I travel a lot in my work, and what I dislike about my job is eating alone. It always makes me feel lonely to see others laughing and talking. So, room service for several nights was a better choice for me.

   After having room service three nights at a hotel in Houston, however, I needed to get out of my room. Although the restaurant opened at 6:30, I arrived at 6:25. The waiter at the front desk made a comment(评论) about my “being there really early”. I explained my dislike of eating alone in restaurants. He then seated me at a lovely table and asked me whether I would mind if he sat down with me for a while.

   I was glad! He sat and talked with me about his career goals and the difficulty of being at work on nights, weekends and holidays. He said he hadn’t enough time to be with his family. After 15 minutes, he saw some customers at the front desk and excused himself. I noticed that before he went to the front desk, he stopped in the kitchen for a moment.

   Then another waiter came out of the kitchen and had a wonderful chat with me. Before I left that night, some other waiters, even the cook, had come out of the kitchen and sat with me!

   When I asked for my bill about one hour later, all the people who had sat down with me came over in a big group to my table, and presented me with a red rose. And I cried! What had begun as a lonely night ended as a beautiful experience.

48. The author asked for room service because _______.

A. a lot of money would be saved in this way

B. he didn’t like to eat with other people around

C. he didn’t wanted to be recognized by the waiters

D. seeing people laughing and talking made him feel bad

49. How did the waiter feel when he saw the author come in at 6:25?

   A. Dissatisfied.        B. Pleased.        C. Surprised.       D. Angry.

50. From the third paragraph, we can learn that the waiter at the front desk ______.

   A. knew how to attract more customers to his restaurant

   B. found it hard to balance his work and his family

   C. was getting tired of his present job

   D. had never had such a chance to talk about his worries

51. The author wants to tell us that ______.

   A. people are actually all lonely in their own way

   B. restaurants should put the need of customers first

   C. the kindness of strangers can make you less lonely

   D. restaurants are full of surprises for lonely people

C

Standard English is the formal English that you need to use when you write in coursework or in the exam. Standard English is the form of English you learn in school. All written English should be standard — that means it should be clear enough for anyone in Britain to understand it. Standard English developed as the main form of printed English in the 15th Century. At the time, every region of Britain used to spell words differently, but printers needed a fixed spelling.  Printers like Caxton chose the East Midlands dialect form which was used in London and the South East. Soon Standard English replaced all written dialect forms — the other forms of English spoken around the country. It also replaced French and Latin in law and in academic work. In the 18th Century, people wrote dictionaries and grammar books which standardized spelling — Dr Johnson’s Dictionary of 1755 fixed many of the spellings we still use today. All written English should be Standard English — any grammar rules you learn are for Standard English and you will definitely need to learn them to avoid making mistakes in your work. The rules of Standard English mean using the correct forms of words with the correct spellings.

Avoid slang words — words that your teachers or friends wouldn’t understand. You’ll lose marks if the examiners can’t understand what you say or write. Don’t use dialect words. Every region has words or phrases that are only used there. Don’t use them in your coursework, because you won’t be understood. Make sure you revise grammar and punctuation you have learned, and learn the list of commonly misspelled words you have made. Clichés are ideas or sayings which have been used so often that they’ve become boring and unoriginal. Phrases like, “As good as it gets” “At the end of the day” “In the fullness of time” are all clichés. So are images like, “as fierce as a lion” “as cunning as a fox”. If you use them you will sound boring and unimaginative — that could mean you lose marks for writing and speaking style. So avoid clichés.

1. What three things do you have to think about when using English? 

a. no slang word or dialect          

b. no grammar and spelling mistake. 

c. no phrase 

d. no cliché                             

e. no punctuation

A. abc.                   B. bcd.                       C. ade.                         D. abd.

2. What is standard English?

A. the English spoken by British people.

B. the English spoken by American people.

C. the English used in London.

D. the English spoken by British people in 15th Century.

3. What is the cliché according to the passage?

A. the English full of slang words. 

B. the boring ideas or sayings because of being used often.

C. the long phrases which are used often.

D. all the English which is used outside of London and the southeast of Britain.

4. Why do we need to use Standard English?

A. Because no one can understand dialect words.

B. Because there are many kinds of English in the world, we need Standard English to make communication easier.

C. Because local dialect belongs to certain region, not every one can understand it. D. Because standard English has been used for a long time.

5. Which statement is true?

   A. Written English should be formal and standard.

B. Standard English means people should use the words from Dr Johnson’s Dictionary.

   C. All the spoken English should be Standard English.

D. Standard English replaced all written dialect forms in the 18th century.

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