Dear Sunny Day Travel Agency,

I want to take a holiday this winter. I have been to many fascinating___61____ . This time I want to go somewhere that is ____62___. I’d like to take a plane ,because the ___63____way of traveling is by plane.. I can speak English, Spanish and __64____. I enjoy fishing, camping, __65___museums and meeting new people that are __66___. I love great restaurants. I like eating ___67___food, especially the food that ____68___good. I think I might want a tour guide so I don’t get ____69___.

Can you give me some ___70____ for holiday spots? Please tell me.

                                                         Yours,

Lucy

If you are one of those who want to know how to increase your vocabulary, there are some ways you may find useful. In fact, it is not that difficult to learn new words, but to remember them for a lifetime seems not to be so easy.
To make it easier, you can try word associations（联想）. Try to find a connection between a new word and things or people you know. For example, if your neighbour is an unselfish person who cares about the needs of other people, think about this person every time you see the word, and very soon you'll start actively using it.
Try to use the words you learn as often as possible. Perhaps you are not sure which situations they should be used in, or whether you pronounce（发音） them correctly, but practice is the best way to understand that. It is not enough to find out the meaning of a word. You should hammer (敲打) it into your mind by using it in actual conversations in everyday life.
Also, it may be helpful to know the meaning of the word roots, prefixes (前缀) and suffixes （后缀）， especially if they have a Greek or Latin origin（起源）． Even if you meet a long unfamiliar word, it will be easy to know its meaning if you know the general meaning of its parts.  For example, if you see the word "philanthropy", it won't be difficult to surmise what it means if you know that "anthropo" means "human" and "philo" means "loving". Not only can ancient Greek and Latin be helpful, but a number of modern languages as well. So, if you speak French,  Italian, Spanish or Portuguese, guess the meaning of an unfamiliar English word if it sounds like  a word from another language you know.
【小题1】 Which of the following old sayings can show the main idea of Paragraph 3?

American and British people both speak English, but sometimes it doesn’t seem like the same language.

First of all, they sound very different. Often, Americans don’t say all the letters in each word, especially consonants （辅音） like “t” and “d.” For example, Americans may say “I dun no” instead of “I don’t know”. However, the British usually pronounce their consonants more carefully.

Also, some letters have different sounds. For example, Americans say the “a” in “half” like the “a” in “cat,” but the British say the “a” in “half” like the “a” in “ash.”

Sound is not the only difference between British English and American English. The two languages have different words for some things. For example, the words for clothing are different. Americans use the word “sweater,” but the British say “jumper.”

Many other words and expressions are different in the two countries. In England, if you are going to telephone a friend, you “ring her up.” In America, you “give her a call.” The British use the word “lovely” to describe something they like. Americans use the word “cool” or “great”.

There are also some differences in grammar. For example, Americans almost always use the helping verb “do” with the verb “have.” They might say “Do you have an extra pen?” The British often ask the question in a different way. They might say “Have you got an extra pen?”

These differences can be confusing（令人混淆的） if you are learning English. But there is a reason for the differences. Languages change over time. When the same language is used in different places, it changes differently in each place. This is what happened to English. It also happened to other languages, such as French. Many people in Canada speak French, but their French is different from the French spoken in France.

1．Do Americans say all the letters in each word?

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2．Who use the word “sweater”, Americans or the British?

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3．Is French the same in Canada and France?

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4．Why are there some differences in the same language?

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5．What is the main idea of the passage?

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