“You are never too old to start something new!” says Englishtown student Ellen Rema, 1. began to learn English at the age of fifty. She2.(make) such great progress ever since that she can now express herself3.(free) in the language.
Ellen chose to study on Englishtown because no evening classes were offered in the German countryside where she lives. “Englishtown is a wonderful place for study,” she says. Ellen began with the first level and quickly progressed. “I spent hours and hours4.(study), ” she said. “I finished all my courses after 2 years, but I still had5.(difficult) learning the grammar.”
Instead of giving up, she chose to continue. After another two years, she’s still studying in the online classroom. “I never feel6.(tire) of studying online.”
Ellen says7.is great fun studying English. “I really like the online conversation classrooms,” she says. “I have learned so much about other8.(country) across the world.”
Ellen has been able to put her English into use9.visiting England five times! “I’m very 10. (thank) to Englishtown and my life has been improved because of it,” Ellen says.
阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
I’d been proud that I’d never lost my cellphone until my husband Jack got a call one evening.
We went to visit a friend in hospital last year. When Jack’s ________ rang, it was my mother calling from my ________. She asked if I had ________ my mobile. I checked my purse. It was ________!
I used Jack’s phone to call my number. Then a boy, whom I’ll call Rhys, ________it. “I found your phone!” he said, excitedly. “I have been trying to find you, but ________ it was getting late, I decided to leave.” He gave me the address of a ________ near his home.
Later that evening, I went to ________ him there. I didn’t dare to go ________, worrying this was some cheater. So Jack came along. After ________ 10 km, we got to the coffee shop which Rhys ________.
My ________ were gone. Rhys was just a young boy. “How did you ________ my mum?” I asked. He ________ that when he found my mobile by the roadside, he started calling people in my list of contacts (联系人). But all they ________ was my mobile phone number — which didn’t ________. He’d called many names, starting with the letter A. Finally he got Adam, one of my friends, who ________ my house.
I was ________ to get my phone back with all the contacts, messages and photos I could have lost forever. I was so ________ to Rhys and offered him so me money, but he ________.
As we drove back, we praised Rhys for his honesty.
1.A. electric car B. mobile phone C. radio D. doorbell
2.A. hospital B. company C. school D. home
3.A. found B. changed C. lost D. bought
4.A. gone B. new C. busy D. broken
5.A. accepted B. returned C. got D. answered
6.A. before B. because C. after D. if
7.
A. coffee shop B. post office
C. hotel D. supermarket
8.A. follow B. meet C. catch D. punish
9.A. slowly B. back C. alone D. finally
10.A. driving B. running C. walking D. riding
11.
A. talked about B. looked for
C. heard of D. knew about
12.A. difficulties B. fears C. diseases D. hopes
13.
A. remember B. know
C. tell D. understand
14.
A. realized B. repeated
C. explained D. believed
15.A. had B. noticed C. expected D. finished
16.A. happen B. matter C. help D. fit
17.A. called B. settled C. shared D. sold
18.A. sorry B. glad C. sad D. proud
19.A. useful B. strange C. grateful D. polite
20.A. missed B. appeared C. agreed D. refused
How to learn English well
All English learners want to improve their English, but as you know, it can be difficult! 1.The four main areas for you are: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Here are some ways to help you learn well.
Speaking
Speak as much as possible! This is the best way to learn English. 2.The fastest way to learn English is to surround yourself with English speakers. Also, get into the habit of thinking in English. Don’t translate from your own language into English — it will slow you down. And it’s fun to sing in English, so learn some English songs and sing your heart out!
Listening
Like speaking, it’s better for you to be in a totally English-speaking environment. It’s also good to watch TV shows, or movies in English. 3.But the more you listen, the more you’ll get. It’s good to listen to something over and over again. First, try to get the general meaning, and then, listen a second time for more in-depth information.
Reading
Reading English is something you can do to help you learn on your own, outside of the classroom. Newspapers are good for higher-level students. So for lower levels, try reading children’s stories or books which have been especially written for English learners. 4.You should find something that you can learn well from.
Writing
Try keeping a diary; write something in English in it every day, even if it’s very simple. 5.And the Internet is a great way to help you learn English. Try to make friends online, visit chat rooms, or post comments on blogs. These are all useful tools for you.
A.Make a plan for yourself.
B.For you, you need to work on all areas.
C.Choose easy stories and you can learn more.
D.The English news can be difficult for you at first.
E.Start with small sentences and make them longer.
F.There is nothing better than conversations to help you improve.
G.You won’t learn much if you choose a book that is too difficult or too easy.
WeChat, the Chinese social media smartphone app, saw an increase in user numbers of 41 percent year on year to 500 million at the end of last year, in a sign that parent company Tencent is extending its reach for the mobile Internet. As one of the largest Internet integrated service providers in China and one of the most Internet users in China, Tencent’s profit grew 24 percent to RMB 20.98 billion per year, slightly higher than forecasts, driven mainly by online gaming profits. It is unclear how much WeChat contributed to Tencent’s profits but the app’s growth is a strong indicator of the company’s long-term health as it tries to adjust its business to be more suitable for mobile devices.
“We extended our leadership in games and online media, and made breakthroughs in emerging platforms such as online security and mobile payments.” Ma Huateng, Tencent chairman, said in a statement. WeChat is the second highest ranked social app in China, behind QQ, Tencent’s another chatting app, which claimed to have 815 million registered monthly users at the end of 2014.
Tencent has been unwilling to earn money through WeChat by flooding it with advertising, which could influence the users’ experience. But this is expected to change. Some analysts anticipated(预期) that advertising would be introduced on a large scale later this year. Early attempts to test ads on the service have not always gone smoothly. After a BMW ad was introduced on some users’ feedbacks in January, many users who were not targeted by the brand’s marketing complained of “discrimination” by Tencent’s data mining algorithm(数据挖掘算法). They claimed it unfairly treated them as not wealthy or successful enough to view the BMW ad.
1.What can we learn from the passage?
A. WeChat is ranked behind QQ in China.
B. Tencent wants to earn more through QQ.
C. WeChat contributed most to Tencent’s profits.
D. More advertising would not be introduced later this year.
2.How did some users feel when a BMW ad was introduced?
A. Uninterested. B. Untouched.
C. Unhappy. D. Unlucky.
3.What’s the best title of this passage?
A. WeChat, a Popular APP in China
B. WeChat, a Smartphone APP in China
C. WeChat, a Profitable APP of Tencent
D. WeChat, a Nonprofit APP of Tencent
From my earlier memory of Mother it somehow seemed quite natural to think of her as different, nor of everyday things as Father was. In those days he was a young-looking man. He did not hesitate to make friends with children as soon as they were able to talk to him and laugh at his stories. Mother was older than he was. She must have been a woman of nearly forty, but she seemed even older. She changed little for a long time, showing no indication of growing old at all until, towards the end of her life, she suddenly became an old lady.
I was always inquisitive about Mother’s age. She never had birthdays like other people, nor did anyone else in our family. No candles were ever lit or cakes made or presents given in our house. To my friends in the street who talked delightfully about their birthday parties, I would repeat my mother’s words that such celebrations were only foolish.
“Nothing but deception,” she would say. “As though life can be marked by birthdays. It’s deeds, not years, that matter.”
Although I often repeated her words and even prided myself on not having birthdays, I once could not help asking Mother when she was born.
“I was born. I’m alive as you can see, so what more do you want to know?” she replied, so sharply that I never asked her about her age again.
In so many other ways Mother was different. Whereas all the rest of the women I knew in the neighboring hoses took pride in their housewifely abilities, their new furniture, the neat appearance of their homes, Mother regarded all those things as of little importance. Our house always looked as if we had just moved in or were about to move out.
1. How did Father impress the author?
A. He liked writing stories. B. He loved making friends.
C. He was a very young man. D. He was popular with children.
2.Before the end of her life, Mother ___________.
A. looked quite young
B. looked like an old lady
C. looked younger than she was
D. looked like a forty-year-old woman
3.What does the word “inquisitive” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A. Certain B. Curious. C. Cautious. D. Confident.
4.What do we learn about Mother?
A. She was lazy. B. She was strict.
C. She was proud. D. She was special
Many of us love July because it’s the month when nature’s berries and stone fruits are in abundance. These colourful and sweet jewels form British Columbia’s fields are little powerhouses of nutritional protection.
Of the common berries, strawberries are highest in vitamin C, although, because of their seeds, raspberries contain a little more protein (蛋白质), iron and zinc (not that fruits have much protein). Blueberries are particularly high in antioxidants (抗氧化物质). The yellow and orange stone fruits such as peaches are high in the carotenoids we turn into vitamin A and which are antioxidants. As for cherries (樱桃), they are so delicious who cares? However, they are rich in vitamin C.
When combined with berries of slices of other fruits, frozen bananas make an excellent base for thick, cooling fruit shakes and low fat “ice cream”. For this purpose, select ripe bananas for freezing as they are much sweeter. Remove the skin and place them in plastic bags or containers and freeze. If you like, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice on the bananas will prevent them turning brown. Frozen bananas will last several weeks, depending on their ripeness and the temperature of the freezer.
If you have a juicer, you can simply feed in frozen bananas and some berries or sliced fruit. Out comes a “soft-serve” creamy dessert, to be eaten right away. This makes a fun activity for a children’s party; they love feeding the fruit and frozen bananas into the top of the machine and watching the ice cream come out below.
1.What does the author seem to like about cherries?
A.They contain protein. B.They are high in vitamin A.
C.They have a pleasant taste. D.They are rich in antioxidants.
2.Why is fresh lemon juice used in freezing bananas?
A.To make them smell better. B.To keep their colour.
C.To speed up their ripening. D.To improve their nutrition.
3.What is “a juicer” in the last paragraph?
A.A dessert. B.A drink.
C.A container. D.A machine.
4.From which is the text probably taken?
A.A biology textbook. B.A health magazine.
C.A research paper. D.A travel brochure.
