There are about fifteen hundred languages in the world. But only a few of them are very important. English is one of them. Many, many people use it, not only in England and the USA, but also in other parts of the world. About 200,000,000 people speak it as their own language. It is difficult to say how many people are learning it as a foreign language. Many millions of people are trying to do so. Is it easy or difficult to learn English? Different people may have different answers. Have you ever noticed ads(广告) of this kind in the newspapers or magazines? “Learn English in six weeks, or give your money back…” “Easy and funny…” “Our records and tapes help you master English in a month”. Of course, it never happened quite like that.

The only language that seems easy to learn is the mother tongue. We should remember that we all learned our own language well when we were children. If we could learn English in the same way, it would not seem so difficult. Think of what a small child does. He listens to what people say. He tries what he hears.

So it is hard to say that learning English is easy. We must do a lot of practice. And practice needs great efforts and takes much time. Good teachers, record, tapes, books, and dictionaries will be helpful, but they cannot do the student’s work for him.

1.How many languages are very important in the world?

2.If we want to learn English well, what shall we do?

3.How does the writer like the ads in the newspapers or magazines?

4.Which language is easy to learn?

5.Which countries use English as the mother tongue?

Trees are useful to man in three very important ways. The first important way is that they provide man with food，wood and other products. Trees provide man and animals with food to live on the earth. It’s not easy for man to live on the earth without trees.

The second important way is that trees give us shade. On a hot summer day，people are eager to（急于）have a rest under the shade of a tree after they have walked a long way. You can imagine how important the shade of a tree is to man and animals.

The third important way is that trees help to prevent droughts and floods. However，in many parts of the world，man has not realized the third important way. He has cut trees down in large numbers. In the end he finds that he has lost the best friends he once had.

1.Is it easy for man to live on the earth without trees?

2.What is the first important way that trees bring us?

3.Where are people eager to rest after they have walked a long way?

4.In the end he finds he has lost the best friends he once had. What does ‘the best friends” here mean?

5.What should we do in order to protect trees?

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Many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Products (产品) arc not produced in a "green" way and people haven’t realized the importance of buying and using environmentally-friendly products. These lead to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of waste like glass, paper and plastics is produced (生产). The waste problem is difficult to deal with.
However, today, more and more people are choosing “green” and expecting that the products they buy should be safe for the environment. Before they buy a product, they ask questions like these: “Will this soap be bad for the environment” “Can this metal container be reused or can it only be used once?”
Over 20,000 people took part in a web survey (调查) on buying environmentally-friendly products. Among them, 8129 people say that they now consider the environmental safety of a product before they buy it. That is to say, companies must change the way they make and sell their products to make sure that the products are “green”.
A few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds. Some supermarket products carry labels to show that they are green. Some companies have made the clean and safe products their main selling point in advertisements.
The growing need for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. The public will no longer accept the old idea of “buy it, use it, throw it away, and forget it”. As a result, the companies have to take action.
【小题1】Is it easy to deal with the waste problem?
【小题2】What do more and more people consider before they buy products?
【小题3】In the survey, how many people prefer green products in the supermarket now?
【小题4】Is it possible or impossible to get green products in the supermarket now?
【小题5】Why do the companies have to rethink how to do business and take action?