Hi Brad,

It’s good to hear from you again. I find that I’m not good at writing compositions. It’s hard for me to prepare the form of a composition and organize sentences. ①Could you tell me how to deal with this problem? I would really appreciate if you offer me some good methods.

Best wishes,

                                                                      Cindy

Hi Cindy,

A composition is really a story and any story is told to an audience. There is a form for this and it is in three parts. First, tell them(the audience) what you are going to tell them. Then tell them, and finally tell them what you told them. Parts one and three are short and most of the information is in part two. It works like this.

Let’s say you are asked to write a 200-word composition about your visit to the Great Wall. You would begin with an opening sentence or two saying something like “The Great Wall of China is a national ②landmark that is famous around the world. I visited it last summer and I want to tell you about it.” That uses about 25 words to tell them what you are going to tell them.

The second part would be about 150 words and would contain information about the Great Wall such as how long it is, when it was built, who built it and why, the fact that it is one of the seven wonders of the world and you would talk about how you felt and what you thought when you visited this national treasure. This is telling them.

Finally, you would use about another 25 words to say something like “That was my first visit to the Great Wall and it was a very emotional experience to actually touch something so old and famous. ③每个中国人至少参观长城一次.I plan to go back whenever I can.” Here, you are telling them what you told them in the story and wrapping it all up into a neat package. This formula(惯例)works for both compositions and speeches and I think you will find it helps to organize your thoughts. I hope it’s helpful.

Best wishes,

                                                                 Brad Franklin

1.将文中①处的画线部分翻译成汉语：                                             .

2.(A) 试写出文中②处画线部分landmark的汉语意思：            .

(B)下面有四个在文中出现的单词，请找出画线部分发音哪个与众不同?                .

A. work            B. word            C. information            D. world

3.将文中③处的汉语翻译成英语：                                                 .

4.从文中找出适当的词组填空：How I wish to get a letter from you soon!

How I wish to _________  _________ you soon!

5.用英语回答问题：What’s the main idea of the passage?                                .

“Homestay is a form of study abroad program. It allows the visitor to rent a room from a local(当地的) family to better understand the local lifestyle. It also helps to improve the visitor’s language ability,” said a teacher during a school meeting last term.” Students who wish to learn more about foreign cultures or to get foreign experience should join this kind of holiday. I am sure you won’t be disappointed(失望的).”

After this special meeting, I always thought about this kind of holiday. Last month, I had a chance at last to go on such a holiday with some of my schoolmates and we went to London, a place where I had wanted to go since years ago.

As we were still young, we had a group leader who planned things for us and looked after us. After we got to London, we went to stay with different families. I was lucky that my host family(寄宿家庭) was a white couple who had a daughter about my age. They treated me as a daughter of their family during my stay there. They were interested in me and I learnt a lot of things from them, too.

The holiday was filled with activities every day. After breakfast, a local teacher would come to take us in his car. Then we would have classes or go on a sight-seeing trip to different places of interest like the Big Ben, the London Bridge, and the Buckingham Palace. We would go back to our own homes after the activities.

The holiday was a valuable experience for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. Yet, time really flew fast. Three weeks later, we had to leave “home” for Hong Kong.

1.In the “homestay” program, a visitor can _____.

A．learn more about holidays                B．understand his culture better

C．improve the language ability               D．take part in foreign meetings

2.The writer had wanted to visit London since _______.

A．last month                             B．years ago

C．the special meeting                      D．her stay abroad

3.The group leader should ______.

A．make plans for the family                 B．take care of the students

C．stay with different families                D．rent rooms to the students

4.The writer’s host family ______.

A．was very kind to her                     B．went sight-seeing with her

C．had two white daughters                  D．was interested in her activities

5.From the passage, we know that the writer ______ in London.

A．wished to stay a little longer

B．spent three weeks in her home

C．had classes in mnay interesting places

D．helped the teacher take the students in a car

根据对话内容， 从方框内所给的选项中选出最佳选项， 将其答案的序号写在方框下面的横线上， 选项中有两项为多余项。
W: Sorry, I can’t.  (1) ____
M: Are you having an exam tomorrow?
W: Yes.  (2) ____
M: I wish you good luck.
W: Thanks.  But I am a little afraid.
M: Afraid? (3) ____
W: But I haven’t worked hard in the past few days.
M :(4) ____
W:Oh, I like my English teacher, Sue, best.  She teaches history and she always makes the lessons interesting.
M: Do all the students like history?
W :(5) ____  My friend Tom hates it, because we have lots of homework every Monday and every Wednesday we have a test.

In May, 2010, I first visited Toronto when my granddaughter needed a serious operation(手术). She stayed at a hospital in the heart of the city because the hospital provide excellent medical treatment for us.  46  it was a beautiful city, my first impression of it was bad. My husband and I rented a room not far away from the             47   . Every day we walked from our apartment to the hospital. On the way we met many  48  things. Poor people asked for money. People walked around them as if they saw   49  . People there always walked quickly  50  smile. I kept smiling at them saying：“Excuse me” every time when I wanted to pass someone.

The city never  51  .. Bright lights and loud music were everywhere.

There were many firsts for me when I was in Toronto. It was the first time I saw the lack of humanity(人性的缺失) for our fellow man. The city felt crowd but __52   

Though I went to Toronto many times. I had no interest to   53   any wonderful  places. I felt uncomfortable when I was there.

When we were back home, I felt comfortable at home. Our neighbors    54  us back with friendly smiles. It is quiet, peaceful and safe. You don’t have to   55   the house or car doors. You can hear water gurgle(汩汩地流)。It’s the life.

1.A. Though           B. When            C. If

2.A. neighbor          B.garden            C. hospital

3.A. unpleasant         B. interesting        C. wonderful

4.A. something         B. anything          C. nothing

5.A.without            B. besides           C. in

6.A. walked            B. slept             C.drank

7.A. quiet              B.lonely             C. noisy

8.A.introduce           B. describe           C. visit

9.A. sent               B. welcomed          C. paid

10.A. repair              B.buy                C.close