Very few of us become fluent in another language by learning it in high school.
I went to university and then moved across the country to seek a_______ job, married and raised children. I made an effort to_______ the little bit of French I learned in school, but eventually I realized that this was really_______. I was quite aware that new languages are best learned when young, and that our abilities in that regard decline with _______.
However, just before my 50th birthday, I _______French classes. After I was tested to see which group I belonged to, I was placed at almost the introductory _______. When I looked around at my first class, I was _______that many of the students were learning French as a third, fourth or even fifth language.
Contrary to my _______ that learning a new language was impossibly difficult, there were people who learned new languages as a matter of course.While I had always thought of myself as a _______ learner, that was no longer the case. I ________ new vocabulary rather slowly.What I learned one week seemed to ________ as soon as I learned the next skill. I had to look up the________words and language structures over and over. Now, after several years of learning, I can listen to the news in French and ________90% of it on the first try, read a novel if the language isn't too ________ and hold up my end of a conversation if it doesn't go loo fast. I've learned so much beyond grammar and vocabulary. I've met people from around the world and all walks of life who have the ________to make fools of themselves in order to learn something new. I've been taught by________ and inspirational teachers from many comers of the world. Listening to the news as it is ________ to the people of France, I have a renewed understanding of how something can look ________different from another viewpoint. I've learned that a language is not just a set of words, but a way of________. But most of all, I've learned that it is never too________to learn something new.
1.A.demanding B.temporary C.meaningful D.popular
2.A.understand B.review C.keep D.master
3.A.helpful B.pointless C.worthwhile D.necessary
4.A.health B.concern C.interest D.age
5.A.got ready for B.got on with C.signed up for D.fell in love with
6.A.level B.position C.attempt D.test
7.A.disappointed B.amazed C.annoyed D.excited
8.A.agreement B.research C.assumption D.conclusion
9.A.clumsy B.confident C.serious D.quick
10.A.absorbed B.consulted C.created D.recognized
11.A.go down B.pay off C.slip away D.build up
12.A.key B.same C.fresh D.complex
13.A.catch B.recite C.guess D.hear
14.A.changeable B.international C.difficult D.native
15.A.chance B.trick C.courage D.desire
16.A.energetic B.patient C.polite D.simple
17.A.announced B.sent C.returned D.presented
18.A.completely B.equally C.roughly D.slightly
19.A.challenging B.thinking C.living D.learning
20.A.slow B.impossible C.late D.inconvenient
Over the past few months, COVID-19 has caused great uncertainty around the world affecting people's lives in all aspects.Education is also greatly affected. With students all turning to online instruction, live-streamed classes have become popular among schools and universities. 1.
In China, the use of e-learning is unusual not only in size but also in depth. 2. For another, it proves how modern technology changes the way students are educated and encourages further research and development of educational technology to introduce virtual communities between students and teachers.
In fact,online instruction as an alternative teaching mode has been expanding rapidly in recent years.Many Chinese start-ups focus on AI applications in online courses,and various online educational platforms are set up.3. The online education platform MOOC,where a wide variety of courses is available,has attracted the world's top universities to upload and share resources with students around the world.
Compared with formal instruction,online courses save abundant costs and create a flexible teaching mode(模式）－homeschooling,especially during a crisis. 4.For example,rural students with no access to the Internet and television might be left behind in this new mode.When e-learning becomes the only solution for delivering knowledge,the existing divide could be widened,further deepening education inequality.Also,the quality of teaching becomes heavily dependent on uncertain factors,such as a stable connection to the Internet and technical skills.
5.Yet,the pandemic(流行病）has undoubtedly affected the teaching style in a sweeping manner and given educators around the world plenty of time and space to think about the alternative educational modes.
A.However,online teaching has its own disadvantages.
B.The traditional face-to-face teaching style has been challenged.
C.Chinese colleges and universities started the spring term online.
D.Moreover,online education is fairly acceptable to college education.
E.Online teaching provides a chance to reconsider the current education system.
F.For one thing,the impressive practice sets a good example to other countries.
G.So,it's early to predict how the future of the education system will look like.
Record fires sweeping across the Amazon recently have been making the headlines as scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will worsen climate change crisis and endanger biodiversity(生物多样性）。
As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is often called"the lungs of the world”. It is also home to about 3 million species of plants and animals, and 1 million local people. The vast area of rainforest plays an important role in the world's ecosystem because it absorbs heat instead of reflecting heat back into the atmosphere. It also stores carbon dioxide and produces oxygen, ensuring that less carbon is released, reducing the effects of climate change.
＂Any forest destroyed is a danger to biodiversity and the people who use that biodiversity," Thomas Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University told National Geographic."The great danger is that a lot of carbon goes into the atmosphere,"he stressed."In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity.The Amazon must be protected,"UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
Data from the National Institute for Space Research(INPE)show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82 percent from January to August a year ago.A total of 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first 8 months of 2019,up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018,INPE said.＂We estimate that the forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon have decreased something between 20 and 30 percent compared to the last 12 months," Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Brazil owns about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest,whose degradation(恶化）could have severe consequences for global climate and rainfall.The extent of the area ruined by fires has yet to be determined, but the emergency has gone beyond Brazil's borders.
1.What is the second paragraph mainly about?
A.The great role of the Amazon rainforest.
B.The effects of consistent climate change.
C.The causes of the decreasing biodiversity.
D.The results of the Amazon rainforest fires.
2.Why does the author mention the figures in the fourth paragraph?
A.To explain the process of the research.
B.To present the bad influence of forest fires.
C.To prove the great importance of the rainforest.
D.To show the emergency of protecting the rainforest.
3.What does the author want to tell us in the passage?
A.The dry weather leads to the rainforest fires.
B.The biodiversity makes the rainforest unique.
C.The rainforest fires result in serious consequences.
D.The global climate crisis brings more rainforest fires.
4.Which section of a magazine might this passage probably be taken from?
A.Climate and life.
B.Nature and geography.
C.Humankind and society.
D.Science and technology.
Almost everyone has heard the expression “the calm before the storm”. It is usually used to describe a peaceful period just before a very stressful situation or a tense argument.
British sailors created the phrase in the late 1600s. They noted that before certain storms the seas would seem to become static and the winds would drop. But why is it often so calm before a storm?
Science has given us the answer. According to US website How Stuff Works, a calm period occurs because many storms, such as hurricanes and tornadoes (龙卷风), draw in all the warm and damp air from the surrounding area. As this air rises into the storm clouds, it cools and acts as “fuel for the storm, like petrol in a car”.
Once the storm has taken all the energy it can from the air, it is pushed out from the top of the storm clouds and falls back down to ground level. As the air goes down, it becomes warm and dry. Warm, dry air is stable, so once it covers an area, it causes a calm period before the storm. This same process also causes “the eye of the storm” in hurricanes and tornadoes. In these conditions, the calm occurs in the center of the storm because of the strong winds moving in a circle.
The Weather Network has a tip for working out how far away a storm is. First, count how many seconds there are between a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. Roughly 3 seconds equal 1 kilometer. So, for example, if you count 9 seconds, the storm is about 3 kilometers away. A good judgement is that if your count is below 30 seconds, you should seek shelter straight away.
However, due to the complexity of storm system, not all storms break after calm. Given the right conditions, some storms announce themselves with heavy rain and cold winds.
So, your best bet is to keep yourself updated with weather reports for any predictions regarding a coming storm in your area. That’s the most reliable and sensible way to predict the next display of nature’s temper.
1.The underlined word “static” in Paragraph 2 probably means “________”.
A.violent
B.warm
C.still
D.changeable
2.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A.To find out how a storm comes into being.
B.To explain why a peaceful period occurs before a storm.
C.To prove whether the research on storm clouds is correct.
D.To show how dangerous a storm can be in certain situations.
3.If there’re 15 seconds between a flash of lightning and a thunder clap, how far is the storm away?
A.About 3 kilometers.
B.About 5 kilometers.
C.About 9 kilometers.
D.About 15 kilometers.
4.What can be learned from the passage?
A.Storms don’t always blow up after calm.
B.Storms have a bad influence on our life.
C.Weather reports may fail to predict a storm.
D.Heavy storms don’t usually last a long time.
I’m now living in the south of France with my husband Keith and three small children, and I feel like a fish out of water everywhere but one place — the Saturday street market. It’s been operating in our small town of Sommieres since the 13th century, but we’ve only lived here for three months.
From Monday to Friday, life is all about the kids. I’m busy helping my children deal with life in a French school. It’s not easy, and their stress is the whole family’s stress, as Keith and I are occupied with the daily school runs, piles of homework and school notes in French.
But on Saturday, the market is for me. I feel so peaceful as I walk along the quiet street toward the busy town square. The knife-sharpening man is there, operating a machine that looks like it dates from the Industrial Revolution. There’re street musicians with guitars and microphones, and the sound of beautiful songs fills the air. And the food, of course, is delicious. The cheese man doesn’t speak — he just points and cuts, offering a piece from his knife. Lines come out of the door for fresh bread at the bakery. Organic vegetables, herbs and desserts are a feast for the eyes, before being put into the bag to be enjoyed later for lunch. The noises and smells of the market are unfamiliar and thrilling, but their procedures are clear to me. This is part of why I love the place so much: Unlike during the week, when I’m constantly faced with my own difficulties, I know how this place works. My terrible French isn’t the barrier to communication that it is in other circumstances.
At school and in the village, I can’t joke or join a conversation, and although the other parents at the school are kind, I’m an outsider. But at the market, I’m just another customer with a basket. Surrounded by day trippers, I feel like a local — greeting people I know and petting dogs.
My Saturday experiences allow me to hope that in the near future I’ll feel equally confident in my everyday life. Until then, Saturdays prepare me for the coming week of school runs.
1.What does the author mean by saying “I feel like a fish out of water”?
A.She feels lonely without her children.
B.She feels free out of her daily housework.
C.She feels uncomfortable in new surroundings.
D.She feels unable to make a living in another country.
2.What can be learned about the author’s life during weekdays?
A.She learns French together with her children.
B.She tries to balance her job and the housework.
C.She runs to school every day to help her children.
D.She devotes herself to her children in a French school.
3.Why does the author like going to the Saturday market?
A.She feels relaxed and comfortable there.
B.She can talk with other customers freely there.
C.She wants to get away from her family’s stress.
D.She tries to gain confidence in the busy atmosphere.
4.What is the author’s attitude towards her future life?
A.Objective.
B.Satisfied.
C.Optimistic.
D.Worried.
I was 11 years old when I asked my mom for piano lessons in 2010.We were in financial trouble,so she said politely,"Sorry,son,but we can't now.”
I googled the measurements for a keyboard,drew the keys on a piece of paper and stuck it on my desk.I would click notes on an online keyboard and"play"them back on my paper one-keeping the sound they made on the computer in my head.I spent 6 months playing without touching a real piano.Once my mom saw that I was serious,she borrowed money and bought me 10 lessons.
I still remember the first one.I was struck by how real the sound of the piano was.I sat my Grade 1 after 8 lessons.Once I started secondary school,we couldn't afford lessons again.I passed Grade 3,and then Grade 5,practicing only on my piece of paper.One evening,when I was about 13,my mom said she had a surprise for me-it was an electronic keyboard,bought with more borrowed money.It was the first time that I'd played for her and she was in shock.
My school didn't offer music A-level.I found the Purcell School for young musicians,but the tryouts were difficult.Some of the questions even involved an evaluation of the composer.I was at a loss.But to my amazement,I was offered a place.At Purcell,I spent 2 years working as hard as I could.I performed to raise money and saved enough to buy my first piano.When I left Purcell,I was awarded the senior piano prize and academic music prize.I'm now at the Guildhall School in London.I feel proud-it's been 10 years since I drew my paper piano,and I'm at one of the world's leading music schools.
Surprisingly,I continue to do a lot of my practice away from the piano:what we call mental practice.The paper piano helped motivate my curiosity about how music works.
1.Why did the mother buy the author piano lessons?
A.She believed he had a talent for piano.
B.She found he was eager to learn piano.
C.She was shocked by his first performance.
D.She got out of her family's financial difficulties.
2.Which of the following words best describes the author?
A.Honest.
B.Cautious.
C.Clever.
D.Determined.
3.What might be the best title for the passage?
A.Mental practice makes perfect.
B.Paper piano leads me to success.
C.Mother supports my music career.
D.Hard times make my dream come true.
