American and British people both speak English of course. But sometimes it does not seem like the same language. In fact, there are some important differences between British English and American English.
First of all, they sound very different. Often, Americans don’t say each word separately. They say several words together. Americans may say “I dunno” instead of “I don’t know”. Or they may say “Whaddya say?” instead of “What did you say?” however, the British are more careful in their speech. They usually say all the words and keep them separate.
Words sometimes have different meanings too. Some American words are never used in England. The same thing is true of some British words in America. For example, the vocabulary（词汇）for cars and driving is very different. Americans drive trucks, but in England people drive lorries.
Many expressions are also different in the two countries. In England, if you are going to telephone your friends, you “phone them up”. In America, you “give them a call”.
There’re also some differences in grammar. For example, when Americans ask a question., they say “Do you have a storybook?” But the British often say “Have you a storybook?”
All these differences can be confusing （易混淆的）if you are learning English. But most languages are like this. Languages change over time. When people live in separate places, the languages change in different ways. This is what has happened to English. It can also happen to other languages, such as French. Many people in Canada speak French but their French is very different from the French of France.
【小题1】What does the word “separate” mean in the passage? It means “____”

After a quick breakfast, I went into the lecture(讲座) hall in a hurry. A famous teacher was speaking to the students. He was holding up a $100 bill. Then he said to over 300 students, “ Who would like this $100 bill?” The students put up their hands at once. Then he said, “I am going to give this $100 bill to one of you, but first, let me do this.” He made the bill into a ball. Then he said, “Who wants it now?” The hands went back into the air. “Well,” he said, “What if I do this?” and he dropped it on the floor and stepped on it. He picked up the dirty bill and said, “Who still wants it?” Hands went back again into the air.
“My friends,” he said, “you have learned a valuable lesson today. No matter what I did to the $100 bill, you still want this bill. Many times in our life, we are dropped and stepped on. We feel as if we are worth nothing. But remember, no matter what has happened to you, you will never lose your value. You are always valuable to those people who love you. Your value doesn’t come form what you do or whom you know, but who you are.”
【小题1】The lecture was given _____________.

One of the most remarkable things about the human mind is our ability to imagine the future. In our minds we can see what has not yet happened. For example, while we are looking forward to 1._____a new place or country, we 2._____what it will be like. We predict( 预料) the habit people will eat, dress and act. Of course, we do not always predict things 3._____. Things are often very different from the way we 4._____them to be.
One of the 5._____ dreams in history is the dream of the German scientist, Kekule, who had been 6._____ to work out a very difficult problem in physics. He had studied and analyzed(分析) the problem from every angle(角度) for days, but there 7._____ to be no way of 8._____ out the answer. Then one night he went to bed and dreamed. When he 9._____ up, he realized that he knew the answer. He had solved the problem in his 10._____.
The hypnotist(催眠者) sat in the chair opposite him and spoke 11._____: I want you to concentrate on my voice. Think about 12._____. You know nothing but my voice. And as you pay attention to my voice, your 13._____ will get heavier. Soon you’ll be asleep.
You will hear my voice and understand my words, but your body will be asleep, your eyes are too heavy. You are almost asleep, and when you wake up you will 14._____ nothing.
You will forget everything. Now I am going to 15._____ slowly from one to five. One, two, three, four, five.

Two teachers were sitting in the teachers' room. For a moment there was silence. Then one of them, Miss Smith, said, "I'm afraid I'd have to fail him! I just can’t let him   16  . "
"Now Alice," said her friend, Mrs Jackson, "is he so terrible a student?"
"That's just the trouble!" the other woman answered, "Tom was ever my   17  student. The problem is that he is so lazy that he never gets his work done. He hasn't handed me a piece of homework for three     18   !"
Mrs Jackson had never seen Miss Smith so   19  before. "Have you had a word with him about it?" she asked.
"Why should I? Every student must hand in homework. I made    20  very clear on the first day for class.  I don't know what has happened. When the lessons started, he did so well that I   21  thought about asking the school to give him a scholarship(奖学金). But now he often sleeps in class! I've never seen such a  22  in a student."
"You should have a talk with him. Give him a chance. "
Miss Smith spoke to Tom and learned all about it. He was studying all day and working most of the night in a factory to   23   for his schooling. Of course he was   24  in class and sometimes could hardly   25  awake. Miss Smith soon asked the school to give him a scholarship and he was able to devote himself to his lessons again.

I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job. I also think my work is important. I wasn’t an excellent student because I didn’t do much schoolwork. In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn’t have much to offer.
I then found myself a job, looking after two little girls. It wasn’t too bad at first. But the problems began when I agreed to live in. I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening. We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week, she’d give me time off the next. But unluckily, it didn’t often work out. I was getting very tired. Because I had too many late nights and early mornings with the children.
One Sunday, I was in the park with the children, and met Megan who used to go to school with me. I told her about my situation. She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification（资格证书）if I wanted to work with children. I didn’t think I would be accepted because I didn’t take many exams in school. She asked me to phone the local college and they were really helpful. My experience counted for a lot and I got on a part-time course. I had to leave my job with the family, and got work helping out at a kindergarten.
Now I’ve got a full-time job there. I shall always be thankful to Megan. I wish I had known earlier that I could have a success, even if I am not top of the class at school.
【小题1】What do you think of the writer when she was a student?