Approaches To Helping You Learn French
The French language, without doubt, is considered one of the most beautiful and romantic languages in the world. There are thousands of people who would love to be fluent in this popular language and be able to communicate fluently in it. 1.
★Learn it on line
Until a while ago, the only way to learn French was to go to regular classes at a training institute. But now, one of the easiest ways to learn French is to learn it on line! There are many websites on the Internet today that offer various courses in the French language for all kinds of people, right from the beginner level to the more advanced stages. 2. These websites will serve as a good introduction to the language. You also can choose a good-paid program to ensure that you are able to gain enough mastery of the language.
★Try to put French into practical use
It is not enough to attend a French language course and devote a little time each day to learning the language. 3. Consciously making an effort to think and talk to ourselves in French in our heads gives us the flexibility to exercise our French muscles anywhere and at any time.
★Do your homework diligently, read French books and learn French songs
Most online courses will have daily activities or homework assigned to the learner each day. 4.
Also, make it a habit to buy and read French newspapers and simple books that will help you to improve your vocabulary and sentence formation skills. 5. Learning the words of the songs and singing along is a great way to learn French.
A. There are many techniques that can be followed to learn this romantic language.
B. Some people want to learn French just to be able to sing beautiful songs.
C. Some websites offer free French courses.
D. Attempt to find a French teacher online.
E. There are also lots of simple and interesting French songs that you can listen to.
F. Do them diligently, as they are a sure and fun way to learn the language.
G. Learners should also put their new-found knowledge to practical use.
The National Gallery
Description:
The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of Trafalgar Square in London. It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples of European art ranging from 13th-century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance.
Layout:
The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses 13th- to 15th-century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, Van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli and Memling.
The main West Wing houses 16th-century paintings, and artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titan and Veronese.
The North Wing houses 17th-century paintings, and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velazquez, Claude and Vermeer.
The East Wing houses 18th- to early 20th-century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Renoir and Van Gogh.
Opening Hours: The Gallery is open every day from 10am to 6pm (Fridays 10am to 9pm) and is free, but charges apply to some special exhibitions.
Getting There: Nearest underground stations: Charing Cross (2-minute walk), Leicester Square (3-minute walk), Embankment (7-minute walk), and Piccadilly Circus (8-minute walk).
1.In which century’s collection can you see religious paintings?
A. The 13th. B. The 17th. C. The 18th. D. The 20th.
2. Where are Leonardo da Vinci’s works shown?
A. In the East Wing. B. In the main West Wing.
C. In the Sainsbury Wing. D. In the North Wing.
3.Which underground station is closest to the National Gallery?
A. Piccadilly Circus B. Leicester Square
C. Embankment D. Charing Cross
Teachers and parents usually call attention to the pictures when they read storybooks to pre-school children. But a new study suggests that calling attention to the words and letters on the page may lead to better readers.
The two-year study compared children who were read in this way in class with children who were not. Those whose teachers most often discussed the print showed clearly higher skills in reading, spelling and understanding. These results were found one year and even two years later.
Shayne Piasta, an assistant professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State University, was an author of the study. She says most pre-school teachers would find this method manageable and would need only a small change in the way they teach. They already read story-books in class. The only difference would be increased attention to the printed text. “If you get children to pay attention to letters and words, it makes sense that they will do better at word recognition and spelling.” But she says research suggests that very few parents and teachers do this in a systematic way.
More than 300 children aged four and five were observed in classrooms. They came from poor families and were below average in their language skills. For thirty weeks, the children took part in a program called Project STAR--- Sit Together and Read. The project is based at Ohio State. It tests the short-term and long-term results of reading regularly to pre-school children in their classrooms.
There are different ways that adults can talk to children about print. They can point to a letter and discuss it, and even trace the shape with a finger. They can point out a word and discuss the meaning of the print or how the words tell the story. And they can talk about the organization of the print--- for instance, showing how words are written left to right in English.
1.What do we know about the ways pre-school children are usually taught?
A. More attention is paid to the pictures ,with words and letters being ignored.
B. Preference is given to the shape of letters and the organization of the print.
C. The focus of the teaching is on bringing them up to be good readers.
D. Equal attention is paid to the texts and the pictures.
2.What does Shayne Piasta suggest pre-school teachers should do in class?
A. Teach children how to draw pictures to get an idea of what they mean.
B. Change the way they teach and pay more attention to words and letters.
C. Adopt different methods according to the students’ difference in reading skills.
D. Read storybooks to children rather than explain the meaning of the pictures.
3.Which of the following is TRUE about the study on language skills of pre-school children?
A. Many teachers want to change their way of teaching pre-school children.
B. Attention on the pictures has made the children uninterested in reading.
C. Project STAR aims to research into the results of reading books to pre-school children in the classroom.
D. Teachers are often prevented from taking different approaches to language teaching.
4.Which section of a magazine does the passage probably come from?
A. Fashion. B. Economy . C. Entertainment. D. Education.
Ann was on her first package trip in Rosas, Spain.
At the hotel, she checked in, and then went to her room to change before dinner. She was just ready to go downstairs when she found that her Spanish money wasn’t in her handbag. She carefully looked in all her luggage, but she couldn’t find it. All she had was a small purse with ten English pound notes in it!
Ann found a place to change her English money. She had very few pesetas(西班牙货币单位), and she would be here for two weeks. On her way back to the hotel, Ann bought some cheese, some bread and some oranges. When she got back, she told the manager that her doctor had told her not to eat Spanish food; she’d just have breakfast each day, as she knew the price of hotels included breakfast.
For the rest of her holiday, Ann swam in the hotel swimming pool, or lay on the beach and got a sunbath. When the other tourists went to interesting places, she always said she wasn’t well. In fact, her holiday wasn’t bad, except that she was always hungry. After all, a piece of fruit for lunch, and bread and cheese for supper isn’t very much.
Late in the afternoon of their last day, a girl, Jane, asked her why she never ate with them in the hotel restaurant. Ann told her about her money problems. Jane looked at her for a minute, and then said, “But didn’t you know? The price of this holiday includes everything!”
1.“A package trip” probably means _________.
A. a free trip
B. a long journey
C. a pleasant trip
D. a trip that includes the cost of all the tickets and services
2.Ann didn’t eat dinners in the restaurant of the hotel because _________.
A. she was afraid that she couldn’t pay for them with her little money
B. her doctor told her not to eat them
C. she wasn’t well
D. she wasn’t hungry
3.Why did Ann buy some cheese, some bread and some oranges?
A. Because they were good for her health.
B. Because she planned to eat them instead of lunch and supper.
C. Because she liked them more than dinners in the hotel restaurant.
D. Because she is afraid that she couldn’t eat enough in the hotel restaurant.
4.How do you think Jane would feel after she heard Ann’s answer?
A. Angry. B. Happy. C. Surprised. D. Excited
At one time or another most farmers have problems with mice. This is especially true for grain farmers. Mice eat a lot of grain. They also carry diseases(疾病), which people can get from eating or touching grain the mice have made dirty. Farmers can use special grain storage buildings or they can kill the mice. However, both methods can be costly. Farmers must buy materials to build the special grain storage buildings or chemical poisons to kill the mice．
Here is a way to kill mice without spending a lot of money. It is a simple but effective kind of mouse trap. The method is first used by some farmers in the west African country of Mali. An agricultural expert in Mali reported about the Mali mouse trap in a magazine. The expert reported that his gardener caught 150 mice in just one night. The gardener used four traps. The trap is easy to make. First, remove the top from a 20 liter metal or plastic container(容器). Put it in a hole in the ground. The top edge of the container should be the level with the surface of the ground. Fill the container with water to within eight centimeters of the top. Add tiny pieces of grain wastes. They should float on the water. Also put some wastes on the ground near the trap. During the night, mice will come out to eat the grain wastes. They will fall into the container and drown. Replace the food in the trap every night．
1.According to the passage，_____ used the mouse trap first.
A. an agricultural expert in the west Africa
B. farmers in the United States
C. all American gardener
D. farmers in Mali
2.What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. A simple and effective method used by farmers to kill mice
B.How to kill mice
C. Methods used by farmers to kill mice
D. Farmers have problems with mice
3. Which of the following can’t protect grain from being eaten by mice?
A．A special grain storage building
B．Chemical poisons
C．A mouse trap
D．A hole in the ground
4. Which is probably the trap mentioned in the passage?
No One Is Too Poor to Give
When Teresa，a widow with four young children，saw a notice from her church for all members to gather to deliver presents and food to a 16 family，she took $10 out of her savings jar and bought some ingredients to make three dozen 17 ．She got to the church parking lot just in time to join the convoy going to the home that was to 18 the people’s help．
The route was 19 ，and she was astonished when the cars pulled up in front of her house．When the pastor saw her，he said，“ We 20 expected you to join us ,
Teresa．We know it’s been a great 21 since your husband died，and we all wanted
to 22 you．”
Although she was 23 being the object of charity，Teresa didn’t want to 24 anyone so she 25 said，“ Well，at least I can share these cookies with our 26 ．”
This parable teaches us that no one is too 27 to help others and that true charity is rooted in love and compassion． 28 of spirit is worse than economic distress．Teresa’s story 29 us that very few of us give as much as we could and should．
My friend Larry Rosen，president of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles
30 me to the concept of “ sacrificial giving”— 31 in a large quantity up to a
point where one must 32 something that is desired．
You can start out easy．Take whatever 33 you are thinking of giving to charity，then 34 it．If that’s too much, increase it by 50 percent instead．The 35 is to stretch yourself．It will mean a lot to those you help，but it will mean as much to your heart．
1.A．wealthy B．big C．noble D．needy
2.A．cookies B．cakes C ．buns D．rolls
3.A．offer B．receive C．expect D．refuse
4.A．pleasant B．1engthy C．familiar D．rough
5.A．never B．just C．even D．seldom
6.A．failure B．comfort C．success D．struggle
7.A．satisfy B．support C．invite D．remember
8.A．unnatural B．unhappy C．uncomfortable D．unfortunate
9.A．embarrass B．trouble C．bother D．annoy
10.A．humbly B．openly C．clearly D．cheerfully
11.A．children B．friends C．relatives D．neighbors
12.A．weak B．generous C．poor D．patient
13.A．Poverty B．Power C．Importance D．Source
14.A．ensures B．informs C．proves D．reminds
15.A．introduced B．presented C．1ed D．directed
16.A．taking B．giving C．going D．asking
17.A．reject B．win C．quit D．obtain
18.A．weight B．size C．load D．amount
19.A．double B．calculate C．record D．analyze
20.A．way B．idea C．advice D．guidance
