In classrooms across the USA, students from different speech backgrounds give speeches in English. It is important to remember that the major goal of the speech is communication of ideas, not perfection of language skills. Therefore, as you listen to a speaker who is not fluent in the language, seek to understand what is being said by concentrating on the ideas of the message rather than on the specific words of the speaker. This may require a special kind of patience as well as the ability to take the perspective (视角) of the communicator. Perspective taking means that you can put yourself in the other person’s shoes. That is, you try to imagine what it would be like to give a speech in a foreign language to a group of native speakers of that language. Keep in mind that non-fluency is not linked to low intelligence or lack of education~ it is linked to experiences with the second language.
These guidelines can help you be a better listener in these situations.
1. Approach the speech with a positive attitude, and expect to understand.
2. Listen all the way through. Make special efforts to keep your mind from wandering in the middle of the speech. It may help to take notes.
3. Plan to give proper nonverbal (非语言的) feedback to prove your interest, patience, and support for the speaker.
4. Control your negative emotional responses. Let's face it, it is difficult to deal with linguistic barriers (语言障碍), and people often get disappointed or bored when there are language differences.
5. Do not laugh, even if the speakers do, at their language skills. Often they laugh nervously to relieve tension.
68. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. How to become a good listener.
B. How to become a good speaker.
C. We should take a positive attitude towards speech.
D. How to communicate with others
69. The underlined phrase "put yourself in the other person’s shoes" in the first paragraph means ____.
A. to know one's shoes is to know one's problem
B. try to wear the other person’s shoes
C. understand others by trying on their shoes
D. look at something from the point of others
70. What can we learn from the passage?
A. People should be strict with speakers speaking in a foreign language.
B. Taking notes helps keep your mind from wandering in listening to a speech.
C. Whenever the speaker is nervous, he laughs.
D. It's hard to concentrate when the speaker is not fluent.
71. What advice is given on listening to a speech?
A. Believing you can understand every word of the speech.
B. Showing your support for the speaker nonverbally.
C. Laughing when the speaker laughs at himself.
D. Commenting on the speech at times.

I stood up to speak and my mind went blank .Has this ever happened to you? You may be nervous in front of an audience（观众）.You may be worried that you didn’t prepare enough, You may have forgotten some of your facts. What can you do? Sometimes people prepare too much and become terrified if they can’t remember the words they have practised. It is a good idea to bring some notes to help you organize, but don’t memorize your speech. If you “go blank”,begin by explaining the purpose of your speech, and the test will probably follow.

“Go blank” here means       

A. to be absent-minded                B. to think too much suddenly

C. to be afraid of the audience          D. not knowing what to say at the moment

Before the listeners, the speakers who have pre-pared enough    

A. never go bland                         B. never feel afraid 

C. may forget the prepared words            D. may forget the opening speech

A good way to make to made a good speech is      

A. to memorize the speech             B. to organize the audience well

C. to have some brief motes at hand      D. to have the audience take notes

The man who goes blank in front of the listeners should       .

A. begin with the purpose of his speech       B. cut off the rest of his speech

C. see his notes right away                 D. find some way to draw the audience’s attention

I stood up to speak and my mind went blank .Has this ever happened to you? You may be nervous in front of an audience（观众）.You may be worried that you didn’t prepare enough, You may have forgotten some of your facts. What can you do? Sometimes people prepare too much and become terrified if they can’t remember the words they have practised. It is a good idea to bring some notes to help you organize, but don’t memorize your speech. If you “go blank”,begin by explaining the purpose of your speech, and the test will probably follow.

“Go blank” here means       

A. to be absent-minded                B. to think too much suddenly

C. to be afraid of the audience          D. not knowing what to say at the moment

Before the listeners, the speakers who have pre-pared enough     

A. never go bland                         B. never feel afraid 

C. may forget the prepared words            D. may forget the opening speech

A good way to make to made a good speech is      

A. to memorize the speech             B. to organize the audience well

C. to have some brief motes at hand      D. to have the audience take notes

The man who goes blank in front of the listeners should       .

A. begin with the purpose of his speech       B. cut off the rest of his speech

C. see his notes right away                 D. find some way to draw the audience’s attention

In classrooms across the USA, students from different speech backgrounds give speeches in English. It is important to remember that the major goal of the speech is communication of ideas, not perfection of language skills. Therefore, as you listen to a speaker who is not fluent in the language, seek to understand what is being said by concentrating on the ideas of the message rather than on the specific words of the speaker. This may require a special kind of patience as well as the ability to take the perspective (视角) of the communicator. Perspective taking means that you can put yourself in the other person’s shoes. That is, you try to imagine what it would be like to give a speech in a foreign language to a group of native speakers of that language. Keep in mind that non-fluency is not linked to low intelligence or lack of education~ it is linked to experiences with the second language.

These guidelines can help you be a better listener in these situations.

1. Approach the speech with a positive attitude, and expect to understand.

2. Listen all the way through. Make special efforts to keep your mind from wandering in the middle of the speech. It may help to take notes.

3. Plan to give proper nonverbal (非语言的) feedback to prove your interest, patience, and support for the speaker.

4. Control your negative emotional responses. Let's face it, it is difficult to deal with linguistic barriers (语言障碍), and people often get disappointed or bored when there are language differences.

5. Do not laugh, even if the speakers do, at their language skills. Often they laugh nervously to relieve tension.

68. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. How to become a good listener.

B. How to become a good speaker.

C. We should take a positive attitude towards speech.

D. How to communicate with others

69. The underlined phrase "put yourself in the other person’s shoes" in the first paragraph means ____.

A. to know one's shoes is to know one's problem

B. try to wear the other person’s shoes

C. understand others by trying on their shoes

D. look at something from the point of others

70. What can we learn from the passage?

A. People should be strict with speakers speaking in a foreign language.

B. Taking notes helps keep your mind from wandering in listening to a speech.

C. Whenever the speaker is nervous, he laughs.

D. It's hard to concentrate when the speaker is not fluent.

71. What advice is given on listening to a speech?

A. Believing you can understand every word of the speech.

B. Showing your support for the speaker nonverbally.

C. Laughing when the speaker laughs at himself.

D. Commenting on the speech at times.

It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, such moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose you place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don't worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.

   Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn't really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King's famous speech---"I have a Dream", you may notice that he stumbles(结巴) over his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don't remember. Why? Because you were paying your attention to his message rather than to his way of speech- making.

   People care a lot about making a mistake in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker's ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker's attractiveness by making him more human.

    As you work on your speech, don't worry about being perfect. Once you free you mind off this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.

68. The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ______.

A. be smarter than you     B. do better than you              

C. notice your mistakes     D. know what you are talking about

69. You don't remember obvious mistakes in a speech because ______.

A. you don't fully understand the speech

B. you fix your attention on the content

C. you don't know what the speaker plans to say

D. you find the way of speech-making more important

70. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

A. giving a speech is like giving a performance

B. the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made

C. one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad

D. the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be.

71. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. How to Be a Perfect Speaker

B. How to Make a Perfect Speech

C. Don't Expect Mistakes in a Speech 

D. Don't Expect a Perfect Speech