Hollywood, in America, made more films than any other film centre in the world. The warm climate and long hours of sunlight meant that film-making was easy and quite cheap. This was also a rich part of America and there were many businessmen who wanted to make money from the film industry. At first short cowboy(牛仔) films were popular because they added excitement and adventure to people’s lives. Later comedy films were made so that people could laugh and forget their troubles.

Charlie Chaplin was probably the most liked of all comedy actors.

1. The reason why people began to look for a better and happier life is that __________.

A. millions of people had died in the war

B. many people were still alive

C. they wanted to forget the war and their sufferings

D. they want to enjoy life before another war started

2. Cinema became the most popular in people’s free time because __________.

A. it was cheap

B. it was safe

C. it could make people happy

D. both A and C

3. Which, according to the writer, is true?

A. Hollywood made more films than some film centers in the world.

B. Many businessmen came to Hollywood in order to make films.

C. Hollywood was not the biggest producer of films in the world.

D. No other film centre made more films than Hollywood did.

4. Hollywood became a film centre because __________.

A. film-making there was cheap and easy

B. it enjoyed long hours of sunlight

C. it was a rich part of America

D. many businessmen went there

5.A “comedy” is something that is __________.

A. funny　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. exciting

C. full of danger　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  D. sad

Things can go wrong on a number of people on the road. During the rush hour one evening two cars hit each other and both drivers began to argue. The woman driver behind the two cars happened to be a learner. She suddenly went into a panic and stopped her car. This made the driver following her stop suddenly. His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake. As she was thrown forward, the cake went right through the window and landed on the road. Seeing a cake flying through the air, a truck-driver had to stop his truck all of a sudden. The truck was carrying empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the truck on to the road. This led to yet another angry argument. Meanwhile, the traffic piled up behind. It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again. In the mean while, the truck-driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles. Only two dogs were enjoying themselves from the accident, for they were happily having what was left of the cake. It was just one of those days!

1. According to the author’s opinion, __________.

A. a small matter may cause great trouble　　　　　　　　　　   

B. accidents may happen any time

C. troubles always come in groups

D. anyone may have trouble any day

2. When the telephone rings,__________.

A. you’d better have your baby a little distant from your table before going to answer the phone

B. your trouble is sure to come

C. you’d better just let it ring all the way

D. you should never go to answer it in a hurry

3. What did the police do after the accident?

A. They helped the driver clean up the road.

B. They helped the drivers to go on with their journey.

C. They tried to stop the people from arguing.

D. They would find out who should be responsible

4. From the story we can see __________.

A. such accidents are rather common

B. such accidents are rather strange

C. no one can explain why such accidents happen

D. some drivers are too careless

ASK THE WISE OWL

Q: I’m always late for school. I try not to be, but I can’t help it. Please advise me what to do. Tommy.

A: You are probably late for school because you don’t really like school. My advice to you is to try and enjoy school more, and then you won’t be late so often.

Q: I find it difficult to make friends. What do you think I should do? Sara.

A: I can’t advise you until I know more about you. Yourproblem may be that you are shy. On the other hand, it may be the opposite. You may be too bold. Write and tell me more about yourself.

Q: I’m always at the bottom of the class. What do you advise me to do? Molly.

A: I advise you to concentrate on (专注于) improving your grades in one subject to start with. If you can do this, you should move a little way up from the bottom. Next, try to improve your grades in another subject, and so on. If you concentrate on one subject at a time, by the end of the year you should be quite a long way up from the bottom in all your classes.

Your Friend: The Wise Owl

1. The Wise Owl thinks that Tommy is always late for school because he________.

A. dislikes his school

B. dislikes his teacher

C. spends too much time studying

D. wants to stay at home all day

2. The Wise Owl wants Sara to_____.

A. stop being so shy

B. stop being so bold

C. make more friends

D. give more information about herself

3. We can infer that Molly may_______.

A. have made many friends

B. have greatly improved her grades

C. be very poor at all her lessons

D. have been working hard at school

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

A. The school newspaper has an advice column.

B. Tommy wrote to the school newspaper for advice.

C. The students enjoy thinking up problems for the advice column.

D. The advice column in the school newspaper is very popular.

My first student Marie was a 44-year-old single mother of three. In the first lesson, I found out she walked two miles to the nearest supermarket twice a week because she didn’t know which bus to take. When I told her I would get her a bus schedule(时刻表),she told me it would not help because she could not read it. She said she also had difficulty once she got to the supermarket because she couldn’t always remember what she needed. Since she did not know words, she could not write out a shopping list. Also, she could only recognize items by sight, so if the product had a different label(标识),she would not recognize it as the product she wanted.

As we worked together, learning how to read built Marie’s self-confidence(自信心),which encouraged her to continue in her studies. She began to make rapid progress and was even able to take the bus to the supermarket. After this successful trip, she reported how self-confident she felt. At the end of the program, she began helping her youngest son, Tony, a shy first grader, with his reading. She sat with him before he went to sleep and together they would read bedtime stories. When his eyes became wide with excitement as she read, pride was written all over her face, and she began to see how her own hard work in learning to read paid off. As she described this experience, I was proud of myself as well. I found that helping Marie to build her self-confidence was more rewarding than anything I had ever done before.

As a literacy volunteer, I learned a great deal about teaching and helping others. In fact, I may have learned more from the experience than Marie did.

1. What did the author do last summer?

A. She worked in the supermarket.

B. She helped someone to learn to read.

C. She gave single mothers the help they needed.

D. She went to a training program to help a literacy volunteer.

2. Why didn’t Marie go to the supermarket by bus at first?

A. Because she liked to walk to the supermarket.

B. Because she lived far away from the bus stop.

C. Because she couldn’t afford the bus ticket.

D. Because she couldn’t find the right bus.

3. How did Marie use to find the goods she wanted in the supermarket?

A. She knew where the goods were in the supermarket.

B. She asked others to take her to the right place.

C. She managed to find the goods by their looks.

D. She remembered the names of the goods.

4. Which of the following statements is true about Marie?

A. Marie could do things she had not been able to do before.

B. Marie was able to read stories with the help of her son.

C. Marie decided to continue her studies in school.

D. Marie paid for her own lessons.

Rooms for the night in private（私人的）homes with breakfast have been popular with travelers in Europe for many years. In the past five to ten years, these bed-and-breakfast places have become popular in the United States. Many of these America’s bed-and-breakfast inns have only a few rooms; others are much larger. Some inns do not provide telephones or televisions in the rooms, others do.

Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is much different from staying at a hotel. Usually the cost is much less. Staying at an inn is almost like visiting someone’s home. The owners are glad to tell about the areas and the interesting places to visit. Many vacationers say that they enjoy the chance to meet local families.

1. Americans take a holiday trip_________.

A. all the year round

B. for years

C. every year

D. every other year

2. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Some Americans like to stay at bed-and-breakfast homes instead of at hotels.

B. The bed-and-breakfast inns are private homes open to vacationers.

C. The bed-and-breakfast inns have been popular in America for a long time.

D. The bed-and-breakfast inn owners provide a morning meal for their visitors and a room for the night.

3. Why do American travelers prefer staying at bed-and-breakfast inns?

A. It is like visiting someone’s home.

B. The money they spend there is much less.

C. They can meet local families.

D. All of the above.

4. Staying at the bed-and-breakfast inns, __________.

A. the travelers needn’t pay anything

B. the travelers don’t have to pay for the telephone or television

C. the travelers can meet and talk with the local people

D. the owners will show the travelers around the area

5. Which is TRUE according to the passage?

A. European and American vacationers like staying at bed-and-breakfast inns.

B. All Americans enjoy traveling.

C. These bed-and-breakfast inns are all old historic buildings.

D. Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is just like at the traveler’s home.

Foreign visitors are often puzzled in Japan because most streets there don’t have names. In Japan, people use landmarks in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go pass a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”

In the countryside of the American Midwest, usually there are not many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat(平坦的). In many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distance. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”

People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map: They measure(测量) distance by means of time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “It’s about five minutes from here.” you say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don’t know.

People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions because visitors seldom(很少) understand the Greek language. Instead of giving you the direction, a Greek will often say, “Follow me.” Then he’ll lead you through the streets of the city to the post office.

Sometimes a person doesn’t know the answer to your question. What happens in this situation(情形)? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.”But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers, “I don’t know.”People in Yucatan think that “I don’t know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A visitor can get very, very lost in Yucatan!

One thing will help you everywhere—in Japan, in the United States, in Greece, in Mexico,  or in any other place. You might not understand a person’s words, by maybe you can understand his body language. He or she will usually turn and then point in the correct direction. Go in that direction, and you may find the post office!

1. The passage mainly tells us that __________.

A. never carry a map for travel

B. there are not many landmarks in the American Midwest

C. there are different ways to give directions in different parts of the world

D. New Yorkers often say, “I have no idea,” but people in Yucatan, Mexico, never say this

2.The passage says, “In Japan, people use landmarks in their directions.” The word “landmarks” means __________.

A. building names

B. street names

C. hotels, markets and bus stops

D. buildings or places which are easily recognized

3. In which place do people tell distance by means of time?

A. Japan.　　　　　　　

B. American Midwest.

C. Los Angeles, California.

D. Greece.

4. In the passage, __________ countries are mentioned by the writer.

A. seven　　　　　　 B. four　　　　　　　　  C. eight　　　　   D. five

5. Which of the following is wrong?

A. Travelers can learn about people’s customs by asking questions about directions.

B. A person’s body language can help you understand directions.

C. People in some places give directions in miles, but people in other places give directions by means of time.

D. People in different places always give directions in the same way: They use street names.

This passport is a government request for the safety of its traveling people. It is also a government’s pledge(保证) that the people will obey the rules of the host country(东道国).

To receive a passport from the government, a traveler must prove(证明) that he is an American citizen(公民). An American can not go overseas(外国) without a passport. Only certain close countries such as Canada and Mexico do not ask for passports.

Pasted inside the passport is the traveler’s picture. Children traveling with their parents are included in one parent’s book.

Thousands of people from the United States visit other countries every year. An American traveler might carry plane tickets, money, clothing and many other things. But the most important that he carries in another country is his passport.

1. A passport is not needed when an American goes to __________.

A. foreign countries　　　

B. dangerous areas

C. Canada or Mexico

D. countries overseas

2. From the passage we can see that __________.

A. children can’t travel to foreign countries

B. Americans like to travel

C. a traveler is not safe in most countries

D. Americans like to travel to close countries

3. Why does a traveler need a passport?

A. He needs something more to carry when he travels.

B. It helps the country to protect the people.

C. He needs to have his picture taken more often.

D. It helps the traveler to know where he will go.

4. Which statement does the passage lead you to believe?

A. People should take care of their passports.

B. It is not important to have a passport to travel.

C. Children are never included in a passport.

D. When you are in another country, money is more important than a passport.

5. Which of the following is true?

A. When Americans are traveling in another country, they must obey the rules of the country.

B. The American government sometimes allow its people to travel to dangerous places.

C. A passport is needed wherever an American is traveling.

D. Everyone who lives in the United States can get a passport from the American government.

Before 1066, in the land we now call Great Britain lived people belonging to two major language groups. In the west-central region in the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, thought not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic. In the rest of the country lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, who spoke what we now call Anglo-Saxon (or Old English), a Germanic language. If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would be close to German.

But this state of affairs did not last. In 1066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England. For about a century, French became the official language of England while Old English became the language of peasant. As a result, English words of politics and the law come from French rather than German. In some cases, modern English even shows a distinction(区别)between upper-class French and lower-class Anglo-Saxon in its words. We even have different words for some foods, meat in particular, depending on whether it is still out in the fields or at home ready to be cooked, which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing farming, while the upper-class Normans were doing most of the eating.

When Americans visit Europe for the first time, they usually find Germany more “foreign” than France because the German they see on signs and advertisements seems much more different from English than French does. Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic in its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of one man’s ambition.

1. The two major languages spoken in what is now called Great Britain before 1066 were __________.

A. Welsh and Scottish

B. Nordic and Germanic

C. Celtic and Old English

D. Anglo-Saxon and Germanic

2. Which of the following groups of words are, by inference, rooted in French?

A. president, lawyer, beef

B. president, bread, water

C. beard, field, sheep

D. folk, field, cow

3. Why does France appear less foreign than Germany to Americans on their first visit to Europe?

A.　　  Most advertisements in France appear in English.

B. They know little of the history of the English language.

C. Many French words are similar to English ones.

D. They know French better than German.

4. What is the subject discussed in the text?

A. The history of Great Britain.

B. The similarity between English and French.

C. The rule of England by William Conqueror.

D. The French influences on the English language.

Certainly, there are some differences between British and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “Have you a pen?”, Americans say “in the hospital” and “Do you have a pen?”.Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like “bird” and “hurt”. Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “color” and “honor” are British, “color” and “honor” are American.

These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language.

1. According to this passage, a student who is learning to speak American English might be afraid that __________.

A. British people cannot understand him

B. American people cannot understand him

C. the grammar is too hard for him

D. the spelling is too hard for him

2. American English and British English are different in __________.

A. spelling　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   B. pronunciation

C. grammar　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  D. all of the above

3.What is NOT mentioned(提及) in the passage?

A. Whether there are differences between British English and American English.

B. Whether British English and American English are one language or two.

C. How the differences between British English and American English came about.

D. How important the differences are.

4.Most __________ say “Do you have a watch?”

A. British people　　　　　　　　　　　　　  B. Americans

C. children　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. teachers

5. According to this passage, British people and Americans have __________ difficulty in understanding each other.

A. little　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  B. much

C. some　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    D. great

There is no short way to succeed in language learning. A good memory(记忆) is a great help, but it is not enough only to memorize the rules from a grammar book. It is no much use learning by heart long lists(一览表) of words and their meanings, studying the dictionary and so on. We must learn by using the language. If we are pleased with a few rules we have memorized, we are not really learning the language. We must “Learn through use”. Practice is important. We must practice speaking and writing the language whenever(无论何时) we can.

1. The most important things to learn a foreign language are __________.

A. understanding and speaking

B. hearing, speaking, reading and writing

C. writing and understanding

D. memorizing and listening

2. Someone hears and writes English very well, but he speaks it very badly. This is because __________.

A. he doesn’t understand the language when he hears it spoken

B. he doesn’t have a good memory

C. he always remember lists of words and their meanings

D. he often hesitates to practice speaking it

3. One can never learn a foreign language well only by __________.

A. much practice

B. studying the dictionary

C. learning through use

D. using the language

4. Which of the following is the most important in learning a foreign language?

A. A good memory.

B. Speaking.

C. Practice.

D. Writing.

5.“Learn through use” means __________.

A. we use a language in order to learn it

B. we learn a foreign language in order to use it

C. we can learn a language well while we are using it

D. both B and C