Try reading the following sentences as fast as you can. “She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I’m sure she sells seashore shells.”

Not very easy, was it? What you’ve just read is called a tongue twister (绕口令). It is an exercise made up of sounds that are hard to pronounce(发音，读) in order to help people pronounce words faster and more correctly. Try the next example.

“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers? If Pete Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?”

Tongue twisters usually do not have much meaning. They are just designed to improve people’s ability  to pronounce words. Although they may be very difficult, these exercises are very important to people who are trying to speak English correctly. This is because tongue twisters help people to tell the differences between similar sounds.

So if you wish to pronounce words more smoothly, you’d better try picking out some tongue twisters and practicing them.

1.Tongue twisters are helpful in improving ___________ skills.

A. listening        B. writing      C. pronunciation     D. communication

2.The first tongue twister is hard because ___________.

A. it is very boring to read            B. it teaches us a lot of knowledge

C. we don’t know who “she” is        D. the sounds of “s” and “sh” are similar

3.The passage is probably taken from _________ in a school newspaper.

A. Story Time          B. Study Garden

C. Latest News          D. Lost and Found

Dear Disney,
Last weekend, the four members of my family spent an enjoyable holiday at the Magic Kingdom - Disneyland. And one event made our visit seem truly magical.
We got to the front of the line at Space Mountain, only to find out that our little daughter Gloria 
couldn’t take her ice-cream on the ride. We were so excited that we all forgot ice-cream was not allowed on the ride.
Gloria broke into tears and we all had no idea what to do. Then Murphy, one of the staff(员工) members, came over. She bent down and told Gloria that she would hold the ice-cream for her and give it to her when she finished the ride. Gloria said, "Promise?" Then she gave Murphy her ice-cream, and she completely enjoyed the ride.
Sure enough, as we walked out the exit, there was Gloria’s new friend with "her" ice-cream.
Now you and I both know what happened, because we know that an ice-cream won’t last twenty minutes on a summer afternoon in Florida. Murphy knew what time we would get off the ride. she went to the nearest shop and bought a brand-new ice-cream thirty seconds before we walked out the exit. Gloria said, "Thank you," but I’m sure she thought it was the same ice-cream.
We know that someone tried hard to make our visit special. Thanks so much for going above and beyond!
Your fan,
Carmen Rivera
【小题1】 The family’s visit to the Magic Kingdom was ________.

用恰当的词语填空。完成对话。每空一词。(每小题1分，共5分)
A: May I help you?
B: Yes. I want to【小题1】       a blouse for my mother.
A: What color does she like?
B: Hmm... I'm not sure. Grey, I think.
A: OK. Here is a grey one.
B: Oh, no. I want a【小题2】      color.
A: How about this green one? It's very popular this year. I'm sure she will hke it.
B: Er, that【小题3】      nice
A: What size do you want?
B: Sorry, I'm not sure. Oh, she's almost as【小题4】      as the woman over there.
A: Then Size 6 must be OK. Here you are.
B:【小题5】      you.
A : You're welcome.