Question

【题目】If you are like most international students, you are probably pretty comfortable reading and writing in English. 【1】 Below are some tips to help you to improve your conversational skills.

Make friends with American students. Many international students end up making friends with a lot of—or only—other international students. 【2】 Hanging out with natives not only naturally pushes you to improve your spoken English, but also helps you pick up cultural and social information.

Learn from American friends. Tell your American friends that you are trying to improve your listening and speaking skills, and would like them to help you. If you pronounce a word incorrectly, or misuse an idiom, you ask them to guide you. 【3】

Increase your knowledge. 【4】 If you have been exposed to topics that are likely to be discussed in conversation, you have a much better chance of understanding people when they talk, and of being able to express yourself well.

【5】 If you have to explain something to someone, you have a strong motivation to pronounce everything as well as you can, and find other ways to explain yourself. Finally, this becomes a good habit. Many people have asked me how I learned to speak English fluently, and I owe most of it to my years of being a math teacher in college for years.

A. It is bad for them to do that.

B. You will make progress this way.

C. If possible, become a teacher at your school.

D. It's a win-win opportunity for international students.

E. Keep up with news and watch popular shows and movies.

F. Explaining everything in a different way counts.

G. You may have trouble in listening and speaking in the language, however.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】G

【2】A

【3】B

【4】E

【5】C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，通常来说国际生在英语阅读和写作方面没什么困难，但在英语听说技能方面存在问题。文章中作者提出了四种提高英语听说技能的建议。

【1】横线前句“If you are like most international students, you are probably pretty comfortable reading and writing in English.”告诉我们国际生在英语阅读和写作方面没什么问题。横线后句中提及“对话技能”，可知国际生在英语听说技能方面存在问题。故G项“You may have trouble in listening and speaking in the language, however.”符合上下文串联。

【2】本段中作者建议国际生要和美国学生交朋友。而根据横线前句“Many international students end up making friends with a lot of—or only—other international students.”可知实际上国际生还是和国际生成为了朋友，并没有和美国学生做朋友。这样做对英语学习并无好处。故A项符合上下文串联。

【3】本段建议国际生向美国朋友学习。横线前句“If you pronounce a word incorrectly, or misuse an idiom, you ask them to guide you.”告诉我们如果你在语言运用方面出现了问题，可以请求美国朋友指导你。这样做会让你取得进步。故A项符合上下文串联。

【4】横线后句“If you have been exposed to topics that are likely to be discussed in conversation…”可知作者建议国际生要经常接触最新的话题，可以在对话中更好理解对方的意思。E项“Keep up with news and watch popular shows and movies.接触新闻并观看流行的影视剧”与上下文语境相符。

【5】根据文章最后一句I owe most of it to my years of being a math teacher in college for years.可知作者认为在大学里做老师对自己的英语学习有很大的好处。可知作者本段中建议国际生尽量做老师，因为做老师可以提高英语水平。故C项符合上下文串联。

本文的解题依据是文章最后一句I owe most of it to my years of being a math teacher in college for years.中的being a math teacher。本题提示我们可以根据上下文中的文字线索来解题。做题时很重要的一点是保持对一些线索词的敏感，最主要的线索特征词是空白前后的名词和动词，寻找答案时注意在选项中查找同义词、近义词、反义词或表示同一类事物的词语等。其次是代词、数词、表示时间/年代的词、地点/名称等专有名词等。尤其是在读不懂句子的情况下，利用这样的线索词寻找答案是很有效的方法。