Some students think it difficult to learn English well. That’s because they don’t find the right way. I think reading is very important for students. The more you read, the better you’ll understand.
Reading is helpful to listening, speaking and writing. If you often read English aloud, you’ll improve your listening. On the other hand, listening a lot can help you to read better. Reading English everywhere when you are free, if you wish. You can get a lot of knowledge when you read. Sometimes you need to express your ideas, you can either speak or write. That means you are using what you learned from reading. The same as Chinese, the more you read, the better you can write. If you want to remember something, you should read again and again.
So from now on, you’d better do more reading. It’s a good way to learn English well.
【小题1】 Some students think it difficult to learn English well because _________.

How would you like to study at an American university in China? With the news that New York University (NYU) is considering setting up a branch（分校）on Chinese mainland, the possibility of getting an American education becomes a reality. But how will Chinese students deal with a very different style of teaching? One that encourages debate（辩论）, discussion and critical thinking (批判思维)； one which puts little attention on rote learning.

You know how kids ask questions all the time? Asking questions shows they are curious (好奇). So when does that natural curiosity get weak? Not at kindergarten or nursery, nor at primary school. As you grow older perhaps refusing to draw attention to yourself by asking the teacher questions, you grow quiet. If so, that's a pity, because questioning your teachers should be encouraged. After all, they're the ones who've been educated, have a lot more experience than you and perhaps have a little wisdom. When I taught joumalim at college in Scotland I enjoyed answering students' questions. Some of them raised difficult questions. I didn't always know the answers. If I didn't, I'd accept it and try to find out later.

At university we were encouraged to challenge our classmates and teachers. There was often a regular meeting between teachers and some students. A student would prepare a paper on a subject and the other students would criticize it. It could be frightening. But it was a way of developing critical thinking.

We need to differentiate critical thinking with loudmouths. We've all come across loudmouths who speak out quickly as if they knew what they were talking about. I know one loudmouth who is paid a great deal of money by a British tabloid newspaper to entertain readers with his deeply-held prejudices(偏见). You might not agree with columnist(专栏作家) Richard Littlejohn, but you have to say that he is entertaining and there is an internal logic（内在的逻辑）to his statements. Having a logical mind can help develop critical thinking.

My wife doesn't have a logical mind, but she does have emotional intelligence（情商）. I can't say that I have anything like her emotional intelligence. but I'd like to think some of it rubbed off on me. If you can't at least try to put yourself in someone else's shoes, how can you understand their situation, their problems and issues?

So try to develop your powers of critical thinking. Start with books, films, music and newspapers. And don't believe everything you read or see. Think independently.

57. According to the passage, to develop your critical thinking, you can____________.

A. keep curious and follow your heart

B. think logically, not emotionally

C. do more reading and think actively

D. voice your opinion like a loudmouth

58. The underlined words 66rubbed off on mc" in Paragraph 5 probably mean " __________".

A. helped me solve the problem better

B. had some influence on me in a way

C. moved it backwards and forwards

D. advised me to wear others' shoes

59. What can be the best title for the passage?

A. Want to be different? Think critically

B. Want to be critical? Think for yourself

C. Choose NYU, choose critical thinking

D. Importance of improving critical thinking

　　The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context（上下文）.Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, or divide it into syllables （音节）, they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form or a verb might have an unusual past form, they cheek these in dictionary.

(1) The writer tends to（倾向）think that ________.

A．choose a good dictionary, and you'll succeed in learning English

B．dictionaries are not very necessary to the students who learn English

C．it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly

D．using dictionaries very often can't help to improve writing

A．Dictionaries have little effect on learning to speak English.

B．No matter what new words you meet while reading, never use dictionaries.

C．Small two-language dictionaries have serious defects（缺陷）.

D．Reading something for the first time, you'd better not use dictionaries.

A．that students shouldn't use small two-language dictionaries

B．what were the defects of small two-language dictionaries

C．why students should use large college edition dictionaries

D．what dictionary students should choose and how to use it

(4) The function（作用）of the first sentence in the third paragraph is _______.

A．to form a connection link between the preceding and the following

B．to raise the main point of the third paragraph

C．to end the subject talked about in the first two paragraphs

D．to change the subject to talk about something else

(5) Which is not mentioned（提到）in this article?

A．How to make good use of a dictionary.

B．When to use a dictionary.

C．How to improve spoken English.

D．How to practise reading fast.