Is learning a foreign language ever easy? Yes. If you are five and move to another country, you will quickly pick up the language. But what about for the rest of us who are no longer five, and need to be polite when traveling for business or for pleasure? I think that answer is also yes. Language learning can be easy if you don’t want or need to learn too much.
The key to successful language learning in my mind is not to set the goal too high. It is rather like running. Even if you run twice a week, you don’t necessarily want to be able to run a marathon (马拉松). You might just want to keep a level of fitness. I think the same can be true for language learning.
Let’s get back to the goal. If you decide to learn ten words in a foreign language before visiting the country, you know that you will be sure to do this. However, if you decide to talk to people with great fluency (流利), unless you are quite a talented person, you will probably fail and give up in half-way.
It is also far easier to start learning a foreign language than to finish. In other words, the better you are, the slower it can be to improve, because you will not be able to move further because of grammar, making sentences, learning less common words, etc. If you are only trying to learn a few foreign words and sentences, you will enjoy faster progress, have more fun, and won’t have to spend too much time.
The idea of learning only a few hundred words in a language, and then stopping, isn’t the usual way to language learning, but it can be a very meaningful and enjoyable activity.
1.In the writer’s opinion, it is easy for adults to learn English if _______.
A．they are especially talented people
B．they don’t want or need to learn too much
C．they have to spend a lot of time on it
D．they have a chance to go abroad
2.The writer believes that if you want to be good at a foreign language, you will probably _______.
A．forget your own goals
B．become a talented language learner
C．get tired of learning it
D．reach your learning goal
3.The best title of this passage would be _______.
A．Easy Language Learning B．Hard Language Learning
C．Fluency in a Foreign Language D．A way of Language Learning
Rent(出租)a room
Spare room? Not only will a lodger (房客) earn you some money, but also, thanks to the government-backed “rent a room” program, you won’t have to pay any tax (税) on the first ￡4,500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.
Make money during special events
Don’t want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis (基础). If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money. Grashpadder can advertise your space.
Use your roof (屋顶)
You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment (around￡14,000), and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign a 25-year agreement with the supplier (供应商), which could prevent you from changing the roof.
1.If you earn ￡5,000 from renting a room in one year, the tax you need to pay will be based on ________.
A．￡300 B．￡500 C．￡4,500 D．￡5,000
2.If you want to use energy free, you have to ________.
A．sign an agreement with the government
B．pay around ￡14,000 for the equipment
C．sell the roof to some energy companies
D．keep the roof unchanged for within 25 years
3.Who would most like to read the passage?
A．Lodgers. B．Advertisers.
C．House owners. D．Online companies.
A farmer had a cow. He took very good care of this cow and one day when it was ill. He was very worried. He telephoned the vet (兽医).
“What’s the problem?” The vet asked him when he arrived.
“My cow is ill.” the farmer said. “I don’t know what’s the matter with her. She’s lying down and won’t eat. She’s making a strange noise.”
The vet looked over the cow. “She’s certainly ill, ” he said, “and she needs to take some very strong medicine.”
He took a bottle out of his box, put two pills into his hand and said, “The pills should make her better.”
“How should I give them to her?” the farmer asked.
The vet gave him a tube (管子) and said,“Put this tube in her mouth, then put the pills in the tube and blow. That’ll make it.”
The next day the vet came to the farm again. The farmer was sitting outside his house and looked more worried.
“How’s your cow?” the vet asked.
“No change,” the farmer said. “and I’m feeling very strange myself.”
“Oh?” the vet said. “Why?”
“I did what you said,” the farmer answered. “I put the tube in the cow’s mouth and then put two pills down it.”
“And?” the vet asked.
“The cow blew first.” the farmer said.
1.The farmer asked the vet for help when his cow ________.
A．couldn’t make any noise B．didn’t eat the pills
C．was ill D．couldn’t lie down
2.The vet taught the farmer how ________.
A．to blow the tube B．to make the cow take the pills
C．to take the medicine D．to put the tube in his mouth
3.Which of the following is true?
A．The farmer ate the pills himself.
B．The cow got better after taking the medicine.
C．The vet came to help farmer change the cow the next day.
D．The farmer waited for the vet outside his house the next day.
Homesick is a compound (复合的) word made up of “home” and “sick”. You know
1 each word means on its own, of course. But think about what the words mean when they are 2 together. “Homesick” means “Thinking of home, unhappy away from home.” In other words, it means “sick for home”.
Now think for a minute 3 the word SEASICK. If you change the word “home” in the definition (定义) to the word “sea”, would the definition 4 “seasick” ? Does seasick mean “thinking of sea, unhappy away from sea”? It means something quite 5 . Seasick means “made sick by the only place where you are on the sea.” It means “sick because of the sea.” When you are homesick, the only place you want to be is at home. When you are seasick, the 6 place you want to be is at sea.
Have you ever 7 a person being heartsick? Heartsick does not mean that something is wrong with a person’s heart. People are heartsick when they are 8 down deep inside as if (好像) their hearts are broken.
And so, when you are carsick, you are “made sick by the movement of a car on the road.” You are sick because of the car, not sick for it.
You can see, then, that 9 compound words are what they seem at first glance (一瞥). Think about the compound words, such as handshake and 10 . Perhaps you may write definitions for them. It must be helpful to know something like this in your English study.
1. A．what B．that C．which D．who
2. A．read B．used C．thought D．understood
3. A．for B．from C．about D．like
4. A．fit B．read C．get D．have
5. A．different B．same C．right D．wrong
6. A．first B．only C．safe D．last
7. A．heard of B．heard from C．thought over D．thought about
8. A．hit B．hurt C．loved D．moved
9. A．not others B．not every C．not all D．not other
10. A．careful B．southern C．illness D．handwriting
— Do the dishes, Mike, or I will tell mum!
— _______, Sue!
A．You are welcome B．Mind your own business
C．It’s my duty D．Never mind
The top detective asked the witness if he had seen _______ at about 10 p.m.
A．anything unusual last night B．unusual something the night before
C．something unusual last night D．anything unusual the night before
