1 . Hi there, young friends! Welcome to the other half of ninth grade. You’re halfway through the school year, but there’s still much to learn and discover. So, let’s get started and find some easy methods to study!
Firstly, one important thing is to have a quiet and comfortable place to study. Find somewhere relaxing. There, you can pay full attention to your studies.
Next, it’s a good idea to make a study schedule (计划). A study schedule helps you plan your time and have enough time for each subject.
And then, to remember things better, you’d better take notes while studying. They will be an important reminder when you want to review what you’ve learned. For example, you can write down important points or draw pictures to help you understand the information better. Sometimes, studying with friends can be enjoyable. You can form study groups and work together on tasks or projects.
Lastly, don’t forget to ask your teachers for help if you struggle (努力地进行) with a subject. They are there to guide you and answer your questions, so don’t be shy!
Learning is a journey. Remember, every step you take brings you closer to discoveries and achievements. So, keep it up, and enjoy your studies!
1. What does the writer mainly talk about in Paragraph 2?| A．The advantage of full attention to your studies. |
| B．The advantage of a peaceful area at the library. |
| C．The importance of a good environment for study. |
| D．The importance of a comfortable corner in your room. |
| A．Notes. | B．Study periods. | C．Pictures. | D．Important points. |
| A．To offer suggestions. | B．To share experiences. |
| C．To look for good jobs. | D．To ask for opinions. |
2 . Maybe you’ll meet a word that you don’t know in an exam. Most students may be nervous if a dictionary is not around them. But don’t worry! There are some ways to help you guess the meaning of a word without a dictionary.
Reread (重读) the whole sentence (句子). Your first step (步骤) is to go back and reread the whole sentence. You may forget what you are reading when you meet a new word. Then try to think about the content (内容) of the sentence.
Try guessing the meaning by the background (背景). This will make it different from other parts and you’ll pick it from the rest of the sentence easily. You can often use other words in the sentence to help you find out the meaning of the unknown word.
Think about what else is happening in the sentence. For example, maybe you are looking at a sentence that says, “It was a very sultry day in the middle of the summer.” You may understand each word but “sultry”. Think about what you know about summer. Maybe “sultry” has something to do with the weather. It can help you understand the word easily.
In a word, don’t be afraid of new words. Try your best to understand them by using these ways. Then you can also understand the sentence or passage better.
1. What should you do first when you meet a new word?| A．Ask others for help. |
| B．Reread the whole sentence. |
| C．Look it up in a dictionary. |
| D．Guess its meaning through other words. |
| A．炎热的 | B．寒冷的 | C．温暖的 | D．凉爽的 |
| A．Travel. | B．Sport. | C．Education. | D．Health. |
| A．Some good ways of using a dictionary. |
| B．How to learn English as well as possible. |
| C．Some good ways of remembering new words. |
| D．How to understand a word without a dictionary. |
3 . Many people find it difficult to have good reading skills (技巧) when they learn English. In fact, it’s not so difficult if you know the following things.
Reading will be interesting if you choose the right books. The books shouldn’t be too difficult for you. You can start by reading an easy one.
Find some books of your favorite writer’s and read them all. By doing this you’ll know the writing style (风格) of the writer, and you can also learn the vocabulary and the grammar (词汇和语法) from the books better.
Try to read the same book again. You can improve your reading skills in this way. Every time you read the book, you’ll find something new.
Talk about a book with others online. There are lots of online reading clubs and you can even write your ideas about the book you read.
It’s not always good to read the classics (经典作品) at once. Just start with short stories. I started learning English by reading Winnie the Pooh. It was really easy and interesting!
1. What should we do if the book we’re reading is too difficult?| A．Ask our teacher for help. | B．Try to read it for many times. |
| C．Find the writer’s other books. | D．Stop it and find an easy one. |
| A．Because we can learn some new things. |
| B．Because we can remember all the words. |
| C．Because we can’t be interested in the book at once. |
| D．Because the writer likes reading books in this way. |
| A．How to choose books. | B．Ideas for English reading. |
| C．How to read an English book. | D．Making friends while reading. |
4 . Have you ever wondered why you can’t remember anything more than its basic plot (情节) just a few days after putting your books down? If you’ve ever wondered how to keep what you have read in mind, here are some tips to help you.
Take notes and highlight (用彩笔标记) things in a wise way.
Taking notes isn’t something many students like to do, but there’s a simple reason behind why it’s so useful: you can’t possibly write everything down, so you’ll have to pick out the most important points. While reading, try to only highlight important information. Before you highlight something, ask yourself, “Does this information fulfill (实现) my purpose of reading the material?” If the answer is no, then you’d better not highlight it.
Link the material to what you’ve learned.
Connect new information to information you’ve already known. By connecting new information with prior (先前的) knowledge, your brain will remember the new information much longer. For example, if a historical event happened in the same year as your grandmother was born, by connecting two things together, you will be able to remember the date easily.
Summary what you have read in your own words.
After you finish reading a section (部分), write down what you have read in your own words. You don’t have to retell the whole passage in your own words. Just write down a quick summary. This will help you assess (评估) which information you remember and which information you cannot remember.
1. What is the advantage of connecting new information to information you’ve already known?| A．It can help you remember more information. |
| B．It can help you pick out the most useful information. |
| C．It can help you remember the new information longer. |
| D．It can help you create a new passage. |
| A．Highlight important information. |
| B．Summary what you’ve read in your own words. |
| C．Take notes carefully. |
| D．Remember the date of the important thing in the material. |
| A．Skills on reading | B．How to be creative |
| C．Reasons for reading | D．Reading-a good habit |
5 .
David | I find English really difficult. There are just so many words to remember, and the language structures are so difficult to understand. I’m so worried. How can I improve my English? |
Tim | Don’t worry, David. I often use songs and pictures to help me remember new words, and they’re quite useful. Besides, it is necessary to review the new words often. |
Brian | For long passages, you should try to understand the general meaning and key points first. And for language structures, the best way to remember them is to use them. The more you use English, the easier learning English will be. |
Anne | As for me, I like to check my learning progress once a week. I usually set my goals (目标) and work out a learning plan to achieve them. I find it very useful, and my English has improved a lot. |
Mrs Smith | Never give up, David. Learning English is hard, but your English is already very good. I’m sure you’ll find a learning method that is right for you. |
1. In English learning, David has difficulty with ________.
| A．attitude | B．method | C．goal | D．confidence |
| A．Tim. | B．Brian. | C．Anne. | D．Mrs Smith. |
| A．A website. | B．A magazine. | C．A diary. | D．A newspaper. |
6 . A tree has roots. People have roots too. If you get to the root of a problem, you will solve it. It’s the same thing with words. Dig deeply into a big, unfamiliar word and you will understand where it came from.
As readers, especially those reading in a second language, we need to deal with the text as if we were detectives (侦探) looking for information to unlock the unknown. Like any good detective, the first thing to do when meeting a new and difficult word is to learn about the situation, to look at everything that is known and see if it helps us to understand what it means.
As you know, prefixes and suffixes can be added to the beginning or end of words to change the meaning. Know them, and you will have the word building power. But root words are the key. Take time to learn a few of these, put them in your memory, and you will become a master word detective.
Let’s look at one common root word used in English. “Alter” from the Latin word means “other”. When you meet this root word, you know that the bigger word has something to do with “other”. Examine the word “alternate”. Can you find the Latin root in it?
If you and your friend like to eat out, first you pay and the other pays the next time. You are alternating paying. If you go to the movies on alternate Saturdays, you go on one Saturday, but not the other Saturday. If you have no alternative, you have no other choice. |
Learn as many root words as possible in the language you are studying. Then use your “rooting for words” skills. Like any new skill, practice and hard work are always paid back.
1. If Jim and Lily go to the movies, which one below is “alternating paying”?| A．They each pay half. | B．Jim pays every time. |
| C．They take turns to pay. | D．Their parents pay for them. |
| A．By giving a fact. | B．By taking an example. |
| C．By telling a story. | D．By having a discussion. |
| A．My brother is my senior by two years. |
| B．He was ill so he was absent from school. |
| C．A criminal was sentenced to death by law. |
| D．60 students were present at the sports meeting. |
| A．You should use your dictionary first. | B．You should practice and work hard. |
| C．You should work as a detective. | D．You should make more examples. |
7 . Studying is important to students. But it is always difficult to have much time for every subject you need. So a good plan helps you to make sure of your success in study.
Then, how to make a study plan? Well, you can begin with listing all the subjects you need to study and make sure what you need to do for each subject. Next, you should make a decision on how much time different subjects need. Now, it is a good idea to study at the same time every day. In this way, you actually have a plan you can remember well. While arranging time for each subject, make sure that you still have time for family, friends and rest. You should balance your personal life and your study.
Once the plan is made, the next thing you need to do is to follow it. One of the biggest challenges is that you will be tempted to do something relaxing or fun. Luckily, you can fight this temptation by taking breaks. But be sure not to take too long breaks because it can affect your plan. Also, you need to use your break wisely. For example, go for a short walk, eat a small snack, or listen to some music.
Put up a copy of study guide at home so you and your family can see it, and email a copy to your friends so they know when you have free time.
1. Why a good plan can make sure of your success in study?| A．Use the time well. | B．Save the time. |
| C．Give more time. | D．Make you like studying. |
| A．Because you can study well. | B．Because you can remember the plan well. |
| C．Because you can form a good habit. | D．Because you will love study. |
| A．Put up a copy of study guide at home. |
| B．Make family and friends know your plan. |
| C．Your family and friends know when you have free time. |
| D．Email a copy to your friends. |
| A．邀请 | B．乐于 | C．诱惑 | D．倾向于 |
| A．Follow the study plan. | B．How to use time well in study. |
| C．Good study plan will give you success. | D．Making a study plan. |
| Have you ever taken a course and felt like you already forgot most of it the next day? The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve (艾宾浩斯遗忘曲线) can explain it. It helps us to better understand the forgetting patterns of our memories. The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve  How can we have a better memory? Here are several ways. ◆ Pay attention to the power of repeating. It will be easier to remember. ◆ Remember information actively with the help of tools, like flashcards. ◆ Connect the new information with what you have learned. For example, when you learn the word “textbook”, connect it with “text” and “book”. ◆ Work in small groups to share knowledge, or take part in online discussions. ◆ Do experiments (实验) by yourself, especially when learning chemistry and physics. They help you get a deeper and stronger memory. |
1. What can we learn from the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve?
| A．Forgetting patterns. | B．Learning patterns. |
| C．Forgetting reasons. | D．Learning methods. |
| A．Less than 10%. | B．Less than 20%. | C．More than 30%. | D．More than 40%. |
| A．Remember new information without using tools. |
| B．Learn new information alone in the classroom. |
| C．Try not to do experiments because they are dangerous. |
| D．Connect new information with what you have known. |
9 . Here are a number of ways to help improve your English vocabulary.
Synonyms (同义词) and Antonyms (反义词)
Synonyms are words that have the similar meanings, such as happy and joyful. Synonyms can be useful when you don’t want to repeat the same word again and again. Antonyms are the words that have the opposite meanings. Life is full of antonyms.
Memorize common prefixes (前缀), roots (根) and suffixes (后缀)
Many English words can be divided into different parts, which are called prefixes, roots and suffixes. A prefix comes at the beginning of a word, a suffix comes at the end of a word, and the root is the main part of a word. For example, the word “happily” is made up of the word “happy” and the suffix“-ly”. However, if you add a prefix “un-” to the word “happy”, the new word becomes “unhappy”, which means not happy. In your vocabulary notebook, make a list of prefixes and suffixes as you come across them. It is one of the keys to success for high-level English learners.
Vocabulary Trees
Vocabulary trees help provide context (语境). Once you’ve drawn a few vocabulary trees, you’ll discover yourself thinking in vocabulary groups. When you see a cup, your mind will quickly relate such words as knife, fork, plate, dishes, etc. By connecting these vocabulary trees into a word web, you can remember more related words together.
1. What is the antonym of the word “usual”?| A．Common. | B．Same. | C．Strange. | D．Direct |
| A．A prefix. | B．A word root | C．A suffix | D．A word |
| A．The development of English | B．Ways to learn a new language |
| C．The importance of studying English | D．Ways to increase English vocabulary |
10 . Many people learn English from English movies. However, some watch hundreds of movies, but they still have difficulty understanding what the actors say! The solution is that you should watch them with the purpose（意图）of learning English.
If you want to learn English from English movies, you should follow the following steps, or you may waste your time and get nothing.
Step 1: Watch a movie with Chinese subtitles（字幕）for the first time. Your eyes and ears should work at the same time. And try to get the main idea of the movie.
Step 2: Watch it again, still with subtitles. But now try your best to look at them less often, and listen as much as possible. Look at the subtitles quickly only when you really don’t understand.
Step 3: Watch it without subtitles. It sounds difficult, but after enough practice during the first two steps, you will find it easier to watch movies in English.
But don’t go to the last step too quickly because it could make you feel down. However, if you go to it when you are ready, you may find that watching a movie in English is a piece of cake for you.
1. The underlined word “down” means —________| A．开心的 | B．放松的 | C．失落的 | D．严肃的 |
| A．It’s a waste of time to watch English movies with Chinese subtitles. |
| B．We can’t look at Chinese subtitles during the second step. |
| C．We can’t watch an English movie more than three times. |
| D．We shouldn’t go to the last step until we are ready. |
| A．How to watch English movies without Chinese subtitles. |
| B．How to learn Western culture from English movies. |
| C．How to learn English by watching English movies. |
| D．How to get the main ideas of English movie. |
