There is a lot of misunderstanding about studying. Most students have not been taught the principles behind really effective working. Imagine a graph showing the amount a person learns against the number of hours he works in a day. If he doesn’t do any work, he learns nothing (point 0). If he does an hour’s work he learns a certain amount (point 1). If he does two hours’ work he learns about twice as much (point 2). If he does more work he’ll learn still more (point 3). However, if he tries to do twenty-three and a half hours’ work in a day, he will be so tired that he’ll hardly remember anything: what he learns will be very little (point 4). If he did less work he’d learn more (point 5).

Now whatever the exact shape of the graph’s curve(曲线), made by joining these points, it must have a high point. Point “X” is the very maximum anyone can learn in the day. And this represents the optimum(最适度), the best, amount of work to do. It is the best possible compromise between adequate time at the books and fatigue(劳累). Fatigue is an absolutely real thing; one can’t escape it or ignore it. If you try to ignore it and press yourself to work past the optimum, you will only get on this downward slope and achieve less than the best – and then become very tired and lose your power of concentration.

The skill in being a student consists of getting one’s daily study as near the optimum point as possible. I cannot tell you what the optimum is. It differs with the type of work, it differs from person to person, and even in the same person it varies from week to week. You must try to find your own. Every day you study, bear this principle of the optimum in mind. When you feel yourself getting fatigued, if you find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over again and not taking it in, that’s a pretty good sign you’ve reached your highest point for the day and should stop. Most ordinary students find their optimum at five hours a day. Yours may be a little more or a little less – but if you get in five hours’ good work a day, you will be doing well.

Now, what are you doing with yourself when you aren’t working? Before examinations some students do nothing at all except sit in a chair and worry. Here is another misunderstanding. People often think that the mind works like the body; it does not. If one wanted to save one’s physical energy in order to cut the maximum amount of firewood, one would lie flat on a bed and rest when one wasn’t chopping. But the mind cannot rest. Even in sleep you dream, even if you forget your dreams. The mind is always turning. It gets its relaxation only by variety. That is what makes the mind rest.

When you’ve finished your optimum number of hours you must stop. You must not then sit around in the chair thinking about the work – that only tires without any learning. You must get out and do something. It doesn’t matter what – anything so long as you are actively doing something else but work.

1.According to the passage, _______.

2.Fatigue can result in ________.

3.The passage tells us that a person’s optimum number of working hours _______.

4.The only way the mind can relax is by ________.

5.After you have reached the optimum point of study in a day, you should ________.

English is spoken as a first language by most people in the USA, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada. However, English is spoken all over the world. It is the main language in over 60 countries, such as India, Singapore and in many of the Caribbean and Pacific islands. In those places English is often a second language.

English is also as an important international language in many other countries, like China and Japan. People in these countries use it for business, and travelers to these countries use English when they get there. Other people may learn English because they enjoy reading books in English, listening to British or American music or watching American films.

English has changed a lot these years and still goes on changing. It is no longer right to talk about British English or American English if the speaker doesn’t come from those countries. People in Japan or Korea, for example, may use the American spelling but may not sound like Americans.

English will be the most widely used language in the world in the 21^st century. This language no longer belongs to British, American or Australian speakers. It belongs to anyone who can use this language. After you leave school, you will almost certainly need it.

1.In how many countries is English spoken as a first language in the world?

2.In which other countries is English spoken as a main language?

3.People from other countries learn English for         .

4.If people in Japan or Korea use the American spelling, they         .

5.Which topic is the best for the passage?

Below are some classified(分类的) ads from an English newspaper.

●FOR SALE

Come to our moving sale — Plants, pottery, books，clothes, etc. Sat, Dec. 14th — 9a. m.---5p. m. 1612 Ferndale, Apt. 1. Call 800 4696.

Used fur coats and jackets. Good condition. $ 30 -- $ 50. Call 800 0436

Moving: Must sell. TV21, $ 50; AM/FM radio A/C or battery, $ 15; cassette    tape recorder, $ 10. Call 800 0739

●LOST AND FOUND

Found: Cat, 6 months old, black and white markings. Found near Linden and  South U. Steve. 800 4661.

LOST: Gold wire rim glasses in brown case. Campus area. Reward. Call 8002896.

FOUND: Nov. 8th — A black and white puppy in PackardJewett area. Call 8005770.

●PERSONAL

OVERSEAS JOBS—Australia, Europe, S. America, Africa. Students all

professions and occupations, $ 700 to $ 3000 monthly. Expenses paid, overtime

Sightseeing. Free information at Students’ Union.

The International Center plans to publish a booklet of student travel adventures. If you’ d like to write about your foreign experiences, unusual or just plain interesting, call us (800 9310) and ask for Mike or Janet.

●ROOMMATES

FEMALE ROOMMATE

WANTED: Own room near campus. Available December 1st. Rent $ 300 per month until March 1st. $ 450 thereafter. Call Jill for details, 800 7839.

●DOMESTIC SERVICE

Early hour wake up

Service: For prompt (on time), courteous (polite) wakeup service, call 800 0760.

●HELP WANTED

Babysitter — my home

If you are available a few hours during the day, and some evenings to care for 2 schoolage children, please call Gayle Moore, 800 1111,

Person wanted for delivery work. Own transportation. Good pay. Apply 2311 E. Stadium. Office 101, after 9 a. m.

Waitress wanted 10a. m. --2 p. m. or 10∶30 a. m. --5 p．m. Apply in person.

207 S. Main, Curtis Restaurant.

Help wanted for house cleaning 1/2 day on weekends. Good wages. Sylvan Street. Call 800 2817.

1.Where will you post a notice if you need someone to look after your children?

A. PERSONAL.              B. ROOMMATES

C. DOMESTIC SERVICE.      D.HELP WANTED.

2.A secondhand jacket will probably cost you________.

3.To have your travel notes published, you may contact________.

4.If you want to have someone wake you up in the morning，you may call________.

阅读下面的短文，并根据文章后的要求答题。（请注意问题后的词数要求）

[1] The key word is practice! Practice, practice, practice!! There is no other way. There is no magic. The way to get better at listening to English is to listen to English. That’s the not-so-good news.

[2] The good news is there are many ways to listen and many things to listen to.

[3] Listening to English songs can be fun. But be careful! Most ____________ use the language in a special way that you don’t hear every day. You don’t want to start speaking English like a poet or songwriter. If you do listen to English songs, listen to different ones. This will help you train your ears to different voices, pronunciations and rhythms.

[4] If you can, get a copy of the lyrics(歌词) so you can read them and listen to them at the same time. It is sometimes better to listen with your eyes as well as your ears—more information to help the brain.

[5] Watch English DVDs. But, this time, do not use your eyes to read the subtitles (字幕). Turn off the subtitles, because movies have so many other clues about what is happening that it is better not to use the subtitles. This forces your ears to do the work.

[6] Choose one character (人物) that interests you and pay attention to what they say and how they say it. If you can, repeat a line out loud after they have said it. Teach yourself one or more sayings, phrases or ways of talking that you will use after watching the movie.

[7] A new and growing resource of English language for listening can be found in blogs. Blogs are in MP3 format and can be loaded first onto your computer and then onto you MP3 player for very convenient take-with-you listening.

[8] You can find many English listening practices are fun, new, educational and in unending supply.

1.What is the main idea of the passage? (within 10 words.)

___________________________________________________________________________

2.Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

   At times, we can use not only our ears but our eyes to listen to get more information..

___________________________________________________________________________

3.Please fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (within 2 words.)

___________________________________________________________________________

4.List three ways of practising your English listening. (within 15words.)

①__________________        ②__________________        ③__________________

5.Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 into Chinese.

________________________________________________________________________

Winners Club

You choose to be a winner!

The Winners Club is a bank account specially designed for teenagers．It has been made to help you better manage your money．The Winners Club is a transaction account(交易账户)where you receive a key-card so you can get to your money 24／7---that’s 24 hours a day，7 days a week!

It’s a club with impressive features for teenagers：

●No account keeping fees!

You’re no millionaire so we don’t expect you to pay large fees．In fact，there are no account keeping or transaction fees!

●Excellent interest rates!

You want your money to grow．The Winners Club has a good rate of interest which gets even better if you make at least two deposits(储蓄)without taking them out in a month．

●Convenient

Teenagers are busy—we get that．You may never need to come to a bank at all．With the Winners Club you can choose to use handy tellers and to bank from home using the phone and the Internet…You can have money directly deposited into your Winners Club account．This could be your pocket money or your pay from your part-time job!

●Mega magazine included

Along with your regular report，you will receive a FREE magazine full of good ideas to make even more of your money．There are also fantastic offers and competitions only for Winners Club members．

The Winners Club is a great choice for teenagers．And it is so easy to join．Simply fill in an application form．You will have to get permission from your parent or guardian (so we can organize that cool key-card) but it is easy．We can’t wait to hear from you．It’s the best way to choose to be a winner !

1.The Winners Club is a bank account intended for__________．

2.Which of the following is TRUE about the Winners Club?

3.The Winners Club provides magazines which___________．

4.If you want to be a member of the Club，you must_________．

5.What is the purpose of this text?