How do you address (称呼) people in English when you want to talk to them? The following may be some simple rules the beginners should follow.

1．When talking to a stranger there is often no special form of address in English. Usually，if you want to catch the attention of a stranger, it is necessary to use such a phrase as “Excuse me”．

2．In British English “Sir”and “Madam”are considered to be too formal (正式的)for most situations. They are used mostly to customers (顾客) in shops or restaurants. While in American English “Sir” and “Madam”are not so formal and are commonly used between stangers, especially with old people whose names you don’t know.

3．When you talk to some people you know，you can use their names.If you are friends, use their first names；if your relationship is more formal, use “Mr.”， “Mrs.”， “Ms.”， etc. before their family names.

4．There are many other forms of address which can be used between friends and strangers.However，many of these are limited in use. For example，“pal” and “mate” can be used between strangers，but are usually only used by men talking to other men.

1．According to the passage，“Excuse me” is mainly used to ________.

A．address a person you don’t know　　　 B．apologize to others

C．catch the attention of a stranger　　　　　 D．suggest good manners

2．If John Smith is your best friend，according to the passage you should often call him ________.

A．John 　　　　　 B．Smith　　　　　 C．Mr. Join 　　　　　D．Mr. Smith

3．Which of the following is NOT true?

A．“Sir” and “Madam”are used more often in America than in England.

B．People often use“Mr.”“Mrs.”or “Ms.”before the first names of those people who they don’t know very well.

C．“Pal” and “mate” are usually only used among men.

D．While addressing friends，people just use their first names.

4．The passage is most likely taken from an English ________.

A．textbook 　　　　 B．card　　　　 C．storybook 　　　D．grammar book

5．From the passages，we can infer that ________.

A．British English and American English have some differences

B．when your friends introduce a strange woman to you，you may call her first name.

C．“Excuse me” is common in Britain but not in America

D．“Sir” and “Madam” can be used when you meet your close friends

 

When you practice reading with passages shorter than book length, do not try to take in each word separately, one after the other. It is much more difficult to grasp the broad theme of the passage this way, and you will also get the stuck on individual words which may not be absolutely essential to a general understanding of the passage. It is a good idea to skim through the passage very quickly first to get the general idea of each paragraph. Titles, paragraph headings and emphasized word can be a great help in getting this skeleton outline of the passage. It is surprising how many people do not read titles, introductions or paragraph headings. Can you, without looking back, remember the title of this passage and the heading of this paragraph?
Most paragraphs of a passage or chapter have a 'topic sentence' which expresses the central idea. The remaining sentence expand or support that idea. It has been estimated that between 60% and 90% of all expositive（说明的）paragraphs in English have the topic sentence first. Always pay special attention to the first sentence of a paragraph; it is most likely to give you the main idea.
Sometimes , though , the first sentence in the paragraph does not have the feel of 'main idea' sentence. It does not seem to give us enough new information to justify a paragraph. The next most likely place to look for the topic sentence is the last sentence of the paragraph.
Remember that the opening and closing paragraphs of a passage or chapter are particularly important . The opening paragraph suggests the general direction and content of the piece, while the closing paragraph often summarizes the very essence （精髓）.
【小题1】It is a good idea to skim through a passage quickly first ________.

A．at about 350 w. P.m.(words per minute)

B．to get the general idea of each paragraph

C．so that you can take in each word separately

D．to make sure you get to the end at least once

【小题2】The topic sentence of an expository paragraph in English_______.

A．usually comes in the middle

B．is most likely to be found at the end

C．is most often at the beginning

D．is usually left out in expository writing

【小题3】Most expository paragraphs in English have a clearly defined topic sentence. In such paragraphs the topic sentence comes first ________.

A．in about 40% of cases	B．in about 80% of cases
C．in about 20% cases	D．very rarely

【小题4】Some times we know the first sentence is not the topic sentence because ________.

A．it does not seem to give us enough new information

B．it is not long enough

C．it does not come at the beginning

D．it does not make complete sentence

With the rapid progress of technology, the English language is changing fast. All the people have to face a choice: either ignore the development of the language and spend the rest of our lives wishing Shakespeare were alive, or keep pace with the Internet age, welcoming the new English which someone has once called Weblish. “you can’t avoid it for the simple reason that wherever a new language comes along, it surely impacts (影响) the language as a whole,” says Dr David Crystal, a famous language professor at the University of Wales.
However, there is great trouble with keeping up with the new English because there are so many new words and the old ones no longer mean what we thought they did. In the past if someone said they didn’t have “Windows”, you would have to suppose they lived in a cave without windows. But now, it is probably because they use a Mac, which is a computer. Spam, which once meant a not-so-good-kind of canned meat, now stands for unwanted “junk (垃圾)” email.
Spelling is changing too. Weblish loves to see nouns happily become verbs ( for example, “Please bookmark this site”), and verbs become nouns (“Send me the download”).Verbs and prepositions are regularly thrown together to become new nouns or adjectives(for example, dial-up, logon, print-out, pull-down, upload), while others are created from a simple pairing of nouns: cyberspace, ethernet, Internet, hyperlink, metatag and netspeak.
【小题1】 We can infer from the first paragraph that _____ .

A．English has completely become Weblish

B．some people wish Shakespeare were still alive

C．people may have different attitudes towards Weblish

D．people who know English have to learn a new language

【小题2】 What is the main idea of the second paragraph?

A．Now English has many new words.

B．English words have changed a lot.

C．Old English words are no longer used at all.

D．People have difficulty in understanding some new words related to computers and the Internet.

【小题3】 The best title for this passage would be “_____”.

A．Technology and English

B．Keep Up with the Latest Weblish

C．Don’t Forget English

D．The Advantage and Disadvantages of Weblish

Watercolor is the oldest paints known. It dates back to the early cave men who discovered they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the walls of caves by mixing the natural colors found in the earth with water.

Fresco (壁画), one of the greatest of all art forms, is done with watercolor. It is created by mixing paints and water and applying these to wet plaster （灰泥）. Of the thousands of people who stand under Michelangelo’s heroic ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, very few know that they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolor painting in the world.

The invention of oil painting by the Flemish masters in the fifteenth century made fresco painting go downhill, and for the next several centuries watercolor was used mainly for doing sketches（草图）or as a tool for study. It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that English painters put back watercolor as a serious art form. The English have a widely-known love for outdoors and also small private pictures. The softness of watercolor had a remarkably strong attraction for them.

The popularity of watercolor continued to grow until the twentieth century. The United States passed England as the center for watercolor, producing such well-known watercolor artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth.

The purpose of the passage is to introduce ________.

A. the gradual weakness of fresco painting

B. oil’s power or influence over watercolor

C. the discovery of watercolor in England

D. the start and development of watercolor

In the 16^th and 17^th centuries the artists thought ________.

A. watercolor was softer, and thus better.

B. Oil painting lasted longer, and was better.

C. Watercolor wasn’t fit for finished works

D. Watercolor was too hard to use in any works.

According to the passage, watercolor painting was put back in England because ______.

A. it was easy to use outdoors     B. it was a strong medium（媒介）

C. it was extremely bright in color.  D. it was suited for popular tastes

What would the next paragraph most probably talk about?

   A. The works of famous US watercolor artists.

   B. Modern American oil painters.

   C. The weaknesses of oil as popular paints

   D. Techniques of producing watercolor

Watercolor（水彩画） is the oldest paints known. It dates back to the early cave men. They discovered that they could mix the natural colors found in the earth with water. In this way they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the wall of caves.

Fresco（壁画）, one of the greatest art forms, is done with watercolor, it is created by mixing paints and water and applying these to wet plaster（灰泥）. Of the thousands of people who stand under Michelangelos’ works in the Sistine Chapel, very few know they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolor painting in the world.

 The invention of oil painting by the Glemish masters in the fifteenth century made fresco painting go downhill, and for the next several centuries watercolor was used mainly for doing sketches（素描） or as tool for study. It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that English painters put back watercolor as a serious art form. The English have widely-known love for the outdoors and also for small, private pictures. The softness of watercolor had a strong attraction for them.

The popularity of watercolor continued to grow until the twentieth century. The United States took the place of England and became the center of watercolor. It produced such well-known watercolor artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth.

The first watercolor users were___________

A. the early cave men              

B. Italian fresco artists

C. Flemish masters                 

D. the English artists in the 18th century

In the 16th and 17th centuries the artists thought__________.

A .watercolor was more costly, but better

B. oil painting lasted less long, but clearer and brighter

C. watercolor was not suitable for serious works

D. oil painting was difficult to use

According to the passage, watercolor painting was put back in England because ______

A. it was easy to use outdoors        

B. it was a strong tool

C. it was extremely bright in color    

D. it was well suited to popular tastes

What is the passage mainly about?________

A. the gradual weakness of fresco painting.

 B. Oils having more power of influence over watercolor.

C. The rediscovery of watercolor in England.

D. The start and development of watercolor.