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

　　When I was a teenager, my dad did everything he could do to advise me against becoming a brewer(造酒人)．He’d 　　1　　 his life brewing beer for local breweries only to make a living, 　　2　　 had his father and grandfather before him．He didn’t want me 　　3　　 near a vat(酿酒用的桶)of beer．So I did as he asked．I got good 　　4　　, went to Harvard and in 1971 was accepted into a graduate program there that 　　5　　 me to study law and business at the same time．

　　In my second year of graduate school, I began to realize that I’d 　　6　　 done anything but go to school．So, at 24 I decided to drop out．　　7　　, my parents didn’t think this was a great idea．But I felt strongly that you can’t 　　8　　 till you’re 65 to do what you want in life．

　　I packed my stuff into a bus and headed for Colorado to become an instructor at Outward Bound．Three years later, I was ready to go back to 　　9　　．I finished Harvard and got a highly-paid job at the Boston Consulting Group Still, after working there five years, I 　　10　　, “Is this what I want to be doing when I’m 50?” At that time, Americans spent good money on beer in 　　11　　 quality．Why not make good beer for 　　12　　? I thought．

　　I decided to give up my job to become 　　13　　．When I told Dad, he was 　　14　　, but in the end he 　　15　　 me．I called my beer Samuel Adams, 　　16　　 the brewer and patriot(爱国者)who helped to start the Boston Tea Party．　　17　　 I sold the beer direct to beer drinkers to get the 　　18　　 out．Six weeks later, at the Great American Beer Festival, Sam Adams Boston Lager(淡啤酒)won the top prize for American beer．In the end I was destined(注定)to be a brewer．My 　　19　　 to the young is simple：Life is very 　　20　　, so don’t rush to make decisions．Life doesn’t let you plan．