I recently heard a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical achievements. A newspaper reporter interviewed him why he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others?
He responded that it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he dropped the slippery bottle, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor-a real sea of milk!
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of shouting at him, giving him a lecture or punishing him, she said, “Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge pool of milk. Well,the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?”
Indeed, the boy did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. How would you like to do that? We could use a sponge (海绵), a towel or a mop. Which do you prefer?” He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.
His mother then said, “You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let’s go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can find a way to carry it without dropping it.” The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could make it. What a wonderful lesson!
This famous scientist then said that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be afraid to make mistakes.
1.When the mother found the kitchen floor covered with milk, she ______ .
A.gave the boy a lecture instead of shouting at him
B.praised the boy instead of punishing him
C.felt satisfied with the boy’s trying to help himself
D.calmed down the boy and helped him find a way to clean the floor
2.The child’s experience resulted in the following BUT ______ .
A.offering the boy a chance to grasp the bottle
B.benefiting the boy all his life
C.helping the boy be more creative
D.making the boy realize the mistake is of value
3.According to the passage, the way the scientist’s mother used is ______ .
A.instructive
B.strict
C.formal
D.strange
用模块一Units1-2所学的新单词的恰当形式填空。
1.He didn't realize visitors were ____________ (要求) not to take photos in the museum until then.
2.The family ____________ (遭受) heavy losses in the Second World War.
3.They were told to wear ____________ (正式的) clothes to attend the meeting.
4.He i____________ all the ' No Smoking' signs and lit up a cigarette.
5.He spoke English with a strong African ____________(口音).
6.Although Bill and Jill d____________ on most things, they are best friends.
7.If you have difficulties in English reading, one important thing you must do is to increase your v____________.
8.I would be g____________ if you could give me some advice.
9.People ____________ (在场的) in the party were all shocked at the news.
10.Besides his n____________ language, the super star can speak 7 foreign languages.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Air travel makes both people and service dogs very nervous. There are classes 1.people get help to defeat their fear of flying. And there is similar training for service dogs 2. (suffer) the same problem. You will 3. (frequent) see them working on buses, trains and other public transport systems. But the busy environment found at an airport can trouble even the 4. (good) trained service dogs. People with disabilities depend on 5. (they) dogs. They should be reliable, and they can safely guide the people through security areas. It is especially when the flying is not smooth 6.they need the dogs to remain calm on duty on the airplane. It takes special training.
The Air Hollywood K9 Flight Center is a school where such help 7.guiding the disabled can be found. Dog trainers say successful training 8. (base) on a simple rule: preparation. Being exposed(暴露) repeatedly to the environment, to loud noises, to sounds, makes dogs used to acting and they don't get9. ( excite), when they are trained on a daily basis.
Dog 10. (own) who have attended the training at Air Hollywood K9 Flight School — it was opened say they now feel much more at ease about future flights. Their dogs also seem ready for takeoff.
Learning how to use new words well will make it easier to learn a language and make you more knowledgeable.
1..If you are committed to building your vocabulary, set a goal for yourself. Try to learn three new words a day and use them in your speech and writing. With great efforts, you can learn several thousand new words that you will remember and use.
Write more.2.. Actively exercising your writing muscles will keep your vocabulary strong. Write letters to old friends and use lots of specific details.3. If you typically avoid composing memos or writing group emails or participating in group discussions, change your habits and write more. You might as well get paid while you are building your vocabulary.
Use flash cards or post-it notes around your house. If you're going to make a habit of learning new words, try some simple memorization techniques. Hang post-its with the definition of a particular word you hope to memorize above the coffee maker, so you can study it while making your morning cup. 4. Even if you're watching TV or doing other activities, keep some flash cards with you and study your new words.
Use accurate adjectives and precise nouns. The best writers aim to keep it short and accurate. Get out the dictionaries and use the most accurate words possible in your sentences.5.. A word is a useful addition to your vocabulary if it reduces the number of the words in a sentence.
A.Have a goal
B.Set an example
C.Don't use three words when one will do
D.Start keeping a diary if you don't, or start a blog
E.Consider taking on more writing tasks at work
F.Stick a new word to each house plant so you can study while watering
G.It also pays to create a good habit of guessing what the writer is really trying to say
If you ask people to name the one person who had the greatest effect on the English language, you will get answers like “Shakespeare,” “Samuel Johnson,” and “Webster,” but none of these men had any effect at all compared to a man who didn’t even speak English-William the Conqueror.
Before 1066, in the land we now call Great Britain lived peoples belonging to two major language groups. In the west central region lived the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, though not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic. In the rest of the country lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, who spoke what we now call Anglo-Saxon (or Old English), a Germanic language. If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would be close to German.
But this state of affairs did not last. In l066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England. For about a century, French became the official language of Eng-land while Old English became the language of peasants. As a result, English words of Politics and the law come from French rather than German. In some cases, modern English even shows a distinction (区别) between upper-class French and lower-class Anglo-Saxon in its words. We even have different words for some foods, meat in particular, depending on whether it is still out in the fields or at home ready to be cooked, which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing the farming, while the upper-class Normans were doing most of the eating.
When Americans visit Europe for the first time, they usually find Germany more "foreign" than France because the German they see on signs and advertisements seems much more different from English than French does. Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic in its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of one man's ambition.
1.The two major languages spoken in what is now called Great Britain before l066 were
A.Welsh and Scottish B.Nordic and Germanic
C.Celtic and Old English. D.Anglo-Saxon and Germanic
2.Which of the following groups of words are, by inference, rooted in French?
A.president, Lawyer, beef B.president, bread, water
C.bread, field, sheep D.folk, field, cow
3.Why does France appear less foreign than Germany to Americans on their first visit to Europe?
A.Most advertisements in France appear in English.
B.They know little of the history of the English language.
C.Many French words are similar to English ones.
D.They know French better than German.
4.What is the subject discussed in the text?
A.The history of Great Britain.
B.The similarity between English and French.
C.The rule of England by William the Conqueror.
D.The French influences on the English language.
There are some differences between American English and British English. Some differences are quite interesting.
When my friend Lily from London used the word "larder", I didn't know what it meant. Realizing I didn't follow her, she used another word. I finally knew she wanted to find something to keep some food.
The next word came up when we were planning a lunch date. She jotted down the date and time in her diary, while I marked my calendar. If she called me on the phone, she would ring me up. But if the line was busy, she would say the line was engaged.
Most times, I can know what Lily means. Last week, she regretted sending her boys to watch an early morning tennis game without their fleeces. I thought that she meant without their jackets or something like those. Other times, we have to ask each other. She recently told me a funny tale about a woman who was pissed. I wondered what had made the lady angry. It turns out that pissed means drunk.
Here is one more example. My British friend Jane was filling out a ticket at the grocery store（食品杂货店）recently. She asked the young man if he had a rubber. When she noticed he didn't follow her, she quickly asked for an eraser, which, in England, is often called a rubber.
In order to communicate well with the British, we Americans should learn some words that the British use differently. And I think people who learn English as a second language should also realize that there are differences between American English and British English.
1.When Lily used the word "larder", she was probably looking for a ________.
A. cup B. ladder
C. cupboard D. cooker
2.What does the underlined phrase "jotted down" in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. Wrote down. B. Left behind.
C. Looked for. D. Settled down.
3.According to the passage, Lily regretted sending her boys to watch a tennis game mainly because ________. .
A. the game was boring
B. she wanted to spend time with her boys
C. she didn't dress her boys in thick clothes
D. her boys got lost
4.What is the passage mainly about？
A. The British way of using words.
B. Some new words the writer's British friends taught her.
C. The reasons why Americans can't follow the British at times.
D. Some words used differently in British English and American English.
