English songs have been very popular for people around the world for many decades. Songs from Elvis Presley to Ricky Martin, from the Beatles to Eminem and from Natalie Cole to Britney Spears have all been enjoyed by people around the world, even for people who don’t speak English, and even for people who speak zero English.
From my experience, some people listen to English songs for 20-30 years but still don’t achieve any good English skills. Some people choose English songs to be their main learning method, but most of them fail.
Listening to English songs does not help you to speak English fluently. It does help you gain some vocabulary, but most of these words are unusual ones that you don’t use in everyday life. You won’t learn the sentence “It is a difficult project. We really need to meet the deadline.” in any English songs. All you will hear are love, passion, affection, hate and blue, for the feeling, not the color.
People like using English songs to practice English skills because it’s easy and enjoyable. They think that sitting in the car listening to English songs day after day will improve their English skills. It actually will not.
You will definitely not improve your listening skills because normal people don’t speak with a tune. People don’t talk like Eminem’s songs. You can’t get yourself familiar with English pronunciation or accent just from listening to English songs. The words that they pronounce in the songs are not the words that you will hear in your everyday life. They can even confuse you more about how English is pronounced.
I would fully encourage you to watch English movies and listen to radio news or other normal talks, but not music. Of course, you can consume it for fun but not with the aim of improving your English skills. Having good English skills is not that easy. Remember you should work hard to improve your English step by step.
1.According to the passage, listening to English songs can help you _____
A. improve your English grammar
B. speak English more fluently
C. gain the skills of writing
D. learn more new words
2.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Most people think it is convenient to learn English by listening to English songs.
B. It’s hard for people to improve their listening skills by listening to English songs.
C. It’s a good idea to learn to speak with an English accent by listening to English songs.
D. It’s rare to hear normal people speak English like they are singing.
3.What can we learn about the words in English songs?
A. Most of them are vivid and interesting.
B. They are seldom used in people’s everyday life.
C. English learners should learn more of them.
D. They can help people improve their pronunciation.
4. It can be inferred from the passage that the writer may be _____.
A. an experienced English learner
B. a well-known pop singer
C. a Chinese music fan
D. an American teacher
Football T-shirts are more commonly connected with boys than girls. This can often cause a problem when you want to find a cool shirt for a girl. That is not to say that there are no cool shirts out there for girls to wear. The problem is that they are often harder to find than the ones for boys.
You can get custom (订制的) shirt printed for girls from a number of custom print stores. Of course you have to make sure that they are legally allowed to use the logos (商标) and colours of the team you want to support.
You can also go through official channels to get the shirt you want. The official channels will generally be the large sportswear stores or the official stores of the teams. These stores will be able to use the colours of the teams and even put the name of the person who the shirt is for on it.
If you do not feel like you have to try the T-shirts on, then an online store may be your best choice. The reason for this is that you can visit various stores and find the best ones.
If you want to see what the T-shirt looks like in real life, then going to a store is the best choice. Large sportswear stores often have football shirts. These are the best places to go if you do not live close to an official store. And these stores usually have lower prices than the official stores.
1.According to the text, football T-shirts ________.
A. are all made by boys
B. are seldom loved by girls
C. are only designed for boys
D. are difficult to find for girls
2.According to the text, custom print stores ________.
A. could use any colours and logos as they like
B. should be operated by the football teams
C. could print anything that official stores sell
D. should legally use your favourite logos
3.If you don’t need to try the T-shirts on, you can visit ________.
A. official stores
B. online stores
C. large sportswear stores
D. custom print stores
4. What kind of readers is this passage for?
A. Football players.
B. Clothes store owners.
C. Female football fans.
D. Physical education teacher
People in the United States honor their parents with two special days：Mother’s Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, on the third Sunday in June. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible (有责任感的) citizens. They give love and care. These two days make us think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with child care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother’s Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery (墓地).On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.
Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are valued more than the ones bought in stores. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is “the thought that counts”. Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies, and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays.
1.Which of the following is NOT a reason for children to show love and respect for parents?
A. Parents bring up children.
B. Parents give love and care to children.
C. Parents educate children to be good persons.
D. Parents pass away before children grow up.
2.What do you think “florists” do?
A. They sell flowers.
B. They make and sell bread.
C. They offer enough room for having family parties.
D. They sell special gifts for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
3.What do you know from the passage?
A. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are both in May.
B. Fewer women worked outside the home in the past.
C. Not all the children respect their parents
D. Fathers are not as important as mothers at home.
4.On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, ________.
A. people usually have family parties
B. everyone goes to visit the cemetery
C. children always go to parents’ home
D. hand-made cards are the most valuable gifts
Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register (收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thankyou note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery (电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership—a shop selling cars—was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
“Thank you” — two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.
1. What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?
A．He had it pulled back to the gas station.
B．The couple sent him a business card.
C．The couple offered to help him.
D．He called his friend for help.
2.The battery of the author’s car was dead because ________.
A．something went wrong with the lights
B．the meeting lasted a whole day
C．he forgot to turn off the lights
D．he drove too long a distance
3.By telling his own experiences, the author tries to show ________.
A．how to write a thankyou letter
B．how to deal with car problems
C．the kindheartedness of older people
D．the importance of expressing thanks
书面表达：
随着电脑的普及运用，如今越来越多的中学生也在借助于电脑字，因此很多中学生的书写水平在急剧下降。针对此现象你班举行了主题为“中学生进行书法比赛是否有必要”的班会，请你根据下面的提示写一篇100词左右的短文。
有的同学认为没有必要：1. 电脑时代，使用手写的场合很少；
2. 在电脑上打字比书写快。
有的同学认为很有必要：1. 提高学生的汉字书写技巧；
2. 培养学生对书法的兴趣；
3. 增进学生对汉语语言文字的热爱。
你的观点…… （提示词：handwriting）
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
It was dinner time. Mr and Mrs Smith were about to begin their dinner then they find that their son, Mike, wasn’t there. So Mrs Smith asked her husband to go and find him. Mr Smith went to Mike’s room and found Mike laying on the floor, read a book. He was laughing! Mr Smith told him to go for dinner, and he left quite unwilling. Wondering that what attracted his son so much, Mr Smith took a look at the book. Now Mrs Smith and Mike were at the table，waiting Mr Smith. She got quite patient and sent her son for his father. Mike went back to his room. To his great surprised, he saw his father sitting on the floor, reading the same storybook of hers on the floor!
