1 . Many people believe that you lose the ability to learn new languages as you get older. Language experts, however, will tell you that you’re never too old to learn a new language. As you get older, it can be more difficult to learn a new language, though.

Children and adults learn new languages in different ways. For children, language is their life. They study for thousands of hours every year, because they need to learn languages to become part of their communities. Adults, on the other hand, are already part of a language community. Learning a new language means becoming part of another language community, and adults rarely get the chance to practice as much as young children do.

Moreover, children learning a new language are expected to make mistakes. This gives them freedom when learning to be daring and confident. Adults, however, often feel pressured to be perfect when learning a new language. This can discourage many people and make it even harder to learn a new language.

When young children learn a new language, they come to see all kinds of languages as a “normal” part of society. This mindset(思维模式) helps them embrace learning a new language without feeling like they’re doing something unusual or “too hard”.

So if you want to learn a new language, go for it! It’s never too late to learn a new language. If you’re older, it may take more work, but it can be done. If you’re a young child, though, now it is the time to step out and learn a new language!

1. By saying “language is their life” in Paragraph 2, the author means that children ________.

A．can’t live without language	B．lead a happy life every day
C．practice a new language a lot	D．are taken good care of by adults

2. What may make it hard for adults to learn a new language?

A．They often feel pressured.	B．They usually have too many interests.
C．They think making mistakes is natural.	D．They always make all kinds of mistakes.

3. Which of the following shows the difference between children and adults in learning a new language?

A．The behavior they have.	B．The learning attitudes.
C．The future plans they have made.	D．The materials they are using.

4. According to the author,   a new language ________.

A．can never be learned by the old people

B．can be learned by the old people easily

C．can be understood only by the old people

D．can be learned by both the old and the young

2 . Language Learning

Learning a new language can be tricky at any age. But in a recent study, scientists have pinpointed the exact age at which your chances of reaching fluency in a new language seem to quickly drop off: 10. Does this mean you should quit your French class if you’re older than 10? Non!

    1     It found that it’s “nearly impossible” to reach fluency if you start learning a language after age 10. That’s not because language skills start to go downhill. “You’re still learning fast,” says Joshua Hartshorne, one of the study’s coauthors. “It’s just that you run out of time, because your ability to learn starts dropping at around 17 or 18 years old.” People who start learning a new language after age 10 may still become quite good, the authors say.     2    

Kids may be better than adults at learning new languages for many reasons. Children’s brains are more adaptable than those of adults.     3     “All learning involves the brain changing,” Hartshorne says. “Children’s brains seem to be a lot more good at changing.” Kids may also be more willing than adults to try new things. And while adults tend to fall back on the rules and patterns of their first language, kids are able to approach a new one with a blank slate.

    4     It promised to guess people’s native language, dialect, and home country, based on their responses to English grammar questions. At the end of the quiz, people entered their actual native language. They also reported if and when they had learned any other languages and where they had lived. Nearly 670,000 people took the quiz. Analyzing people’s responses and grammar mistakes allowed them to draw conclusions about language learning.

The findings also offer ideas for adults hoping to pick up a new language.     5     Moving to a place where your chosen language is spoken all the time is the best way for adults to learn. Learners of all ages can search out native speakers in their community to talk with. By creating an immersive environment, it’s possible to become good at speaking a new language.

A．Now that’s worth talking about!

B．But they are unlikely to become fluent.

C．The study appeared in the journal Cognition.

D．For the study, the researchers created an online quiz.

E．This means they’re better able to respond to new information.

F．This gave researchers huge amounts of data from English speakers of many ages and backgrounds.

G．Researchers found that people did better when they learned by immersion rather than only in a classroom.

3 . 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(Λ)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意： 1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

When I was young, I was terribly poor in the Chinese. Be afraid of expressing myself was one of the reasons that I rarely did well in school. Once I failed in a mid-term exam. When I got the papers, I realized things could have been better if I listened to the teacher much more attentive. So I turned to my teacher for helps and he told me, “Where there is a will, there is a way. If we are devoted to learning Chinese, you’ll make it.” I couldn’t agree much. From then on, I began to work harder. Out of my expect, I made great progress soon. Today, Chinese is where my strength lies. And I’m grateful for my Chinese teacher.

4 . 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下短文。短文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在此符号下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

When I was in the Grade One,I was terrible poor in English.Be sleepy in class was one of the reasons why I rarely did well in school.Once I even failed in a mid-term exam.While I got the papers,I realized that things would be better if I listened to the teacher attentively.My teacher told me,"Yesterday is history.Today is a gift.If you bury you into English now,you'll make it."I can't agree much.From then on,I began to study harder.Out of my expectation, I made great achievement soon.Today,English is which my strength lies.And I'm grateful for my English teacher.

5 . While music has value all by itself, researchers have long noticed that musicians also tend to be better at learning languages and show other improved reading and math abilities. Now a new study from the University of Washington by Christina Zhao shows that rhythm is an important bridge between music and speech as early as nine months of age.

Researchers randomly placed babies into two groups of 20 each, and each group played at the lab with their parents for a dozen 15-minute sessions over a month.

In one group, researchers played recordings of songs with a waltz rhythm and showed the parents how to help their babies tap out that 1-2-3 beat in time with the music on boy drums or with their feet. In the other group, children played with typical toys and no music.

The babies in the music group were better able to detect random mistakes in that rhythm when they heard it within two weeks of the last session. They also showed a stronger brain response to disruptions in the rhythm. For example, researchers would sometimes alter the timing of syllables(音节) by slightly shortening the middle sound of a word like bibbi to make it bibi—and the babies with music training were more likely to notice it.

In other words, music training not only improved the babies’ ability to notice when a musical rhythm skipped a beat, but also improved their ability to notice when the rhythms of speech changed unexpectedly, an important skill for learning to talk.

The study reflects Zhao’s personal experiences as a pianist who music in college, and as someone who speaks both Mandarin and English. She noticed that a lot of her fellow musicians were also good at learning other languages. “That really got me wondering how these two are related, “Zhao said.

1. What can we learn about the new study?

A．It included twenty babies.

B．The babies were grouped by age.

C．It was carried out in form of lab tests.

D．The two groups were offered different types of music.

2. According to the last paragraph, Christina Zhao ________.

A．will carry on with this study

B．is good at discovering hidden connections

C．is willing to share her personal experiences

D．began learning different languages during childhood

3. Which is the best title for the text?

A．Music Learners’ Advantages Over Language Learners

B．An Important Bridge Between Music and Babies

C．Researchers Prove Music’s Influence on Babies

D．Music Skills May Help Babies Learn Languages

6 . 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共10处语言错误，每句最多有两处。每处错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

Studying at an university in the UK have been a good experience for me. When I first arrived, I find life very hard as I didn’t know anybody here, but I soon got to know other Chinese student. Later I became accustomed to talk with people from various cultures. Besides, I made fewer friends.

During my study, I chose to live in with my classmates in the dormitory. I think it’s better than living in a British family because I can meet people from different countries easy. The courses here are excellent.   I enjoy the way the teachers give lessons. We encouraged to think for ourselves, which is quite different from that I have experienced before.

7 . No poem should ever be discussed or analyzed, until it has been read aloud by someone, teacher or student. Better still, perhaps, is the practice of reading it twice, once at the beginning of the discussion and once at the end. All discussions of poetry are, in fact, preparations for reading it aloud, and the reading of the poem is, finally, the most telling “interpretation” of it, suggesting tone, rhythm, and meaning all at once. Hearing a poet read the work in his or her own voice, on records or on films, is obviously a special reward. But even those aids to teaching cannot replace the student and teacher reading it or, best of all, reciting(背诵) it.

I have come to think, in fact, that time spent reading a poem aloud is much more important than analyzing it if there isn’t time for both. I think one of our goals as teachers of English is to have students love poetry. Poetry is a criticism of life, and a heightening(提升) of life. It is an approach to the truth of feeling, and it can save your life.

I am not saying that every English teacher must teach poetry. Those who don’t like it should not be forced to put that dislike on anyone else. But those who do teach poetry must keep in mind a few things about its essential nature, about its sound as well as its sense, and they must make room in the classroom for hearing poetry as well as thinking about it.

1. To have a better understanding of a poem, one should________.

A．analyze it by oneself	B．copy it down in a notebook
C．practise reading it aloud	D．discuss it with others

2. According to the writer, one of the purposes of teaching English is to get students ________.

A．to enjoy poetry	B．to become teachers
C．to become poets	D．to understand life

3. The underlined words “make room” in the last paragraph probably means ________.

A．to provide equipment	B．to leave a certain amount of time
C．to set aside enough space	D．to build a booth

4. The best title for the passage may be “________”.

A．Analyzing Poems	B．Discussing Poems
C．Learning English	D．Reading Poems Aloud