When you are reading something in English, you may often meet with a new word. What’s the best way to know it?

You may look it up in the English-Chinese dictionary. It will tell you a lot about the word: the pronunciation, the Chinese meaning and how to use the word. But how can you know where the word is thousands of English words? How to find it in the dictionary both quickly and correctly?

First, all the English words are arranged(安排) in the letter order. In the dictionary you can first see the words beginning with letter A, then B, C, D…. That means, if there are two words “desert” and “pull”, “desert” will be certainly before “pull”. Then if there are two words both beginning with the same letter, you may look at the second letter. Then the third, the fourth… For example, “pardon” is before “plough”, “judge” before “just”, etc.

Do you understand how to look up in the dictionary?

The dictionary will be your good friend. I hope you’ll use it as often as possible in your English study.

1.This passage is about______.

A．new words in writing

B．different dictionaries

C．the best way of reading

D．using an English-Chinese dictionary

2.In the dictionary you may not find_______.

A．how to pronounce the word

B．the spelling of the word

C．who used the word first

D．how to use the word

3.In an English-Chinese dictionary, the last word______.

A．begins with Z	B．begins with A
C．is a short one	D．is not often used

4.Which group of words is in the right order in an English-Chinese dictionary?

A．perhaps, produce, plenty

B．straight, subject, surprise

C．century, center, business

D．foreign, entrance, headache

5.In the passage the writer tries to tell us that_______.

A．we have to use a dictionary when we read something in English

B．an English-Chinese dictionary can tell us everything about a word

C．an English-Chinese dictionary can help us a lot in our English study

D．all English-Chinese dictionary are the same

 

Once upon a time，there were two good friends．One was called Jack and the other was called James．One day，the two friends were walking through the desert．During the journey they had a quarrel，and Jack couldn’t control himself and hit James in the face．James felt hurt，but he didn’t say anything．Instead，he wrote in the sand，“Today my best friend Jack hit me in the face．”
They kept on walking until they found an oasis(绿洲)．They decided to get some water there．Suddenly James had trouble in the water，he fell into the mire(泥潭)and was in danger．Jack saved him at once．When he felt all right，he wrote on a stone，“Today my best friend Jack saved my life．”Jack was very surprised and asked James，“After I hurt you，you wrote in the sand and now you write on the stone．Why?”James replied，“When someone hurts us，we should write it down in the sand so that the wind of forgiveness can blow it away．But when someone does anything good for us，we must write it on the stone，so no wind can blow it away．”
Since then，the two good friends have never quarreled with each other again and they got on better with each other．
Hatred(仇恨)can bring you nothing but unhappiness．If you don’t forgive others，you are making trouble for yourself Keep a peaceful heart all the time and remember to be always thankful to others!
【小题1】What happened when Jack hit his friend James in the face?

A．After he was beaten in the face James was hurt and ran away．

B．James hated his friend，in return very much from then on．

C．James hit his friend in return at once．

D．James wrote“Today my best friend Jack hit me in the face”in the sand．

【小题2】What’s the matter with James in the oasis?

A．He was very careless and fell into the mire．

B．He wanted to get some water and fell into the mire．

C．He wanted to know if his friends would help him when he had trouble．

D．He wanted to make his friend have trouble，too．

【小题3】What did James do after he was saved by his friend?

A．He wrote some words on a stone．

B．He thanked his friends at once．

C．He wrote some words in the sand．

D．He drank some water and had a rest．

【小题4】Which of the statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Jack was very angry when he had a quarrel with James．

B．They decided to get some water after they found an oasis．

C．The two good friends went on walking after the quarrel and found an oasis a few days later．

D．Hatred can only bring you unhappiness．

【小题5】Why did James write words in different places?
A．The wind of forgiveness can blow hatred away．
B．No wind can blow thanks away．
C．James only wanted to write words in different places．
D．A and B．