If you have a problem with speaking, you can do several things. Listen to English as much as possible. You can learn a poem(诗) or a song by heart. You can also learn more dialogues（对话）. And practice speaking with your friends as much as you can.

Many people find it difficult to listen to English. The answer is to listen as much as you can. However, don’t do too much at one time. It is better to practice listening for five minutes every day. Don’t sit down and listen for an hour at a time. That’s too much! Do choose listening passages that are interesting and not too difficult. Choose（选择） tapes（磁带） on which the people speak clearly and not too fast. Take it easy， at first. Success with simple tapes at the beginning is the answer. Later on you can practice with tapes that are more difficult.

Finally, how can you learn to write well? How do you use little words like in, on, of and for? There are two answers to this. First, do some study with new words. Keep a list of verbs like look for, look after and so on. Second, read as much English as possible. There are many things that can’t be learnt. You must see them in books many times. Then you’ll be able to use them correctly(正确地) yourself. So, in order to write well, you must first learn to read much.

1.This passage is about English ______ .

2.If you ______ , you can speak well.

3.Which of the following is right according to the passage?

4.Which of the following ways can help you to improve（提高） your written English? 

A. Buy books of writing practice.        B. Read as much as possible.

C. Do some study with new words.      D. Both B and C.

5.Which of the following is not right according to the passage?

In most languages, a greeting is usually followed by “small talk”. Small talk means the little things we talk about at the start of a conversation.
In English-speaking countries people often make small talk about the weather: “Nice day, isn’t it?” “Terrible weather, isn’t it?” But there is something special about small talk. It must be about something which both people have the same opinion about. The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something. This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable. People usually agree about the weather, so it is a safe topic for small talk. But people often disagree about religion or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk in English. The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place. At football matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching: “Great game, isn’t it?” At bus stops, people may comment about the transport system: “The bus service is terrible, isn’t it?”
Greetings and small talk are an important part of conversation in any language. The way people great each and the things they talk about, however, may be different from one language to another. This shows that there is much more to learn when we learn a language than just the vocabulary and the grammar of the language. We also have to learn the social behavior of the people who speak it.
【小题1】Small talk ___.

阅读下面的短文， 并根据短文后的要求答题（请注意问题后的字数要求）

    _[1]If you think English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?

[2]According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.

[3]The researchers also found the effect is greater on the younger people who learn a second language.

[4]A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals(通两种语言的人)”, who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.

[5]Scans showed that grey matter density（密度）in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without___________________. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference was.

[6] “Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists.

[7]It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.

[8]Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible,” he said, “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”

1.What is the best title for this passage? （no more than 10 words）

_____________________________________________________________________

2.Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?

Mastering two languages can broaden your views in the world and makes you clever.

_______________________________________________________________________________

3.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 5 with proper words． （no more than 4 words）

______________________________________________________________________________.

4.What does the word "they" Line2, Paragraph4） probably refer to? （no more than 5 words）

______________________________________________________________________________.

5.What do you think of English learning after you read this passage?

（no more than 10 words）

______________________________________________________________________________.

Learning English grammar and English vocabulary can be hard enough, but trying to understand English sayings can be more difficult. Some are just hard to figure out and others don’t make any sense at all. Here are four funny English sayings that you can use every day.

I’m happy as a clam(蛤).

Think of a clam. It doesn’t have to do anything. It just sits on a beach or on the bottom of the ocean all day doing nothing. It never has to work. That sounds like happiness, doesn’t it? If someone asks, “How are you today?” you can answer “I am happy as a clam” to let him or her know what a great mood you are in.

I wouldn’t touch that (or him/her) with a ten-foot pole.

Maybe there is a person who you don’t want to be friends with or even talk to. Well, this saying means that you dislike him or her so much that you don’t want to touch or go near him or her, even within ten feet!

You don’t have a leg to stand on.

?? This saying doesn’t mean that the person you’re talking to has no legs. It means that his or her argument is incorrect. He or she doesn’t have a leg to stand on because he or she has no facts to support what he or she is saying. This saying is a good way to tell people that you think they’re wrong.

??? Break a leg!

??? This saying actually means the opposite of what it sounds like. If you tell this to a person, you’re wishing him or her good luck！The saying comes from a superstition(迷信) that whatever you say aloud, the opposite will come true.

1.The first paragraph mainly tells us____________________.

A.learning English grammar is hard

B.learning English vocabulary is hard

C.we should use English sayings every day

D.it can be harder to understand English sayings

2.Which of the following is TRUE about a clam?

A.It can be used to show happiness.????? B.It needs to do many things.

C.It needs to eat a lot.???????????????? D.It can only live on the beach.

3.The saying “I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole” means___________.

A.I hate him.????????????????????? B.I want him to be my friend.

C.I like him.?????????????????????? D.I want to argue with him.

4.We can learn from the passage that______________________.

A.the saying “You don’t have a leg to stand on” means someone loses his legs

B.the saying “Break a leg” means someone hurts his or her leg

C.if we say “Break a leg” to someone, we give him or her a good wish

D.if we say “I am ill” aloud, we will become healthy