E?

Among the four skills in learning English ,which of these is the “Odd-Man-Out”?The answer is speaking. The other three you can do alone on your own. But you can't really speak alone! Speaking to yourself can be “dangerous” because men in white coats may come and take you away!?

Where can you find people to speak English? And how can you practise speaking when you are alone?At school if you pay to go to a language school ,you should use the chance to speak .If your teacher asks you to speak in pairs or groups with other students ,try to say as much as possible. Don't worry about your mistakes. Just speak!?

Conversation Clubs　Many cities around the world have conversation clubs where people can exchange one language for another .Look in your local newspaper to find a conversation club near you .They are usually free although some may charge a small entrance fee.?

Shopping　Even if you don't want to buy anything ,you can ask questions about products that interest you in a shop.“How much does this cost?” “Can I pay by cheque?” Often you can start a real conversation—and it costs you nothing!?

Cafe and Bars　There are often American, Britain, Irish and Australian bars in many large cities .If you can find one, you'll probably meet many people speaking English as a first or second language.?

Language is all around you　Everywhere you go, you find language .Shop names, street names ,advertisements ,notices ,and car numbers....When you walk down the street ,practise reading the words and numbers that you see .Say them to yourself .It's not exactly a conversation ,but it will help you to “think” in English .But don't speak too loud!?

Songs and Video　Repeat the words of an English-language song singing with the music until it becomes automatic. It's good practice for your memory and for the mouth muscles that you need for English.?

Above all ,speak as much as possible! Make as many mistakes as possible! When you know that you have made a mistake, you know that you have made progress!?

57．What does “Odd-Man-Out” probably mean according to the passage??

A.Someone or something appearing different from others.?

B.Someone or something standing out of the group.?

C.Someone or something arranged in pairs.?

D.Someone or something easily mistaken for another.?

58．What might happen if you speak to yourself loudly in public??

A.The police will take you away and punish you.?

B.The doctors will force you to stay in hospital.?

C.You will have to pay to escape being punished.?

D.You will be forbidden to be member of the club.?

59．Why does the writer say “Make as many mistakes as possible”?Because _______.

A.everyone will make mistakes in learning English?

B.everyone will meet people speaking English with some mistakes?

C.making mistakes is a must in making progress in learning English?

D.making mistakes can make one realize the importance of speaking?

60．According to the passage,which way is not likely to be accepted by English beginners?

A.Recite poems loudly along the riverside.?

B.Listen to some English pop songs and video.?

C.Find an Englishman to speak English with.?

D.Take to the TV showing programmes at home.??

Don’t _____ to correct me if I made a mistake.

　 A. pause 　 B. stop    C. mind 　 D. hesitate

　　Some time ago ,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended ,as there are a whole lot of antique（古董）shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception（接待）. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't oven look at my chair.

　　The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth - so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

　　I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper,“ Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said,“ Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,”I said. “OK, ”he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds. ”“It ‘s got a slightly broken leg,”I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”

　　Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?”I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done. ”“I'll buy it,”I said. “What do you mean？ You’ve just sold it to me,”he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty -seven pounds for it. ”“ Your must be crazy, ”he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ”“ You’re right, ”I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said,’Would you mend this chair for me　I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?”He was a very nice man and was greatly amused（感到有趣）by the whole thing.

We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.

　　A. was rather impolite

　　B. was warmly received

　　C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

　　D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.

　　A. changed his mind　　　　　　　 B. accepted the offer

　　C. saw the writer’s purpose　　　　　D. decided to help the writer

How much did the writer pay?

　　A. ￡ 5.　　　　B. ￡ 7.　　　　 C. ￡ 20.　　　　D. ￡ 27.

From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________

　　A. hanest　　　　B. careful　　　　C. smart　　　　 D. funny

People are being lured (引诱)onto Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service without realizing they’re paying for it by giving up large amounts of personal information. Facebook then attempts to make money by selling their data to advertisers that want to send targeted messages.

　　Most Facebook users don’t realize this is happening. Even if they know what the company is up to, they still have no idea what they’re paying for Facebook because people don’t really know what their personal data is worth.

　　The biggest problem, however, is that the company keeps changing the rules. Early on, you keep everything private. That was the great thing about facebook—you could create your own little private network. Last year, the company changed its privacy rules so that many things— your city, your photo, your friends' names—were set, by default (默认)to be shared with everyone on the Internet.

　　According to Facebook’s vice-president Elliot Schrage, the company is simply making changes to improve its service, and if people don’t share information, they have a “less satisfying experience”.

　　Some critics think this is more about Facebook looking to make more money. Its original business model， which involved selling ads and putting them at the side of the page， totally failed.  Who wants to look at ads when they’re online connecting with their friends?

　　The privacy issue has already landed Facebook in hot water in Washington. In April. Senator Charles Schumer called on Facebook to change its privacy policy. He also urged the Federal Trade Commission to set guidelines for social-networking sites.“I think the senator rightly communicated that we had not been clear about what the new products were and how people could choose to use them or not to use them,” Schrage admits.

I suspect that whatever Facebook has done so far to invade our privacy, it’s only the beginning, which is why I’m considering deactivating(撤销)my account. Facebook is a handy site, but I’m upset by the idea that my information is in the hands of people I don’t know. That’s too high a price to pay.

1.What do we learn about Facebook from the first paragraph?

A．It is a website that sends messages to targeted users.

B．It makes money by putting on advertisements.

C．It profits by selling its users’ personal data.

D．It provides loads of information to its users.

2.What does the author say about most Facebook users?

A．They are reluctant to give up their personal information.

B．They don’t know their personal data enriches Facebook.

C．They don’t identify themselves when using the website.

D．They care very little about their personal information.

3.Why does Senator Charles Schumer propose?

A．Setting guidelines for advertising on websites.

B．Banning the sharing of users’ personal information.

C．Working out regulations for social-networking sites.

D．Removing ads from all social-networking sites.

4.Why does the author plan to cancel his Facebook account?

A．He is dissatisfied with its current service.

B．He finds many of its users untrustworthy.

C．He doesn’t want his personal data to be used in a wrong way.

D．He is upset by its frequent rule changes.

Mr Clarke works in a middle school. He likes reading and often  1 some books from the library. He keeps  2 to the radio every morning and reading  3 after supper. So he knows much and teaches well. His  4 worship（崇拜）him very much. Mike, Mr Clarke’s little son，is only nine. He  5 likes reading books. And he often asks his father some questions. Mr Clarke always thinks he’s too  6 to understand him and chooses_ 7 ones to answer. Of course the boy is not satisfied with（对…满意）it．
One day Mike read  8 about the electric lights（电灯）and was  9 　 it．When his father told him to do some housework，he went on thinking of it．He asked him  10 questions，and his father answered all．Then his father said proudly，“Fathers always know  11 than sons!”The boy thought for a while and said，“  12 !”
　　“Oh? Why?”
　　Mike didn’t answer and asked，  13 ，“Who invented the electric lights?”
　　“  14 .”answered Mr Clarke．
　　“Why didn’t his father invent them，then?”
Looking at his son，Mr Clarke didn’t know  15  to answer !