard

14. At school the pupil can’t learn a foreign language well because _______________.

A．they have no good memories

B．they have too much time for it

C．they have no recorders

D．they are busy with other subjects

15. Your memory will become better and better _______________.

A．if you have lots of good food

B．if you do more and more exercises

C．if you get up early

D．if you do morning exercises every day

Note-taking is a skill that can help you do well in all your schoolwork. It can make you confident(自信的) when you are studying. But unluckily most students don’t know how to take notes.

★Write down key facts. If your teacher writes notes on the blackboard, that’s great. You can copy them or write down the most important facts of all in class. Different teachers do things differently. For example, some teachers may focus on (关注) lots of dates and facts in class, but they only write the important ones on the blackboard. Other teachers may not write anything down, but they may say something important again and again.

★Ask. Don’t be afraid to ask your teacher to repeat(重复) what you miss. If your teacher speaks too fast and you can’t follow what he is saying, you can ask him after class.

★Compare. Comparing your notes with your classmates’ can be good for your learning. It can also help you and your classmates correct some mistakes.

★Organize. Note-taking also needs organization. Keep notes for each subject(主题) in one notebook so that you can find everything easily when a test comes.

★Good note-taking takes time. If you decide to recopy(重抄写) your notes every evening, you’ll surely have less time to watch TV. But you’ll save time in the coming test.

16. There are main points about note-taking in this passage.

A．4

B．5

C．6

D．7

17. What should you write down in your notebook in class?

A．Every word.	B．Lots of dates.
C．The most important facts.	D．Your complaints about the teacher.

18. If you can’t follow your teachers in class, what should you do?

A．Ask them after class.	B．Ask them before class.
C．Stop listening in class.	D．Complain to them about the class.

19. Which way can help you correct mistakes in your notes?

A．Organizing the notes.	B．Recopying your notes after class.
C．Asking your teachers for help.	D．Comparing your notes with others’.

20. Which can be the BEST title for this passage?

A．How to take notes?	B．What to do in class?
C．How to study for a test?	D．What to do with problems?

“It is never too late and you are never too old to start something new!” says Englishtown student Ellen Rema. Ellen began to learn English at the age of fifty, and in just a few years, she has made great progress!
Ellen chose to study on Englishtown because no evening classes were offered in the German countryside where she lives. On Englishtown, she has conversation classes online and speaks with native English-speaking teachers.
“Englishtown is a wonderful place for study,” she says. Ellen began with the first level (水平) of Englishtown and quickly progressed. “I spent hours and hours studying,” she said. “Maybe I wanted too much in a short time. I finished all my courses after 2 years, but I still had grammar difficulties.”
Instead of giving up, she chose to continue. After another two years on Englishtown, she’s still studying in the online classroom. “Studying online is never boring, but you need practice, practice, practice!”
Ellen says studying English isn’t all about hard work. It should also be fun. “I really like the online conversation classrooms,” she says. “I have learned so much about other cultures and traditions.”
Ellen has been able to put her English to use by visiting England five times! “I’m very thankful to Englishtown because my life has improved because of it,” Ellen says.
21. Ellen started to learn English .

A．50 years ago

B．in a city of Germany

C．when she was a high school student

D．when she was 50 years old

22. Why did Ellen study English on Englishtown?

A．She had no free time during the day.

B．She lived far away from school.

C．There were no evening classes near her home.

D．Englishtown was a famous website to learn English.

23. Ellen had trouble learning .

A．pronunciation	B．grammar
C．writing	D．listening

24. How long has Ellen learned English?

A．For 2 years.	B．For 4 years.
C．For 6 years.	D．For 15 years.

25. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．You are never too old to learn something new.

B．Englishtown is a good place to visit.

C．The courses are good on Englishtown.

D．Studying English is not boring at all.

I left my hometown in London last year and now I have enjoyed working in this small city in China. Learning a foreign language opens you up to the culture and history of a country. So in order to know more about China, I started to learn Chinese.

But at times, I found myself in funny situations. When I greeted strangers in China, they began to talk a lot and very fast. They asked me questions about everything. But all I could do was to look at them with a blank face. I had no idea what they were talking about. Were they just kind, funny or impolite? Many people want to make friends with me. But I am a bit upset when I find out the reason why they need a foreign friend. They just want to practice their English. I don’t need friends like these. I like friends to share my feelings and ideas with.

However, the more Chinese I learn, the more similarities I find it has with English. In English, “thick-skinned” is used to describe a person who doesn’t care about criticism (批评). I was surprised to find that houlianpi in Chinese means the same. And both languages share some common idioms (习语). For example, “look on with folded arms” means xiushoupangguan, and “burn the boats” is similar to pofuchenzhou.

I’m still on my journey to learning Chinese. I believe that sometimes you will have the most fun on a journey.

26. The writer comes from ________.

A．the UK

B．the USA

C．Australia

D．Canada

27. Many Chinese want to make friends with the writer because ________.

A．they are interested in Western culture

B．they want a partner to practice English with

C．they are willing to share their feelings and ideas with them

D．they want to help him with Chinese

28. The underlined word “similarities” means “________” in Chinese.

A．相似点

B．不同点

C．规律性

D．重要性

29. A thick-skinned person may ________.

A．be very strong and seldom fan ill	B．like to criticize others for their mistakes
C．talk a lot and speak fast	D．feel OK when he’s criticized

30. If there would be a paragraph before the last paragraph of the text, it most probably would be about ________.

A．the reasons why the writer wants to learn Chinese

B．the similarities Chinese and English share

C．the differences between Chinese and English

D．the importance of learning Chinese and English