Watch a good teacher, and you will see that he does not sit still before his class: he stands the whole time he is teaching; he walks about, using his arms, hands and fingers to help him in his explanations, and his face to express feelings. Listen to him, and you will notice the loudness, the quality and the musical note of his voice always change according to what he is talking about.
The fact that a good teacher has some of the gifts(天赋) of a good actor doesn’t mean that he will indeed be able to act well on the stage, for there are very important differences between the teacher’s work and the actor’s. The actor has to speak words which he has learnt by heart; he has to repeat exactly the same words each time he plays a certain part, even his movements and the ways in which he uses his voice are usually fixed beforehand(预先). What he has to do is to make all these carefully learnt words and actions seem natural on the stage.
A good teacher works in quite a different way. His audience take an active part in his play: they ask and answer questions, they obey orders, and if they don’t understand something, they say so. The teacher therefore has to meet the needs of his audience, which is in his class. He cannot learn his part by heart, but must invent it as he goes along.
I have known many teachers who were fine actors in class but were unable to take part in a stage-play because they could not keep strictly to what another had written. 
【小题1】The word “audience” in the third paragraph means ________.

A．students

B．people who watch a play

C．people who are not on the stage

D．people who listen to something

【小题2】Students in a good teacher’s class are always ________.

A．active

B．quiet

C．noisy

D．sad

【小题3】 In what way is a teacher’s work different from an actor’s?

A．The teacher must learn everything by heart.

B．He knows how to control his voice better than an actor.

C．He has to deal with unexpected（未预料到）situations.

D．He has to use more facial expression.

【小题4】From the passage, we can infer(推断) ________________.

A．Teachers have to learn by heart what they are going to say in class.

B．A teacher cannot decide beforehand what exactly he is going to say in class.

C．A teacher must speak louder than an actor.

D．A teacher must have a better memory than an actor.

Twenty-three-year-old Michael Phelps has become a phenomenon (神话) in swimming.

At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, he won eight gold medals. That was more than the whole Australian team could put together. He beat (打败) Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of seven wins in the pool at the one Olympics. Phelps has put his name next to seven world records.

Nine days, 17 games, morning and night he competed and won. He had to beat former (从前的) world record-holders and gold medalists. He had to turn their wins into old news.

Michael Phelps started to swim at the age of 5. Guess which stroke (动作) he first tried? The backstroke. It’s because he didn’t want to put his face in the water.

By the age of 7, he had taken part in a lot of swimming competitions. At 11, he met Bob Bowman who saw the kid’s great talent.

How did Phelps become so good? He was born with the body of a swimmer. He stands 1.87meters high and has a wide wingspan (臂展). He knows how to use his body to full advantage. His hands and feet are like paddles (踏板) in the water and he has a strong kick.

But that’s not all；he also has the heart and will to win. He thinks that anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it.

Swimming is Phelps’ life. Every day he spends five hours in the water, swimming about 11 kilometers. He never takes a day off. This is a young man who knows what he wants.

“If I didn’t swim my best, I’d think about it at school, at dinner, and with my friends. It would drive me crazy,” he said.

“There are no limits (限制). The more you dream, the further you get.”

1.Who did best in swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games?

A．Bob Bowman.                          B．Mark Spitz.

C．Phelps.                               D．The Australian team.

2.How many games did Phelps take part in at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games?

A．8.               B．9.                C．7.               D．17.

3.Why did Phelps try backstroke first?

A．Because he was born with the body of a swimmer.

B．Because his hands and feet were like paddles in the water.

C．Because he didn’t want to put his face in the water.

D．Because he had a wide wingspan.

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Phelps is the best swimmer in Australia.

B．It was Mark Spitz who saw the kid’s great talent.

C．Phelps won 8 gold medals and broke 7 world records.

D．At the age of seven, Phelps started to swim.

5.What can we learn from this passage?

A．The Australian team got 8 gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

B．If you have a wide wingspan, you must be a good swimmer.

C．Phelps was made to spend all his time swimming every day.

D．Nothing is impossible if you put your heart into it.

 

British English and American English

A student is studying British English. He wonders: Can I have a talk with Americans? Can they catch me? Learners of English often ask--what are the differences between British English and American English? How important are these differences?

Certainly, there are some differences between British English and American English. There are a few differences in grammar（语法）. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “Have you a pen?” Americans “in the hospital” and “Do you have a pen?” Pronunciation (发音) is sometimes different. Americans usually sound the “r” in words like “car”and “farm”. Some speakers of British English do not sound the “r” in these words. There are differences between British English and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour”and “honour” are British English spellings. “Color” and “honor” are American English spellings.

These differences are in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary. However, they are not important. For the most part, British English and American English are the same language.

1.In American English, we can say, “      ? ”

A．Have you a new book

B．Do you have a new book

C．Are you have a new book

D．Can you to have a new book

2.Between British English and American English, sometimes pronunciation is        .

A．poor             B．different          C．high              D．short

3.In American English, the word “favourite”can be spelt      .

A．favoruite          B．favurite           C．favorite           D．favrite

4.Englishmen say “in hospital”, while Americans say        .

A．at the hospital                          B．in the hospital

C．by hospital                            D．to hospital

5.The main idea of the passage is that                  .

A．there are no differences between British English and American English

B．British English and American English are two different languages

C．speakers of British English and American English speak the same language

D．we shouldn't speak English

 

My class will put on a short play in English at the end of the year. Yesterday our English teacher gave us copies of the play.
“Choose a character in the play whom you’d like to be, ”she told us. “This afternoon learn a few lines of this part for homework. Then tomorrow you can say those lines in front of the class. Ill decide who play each part.”
I wanted to have one of the bigger parts in the play, so I choose the part of the king. He has a lot of lines to say. I learned them by heart.
This morning in our English lesson we had to say our lines. I acted the part of the king. When I said my lines, I put a lot of expression into my acting. I thought I acted really well.
Everyone in the class read a part and then the teacher who would play each part.
Many of the students in my class couldn’t act at all. They couldn’t even read without making lots of mistakes. I was sure that I would get a big part in the play.
However, the teacher gave me the part of a soldier. He has only one line. It is, “Yes, sir!”
I was very disappointed. At the end of the lesson I went up to her and asked her why I had such a small part.
“You put too much expression in your acting,” she said. “Good acting is not big acting. It is acting the audience can believe in.”
I think I know what she means.
【小题1】 What did the boy want to do in the play?

A．To get a morning eating part
B．To organize the play
C．To get a large acting part.	D．To work the lights.

【小题2】How did the boy feel when the teacher told the class they would put on a play?

A．Bored.

B．Sad.

C．Excited.

D．Unhappy.

【小题3】Why didn’t the teacher give him the part of the kings?

A．He did not act correctly.	B．He did not know the lines.
C．He was not handsome.	D．He was too short.

【小题4】 What does the underlined word “expression” in the passage mean?

A．表情

B．建议

C．模仿

D．服饰

Welcome to the Amazing kids Website! Here you can read about clever children all over the world.
Gina, who is thirteen years old, got first prize in the “Young Look of the Year” competition and is now writing her own recipe (烹饪) book for kids. "I want it to be fun to read and easy enough for children to use," she says. Gina learned by observing （观察）her father, who's also good at cooking, in the kitchen. She wants to encourage other children to cook because "everyone needs to eat, so it's a skill that will always be useful!
Fourteen-year-old Bren used to love running until he had a serious car accident three years ago. He lost part of one leg and didn't even expect to walk again. Now he's an athlete who has recently completed a marathon. "After my accident I wanted to give up," he says. "But now I'm happy to be alive and able to continue running."
Helga has always been good at science, but she thought it was too difficult to become an inventor. Then she heard about an accident that had happened when a car hit a train in her town. "That gave me an idea," says the clever sixteen-year-old girl. It took her over a year to invent a special machine that tells car drivers when a train is coming. One company is already interested in selling it, so it may be in the shops soon!
【小题1】How is Gina trying to encourage other children to cook?

A．By observing her father.

B．By writing a recipe book for kids.

C．By giving them delicious food to eat.

D．By getting first prize in the competition.

【小题2】Why is it surprising that Bren is an athlete?

A．Because he can' t walk.	B．Because he lost part of one leg.
C．Because he gave up running.	D．Because he used to love running.

【小题3】 Which of the following is true about Helga?

A．She saw a car hit a train in her town.

B．She sold special machines to car drivers.

C．She invented a special machine for car drivers.

D．It is impossible for her to become an inventor.

【小题4】Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Amazing Kids, Special Abilities      B. How to Be a Good Student
C Different People, Different Ideas      D. How to Get Living Skills