Hobbies are an important part of life. A great hobby will help you feel relaxed, will allow you to learn more about yourself, and will help you in developing life skills and in learning lessons that will make you live a better life. From painting to reading, there are a large number of hobbies you can take up. If you’re choosing a new hobby, the following suggestions can help you:

When looking for a new hobby, you can think about the subjects you like to learn about, or the things you enjoy doing. For example, if you’re a woman, you can take up hobbies like cooking, gardening, and more. If you’re a man, you can consider hobbies like hunting, fishing, sports, and more.

Are you a good writer, speaker, painter, or an expert at something else? Think hard about it by going over this question. You’ll certainly find your passion (激情), and this will guide you to choose a hobby that suits you.

Pay attention to your talks. What do you enjoy talking about or can go on talking about easily? You may ask others about the topics you talk about the most. Your conversations can show a lot about your passion which can be developed into a hobby.

Anyhow, picking a new hobby is a big decision, as this is an activity that you’ll spend much time and money on. But remember, it’s just a hobby. You can always consider something different if you find that the activity you chose isn’t as satisfying as you thought it would be.

1.Why should we take up some hobbies?

A. To live a better life. B. To make new friends.

C. To keep healthy. D. To find a good job.

2.What can help you with your choice of a hobby, according to Paragraph 2?

A. Occupation. B. Experience.

C. Interest. D. Money.

3.What can guide you to choose a hobby that suits you?

A. Your teacher. B. Your passion.

C. Your talks. D. Your lifestyle.

4.What does the author mean in the last paragraph?

A. You should stick to your hobby all the time.

B. It takes all your life to find a suitable hobby.

C. It is always too difficult to keep a hobby.

D. You can change your hobby if necessary.

People often ask which is the most difficult language to learn, and it is not easy to answer because there are many factors to take into consideration. Firstly, in a first language the differences are unimportant as people learn their mother tongue naturally, so the question of how hard a language is to learn is only relevant when learning a second language.

A native speaker of Spanish, for example, will find Portuguese much easier to learn than a native speaker of Chinese, for example, because Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, while Chinese is very different, so first language can affect learning a second language. The greater the differences between the second language and our first, the harder it will be for most people to learn.

Many people answer that Chinese is the hardest language to learn, possibly influenced by the thought of learning the Chinese writing system, and the pronunciation of Chinese does appear to be very difficult for many foreign learners. However, for Japanese speakers, who already use Chinese characters in their own language, learning writing will be less difficult than for speakers of languages using the Roman alphabet.

Different cultures and individuals will find different languages more difficult. In the case of Hungarian for British learners, it is not a question of the writing system, which uses a similar alphabet, but the grammatical complexity, though native speakers may find it easier, struggling with languages that the British find relatively hard.

No language is easy to learn well, though languages which are related to our first language are easier. Learning a completely different writing system is a huge challenge, but that does not necessarily make a language more difficult than another. In the end, it is impossible to say that one language that is the most difficult language in the world.

1.Who might find Portuguese an easier language to learn?

A. The Chinese. B. Russians.

C. Spanish people. D. The Japanese.

2.Why do Japanese speakers find the Chinese less difficult to learn?

A. They use Chinese characters.

B. Japan is the neighbor of China.

C. Chinese is their second language.

D. Many Japanese are learning Chinese.

3.Which is the most difficult of Hungarian for British learners?

A. Writing. B. Pronunciation.

C. Grammar. D. Alphabet.

4.What might be the author’s opinion?

A. Chinese is the hardest language.

B. Native language is always easy to learn.

C. No languages are difficult to learn well.

The other day I was talking to a stranger on the bus; he told me that he had a good ______ in Chicago and he wondered if, by any chance, I ______ to know him . For a moment, I thought he might be ______ , but I could tell from the expression on his face that he was not. He was _____. I felt like saying that it was ridiculous (可笑的) to think that out of all the millions of people in Chicago I could possibly have ever bumped into his friend. But, ______, I just smiled and reminded him that Chicago was a very _____ city. He nodded, and I thought he was going to be content to drop the subject and talk about something else. But I was wrong. He was silent for a few minutes, and then he ______ to tell me all about his friend.

His friend’s main ______ in life seemed to be tennis. He was an excellent tennis player, and he even had his own tennis court(网球场). There were a lot of people with swimming _______, yet there were only two people with private tennis court; his friend in Chicago was one of them. I told him that I knew several ______ like that, including my brother, who was doctor in California. He ______ that maybe there were more private courts in the country, than he realized but he did not know of any others. Then he asked me ______ my brother lived in California. When I said Sacramento, he said that was a coincidence(巧合) ______ his Chicago friend spent the summer in Sacramento last year and he lived next door to a ______ who had a tennis court in his backyard. I said I felt that really was a coincidence because my next-door neighbour had gone to Sacramento last summer and had hired the house next to my brother’s house. For a moment, we stared at each other, but we did not say anything.

“Would your friend’s name happen(碰巧) to be Roland Kirkwood?” I asked finally. He laughed and said,“Yes. Would your brother’s name happen to be Dr Rey Hunter?” It was my ______ to laugh. “Yes,” I replied.

1.A. brother B. teacher C. neighbour D. friend

2.A. managed B. Happened C. tried D. wanted

3.A. expecting B. lying C. joking D. talking

4.A. funny B. serious C. careful D. disappointed

5.A. indeed B. actually C. instead D. exactly

6.A. famous B. interesting C. noisy D. big

7.A. began B. stopped C. refused D. failed

8.A. problem B. interest C. choice D. work

9.A. suit B. habit C. pools D. river

10.A. people B. players C. strangers D. friends

11.A. advised B. argued C. admitted D. announced

12.A. how B. whether C. when D. where

13.A. because B. if C. then D. though

14.A. doctor B. friend C. neighbour D. player

15.A. chance B. pleasure C. time D. turn

Are you running a restaurant but can’t afford to hire waiters? Well, you could learn from this Japanese restaurant that hires monkeys for the job. In order to make them look more human, the restaurant owner even masks(用面具遮掩) their faces.

The restaurant is Kayabuki, which a traditional Japanese restaurant. They have hired a couple of monkeys named Yat-chan and Fuku-chan to work as waiters (or waitresses, we’re not sure). 16-year-old Yat-chan is the older of the two, but he moves quickly between tables as he takes the customers’ drink orders. Fuku-chan gives customers a hot towel and helps them clean their hands before they order their drinks, as is the custom in Japan. Believe it or not, the pair is actually certified(授予执照) by local authorities to work at the restaurant. The customers like them as well, so they give them beans as tips. One customer, Takayoshi, said, “The monkeys are actually better waiters than some really bad human ones.”

Yat-chan and Fuku-chan were once the household pets of the restaurant owner, Kaoru Otsuka. But the older one started imitating him in restaurant duties, and that was when he realized they were actually capable of working there. “Yat-chan first learned by just watching me working in the restaurant,” he said. “It all started when one day I gave him a hot towel and he brought the towel to the customer.”

Some customers even feel that the little monkeys are just like children, or even better. 62-year-old Shiochi Yano, a regular at Kayabuki, says, “Actually, they’re better. My son doesn’t listen to me, but Yat-chan will.” Customers also say that Yat-chan is able to understand exact orders and remember them. “We called out for more beer,” said one customer, “and he just brought us some beer. It’s amazing how he seems to understand human words.”

1.What can we learn about Yat-chan and Fuku-chan?

A. They both get beans as tips.

B. Fuku-chan is older than Yat-chan.

C. Yat-chan helps customers clean their hands.

D. Fuku-chan takes the customers’ drink orders.

2.According to Takayoshi, the two monkey waiters .

A. can understand exact orders

B. listen to him very carefully

C. can remember the regular customers

D. behave better than some human waiters

3.What does the underlined word, “imitating” in the 3rd paragraph mean?

A. surprise B. copy

C. laugh D. frustrate

4.Why did Kaoru Otsuka let the monkeys work in the restaurant?

A. He couldn’t afford to hire waiters.

B. He thought monkeys worked better than humans.

C. He found his monkeys were able to work like waiters.

D. The officials encouraged him to hire the monkeys.

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