1 . Foreign visitors to the UK might be disappointed when they learn that not everyone there speaks like Harry Potter and his friends. Usually, there’s an assumption by many non-Brits that everyone in Britain speaks with what’s known as a Received Pronunciation (RP，标准发音) accent, also called “the Queen’s English”. However, while many people do talk this way, most Britons speak in their own regional accents (口音).

Scouse, Glaswegian and Black Country — from Liverpool, Glasgow and the West Midlands — are just three of the countless non-RP accents that British people speak with. There are even differences in accents between towns or cities just 30 kilometers apart. What is even more disappointing is that not speaking in a RP accent may mean a British person is judged and even treated differently in their everyday life.

In a 2015 study by The University of South Wales, videos of people reading a passage in three different UK accents were shown to a second group of people. The group then rated how intelligent they thought the readers sounded. The lowestrated accent was Brummie, native to people from Birmingham, a city whose accent is considered working class.

However, there is no need to be disappointed though you are not speaking in a RP accent. In fact, doing the opposite may even give you strength.

Kong Seongjae, 25, is an Internet celebrity from Seoul. After studying in the UK, he picked up several regional accents. He’s now famous for his online videos, where he shows off the various accents he’s learned. “British people usually get really excited when I use some of their local dialect words, and they become much friendlier. I think it makes a bit of bond between local people and foreigners to speak in their local accent,” he said.

So if you’re working on perfecting your British accent, try to speak like someone from Liverpool, Glasgow or Birmingham. You may not sound like Harry Potter, but you are likely to make more friends.

1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?

A．Non-Brits usually hold that all Britons speak in a RP accent.

B．Only “the Queen’s English” is accepted in the UK.

C．Foreign visitors are disappointed at their on spoken English.

D．Any Received Pronunciation around the world is also called “the Queen’s English”.

2. What do people think of the Brummie accent?

A．Favored by foreign visitors to the UK.	B．Closest to the RP accent.
C．Smart and easy to understand.	D．Spoken by people of lower class.

3. What does the underlined phrase “doing the opposite” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Speaking in a RP accent.	B．Speaking in regional accents.
C．Speaking the Brummie accent.	D．Speaking like Harry Potter.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．A study about the most intelligent accent in Britain.

B．A comparison between different British accents.

C．How much British people value the RP accent.

D．The influence of regional accents on people’s lives.

2 . Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now, the website Book Crossing.com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.

Members go on the site and register (登记) the books they own and would like to share. Book Crossing provides an identification number (识别码) to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.

Bruce Pederson, the managing director of Book Crossing, says, “The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. Book Crossing combines both.”

Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it.

People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E— mails are then sent to the BookCrossers to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.

Book Crossing is part of a trend (趋势) among people who want to get back to the “real” and not the virtual (虚拟).The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty—five countries.

1. Why does the author mention book groups in the first paragraph?

A．To explain what they are.	B．To introduce Book Crossing.
C．To stress the importance of reading.	D．To encourage readers to share their ideas.

2. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．An adventure.	B．A public place.
C．The book.	D．The identification number.

3. What will a Book Crosser do with a book after reading it?

A．Keep it safe in his bookcase.	B．Mail it back to its owner.
C．Meet other readers to discuss it.	D．Pass it on to another reader.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Online Reading: A Virtual Tour	B．Electronic Books: A New Trend
C．A Book Group Brings Tradition Back	D．A Website Links People through Books

3 . Public Health England (PHE) is targeting pizzas, ready meals, ready meat and takeaways. The government has also required the food industry to start using healthier food and encourage the public to choose lower calorie (卡路里) foods.

It is all part of an effort to cut calorie intake by 20% by 2024. The target will point to 13 different food groups, which are equal to about a fifth of the calorie taken by children. If action is not taken, PHE said, it would be prepared to ask the government to pass laws.

PHE would strictly monitor the progress by looking at which products people buy and would be prepared to punish companies which do not take on their duties. The government is also organizing a program encouraging adults to consume (吃，喝) 400 calories at breakfast and 600 each at lunch and dinner.

At present, adults consume between 200 and 300 calories more than they should each day. PHE chief nutritionist Dr. Alison Tedstone said the 400­600­600 tip would make it easier for people to make healthier choices by being able to judge what they should eat at each meal.

How many calories should we eat? It is suggested that a woman eat no more than 2,000 calories a day, while a man should limit his intake to 2,500. For children, it depends on the age. A four­year­old should consume no more than 1,300 calories a day, while for teens aged 17 and 18, it is about 3,000, but overweight children are eating up to 500 calories more than that.

Prof Russell Viner, from the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, said it was a necessary move. He said, “Over the past 40 years, there has been slow growth in food sizes, with pizzas and hamburgers simply much bigger than they were in our parents' time.” The convenience of fast food and the advertisement of unhealthy food and drinks to children add to the problem.

1. What will happen to a company if it encourages high calorie food?

A．It will be punished by customers.

B．It will be forced to stop producing foods.

C．It will be punished by Public Health England.

D．It will be asked to throw away all the food.

2. Who should take in the most calories?

A．Babies aged 4.	B．Teens aged 18.
C．Women.	D．Men.

3. What can be learned from the text?

A．The government has passed laws about using healthier food.

B．PHE is concerned about the British health problems.

C．Men should eat no more than 2,000 calories.

D．Hamburgers are not bigger than before.

4 . An elderly woman is crediting (归功于) her neighbor's 4­year­old dog with saving her life during last week's dangerously cold temperatures.

Tim Curfman was ______ his garbage with his dog Midnight when he felt its ______ was unusual. It had its ears held up looking at him. It didn't ______ do that. Curfman got the feeling that something's ______. So he observed how his dog was acting and ______ it to a spot on the other side of his house. There, he saw his 87­year­old neighbor, Noreen, ______ in the snow. She was trying to fill her bird feeder when she fell.

Curfman ______ she was out there at least half an hour. She could not get up because she didn't have enough ______ to push herself up, and there was nothing around the corner to get a ______ of, either. The temperature was one degree below zero, but Curfman and Midnight were able to ______ her quickly.

Noreen, who didn't have serious injuries, was lucky to ______ frostbite (冻伤) even though her clothes were wet. Curfman called his wife and they together helped his neighbor up from the snow and into her ______， where his wife helped the elderly woman get into ______ clothes.

Noreen was ______ to Midnight for saving her life. “A dog like this ______ to be proud of because it's not every dog that pays attention to things like this，” Noreen said in an interview.

1.

A．sending out

B．taking out

C．picking out

D．handing out

2.

A．sound

B．attention

C．behavior

D．appearance

3.

A．normally

B．suddenly

C．really

D．daily

4.

A．down

B．in

C．out

D．up

5.

A．trained

B．drove

C．walked

D．followed

6.

A．lying

B．moving

C．playing

D．standing

7.

A．guessed

B．feared

C．argued

D．explained

8.

A．time

B．space

C．strength

D．courage

9.

A．view

B．hold

C．taste

D．command

10.

A．save

B．report

C．find

D．visit

11.

A．face

B．fight

C．avoid

D．suffer

12.

A．car

B．garden

C．yard

D．home

13.

A．dry

B．clean

C．old

D．beautiful

14.

A．grateful

B．close

C．rude

D．polite

15.

A．expects

B．intends

C．waits

D．deserves

5 . I'm a strong believer that learning different languages makes you look quite good when you're in a foreign country and can understand and speak the language.The list below is 4 apps (计算机应用程序) that will help you learn a foreign language! You can download (下载) them for free.

Babbel－Learn Languages

Babbel is an excellent language tool to help you progress step by step with learning a new language.It helps you learn grammar along the way as you work your way through the tasks and assignments (作业)．You need to pay every month，but this will still be cheaper than taking physical lessons with a teacher!

Duolingo: Learn Languages Free

The app has many languages to choose from and will work through the basics all the way to advanced words and sentences.It's all completely free too! It's well designed，looks great and will help you learn，remember and progress with just a little bit of time every day.

Tandem: Language Exchange

Rather than have you work through tasks and memorize different things，the app lets you match with people who share your interests but speak the language you want to learn.You can then have text，voice and video conversations with people who want to learn your native language，and in return you learn theirs，all by simply communicating with each other.It's a great way to learn with only $1 a day.

Learn English — busuu

This app is perfect if you want to learn English.There are all sorts of audio and visual learning aids.You'll find yourself working through interactive (互动的) tests and learning tools for vocabulary and dialogue.

1. Which app suits best if you want to learn through communication?

A．Babbel — Learn Languages

B．Tandem: Language Exchange

C．Duolingo: Learn Languages Free

D．Learn English — busuu

2. What is Duolingo different from the other three apps?

A．It's completely free to use.

B．It's specially designed for English learning.

C．It's unsuitable for beginners.

D．It's the best app for English learning.

3. What do the 4 apps have in common?

A．They cover all languages.

B．They are expensive.

C．They contain many tests.

D．They are free to download.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To sell apps to language learners.

B．To introduce language learning apps.

C．To teach language learners to use apps.

D．To teach languages through apps.