Egypt: Bridging the Gap between School English and Real English
Teaching English in Egypt in general and in my town Damietta in particular, is mainly directed towards helping students to pass their final exams. Unfortunately, most teachers do not adopt a long -term approach that guarantees that their students will be able to use English outside the classroom. So students only concentrate on one skill which is writing. Thus their listening and speaking skills are disabled. What is important to them is to pass the exam which is primarily based on writing .Teachers are not only concentrated with providing their students with questions that are similar to those of the final exam, particularly General Secondary Education Certificate (GSEC) Examination, so students spend most of their time answering typical exam questions.
Most students' scores are high; a lot of students get full marks. However, few students are able to communicate in English because their role plays. As a result, a lot of students complain that they are unable to understand and talk fluently with native speakers of English.
To enable students to communicate freely and spontaneously(自然地) in English, I bring features of real communication into language practice, I always ask students about their own experiences, and suggest groups of students practice what they have learned outside the classroom. This helps lower-achieving students absorb language. Furthermore, role play is a very effective way to improve speaking skills particularly if it is connected to the experience of the students.
1.Who probably write this passage?
A. a teacher B. a governor C. a student D. a reporter
2.In Egypt, the students only concentrate on ------
A. listening skill B. speaking skill C. reading skill D. writing skill
3.The teachers question their students based on -------
A. what they learn in the class
B. What their parents expect
C. The questions that are similar to those of GSEC
D. The ability that will be used outside the classroom
4.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. Most of the students can't get high marks but can communicate with the native speakers of English.
B. Communicating skill is more important than writing skill.
C. Role play connected to the speaker's experience is more effective
in improving his skill.
D. The lower--achieving students can do better in speaking skill than the upper achieving students.
5.Who will responsible for the gap between school English and real English?
A. Their parents B. The students C. The school D. The education sys tem
October 31, 2009, California
Tsien Hsue-shen, PhD'39, one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, died on October 31, He was 98.
Tsien, born in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, graduated from the National Qinghua University in 1934 and in August of 1935 he left China to study at the Massachusetts Institute Technology. In 1936 he went to the California Institute of Technology to commence graduate studies .Tsien obtained his doctor degree in 1939 and would remain at Caltech for 20 years, becoming the Goddard Professor and establishing a reputation as one of the leading rocket scientists in the United States.
In 1943, Tsien and two others in the Caltech rocketry group drafted the first document to use the name Jet Propulsion Laboratory. During the Second World War, he was amongst the other scientists participated the "Manhattan Project" .After World War II he served as a consultant to the United States Army Air Force. During this time, Conlonel Tsien worked on designing an intercontinental space plane. His work would inspire the X--20Dyna-Soar which would later be the inspiration for the Space Shuttle. In1945 Tsien Hsue--shen married Jiang Ying, the daughter of Jiang Baili--one of the Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai--shen's leading military strategists. But in 1950, the Chinese-born scientist was accused of harboring Communist sympathies and stripped of his security clearance.
In September 1955 he was permitted to leave for China, where Tsien resumed his research, founded the Institute of Mechanics, and went on to become the father of China's missile program, a trusted member of the government and Party's inner circle, and the nation's most honored scientist, Tsien retired in 1991 and has maintained a low public profile in Beijing, China. The PRC government launched its manned space program in 1992 and used Tsien's research as the basis for the Long March rocket which successfully launched the Shenzhou V mission in October of 2003.The elderly Tsien was able to watch China's first manned space mission on television from his hospital bed.
In his late years, since the 1980s, Tsien devoted himself to spirituality research, and advocated scientific investigation of traditional Chinese medicine, Qigong and "special human body functions".
1.The underlined word "commence" in this passage probably means ____
A. make up B. get C. begin D. promise
2.Tsien Hsue--shen got married at the age of ______
A.45 B.28 C. 24 D.34
3.What is the right order of the events related to Tsien Hsue--shen ?
a. his later life b. return to China c. career in the U.S.A d. his early life and education
A. a-b-c-d B. d-c-b-a C. d-b-c-a D. c-b-d-a
4.Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Tsien Hsue--shen got a doctor's degree in 1939.
B. Tsien Hsue--shen married Jiang Ying, the daughter of Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shen.
C. Tsien Hsue-shen has made a contribution to the Space Shuttle.
D. Tsien Hsue-shen was interested in traditional Chinese medicine, qigong and "special human body functions" in his later life.
Chinese people take their food and eat it extremely seriously .Eating is a communal (公共的),social, human experience in China .Sharing a meal is a sign of friendship，and trust , Eating plays a central role in friendship ,business ,medicine ,family and love. In short, food is life.
When eating, the rice is separated into your own personal bowl, but the dishes are placed in communal bowls in the center of the table and everybody help themselves with chopsticks .It's considered polite, and sign of respect and friendship, to encourage other people to eat plenty of the good bits, even to pick up food with your chopsticks and drop it into their rice bowls for them.
Food is an important component of weddings, funerals and almost all Chinese festivals. New Year is the time for dumplings, the Dragon Boat Festival is the time for sticky rice Zongzi wrapped in leaves, and Mid -Autumn Day is the time for Moon Cakes. The dinner table is the best for forum(公共讨论场所) to close business deals ,and it's the number one thing to do with friends.
Chinese women express their admiration for the opposite sex by cooking delicious meals of many courses, and these days it's the other way round too.
In short, if you want to get to know Chinese people, understand Chinese culture and thinking and get into Chinese life, you have to eat and appreciate Chinese food.
1. What is the best title of this passage?
A. Eating Food in China
B. How Do Chinese People Eat Food
C. The Importance of Chinese Food
D. Different Foods for Different Chinese Food
2.In the first paragraph, what does the author mean by saying "food is life"?
A. Without food, there will be no life
B. food is as important as life
C. we must take food seriously
D. we must eat food every day
3.What is the representative food for the Dragon Boat Festival in China?
A. Dumplings B. Moon Cakes C. Jiaozi D. Zongzi
In 1898 an 8.2 earthquake almost flattened America, killing over 30,ooo people in less than four minutes. In the middle of complete damage and disorder, a father rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be, 26 that the building was 2 7.
After the unforgettably shock, he 28 the promise he had made to his son: “ No matter 29 happens, I’ll always be there for you!” And tears began to 30 his eyes. As he looked at the pile of ruins, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his 31 to his son. He rushed there and started 32 the ruins.
As he was digging, other helpless parents arrived , 33 : “It’s too late ! They are all dead! 34 , face reality; there’s nothing you can do!” To each parent he responded with 35 : “Are you going to help me now? ”No one helped. And then he continued to dig for his son, stone by stone.
Courageously he went on alone because he needed to know 36 : “Is my boy 37 or he is dead?” He dug for eight hours … 12 hours…36 hours…then , in 38 hour , he pulled back a large stone and heard his son’s 39 . He screamed his son’s name, “ARMAND!” He heard back, “Dad!?! It’s me, Dad! I told other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you 40 me and 41 you saved me, they’d be saved. You promised, ‘No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you!’ You did it, Dad!”
“What’s going on in there? ”the father asked
“There are 14 of us 42 43 33,Dad. We’re scared, hungry, thirsty and thankful you are here. When the building collapsed, it made 44 , and it saved us.”
“Come out , boy!”
“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, 45 I know you’ll get me! No matter what happens, I know you’ll always be there for me!”
1.A. only discovering B. only to discover C. only realizing D. only to realize.
2. A. as flat as a pancake B. as high as a mountain
C. as strong as an ox D. as weak as a kitten
3.A. memorized B. forgot C. kept D. remembered
4.A. what B. that C. which D. who
5.A. fill B. fill in C. come D. burst
6.A. picture B. promise C. present D. encourage
7.A. digging B. digging through C. digging out D. digging into
8.A. to say B. said C. and saying D. saying
9.A. Come out B. Come again C. Come on D. Come off
10.A. one word B. one sound C.one row D. one line
11.A. for himself B. of himself C. by himself D. to himself
12.A. live B. living C. alive D. lively
13. A. 38 B. the 38 C. 38th D. the 38th
14.A. sound B. voice C. noise D. tone
15.A will save B. would save C. save D. would have saved
16.A.if B. because C. even if D. though
17.A. remained B. missing C. left D. gone
18.A. for B. behind C. out of D. over
19.A. a promise B. space C. room D. a triangle
20.A. because B. though C. when D. even though
We can never expect ____ bluer sky unless we create _____less polluted world.
A. a; a B. a; the C. the; a D. the; the
Would you like tea or coffee?
--_____, thank you. I’ve just had some water.
A. Either B. Both C. Any D. Neither
