Many textbooks are not written in the kind of English that we speak every day. In fact, sometimes the reading is so difficult that it almost seems like a foreign language. In a way, it is—the language of science. You should not expect to be able to read a difficult science passage the same way you read an interesting story; you should not expect to read it easily and all at once. Instead, you may have to read it several times through, catching on the meaning of difficult words, going back over difficult sentences, and finally putting the whole thing together. Do not be discourages if the whole passage don’t make sense to you at first. You need to pick it apart patiently until you can understand it.

         These are the steps to follow when you are reading something difficult:

1. Start to read normally until you run into a sentence that doesn’t make sense to you.

2. When a sentence doesn’t make sense, go back and read it again more slowly.

3. Look for any word you don’t know in the sentence. Try to understand their meanings using word parts and context clues(上下文线索). If necessary, look them up in the dictionary.

4. Look at the next few sentences to see if they explain more about the sentence you are working on. Do not read very much farther ahead until you understand what is being said.

5. Finally, read the sentence again. Try to put it into simpler words.

6. Read through the passage once. Try to understand all the hard parts well. Then read the whole passage once more at a usual speed. This helps you to put all ides together.

The stops sound a lot harder than they are. It is really just the normal way good readers understand anything that is difficult to read. After you have done the best you can this way, you should always feel free to ask for help from your teacher, if you have one.

1.The underlined phrase “run into” means ___________.

         A. work out                      B. come across                         C. look into              D. pass by

2. From the passage, we can know _________.

         A. we should look up new words before reading

         B. it is sometimes difficult to read a science passage

         C. the six steps are helpful in learning spoken English

         D. interesting stories help readers to improve their English

3.The massage is mainly about _________.

         A. steps of studying science                                B. difficulties in reading science

         C. ways of reading science passages                     D. researches on science and English

 

JOLIN Tsai (蔡依林), a famous singer, has become an English teacher! But she is not staying in a classroom to give you talks in English. Instead, she has published (出版) a new book, "Jolin’s English Diary Book". It came out in Taiwan in March. Jolin is helping you learn English in a light hearted way and give you useful words for life outside your textbooks.
　　"I hope it’s a happy English book," she said, "When you learn English in a fun way, you will keep on doing it." This certainly doesn’t mean just reciting (背诵) words. Jolin has a lot of clever ways of learning. She likes to listen to English songs or find friends to talk to in English. She has been good at English since Grade 3 in primary school (小学). Because of this, she hosted (主持) news programme on the radio herself.
　　Jolin knows it’s important to put English to good use. So, in her English diaries, she wrote something about her everyday life, like study, fashion (时尚), travel and family. After each diary, she gives you lots of notea.You can use them often, too! Jolin also asks you to keep diaries like hers.
【小题1】 When did Jolin Tsai publish "Jolin’s English Diary Book" ?

A．In May

B．hi April

C．In March

D．In June

【小题2】 She has been good at English ___.

A．since she became a famous singer	B．since she was in Grade 3
C．since she was in college (大学)	D．since she was 3 years old

【小题3】 Jolin thinks that ___ is important for us to learn English.

A．just reciting words	B．hosting a programme on the radio
C．studying in the classroom	D．putting English to good use

【小题4】 What’s the meaning of "light-hearted" in the passage?

A．轻松愉快的

B．漫不经心的

C．迷迷糊糊的

D．乐于助人的

【小题5】From the passage we know that ____.

A．she is not only a famous singer but also an English teacher in a primary school

B．you don’t have to keep English diaries

C．she teaches us how to be a famous singer in "Jolin’s English Diary Book"

D．Jolin Tsai shows us how to learn English in a fun way

Looking for a children’s book? Internet users can find hundreds of them. These books are from around the world. And they are free to readers. The United States has started a project called the International Children’s Digital Library. It is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Library of Congress and the institute of Museum and Library Services.
The goal of the project is to offer more than 10,000 children’s electronic books in at least 100 languages. Some of the books show the similarities and differences in ways of life around the world. They will enable children to have a better understanding of other people’s cultures. People working for this project have tried to design easy ways to search the collection and read the books. A picture of each page appears on the computer. Users can also print the pages on paper if they want to.
The project is for two main groups of users. The first group is children between the ages of three and thirteen, along with their teachers and parents. The second group is researchers of children’s literature（文学）. The books can help children understand more about the world.
【小题1】The books in the project can make children better understand ________.

A．other people’s cultures

B．their own culture

C．their teachers and parents

D．researchers of children’s literature

【小题2】In this project, the electronic books are ________.
A. expensive to readers                 B. from the U.S.A.
C. in different languages               D. for children only
【小题3】The underlined word “goal” probably means ________ in the passage.

A．山羊

B．煤炭

C．进球得分

D．目标

【小题4】The third paragraph is mainly about ________.

A．the purpose of the project

B．the users of the project

C．people working for the project

D．museums and libraries

                               Questionnaire

Read the questions and answer YES or NO, then you will find out how good you are.

1. When you don t understand something, you ask questions.                   

2. You like listening to older people talk about the post.                       

3. You think that you con learn something interesting from everyone around you.  

4. You ore brave enough when you have to talk to people you don't know.          

5. You enjoy reading books about famous people.                            

6. You always see and talk to different people.                                

7. You are interested in learning new ways of doing things.                     

8. You enjoy shying experiences with friends and learning from people of all ages.  

9.You talk o lot about yourself.                                             

10. Even if you ore often wrong, you make your own decisions.                   

11.You hate teaching what you are good at: sports, technology, whatever.            

12.Your parents don't understand you, so you don't talk to them much.              

SCORE NOW!

Score 2 points if you answer YES to each of tile first 8 questions, and 0 if you choose NO.

Score 2 points if you answer NO to each of the last 4 questions, and 0 if you choose YES.

                                                                         

18--24. You are friendly and open-minded. You make people feel important by listening to what they have to say. You'll probably succeed in learning al1 kinds of interesting things. Good for you!

10--16 Remember that every single person you know can teach you something. You will greatly make your life rich and colorful.

0- 8 About 400 years ago, a famous writer wrote, "No man is an island." This is still mm today. Try to be more open and interested in people around you.

1.If you say "YES" to all these questions, you'll get ____ points.

    A. 12              B. 16                  C. 20              D. 24

2. When you score 22 points, you are _____.

    A. shy and nervous          B. silent and serious

    C. open and friendly         D. brave and strong

3.The writer thinks you should _____.

A. always see and talk to the same people

 B. make your Own decision whenever you want

 C. enjoy teaching what you are good at

 D. talk much about yourselves when possible

4."No man is an island." in the text probably means that _____.

 A. the famous writer was very clever

 B. everything is the same as 400 years ago

 C. you will feel lonely if on an island

 D. you can not live alone in the world

5.The questions are used to test whether you are willing to __

     A. learn from others    B. help other people

     C. do all by yourself    D. depend on others

 

Social customs (习俗) and ways of behaving change all the time. Things that were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable. Just a few years ago, it was considered to be impolite behavior for a man to smoke on the street. No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in the room.

Customs also differ from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t matter? What about table manners (行为)?

The Americans and British people not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs. For example, in both America and England, people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time. Also most Englishmen will open a door for a woman or offer their seats to women, and so will most Americans. Promptness (准时) is important both in England and in America. That is, the dinner guest (客人) either arrive close to the time that has been made or calls up to explain his delay (耽误).

The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable —especially if they are your guests. There is an old story about a man who gave a very formal dinner party. When the food was served (服务), one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife. The other guests were amused or greatly surprised, but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.

1.The underlined phrase “make a fool of himself” in the first paragraph means        .

    A. make himself strong                      B. make himself rich

    C. make himself comfortable                 D. make himself seemed like a fool

2. If a dinner invitation is for six o’clock, the guest is supposed to arrive at        six.

    A. nearly or a minute or two later than         B. a quarter past

    C. a quarter to                             D. much later than

3.The last example in the passage shows       .

    A. the correct way to use a knife at table     

B. that it is good manners not to make your guest feel foolish or uncomfortable

C. that social customs and ways of behaving change too fast

D. that different counties have different customs

4.The best title of the passage is         .

    A. Different Customs                        B. Social Customs

    C. Customs Are Changing Fast                D. Different Countries, Different Customs