阅读理解

　　I was puzzled! Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old copse which was of no use to anybody? She had written letters to the local paper, even to a national, protesting about a projected by-pass to her village, and, looking at a map, the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasn’t as if the area was attractive．I was more than puzzled, I was curious．

　　The enquiry into the route of the new by-pass to the village was due to take place shortly, and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her．So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door, being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods．

　　“I’ve always loved this place,” she said, “it has a lot of memories for me, and for others．We all used it．They called it ‘Lovers lane’．It’s not much of a lane, and it doesn’t go anywhere important, but that’s why we all came here．To be away from people, to be by ourselves．” she added．

　　It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard．Squirrels watched from the branches, quite bold in their movements, obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear．I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built, so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community over-riding the opinions of private individuals, I said nothing．The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children, their safety was more important to me than an old woman’s strange ideas．

　　“Take this tree,” she said pausing after a short while．“To you it is just that, a tree．Not unlike many others here．” She gently touched the bark, “Look here, under this branch, what can you see?”

　　“It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife．” I said after a cursory inspection．

　　“Yes, that’s what it is!” she said softly．

　　She went on, “He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve them．We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army．I had guessed of course．It was the last evening we ever spent together, because he went away the next day, back to his Unit．”

　　Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed．“His mother showed me the telegram．‘Sergeant R Holmes…Killed in action in the invasion of France．’…”

　　“I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married．” she said, “He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies’- she was like that!”

　　“Two years later she too was dead．‘Pneumonia(肺炎), following a chill on the chest’ was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart．A child would have helped both of us．”

　　There was a further pause．Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him．“And now they want to take our tree away from me．” Another quiet sob, then she turned to me．“I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn’t always the old woman you see here now．I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forward to．”

　　She paused again and looked around．The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound．“There were others, of course, but no one can match my Robin!” she said strongly．“And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds．If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would tell him．Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did．Yes, I would tell him!”

　　I turned away, sick at heart．

阅读理解

　　Here are a few tips we’ve put together to help you learn English well．

　　Tip 1　Speak, speak, speak!

　　Practise speaking as often as you can－even speaking to yourself is good practice．

　　Try recording yourself whenever you can．Compare your pronunciation with the master version, see how you can do better and have another go．If you do this several times, you will find that each version is better than the last．

　　Tip 2　Why not learn with someone else?

　　It helps if you can learn with someone else．If you can persuade a friend or family member to study with you, it will make you keep working．Agree times to meet and set goals for the week, and test each other regularly．

　　Tip 3　Don’t get stuck by a word you don’t know

　　Ptactise improvising(即兴的)ways of getting your meaning across when speaking spontaneously(本能地), even if you don’t know the exact words or phrases．Think of things you might want to say whenever you have spare time．A basic example is the rise of tenses．If you don’t know the past tense but want to talk about yesterday, use the verb in the present tense and use the word for “yesterday”．Use facial expression, hand movements, anything to get your meaning across．

　　Tip 4　Language learning is also about intuition(直觉)

　　Guesswork is an important strategy in learning a new language．When listening to recorded material, you aren’t expected to understand everything first time round．If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time．Learn to make maximum use of all the clues you can pick up．For example, what do the speakers sound like? Happy? Angry? Calm? etc．

　　Tip 5　Build up your vocabulary

　　A wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning but don’t try to learn too much at once．It’s best to study frequently, for short periods of time．Take a maximum of six or seven items of vocabulary and learn them．Put them into sentences to fix them in your mind, then come back to them later．Much of the vocabulary in the course is presented by topic．

　　And above all, have fun!

完形填空

　　It is exciting to visit different places．As you 　　1　　, you will see beautiful 　　2　　 of the region．　　3　　, you can meet and make friends with people of different 　　4　　 and races．Finally, you can get to know the customs and living 　　5　　 of the local people．Today people are so fond of 　　6　　 that tourism has become one of the fastest growing industries in most countries．

　　The 　　7　　 reason why people travel is, perhaps, for 　　8　　．For example, having worked hard throughout the weekdays, people will find a widened trip to the 　　9　　 mountains or beaches for a real relaxation．For 　　10　　 example, spending an annual(每年的)holiday 　　11　　 abroad is an especially 　　12　　 experience for those who do not have much of a 　　13　　 to be away from their homelands．When people 　　14　　 their travel, they will generally feel fresh and 　　15　　, ready to work harder．Travelling is also one of the best means for 　　16　　．You may have read or heard about something but you can never get an clear picture of it 　　17　　 you see it for yourself．Seeing is believing．Furthermore, if you are a careful observer, you can learn much during your travel about the 　　18　　, biology, and history of the places you 　　19　　．No matter how well educated you are, there is always a lot for you to learn through travelling．The knowledge acquired from travel, as you will have found in your life, is 　　20　　 valuable than that from any reference book．