Q:

I’d like to know about fluency．What can I do to feel better when I’m talking to other people? Do you have some ways to learn it faster? Please help me!　　　—Roberto in Brazil

A:

Roberto wants to know how to become more fluent in English, and this is something you want to be able to do “fast”．

First, if you get to meet English speakers much, the important rule is to listen not just to native speakers of English, but also to very good users of English．If you don’t, then listen to the radio, TV or films in English．

The next step is to notice what it is that speakers of English do, which makes them sound fluent．The first trick(诀窍) is to probably have confidence．Some people think they might make mistakes．Don’t worry about that．Your listeners will usually try hard to understand you — a few grammar mistakes aren’t going to worry them．

What you do need to worry about is pronunciation, especially stress(重音)．When you learn a new word or expression, learn it with its stress．Notice how a native speaker says it or look it up in a dictionary．

Another good thing that speakers of English do is to have a few tricks up their sleeves(袖子) for when they need to give themselves thinking time．Sometimes they use “filler sounds” like er, um and so on．

It is also useful to know how to bring other speakers into your conversation so that you keep them interested － and this is often done by asking questions like “What do you think?” “How do you feel about this?” and so on．

So, to become a fluent speaker, you’ll need to put into practice all these kinds of things．And there’s the key: practise, practise, practise．　　　　　　　　　　　　　－Susan Fearn

56．Susan first encourages English learners to       ．

A．meet English speakers     B．listen to very good speakers

C．talk to English speakers   D．buy a radio or a TV set

57．When mentioning pronunciation, Susan pays special attention to    ．

A．stress B．expressions      C．dictionaries      D．words

58．What do the underlined words “to have a few tricks up their sleeves” probably mean?

A．To wear a lot of clothes．                   

B．To have a secret plan or idea．

C．To hide some tricks into their sleeves． 

D．To have sleeves covering their whole arms．

59．What do we know from the passage?

A．One can only learn stress from dictionaries．

B．Grammar mistakes worry one’s listeners a lot．

C．Asking questions can make one’s conversation attractive．

D．One can become fluent if one practises one of the suggestions．

A desert is a beautiful land of silence and space. The sun shines, the wind blows, and time and space seem endless. Nothing is soft. The sand and rocks are hard, and many of the plants even have hard needles instead of leaves.

The size and location(分布) of the world’s deserts are always changing. Over millions of years, as climates change and mountains rise, new dry and wet areas develop. But within the last 100 yeas, deserts have been growing at a frightening speed. This is partly because of natural changes, but the greatest makers are humans.

Humans can make deserts, but humans can also prevent their growth. Algeria Mauritania is planting a similar wall around Nouakchott, the capital. Iran puts a thin covering of petroleum(石油) on sandy areas and plants trees. The oil keeps the water and small trees in the land, and men on motorcycles(摩托车) keep the sheep and goats away. The USSR and India are building long canals to bring water to desert areas.

In this passage, “needles” refers to _______.

A. small, thin pieces of steel.

B. long, thin pieces of branches.

C. small pointed growth on the stem(茎) of a plant.

D. small, thin pieces of sticks.

Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The greatest desert makers are humans.

B. There aren’t any living things in the deserts.

C. Deserts have been growing quickly.

D. The size of the deserts is always changing.

People in some countries are fighting a battle against _______.

A. the growth of deserts B. the disappearance of desert plants

C. natural changes  D. congenital climate

We can guess that Mauritania and Algeria belong to _______.

A. Asian countries 　　　　       B. American countries

C. European counties　　　 D. African countries

Choose the sentence which best gives the main idea of the passage.

A. The deserts of the world are always changing.

B. Man is to take measures to control the growth of the world’s deserts.

C. Deserts are lands of silence and space.

D. Deserts have grown at a fast pace in the past 10 years.

　 The ground is _____ with _____ leaves.

　　A. coving; falling　　B. covered; falling  C. covered; fallen　　D. covering; fallen

56­year­old becomes 1st woman to swim Atlantic
(AP)－Jennifer Figge pressed her toes into the Caribbean sand, excited and exhausted as she touched land this week for the first time in almost a month. Reaching a beach in Trinidad, she became the first woman on record to swim across the Atlantic Ocean—a dream she'd had since the early 1960s,when a stormy trans­Atlantic (飞越大西洋) flight got her thinking she could wear a life vest and swim the rest of the way if needed.
The 56­year­old left the Cape Verde Islands off Africa's western coast on Jan.12,2009, swimming 19 out of 25 days battling waves of up to 30 feet.The distance from Cape Verde to Trinidad is about 700 miles.Crewmembers are still computing exactly how many miles she swam.
The original plan was for her to swim to the Bahamas—a distance of about 2,100 miles—but inclement (恶劣的) weather forced her to change her plans and she arrived at Trinidad on Feb.5.She now plans to swim from Trinidad to the British Virgin Islands,ending her voyage at the Bitter End Yacht Club in late February.
Her journey came a decade after French swimmer Benoit Lecomte made the first known solo trans­Atlantic swim,covering nearly 4,000 miles from Massachusetts to France in 73 days.No woman on record had made the crossing.
Figge wore a red cap and wet suit,with her only good­luck charm (护身符) underneath:an old,red shirt to guard against chafing (磨痛),signed by friends,relatives and her father,who recently died.The other cherished (珍惜) possession she kept onboard was a picture of Gertrude Ederle,an American who became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.“We have a few things in common,”Figge said,“She wore a red hat and she was of German descent (血统).We both talked to the sea,and neither one of us wanted to get out.”
【小题1】When did Jennifer Figge want to swim across the Atlantic Ocean？

A．After she reached a beach in Trinidad.

B．After she pressed her toes into the Caribbean sand.

C．After her stormy trans­Atlantic flight in the early 1960s.

D．After her graduation from a university.

【小题2】Jennifer Figge had to change her plans 　　　　.

A．because she wanted to shorten her voyage

B．because of bad weather conditions

C．because she wanted to end her voyage in late February

D．because she wanted to set a new world record

【小题3】When did Benoit Lecomte probably make the first known solo trans­Atlantic swim？

A．In 1999.

B．In 1988.

C．In 1978 .

D．In 1968.

【小题4】For what purpose did Jennifer Figge keep a photo of Gertrude Ederle？

A．Figge would like to follow her example.

B．She had the same red cap as Figge always wore.

C．Figge also wanted to swim across the English Channel.

D．They were both born in Germany.