One day, I happened to meet an Englishman in the street and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be very surprised, gently shaking his head and saying “You don’t say!”

I was confused, and I thought, “Perhaps this is not a right thing to talk about.” Then I said to him, “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? Have you ever visited it?”

“Certainly! Everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave here without seeing it. The Great Wall is wonderful! ” “Yes, it is one of the wonders in the world. And people of many countries have come to visit it.” As I went on telling him more about it, he stopped me again, “You don’t say!”

I couldn’t help asking, “Why couldn’t I talk about it?”

“Well, I didn’t stop you talking about it,” he answered, greatly surprised.

“Didn’t you say ‘You don’t say!’?” I asked again.

Hearing this, the foreigner laughed loudly. He began to explain, “’You don’t say!’ means ‘Really’. Perhaps you know little about English idioms(习惯用语).”

Wow! How foolish I was! Since then I have been careful with English idioms.

1.What made the foreigner laugh loudly?

A．English idioms.

B．The writer’s question.

C．Their talking about the Great Wall

D．The writer’s way of learning English

2.Where does the story most probably happen?

A．In China.	B．In America.
C．In England.	D．In Japan.

3.The English idiom “You don’t say!” means _______.

A．Thank you

B．Excuse me

C．OK

D．Really

4.What does the writer learn from his own experience? He should _______.

A．improve his spoken English

B．speak with foreigners in a polite way

C．pay attention to English idioms

D．be brave enough talking with foreigners

5.The story tells us _______ between languages in different countries.

A．the difference	B．the popularity
C．the grammar rule	D．the change

 

Many students ask for advice about improving their English. There are three basic questions.
The first question is about real English. Li Hao from Hubei wrote, “I enjoy watching English films and listening to real English songs. But it takes a long time. What do you think?”
This is a great way to learn English! Talk about the film or song with your friends, and guess the meaning of the new words. Just enjoy yourself!
The second question is about speaking. Sam, from Suzhou wrote, “Our school has a foreign teacher. But I’m shy and can’t speak to her. What should I do?”
When I visit China, lots of people in the street say, “Hello! How are you? Where are you from? Do you like China?” These are good questions to start a conversation. Many people are shy when they speak English, so before you begin, take a deep breath and smile! Smiling always helps.
The third question is about vocabulary. Olive, from Anhui wrote, “I want to remember all the new words. I wrote them down, but I forget them quickly. What should I do?”
Try to remember eight or nine words a day. Write them on pieces of paper and place them in your bedroom. Say the words when you see them, and change them every day. And when you’re shopping, how about counting the English words, or saying the English names for everything you see?
【小题1】How many basic questions do the students often ask?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.

【小题2】 What should you do if you are shy to speak English?

A．Watch English films.

B．Write down the words first.

C．Listen to real English songs.

D．Take a deep breath and smile before you begin?

【小题3】What is Oliver’s problem?

A．He’s too shy to talk with others.

B．He’s not able to count English words.

C．He can’t remember new words.

D．He doesn’t know what real English is.

【小题4】 What’s the best title of this passage?

A．How to learn English

B．Talking about English films

C．Advice about English writing

D．The way of beginning an English conversation

You might have noticed that the cost of food has gone up.In fact the price of wheat and rice has nearly doubled in the past few years.It’s thought that right now，850 million people—that’s more than 10 times the population of the UK—are short of food because it’s too expensive or there’s not enough of it.
The price of basic food such as wheat and corn has stayed the same for quite a long time，about 30 years.But as the world’s population is getting bigger，there’s more pressure to feed more people，plus there’s less land and water to go round.
Another reason is climate（气候）change.Droughts and floods make it hard to grow crops like rice and grain.The price of oil has gone up and that makes it more expensive for farmers to run their tractors and to transport the food they make.And lots of fields are being used to grow crops to make other things that can’t be eaten—which is bad news for hungry people.
The main losers are poor people who live in cities in poor countries，who are facing higher prices for food.Some people are doing well out of the food crisis（危机） though.Farmers in rich countries like the US，Canada and Australia are getting record prices for their harvests.
World leaders are meeting in the Italian capital Rome to talk about the problem of rising food prices.Some countries are helping out with the cost of foods and international aid agencies have called for more money for food production in poor countries.
【小题1】The price of food goes up because all of the following EXCEPT _____.

A．there are more and more people in the world.

B．American farmers are getting richer and richer.

C．many farm lands are used to make other things rather than food.

D．climate change makes it harder to grow food.

【小题2】Who lose the most because of the food crisis?

A．Farmers in rich countries.

B．Farmers in developed countries.

C．Poor people in cities in poor countries.

D．Poor people in cities in developed countries.

【小题3】What does the food crisis mean to farmers in Canada?

A．They can get a lot of money from the government.

B．They have to save a lot of money.

C．They can make more money from the high price.

D．They are losing a lot of money.

【小题4】What is the best title for this passage?

A．Why is the Price of Food Going Up？

B．How Many People are Short of Food?

C．What Can We Learn from the Food Crisis?

D．Who Can Benefit（受益） from the Food Crisis?

He was struggling(费劲) to tie his shoes. I was struggling with whether I should help him. I did, and he was grateful. “Thank you,” he said. “I’m glad I could help. I just thought it would be easier for me to reach,” I said. He was a disabled man, and forced to look down most of the time. His arms and legs were twisted(扭曲的) terribly, and he couldn’t do what the rest of us would consider easy tasks. He always managed to look up to see how you reacted(反应) to his words, however. He had a big smile, making me feel comfortable. I was still on my knees by his wheelchair. “Nice shoes,” he said. “Thanks. No one ever complimented me on them before,” I said. “No one has the same view of the world as I do,” he replied. “Tell me about the world as you see it,” I said smiling.
“Most people can see if someone is comfortable with them or not in their eyes. I see it in their feet.” he said. “If people keep moving their feet, I just let them go, because I know they’re impatient with me. I don’t want to make people uncomfortable. “What about me? I asked. “I could see your compassion. And then you came down to my level. I was the one who was nervous.” he said. “I don’t normally have someone look me in the eye.”“They don’t know what they’re missing,” I told him. “My old face is nothing to brag(自夸) about.” he said. “But that smile is so big.” Yes, and it’s not only a big smile but an attitude.
【小题1】The disabled man knew people were impatient mostly by their ________.

A．words

B．eyes

C．feet

D．smile

【小题2】The unlined word “compassion” is the closet in meaning to ________.

A．attention

B．pity

C．trust

D．duty

【小题3】We learn that the disabled man ________.

A．had great difficulty looking after himself	B．always asked people for help
C．couldn’t have a big smile	D．liked to talk about people’s shoes

【小题4】The writer felt comfortable because _________.

A．he had a nice talk to the man	B．the man looked him in the eye
C．he didn’t move his feet before the man	D．the man had a big smile on the face

【小题5】We can infer from the passage that _________.

A．the disable man had something wrong with his mind

B．not many people went down to the man’s level

C．the man was good at telling people about the world

D．the writer would not give the man move help

He was struggling(费劲) to tie his shoes. I was struggling with whether I should help him.
I did, and he was grateful.
“Thank you,” he said.
“I’m glad I could help. I just thought it would be easier for me to reach,” I said.
He was a disabled man, and forced to look down most of the time. His arms and legs were twisted(扭曲的) terribly, and he couldn’t do what the rest of us would consider easy tasks. He always managed to look up to see how you reacted(反应) to his words, however. He had a big smile, making me feel comfortable.
I was still on my knees by his wheelchair.
“ Nice shoes,” he said.
“Thanks. No one ever complimented me on them before,” I said.
“No one has the same view of the world as I do,” he replied.
“Tell me about the world as you see it,” I said smiling.
“Most people can see if someone is comfortable with them or not in their eyes. I see it in their feet.” he said. “If people keep moving their feet, I just let them go, because I know they’re impatient with me. I don’t want to make people uncomfortable.
“What about me? I asked.
“I could see your compassion. And then you came down to my level. I was the one who was nervous.” he said. “I don’t normally have someone look me in the eye.”
“They don’t know what they’re missing,” I told him.
“My old face is nothing to brag(自夸) about.” he said.
“But that smile is so big.”
Yes, and it’s not only a big smile but an attitude.
【小题1】The disabled man knew people were impatient mostly by their _________.

A．words

B．eyes

C．feet

D．smile

【小题2】The unlined word compassion is the closet in meaning to ___________.

A．attention

B．pity

C．trust

D．duty

【小题3】We learn that the disabled man _________.

A．had great difficulty looking after himself

B．always asked people for help

C．couldn’t have a big smile

D．liked to talk about people’s shoes

【小题4】The writer felt comfortable because _________.

A．he had a nice talk to the man

B．the man looked him in the eye

C．he didn’t move his feet before the man

D．the man had a big smile on the face

【小题5】We can infer from the passage that _________.

A．the disable man had something wrong with his mind

B．not many people went down to the man’s level

C．the man was good at telling people about the world

D．the writer would not give the man move help