It was early spring. The sun was strong and warm. I went over the hillside fields behind my village,    36    buntings and linnets, the birds I loved most.

I turned along a bush between two fields where I had seen the birds before, but on this fine day almost the first birds that I saw were winter visitors. I was    37    not to see a bunting straightaway, but I went on, stopping occasionally to look at the black-thorn (黑刺李) flowers in the bush, and    38    I did hear a bunting singing. Or was it? Was I not perhaps turning a note of skylark (云雀) song into that of the song I was hoping to hear?

But the bunting’s song was pretty clear, and within a few minutes I was proved

   39   . The song was coming from the bush, and as I approached    40    I saw the brown bird resting in a small tree. It opened its mouth, and    41    once more. Then it flew off. It was the only one I saw that day, but at least I had found one of the birds I had

   42   .

It was not until I was on my way back home that I caught sight of some    43   . I saw five of them gathering on the ground when I was just coming back beside the

   44    where I had found the bunting. As I came nearer, they flew up, spreading their tails so that their white edges    45    to look like a white fan in the sky. Then, to my

   46   , some big pigeons suddenly came flying and joined the linnets.

A moment later they had all    47   — but I had fulfilled my hopes for the day.

A. looking at  B. looking for C. looking up  D. looking after

A. disappointed      B. dismissed   C. dissatisfied D. disturbed

A. directly      B. gradually   C. suddenly    D. immediately

A. proper       B. right C. useful        D. true

A. sadly  B. hurriedly   C. proudly     D. quietly

A. danced       B. ate      C. sang    D. shouted

A. observed   B. noticed       C. expected     D. described

A. linnets       B. skylarks     C. pigeons     D. buntings

A. bush B. road   C. grass   D. black-thorn

A. widened     B. enlarged     C. lengthened  D. expanded

A. knowledge        B. pleasure     C. amusement       D. honour

A. gathered     B. lost     C. missed       D. gone

Seldom ________ any mistake during his five years of service in the army, so he got the honour.

1. A.
   he would make
2. B.
   would he make
3. C.
   he made
4. D.
   did he make

The boy was _____ to his family. His parents felt it _____ to be asked to speak at the meeting held _____ the school's birthday.

1. A.
   an honour; great honour; in the honour of
2. B.
   an honour; a great honour; in honour of
3. C.
   honour; great honour; in honour of
4. D.
   an honour; the great honour; in the honour of

A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders: Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences?

Certainly, there are some differences between British and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and "Have you a pen?” , Americans say “in the hospital” and ‘Do you have a pen?’.Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like “bird” and “hurt”. Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour” and “honour” are British, “color” and “honor” are American.

These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language.

1.According to this passage, a student who is learning to speak American English might be afraid that __________.

2. American English and British English are different in __________.

3.What is NOT mentioned(提及) in the passage?

4.Most __________ say “Do you have a watch?”

5.According to this passage, British people and Americans have __________ difficulty in understanding each other.