Language teachers, learners and other professionals across the USA are celebrating National Grammar Day on March 4. The holiday, created by Martha Brockenbrough in 2008, celebrates the rules and best practices for the English language. Brockenbrough is the founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, or SPOGG, which operates a website where Brockenbrough writes about different language issues.
Mignon Fogarty, who is organizing National Grammar Day celebrations this year, wrote the book “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.” Fogarty appeared on the NBC television program “Today” on Wednesday. She discussed new additions to the English language. “People think that dictionaries choose new words because they are proper, she said.” But mostly they choose words because people use them.”
The American Dialect Society chooses a word every year that is new or used in a new way .The choice for 2015 Word of the Year was “they,” used to refer to “he” or “she”. The Oxford English Dictionary adds new words after finding evidence people are using the words often. Researchers for the dictionary also look for evidence the words will be used well into the future.
Grammarly is a software application, or app, which can study writing and find grammar mistakes. In preparation for National Grammar Day, Grammarly studied the writing on the Twitter accounts of the 50 people with the most followers in the world and counted the average number of mistakes in their writing. Then the top 10 accounts with the fewest mistakes were listed.
Comedian Conan O’Brien had the best grammar. He averaged 0.21 mistakes for every 100 words he wrote. Businessman Bill Gates had the second best grammar, with an average of 0.22 mistakes. President Barack Obama came third with an average of 0.26 mistakes.
The National Grammar Day website has many resources for language learners. You can celebrate the day by reading our weekly series “Everyday Grammar.”
1.National Grammar Day is created to ________.
A.celebrate the birth of English grammar
B.improve the standard use of English
C.found the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar
D.publish diferent language issues
2.From the passage, we know new words are added in dictionaries mainly because they are ________.
A.properly used B.frequently used
C.newly used D.hardly used
3.Using Grammarly, we can ________.
A.read articles online B.correct errors in spelling
C.find grammar mistakes in writings D.check accounts of famous people
4.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A.Grammar is important to language learners.
B.Grammarly is a useful software application.
C.Famous people make fewer grammar mistakes.
D.National Grammar Day is celebrated in some way.
Ray Tokuda, a 54-year-old Japanese American, is proud of the title his school has given him. He is a shifu, a Chinese word meaning a master of martial arts.
He has been involved with Chinese martial arts for over four decades. After leaning them at the martial arts school in US New Mexico State, today he is among the most experienced kung fu teachers of the school.
Founded by a Chinese American in 1974, the training center accepts only those with stunning kung fu skills and a profound understanding of martial arts as its masters according to Shanti Thomas, general manager of the school.
Practicing martial arts two to three hours and helping students improve their skills have become Tokuda’s daily routine. Tokuda is teaching and learning at the same time now. He spends around 15 to 20 hours a week honing his skills and is also working on standardizing the Tai Chi curriculum for the training center.
He was sent to the martial arts school at 10, but he was unwilling in the beginning. His father had always wanted to learn Chinese martial arts but never got the chance, so he put him in.
He was afraid at that time because he thought kung fu was all about punching and kicking. But things changed after he learned that martial arts were more than that. “One of the things martial arts teach you is overcoming adversity (逆境),” Tokuda said. “As a little kid, my first lesson was that I could overcome it by diligence, perseverance and dedication.”
Learning Chinese martial arts was also an eye-opening experience because he could hear many ancient Chinese kung fu-related stories to better understand the essence of martial arts, Tokuda joined a China tour organized by his school in 2002. He described it as a martial arts pilgrimage (朝圣). “We went to Shaolin and Wudang and exchanged views and skills with kung fu masters there,” he said, fired by excitement while talking about the experience.
1.According to Shanti Thomas, who can be a master of the martial arts school?
A.One experienced in wushu and understanding its essence.
B.Those gifted and interested in martial arts.
C.Those having a good knowledge of martial arts.
D.One who knows many ancient martial arts stories.
2.What does the underlined word “honing” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A.Introducing. B.Improving.
C.Advertising. D.Displaying
3.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.The martial arts school was founded by Shanti Thomas in 1974.
B.Tokuda paid a visit to Shaolin and Wudang by himself in 2002.
C.Tokuda spends about 15 to 20 hours a week training students.
D.Martial arts can teach one to overcome challenges.
4.Why was Ray Tokuda sent to learn Chinese martial arts?
A.Because he was crazy about Chinese culture.
B.Because he wanted to be a martial arts master.
C.Because his father had wanted to learn but could not.
D.Because his parents wanted to better understand Chinese culture.
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1.You can write for AC on condition that you .
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A.the space it covers B.the topic it deals with
C.the opinion it voices D.the page views it receives
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A.encourage people to write more articles for AC
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假设你是李华，是某国际学校的学生会主席。你校将举办英语演讲比赛，请根据以下内容，用英语拟一份口头通知。
时间: 1月17日下午4:00-5:30；
地点: 学校礼堂(auditorium)；
要求: ①每班派一个选手参加；
②提前10分钟抽题，并就题目发表3分钟演讲；
③评委由本校外教和部分英语教师组成；
④当场宣布结果。
注意: 1. 词数100字左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Boys and girls, __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That’s all. Thank you.
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处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅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：在错的词下画一横线，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。
My father’s friend Henry used to be a teacher at a medical school and he was very strict to his students. The students were afraid of him though he was seldom pleased with the answers they gave. Once a student seated before him, and Henry required him to describe a certain illness, his description of them turned out to be OK. Then Henry asked about the cure for the illness, but the student gave the right answer. “How much will you give the patient?” “A full spoon!” Suddenly the student realizes that there was anything wrong. He said anxiously, “I’ve made the mistake; a full spoon is too many, and he can take only five drops.” “It’s too late; your patient has been died.” Henry said coldly.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
When I first heard about the Belt and Road Initiative (“一带一路”倡议). I thought about something simple and straightforward — like a fragrant cup of tea.
For centuries, tea has brought 1.(culture), communities, and people closer together. In the past centuries, tea 2.(connect) economies through trade and investment. The Belt and Road Initiative holds a similar promise, 3.is about connecting cultures, communities, economies, and people. It is about awaking ancient trade routes and 4.(build) new ones. It is also about adding new economic flavors by creating infrastructure (基础建设) projects based on 21st century expertise and standards. Delivering on this promise is not an easy task, 5.doing so could bring great benefits.
First, high-quality infrastructure could help stimulate potential global 6. (grow), and raise the incomes of millions of people. As the Chinese proverb 7. (go), “To become rich, one must first build roads.” A second benefit is greater inclusiveness. Think of 8.(improve) roads in rural areas that can boost productivity and access to health services. By sharing the benefits of investment and knowledge more broadly, improvement will be 9.(strong) and more inclusive. A third benefit is stronger economic cooperation. This would help boost global trade, investment, and financial cooperation, making 10. easier to share the benefits of growth more widely. All this is good for consumers, good for productivity, and good for poverty reduction.
