Can you swim? Do you like swimming? Yes? Well, how can you learn to swim? I think the best way is to go into the water and learn. I’m afraid you’ll never learn to swim just by reading books about swimming or looking at others swimming. It’s the same with the English study. We must practice, practice and practice.
Listening and speaking are very important for beginners. The children in English-speaking countries first listen to others. Then they try to imitate(模仿) and speak. We can listen to English programs on radio. You may just understand a few words. It doesn’t matter. Just be relaxed, try to catch every word.
Somebody may be a good listener. But he is terrified to speak. He’s afraid of making mistakes. You know we sometimes make mistakes when we speak Chinese. Don’t be afraid. We must be brave. If you really want to learn English well, you must try to speak with everyone so long as he knows English. Whether you know him or not is not important. When there’s nobody to talk with, you can talk to yourself in English. It’s interesting and also a good way to practice your spoken English. Remember, the more you speak, the fewer mistakes you’ll make.
Reading and writing are more important for senior school students. First we must choose the books we’re interested in. A lot of reading will improve your language sense(语感). This is the most important.
Keep writing English diaries. We can also write English articles. You may even post them to English magazines. Don’t be afraid of failure. Failure is the mother of success.
Easier said than done. Well, let’s do more practice from now on. I’m sure you’ll learn English better in this way.
【小题1】You can learn to swim by_______.

（一）交际应答。录音中有五个句子，每个句子听一遍，然后从每小题A、B、C中选出能对每个句子做出适当反应的答语。

1.A.Yes, please.                    B.Good idea.                        C.Of course, it is.

2.A.Certainly you are.           B.Sure. Hold on, please.        C.I’ll do that.

3.A.Oh, they are over there.  B.I’m glad you’ve found it.   C.Go straight and turn left.

4. A.OK, I wil.                            B.Yes, I think so.                  C.Good for you.

5.A.Never mind.                   B.You are welcome.                     C.I’m sorry.

(二)情景反应。录音中有五组对话，听对话两遍后，从每小题A、B、C中选出能回答所给问题的正确答案。

6.When will Mrs White come back?

A.Right now.                       B.Quite soon.                       C.At four.

7.What sport does the woman like?

8.What does the woman prefer to do?

A.To see the new play.                 B.To do some shopping.               C.To visit the museum.

9.What are the man and woman doing?

A.They are looking for a CD player in a shop.                  

B.They are learning how to press the button.

C.The man is teaching the woman how to use the CD player.

10.Why was Frank on the news last night?

A.He walked along the beach at night.

B.He swam alone in the cold water.

C.He got the boy out of water and saved him.

(三)对话理解。录音中有一段对话，听对话两遍后，从每小题A、B、C中选出能回答所给问题的正确答案。

11.Where could the dialogue happen?

 A.In a shop.                       B.In a library.                       C.In a hospital.

12.Why did the young man go to see the doctor?

A.He didn’t know where to begin his talk.

B.He felt difficult to fall asleep.

C.He felt unhappy most of the day.

13.How long has the young man been ill?

A.For about two years.                B.For about three weeks.                    C.For about six months.

14.In what season did the young man feel worse?

A.In Spring.                                B.In Autumn.                              C.In winter.

15.What did the doctor ask the young man to do?

A.To take some medicine.            B.To burn away his worries.         C.To take more exercises.

(四)短文理解。录音中有一篇短文，听短文两篇后，从每小题A、B、C中选出能回答所给问题的正确答案。

16.What happened to the three boys in a cold day?

A.They lost their way.

B.They couldn’t find the big house.

C.They had to spend the night in the open air.

17.What did the three boys ask the farmer to do?

A.To give them some water and food.

B.To let them stay in his house for a night.

C.To tell them the way to walk out of the forest.

18.Why did one of the boys have to sleep in the big house?

A.The farmer didn’t like the third boy.

B.One of the boys made a loud noise when he slept.

C.There wasn’t enough room in the farmer’s house.

19.Who was the first to sleep with the horses?

 A.Mike                              B.Jack                                        C.Tom

20.Why were all the horses outside at the house door?

A.Because someone drove them out of the house.

B.Because the smell in the big house was really terrible.

C.Because the horses didn’t like to stay with people at night.