This site contains 100 original short stories about life in America. These stories are written for ESL(English as a second language ) learners who are, at least, high beginners. We want to help ESL students learn English as quickly and effortlessly as possible. Learning should be interesting, not boring. We hope that learners will find that these stories are of some help to improve their English.

The stories have interesting topics and are easy to understand. Each story comes with an audio narrative so that learners can listen as they read. The audio requires downloading the free Real Player. Each story contains a search for pictures, definitions, and pronunciation.“ Following each story are four sets of exercises, and each containing 10 items.

Exercise A is “Yes / No Questions”. The learner is asked questions like, “Does Sara have children?” The learner can then type in, “Yes, she does.” Then the learner can check whether it’s the right answer or not.

Exercise B is “Wh-Questions”. The learner is asked questions like, “Where does Sara live?” The learner can then type in, “She lives in Pasadena.” Then the learner can check his answer.

Exercise C is “Ask Questions”. The learner is given an answer like, “They have two children.” The learner must then type in a question like, “How many children do they have?”The learner can then check to see whether he is correct or not. Exercise D is “Dictation”. The learner listens to a sentence. Most of the sentences duplicate  the sentences in the stories. The learner types the dictation and then checks to see whether he is correct or not.

Work on the site is in progress. Help us make it better as the years go by. We welcome all comments, suggestions, complaints, new ideas, and questions. Click here to send us emails.

1.Where does this passage come from?

2.The main purpose of this passage is to _____.

3.All of the following statements are correct EXCEPT _______.

4.If you want to improve your listening ability, you may mainly do some practice in _____.

阅读下列各小题，根据汉语句子，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。

1.While he was rescuing survivors in the ruins, little ___________ his safety, though he was in great danger himself.? (care)???????????

当他在废墟里救助幸存者的时候，虽然自己处在巨大的危险之中，他并不在乎个人安危。

2.Science and technology is developing rapidly and it’s hard to predict ___________ in another 20 years. (like)

科学技术日新月异，很难预测再过20年世界会是什么样。

3.Wolves are highly social animals ______________ cooperation. (depend)

狼是高度群体化的动物，其成功依赖于合作。

4._______________ her, she always tries to avoid me, pretending not to have seen me at all. (approach)

不管我什么时候接近她，她总是试图躲避，假装根本没看见我。

5.On Nov. 13, 2013 the powerful typhoon “Haiyan” hit the Philippines, ____________. (leave)

2013年11月13日，强台风海燕袭击了菲律宾，使得几百万人无家可归。

6.The young lady _______________ with her husband about money and housework. (hear)

经常听到那位年青女士为钱和家务事与丈夫争吵。

7.Should ________________, I would try to help you to apply for a better job in my company. (work)

要是你失业了，我就在我的公司里为你申请一份更好的工作。

8.It is your efforts, not your intelligence ______________ your success. (contribute)

努力而不是聪明促成的。

9.With _____________, the newly-elected chairman couldn’t sleep well at night. (settle)

新任主席有许多问题要解决，晚上无法安睡。

10.Mary as well as her sisters ______________ to learn Chinese, for they want to have a better understanding of Chinese culture.（decide）

玛丽和她的姐妹们已经决定留下来学习汉语，因为她们想更深入地了解中国文化。

根据汉语完成句子。（请将答案写在答题卷上相应番号后的横线上）

81. 中国人把他们的语言称为汉语。

   The Chinese                          their language             Han.

82. 他当卡车司机的时候，有一次和死神打了个照面。

   While he was working as a lorry driver, he had a                                      death.

83. 你可能就会看到身穿印有那个熟悉标志的李宁运动服的学生们。

                                   you will see students in Li Ning tracksuits with the familiar logo.

84. 那些偷猎者常常是夜里出动，一次就捕杀掉整群的藏羚羊，只留下那些毛不怎么值钱的幼崽。

Often            at night，the poachers shoot whole herds of antelopes at a time，            only the babies，            wool is not worth so much.

85想到狂欢节，你就会想到人群、各式各样的服装和热闹非凡的场面。

                          carnival，            you think of crowds，costumes and confusion.

单词填空：根据下列句子句意及汉语或英语提示，写出所缺单词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空。（每空一词）（共15小题；每小题1分，满分15分）

1.       We all have some ___________(缺点) and we should improve ourselves.

2.       Does environment___________(决定)one’s character?

3.       She refused to give the taxi___________(费用) because of the delay.

4.       Do you have any ______________(保险)on your car?

5.       What’s your _____________(态度) to this idea? Is it good or bad?

6.       Since Li Ming _________________ here, he has got along well with his neighbours. （settle）

（李明在这里定居后，和邻居们相处得很好。）

7.       While_________( walk) the dog, you were careless and it got loose and was hit by a car.

你在遛狗的时候，你不小心让狗松开了，结果被车撞了。

8.       When people use words and ____________(express) different from the “standard language”,it is called a dialect.(当人们用不同于“标准语言”的词语和表达时，那就叫做方言。)

9.       Earthquakes are one of the most deadly natural________(灾难) in the world.

10.    More ________(避身处)for the homeless should be built in some big cities.

11.   _________(百万)of people watched the exciting football game , according to CCTV-5.

12.   As _______(照常，惯常), it rained on my birthday.

13.   ________they looked nearly everything was destroyed.

（人们无论朝哪里看，哪里的一切都几乎被毁了。）

14.   we can __________(hard) wait to see them!（我们迫不及待地想要见到他们。）

15.   People began to wonder how long the disaster would____________(持续)。（人们开始纳闷，这场灾难还会持续多久）

1.      We all have some ___________(缺点) and we should improve ourselves.

2.      Does environment___________(决定)one’s character?

3.      She refused to give the taxi___________(费用) because of the delay.

4.      Do you have any ______________(保险)on your car?

5.      What’s your _____________(态度) to this idea? Is it good or bad?

6.      Since Li Ming _________________ here, he has got along well with his neighbours. （settle）

（李明在这里定居后，和邻居们相处得很好。）

7.      While_________( walk) the dog, you were careless and it got loose and was hit by a car.

你在遛狗的时候，你不小心让狗松开了，结果被车撞了。

8.      When people use words and ____________(express) different from the “standard language”,it is called a dialect.(当人们用不同于“标准语言”的词语和表达时，那就叫做方言。)

9.      Earthquakes are one of the most deadly natural________(灾难) in the world.

10.    More ________(避身处)for the homeless should be built in some big cities.