Two magazines recently listed the best cities to live in. Here are two of the cities listed as “the world’s best.”

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA

The city has comfortable weather all year round (15℃ to 26℃). Housing is not very expensive in San Jose. Also, many of the city’s older neighborhoods are very beautiful and have small hotels and cafés. Beautiful mountains are around the city. There are many natural sights . Lots of people go sightseeing every year. But air pollution is a problem in the city center.

HONG KONG, CHINA

This lively city—once a small fishing village—is today an international business center. It is an interesting mix of East and West, old and new. Modern tall buildings are next to small temples (庙宇). Popular nightclubs are close to traditional teahouses. Busy people fill the streets at all hours of the day. But outside the city, there are parks for walking or relaxing. Hong Kong is famous for its wonderful native dishes. There’s also food from Europe, North America, and other parts of Asia. However, this small city has a large population of nearly seven million! That’s why housing is often very expensive. Traffic and air pollution are also a problem.

【小题1】 Which of the following is NOT mentioned about San Jose?

A．The weather.

B．The mountains.

C．The air.

D．The traffic.

【小题2】What makes Hong Kong the world’s best according to this passage?

A．The lively city and the wonderful dishes.

B．The large population and the traffic.

C．The expensive housing.

D．The beautiful temples.

【小题3】What do the two cities have in common?

A．They both have beautiful mountains.

B．They both have a large population.

C．Air pollution is a problem in both.

D．They are both crowded.

【小题4】From the passage, we can know that       .

A．San Jose and Hong Kong are the only two cities of the world’s best

B．San Jose has more natural sights than Hong Kong does

C．the weather inboth cities is fine

D．San Jose used to be small fishing village

What’s language for？Some people seem to think it’s for practicing grammar rules（规则） and learning lists of words --the longer the lists, the better. That’s wrong. Language is for the exchange of ideas and information. It’s meaningless if you can’t use it freely. Many students I have met know hundreds of grammar rules, but they can’t speak correctly or fluently(流利地). They are afraid of making mistakes. One shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes when speaking a foreign language. Native（本土的） speakers make mistakes and break rules, too. Bernard Saw once wrote, “Foreigners often speak English too correctly.” But the mistakes that native speakers make are different from those that Chinese students make. They’re English mistakes in the English language. And if enough native speakers break a rule, it is no longer a rule. What used to be wrong becomes right. So Chinese students should pay attention to grammar, but they shouldn’t overdo(做过头)it. They should put communication(交际)first.

1. Language is used to __________ .

A．express oneself

B．practise grammar rules.

C．talk with foreigners only

D．learn lists of words

2. If too many native speakers break a rule,________ .

A．what they use will become right.

B．they are against the law

C．they should say sorry to others.

D．they will become heroes

3. When we speak a foreign language, we should________ .

A．speak in Chinese way

B．speak by the rules

C．speak to native speakers

D．not be afraid of making mistakes

4.What should Chinese students put first?

A．Language         B．Communication     C．Rules             D．Grammar

 

仔细阅读下面的材料，根据阅读内容选择正确答案填空

Friendship Restaurant We have different kinds of Japanese food here. The food menu is in Japanese and Chinese. All the waiters or waitresses can speak at least one foreign language. Tel: 312–9997       Time: 11:30am –10:00pm

Volunteer Project Maybe you want to help others but don’t know how to do it. Then Volunteer Project will help you. Here you will get the best idea of volunteering. Call 822-5566 to join it.   Email address: Lisa@hot-mail.com

The Dream Corner Do you want to improve your English? Do you want to practice your English with native speakers? If yes, why not join the Dream Corner? Come here on Friday afternoon every week.

Red Bird Club Do you like dancing ? Do you want to show off your cool dance at parties? Join us and make your dream come true. Closed on Tuesday. Call 822-333 for information.

The Underwater World Here you will find different kinds of fishes and even some kinds of sharks. You will feel you are in the sea but of course this is not true. If you like fishes, I suggest that you pay a visit to it.  Time: 9:30am –5:30pm.

【小题1】In the Friendship Restaurant you can eat _____ food.

A．Chinese

B．Japanese

C．English

D．French

【小题2】Sarah wants to do some volunteer work. She can call _____ to get some ideas.

A．846-3809

B．312-9997

C．822-3331

D．822-5566

【小题3】Red Bird Club is closed on ______.

A．Tuesday

B．Monday

C．Saturday

D．Thursday

【小题4】According to the ad, you can see ______ in the Underwater World.

A．volunteers

B．excellent dancers

C．sea animals

D．waiters and waitresses

【小题5】If you want to practice English with native speakers, you can join_____.

A．the Red Bird Club

B．the Volunteer Project

C．the Dream Corner

D．the Underwater World

Learners of English, especially self-taught learners may have troubles in understanding speeches by native speakers. The following ways might help improve their listening ability.
First of all, do things step by step. It is not good to listen something beyond your level. Better choose a suitable course and start the first book. Go on to the second book only after you are sure you understand the first one.
Secondly, stick to one course of study. Don’t change books often. Never let your attention be attracted by another course just because it seems to be more “fashionable.”
Thirdly, listen to the English news program over the radio from time to time. Better go through the news stories in the Chinese-language newspaper first. That will make it easy for you to understand the English news on the radio.
Fourthly, if you have time, listen to some interesting stories in some special English programs, such as V.O.A. or other listening materials of the same level as that of your textbook.
【小题1】“ Beyond your level”means something___________________________

A．easy for you

B．too difficult for you

C．not too easy and not difficult for you

D．just all right for you

【小题2】The author advised that once you have taken up a course, you_______________.

A．should stick to it

B．should begin with the last book

C．should take up other courses if they are more fashionable

D．shouldn’t do anything else

【小题3】In this passage, VOA stands for_________________.

A．a book	B．a magazine
C．a textbook	D．a radio program

请仔细阅读小题及下面六个网站介绍(A、B、C、D、E和F)，选出符合Thomas、Melanie、Arthur、Darrel、David五人各自需求的最佳选项，其中有一选项为多余。

1. Thomas is a student from Japan, studying in Eastland High School. He has some problems with some English words and expressions. So he turns to some proper website for help.

2. Melanie is a high school student and wants to learn some hot technology news by reading some books in this field during the coming summer vacation. She wants to know where to get such books.

3. Arthur is a young school teacher and wants to take a long journey to Germany with his family by air. He hopes to get low-priced airline tickets and deeply discounted hotel rooms. In order to do this, he draws his attention to the websites.

4. Darrel’s father is a successful businessman. He is excited about his father’s job and decides to follow him. So he’d like to make good use of time in the summer holiday to learn some practical business English. How can he find a place where his dream can come true?

5. David is a student of English coming from Africa and used to have many difficulties in his English study. He decided that he would get some free English learning materials to read and with the help of his friends, he wanted to find a website for his purpose.

A    This site is to help ESL/EFL learners develop speaking skills. At this site you can listen to native speakers talk about all kinds of topics; learn useful idioms; learn common words and expressions; test your vocabulary skills in everyday English and so on.

B    This is a professional website for the tourism. It provides the national hotel free booking services and business services. It provides the latest news and information about business travel information.

C    Our website offers you special place to study English. The classes are small—never more than 6 students. The friendly, highly qualified teachers are always ready to help. We have programs such as Day and Evening Classes, and Business English Training for the workplace.

D    This website provides hundreds of pages of free English learning materials organized at different levels from low beginners to high beginners, low intermediate, high intermediate, and advanced. No matter which English level you are at, you’ll find something for you here.

E    Our website always gets deep discounts on airline tickets, hotel rooms saving up to 70%, cheap vacation package at special rates and so on. We decide these special discounts from our travel partners, then pass these saving on to you. See what you could be saving with us! Live large, travel cheap.

F    Whether you are looking for a mystery, romance, Developers’ Tools, or Hot Technologies, our site always has a full list for you. Kick Book Sets: For Kids and Teens, For Men, For Teachers and so on. You will get what you need with great content. Welcome to our website!