Students often want to practice their English outside class. One of the best ways to practice your English is to speak to a foreigner. You may ask, “Is it okay to try to talk to foreigners I see in the street?”

The answer is yes and no, but probably no! If you see a foreigner who looks lost, it is polite to ask him, “May I help you?” But, otherwise, you should probably let them get on with their business. Situations, however, do exist where it is quite all right to talk to foreigners. If a foreigner enters your school, classroom, office, shop or restaurant, for instance, feel free to ask him (for example):

— What is your name?

— Where do you come from?

— What do you think of Beijing?

— How long will you stay in Beijing?

There are also situations where it's okay to talk to foreigners in public places. If you see a foreigner alone in a restaurant, bar or coffee shop, it may be appropriate to ask him or her:

— Is this seat free?

— Do you mind if I talk to you in English?

You can probably help them if they are new in China and if they are alone, you may be able to make them feel more welcome.

After a few such questions, you should know whether this person wants to talk to you or not. If they ask you similar questions, or if they give long, informative answers, you're in luck. If not, then give them their privacy. Talking to strangers is fun if you choose the right time and place.

66. It is the best way to practice your spoken English with ______.

A. Japanese               B. Americans                      C. our classmates             D. French people

67. From the second paragraph we can get to know that ______.

A. it is polite to stop a foreigner to talk with him in the street

B. it is polite to interrupt foreigners in a conversation

C. it is impolite to interrupt a foreigner when he or she is on business

D. it is impolite to help a foreigner find his way

68. When you first meet a foreigner, you should say “_______”

A. Where are you going?                                      B. Have you ten your dinner?

C. Can you help me with my English?               D. Nice to meet you.

69. The writer suggests to us that we should ______.

A. follow the foreigners when we meet them in the street

B. talk with a foreigner in an accepted way

C. have a meal with foreigners in a restaurant

D. move to a place where a foreigner lives

70. This passage comes from a newspaper in column ________.

A. Sports                    B. Health                    C. Language                       D. Business

 

 

NEW YORK, May 19—A new, more destructive version of the “Love Bug ” virus is slowly spreading across the world, but so far the damage is small compared with its former version.

The new Love Bug virus creates disorder.

Richard Saunders of anti-viral firm Symantec said the virus only affected a dozen companies around the world.

“While it is a nasty virus, it’s not spreading anywhere near the rate Love But or (last year’s ) Melissa was spreading,” Saunders said.

“New Love” is similar in form to the Love Bug, which swept the world two weeks ago and caused more than $ 10 million in damages. But it’s much more destructive. The virus appears as an attachment to an e-mail whose subject begins with “FW”

If a user clicks on the attachment’s scroll-like icon（卷轴样的图标）, every file on his hard drive is destroyed.

“Basically, it’s going to destroy your machine, ” said Eric Chine, chief researcher at Symantec’s anti-virus lad in the Netherlands.

The Love Bug only killed a small set of files, including graphic files. This virus even wipes out the Windows operating system.

Attorney General Janet Reno warned the public at a news conference today to be careful of any suspicious e-mail with attachments. “Do not open it, even it comes from a trusted source.” she said.

Don’t Open That Attachments.

Like the Love Bug, after the e-mail attachment is opened and the virus is carried out, New Love sends itself to everyone in a victim’s Microsoft Outlook address book. Fortunately for users, the lesson is the same as from the Love Bug: If you see a message with an attachment whose name ends in vbs, with a scroll-like icon, don’t click on the attachment. Also like the Love Bug, this virus only affects computers running Windows 98, NT 4.0 Windows 95 with Internet Explorer 5.0 and can only spread if users rely on a Microsoft Outlook address book for e-mail. Microsoft will soon give a fix for Outlook that warns people or suspicious attachments, the company said.

 68. According to the passage, so far the new Love Bug virus _________.

A. has made the whole world disordered       

B. causes more damages than other forms of virus

C. is the newest and spreading the fastest 

D. has affected 12 companies around the world

69. Computer users are warned in this article _________.

A. not to suspect e-mails beginning with “FW” subjects

B. not to open attachment of doubtful e-mails

C. to stop using Microsoft Outlook address book  

D. to examine the Windows Operating System carefully

70. It can be suggested from the passage that _________.

A. the mail sent by a friend is surely free of the virus    

B. the Microsoft Company will take action against the virus

C. all computers running Windows 98 will be affected

D. the users can not find the way to deal with the Love Bug.

71. The author writes this passage in order to _________.

A. compare some types of virus                                 

B. explain how the Love Bug is formed

C. tell the readers something about a new virus   

D. remind computer companies to kill the virus

 

There are some highlights in April in Shanghai.

Live Music – Late Night Jazz

Enjoy real American jazz from Herbie Davis, the famous trumpet player. He’s coming with his new 7 – piece band, Herbie’s Heroes. Herbie is known to play well into the early hours, so don’t expect to get much sleep. This is Herbie’s third visit to Shanghai. The first two were sold out, so get your tickets quickly.

Place:  The Jazz Club          Dates:15 – 23 April           Price:￥80

Time: 10:00 p.m. till late!        TEL:6466 – 8736 

Scottish dancing

Take your partners and get ready to dance till you drop. Scottish dancing is fun and easy to learn. Instructors will demonstrate the dances. The live band, Gordon Stroppie and the Weefrees, are also excellent.

Place:  Jack Stein’s     Dates: every Monday   Price:￥60 including one drink

Time: 7:00 – 00:00 p.m.   TEL:6402 – 1877

Exhibitions – Shanghai Museum

There are 120,000 pieces on show here. You can see the whole of Chinese history under one roof. It’s always interesting to visit, but doubly so at the moment with the Egyptian Tombs exhibition. There are lots of mummies and more gold than you’ve ever seen before. Let us know if you see a mummy move!

Place: Shanghai Museum           Price:￥30（￥15 for students）

TEL:6888 – 6888                 Dates: daily

Time: Monday – Friday 9:00 a. m. – 5:00 p. m., Weekends 9:00 a. m. – 9:00p.m.

Dining – Sushi chef in town

Sushi is getting really big in Shanghai. In Japan, it’s become an art form. The most famous Sushi ‘artist’ is Yuki Kamura. She’s also one of the few female chefs in Japan. She’ll be at Sushi Scene all of this month.

Place: Sushi Scene in the Shanghai Hotel  Dates: all month          

Price: ￥200                        Time: lunchtime TEL: 6690 – 3211 

For a full listing of events, see our website.

1.From the text we may learn that Sushi is         .

A．a cook

B．an instructor

C．a kind of food

D．an artist

2.Which is not true about the ads?

A．Yuki Kamura will stay in Shanghai in April for a whole month.

B．A family of parents with 15 – year – old twins should pay 75 yuan for the Shanghai museum admission.

C．You will probably be taught to dance if you go to Jack Stein’s.

D．American jazz from Herbie Davis is popular in Shanghai.

3.Where are the ads available to people?

A．Newspaper

B．Magazine

C．TV

D．Internet

 

   When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation. I suggested that they should stay at “bed and breakfast” houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.

   “We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses,” they said, “because we found that most families were away on holiday.”

   I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought “VACANCIES” meant “holidays”, because the Spanish word for “holidays” is “vacaciones”. So they did not go to house where the sign outside said “VACABCUES”, which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said “NO VACANCIES”, because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!

   We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word “DIVERSION” means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word ‘DIVERSION’ on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road ended in a large hole.

   English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris, when someone offered me some more coffee, I said “Thank you” in French. I meant that I would like some more. However, to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that “Thank you” in French means “No, thank you.”

1. My Spanish friends wanted advice about __________.

A. learning English

B. finding places to stay in England

C. driving their car on English roads

D. going to England by car

2. I suggested that they stay at “bed and breakfast” houses because__________.

A. they would be able to practise their English

B. it would be much cheaper than staying in hotels

C. it would be convenient for them to have dinner

D. there would be no problem about finding accommodation there

3.“NO VACANCIES” in English means__________.

A. no free rooms                B. free rooms

C. not away on holiday          D. holidays

4.If you see a road sign that says “Diversion” in UK, you will__________.

A. fall into a hole

B. have a lot of fun and enjoy yourself

C. find that the road is blocked by crowds of people

D. have to take a different road

5.When someone offered me more coffee and I said “Thank you” in French, I__________.

A. didn’t really want any more coffee

B. wanted them to take the coffee pot away

C. really wanted some more coffee

D. wanted to express my politeness

 

No one can change the weather. Nobody can control the weather. But if we read correctly the signs around us, we can tell what the more important changes in the weather will be. This way of telling what the weather will be like on the following day or two is called weather forecasting.
For many centuries and in all countries, people have studied the weather and tried to make weather forecasting. Rings around the sun are a sign of coming rain. That many people feel their joints(关节) hurt is a sign of wet weather. Some birds fly high if the weather is fine, but they fly near the ground if rainy or stormy weather is on the way. If you see a rainbow during rainy weather, this is a sign that the weather will become clear and fine. Such rainbows come in the evening. If the stars twinkle clearly at night, then fine weather will continue. If a fog appears in the morning just above a river, then the day will be warm. If the sunset is mostly red in colour, then the following day will be fine. If a rainbow appears in the morning, rainy weather will probably come.
Most of the above sayings have been made by the people who have used their eyes and brains to make weather forecasting.
【小题1】Which is true about weather forecasting?

A．Weather forecasting is a way of telling what the weather will be like.

B．Weather forecasting is a report about the weather.

C．Weather forecasting is a sign of coming rain.

D．People can change the weather forecasting.

【小题2】Which of the following can be used here to replace the underlined phrase “on the way”?

A．continuing

B．reducing.

C．coming.

D．disappearing.

【小题3】Which of the following signs can tell the weather will probably be rainy?

A．Some birds fly high.

B．A rainbow appears in the morning.

C．The sunset is mostly red in colour.

D．Fogs appear in the morning just above a river.

【小题4】The best title of the passage is _______.

A．Weather forecasting plays an important role in our life

B．Weather forecasting can bring people some signs of weather

C．Weather is forecasted only by eyes and brains.

D．People can predict weather by experience in daily life