阅读理解

　　Here are a few tips we’ve put together to help you learn English well．

　　Tip 1　Speak, speak, speak!

　　Practise speaking as often as you can－even speaking to yourself is good practice．

　　Try recording yourself whenever you can．Compare your pronunciation with the master version, see how you can do better and have another go．If you do this several times, you will find that each version is better than the last．

　　Tip 2　Why not learn with someone else?

　　It helps if you can learn with someone else．If you can persuade a friend or family member to study with you, it will make you keep working．Agree times to meet and set goals for the week, and test each other regularly．

　　Tip 3　Don’t get stuck by a word you don’t know

　　Ptactise improvising(即兴的)ways of getting your meaning across when speaking spontaneously(本能地), even if you don’t know the exact words or phrases．Think of things you might want to say whenever you have spare time．A basic example is the rise of tenses．If you don’t know the past tense but want to talk about yesterday, use the verb in the present tense and use the word for “yesterday”．Use facial expression, hand movements, anything to get your meaning across．

　　Tip 4　Language learning is also about intuition(直觉)

　　Guesswork is an important strategy in learning a new language．When listening to recorded material, you aren’t expected to understand everything first time round．If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time．Learn to make maximum use of all the clues you can pick up．For example, what do the speakers sound like? Happy? Angry? Calm? etc．

　　Tip 5　Build up your vocabulary

　　A wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning but don’t try to learn too much at once．It’s best to study frequently, for short periods of time．Take a maximum of six or seven items of vocabulary and learn them．Put them into sentences to fix them in your mind, then come back to them later．Much of the vocabulary in the course is presented by topic．

　　And above all, have fun!

完形填空

　　After becoming successful, a man felt that he should repay his mother, 　　1　　 he asked her,“Mother, what can I give you?I really want to repay you for 　　2　　 you have given to me．”His mother looked 　　3　　 and said,“You don't have to repay me．”

　　His mother 　　4　　 to ask for anything, but he continued to persist(执著地坚持)．To put an end to the 　　5　　, she said,“All right．If you insist, then tonight you stay on the 　　6　　 with me, just as you 　　7　　 when you were a baby．”He said,“That's a(n)　　8　　 thing to ask for, but if it pleases you, I will．”

　　As soon as he 　　9　　, the mother got up and brought a glass of water．She 　　10　　 the glass of water on his side．Feeling the wetness under him, he moved away to the other side of the bed．As he settled down, his mother poured 　　11　　 glass of water on the other side．Later he felt that this part of the bed was 　　12　　 too．He woke up and saw his mother with the glass in her hand．He asked 　　13　　,“What are you doing, Mother?Why do you 　　14　　 me to sleep on a wet bed?”

　　His mother said,“I slept with you, when you wetted the bed in the night．I 　　15　　 your nappy(尿布)and moved you to the 　　16　　 part of the bed, while I slept on the wet side．You wanted to repay me．Can you sleep here even for one night with me on a wet bed?If you 　　17　　, I'll take that as my repayment．”

　　How true it is that of all the 　　18　　 in the world, the one that can never be repaid is the one you 　　19　　 your mother．You can never repay the 　　20　　, care and time your mother gave to you in order to bring you up．You are a part of her flesh and blood; don't forget this．