Language learning begins with listening.Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking,and later starters are often long listeners. Most children will“obey”spoken instructions some time before they can speak,though the word“obey”is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child.Before they can speak,many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.

Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties.It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves as particularly expressive as delight,pain,friendliness,and so on.But since these can’t be said to show the baby’s intention to communicate,they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language.It is agreed,too,that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment,and that by six months they are able to add new words to their store.This selfimitation(模仿) leads on to deliberate(有意的) imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people.The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.

It is a problem we need to get out teeth into.The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world.Thus the use at seven months of“mama”as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at other times for his father,his dog,or anything else he likes.Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself,I doubt,however whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds.

Before children start speaking         .

  A.they need equal amount of listening

  B.they need different amounts of listening

  C.they are all eager to cooperate with the adults by obeying spoken instructions

  D.they can’t understand and obey the adult’s oral instructions

Children who start speaking late         .

  A.may have problems with their listening

  B.probably do not hear enough language spoken around them

  C.usually pay close attention to what they hear

  D.often take a long time in learning to listen properly

The problem of deciding at what point a baby’s imitations can be considered as speech         .

  A.is important because words have different meanings for different people

  B.is not especially important because the changeover takes place gradually

  C.is one that should be properly understood because the meaning of words changes with age

  D.is one that should be completely ignored(忽略) because children’s use of words is often meaningless

The speaker wants to tell us that         .

  A.parents can never hope to teach their children new sounds

  B.children no longer imitate people after they begin to speak

  C. even after they have learnt to speak,children still enjoy imitating

  D. children who are good at imitating learn new words more quickly

It is often said that _________ teachers live _________ very easy life.

 A. the;不填             B. 不填;a     C. 不填;不填    D.the;the

We always celebrated Dad’s birthday on Thanksgiving Day, even after he entered a nursing home．As years went on, these events took on a  41  meaning for me: A traditional birthday party for Dad, and thanking for all that he had been doing to me in my life．When we knew it might be his  42  birthday, the whole family decided to  43  together for a huge birthday celebration at the nursing home．

Dad was a good story-teller and here was the  44  he had had．During a quiet moment, I announced it was now Dad’s  45  to listen to stories for a change．I wanted everyone to tell Dad what we loved about him．The room became  46 ．Then one after another, people told stories from their hearts, while Dad  47  with tears in eyes．People  48  kinds of stories—stories about when they were little, stories about when Dad was young, and stories that shared family treasures．

The stories  49 ． Everyone seemed to have more than one story．Even the little grandchildren couldn’t  50  to tell Dad why they loved him．For a man who had been kind to so many people in his life, here was our  51  to celebrate him．A few months later, at Dad’s memorial service, we more fully realized what we had  52  Dad that night．Those are the stories people  53  tell at a funeral after a loved one is no longer  54  to hear the words．They tell stories, full of  55 ．But we had given those memories to Dad in his  56  , and we had told them through laughter, accompanied by hugs and joys．He had them to  57  and roll over in his mind during his last days and months．

Words do  58 , and they are enough．We just need to say them or to speak them  59  to the ones we love．That’s the way to  60  love and our chance to celebrate a person in his or her life．

A．special         B．valuable           C．double             D．complex

A．another        B．last               C．important         D．gather

A．unite          B．arrange            C．move            D．gather

A．career        B．pride            C．happiness         D．audience

A．choice        B．wish             C．turn              D．right

A．lively         B．still              C．cosy             D．noisy

A．thought        B．nodded            C．listened           D．accepted

A．understood    B．invented          C．recalled           D．discussed

A．flowed       B．passed             C．unfolded          D．differed

A．stop         B．stand            C．afford              D．wait

A．responsibilityB．situation         C．chance             D．desire

A．returned      B．left               C．given            D．owed

A．sincerely     B．gently              C．normally          D．regularly

A．available     B．happy              C．eager            D．alive

A．tears        B．feelings           C．joy               D．peace

A．mind        B．life               C．world              D．work

A．hold            B．share            C．consider           D．continue

A． suit        B．fail               C． survive          D．matter

A．willingly     B． publicly         C． actually          D．truly

A．get back      B． call up           C．give back         D．keep up

Many people have come to realize that they should go on _____ balanced diet and make _____ room in their day for exercise.

      A．a; /        B．the; a     C．the; the          D．/; a

     interested her most was the longitude line,      is an imaginary line dividing the world.

A, That, it          B, What, it                       C, That, which          D, What, which

With so much noise of the traffic, I couldn’t ______ and do my research work．

       A．put down           B．settle down          C．break down   D．take down

It was already past midnight and only three young men _____ in the tea house．

       A．left                B．remained     C．delayed            D．deserted

She has kept a diary since14. In it she _________ all the events that happens to her.

  A. set up         B. set down          C. set in             D. set to

There are many idioms used in English _____ quite a few of them come from the Bible.

A. that           B. which         C. and       D. but

When 47-year-old volunteer Susan Boyle stepped onto the stage of Britain’s Got Talent and announced she was unemployed, had never been married and “never been kissed, actually”, few in the audience would have wondered why. This Ms Boyle, looking unfashionable, from a village in Scotland, shocked the three judges and the audience with the song I dreamed a dream from the musical Les Miserables on a show of Britain’s Got Talent, one of the hottest reality shows in Britain.

She couldn’t hide the awkwardness when walking to the center of the stage in a housedress, and everyone — including the judges — seemed laughing at her when she said she wanted to be as successful as Elaine Paige. As soon as she began singing, however, everyone in the auditorium fell silent, then rose within seconds to applaud her incredible voice as the celebrity judges sat open-mouthed, and remained standing to the end.

After her performance, one of the judges Piers Morgan said, “Without doubt that was the biggest surprise I’ve had in three years of this show. When you stood there everyone was laughing at you. No one is laughing now. That was amazing.” Actress Amanda Holden followed, “I’m so thrilled because I know that we everybody were against you. I honestly think that we were all being very cynical (愤世嫉俗的) and I think that’s the biggest wake up call ever.”

Susan obviously won over the hearts of millions around the world with sensation spreading across the Atlantic. Hollywood actors Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore — who between them have nearly 1.5 million followers — speak highly of her. Kutcher posted a link to the video clip (片段). The Scottish talent made her live American debut via satellite connection on CBS’s The Early Show, doing an interview and singing live from her room. And she already accepted an invitation from talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Now Boyle has become one of the world’s hottest celebrities. The video clip of her performance has been viewed more than 50 million times on Youtube, becoming a hit on the Internet.

We learn from the passage that Susan Boyle ______.

A. rose from a low social class

B. had an unhappy marriage

C. lived with a dog alone on a farm

D. won the championship in the Britain’s Got Talent show

At the beginning of the show, almost everybody ______.

A. looked forward to her wonderful performance

B. was attracted by her beautiful dress

C. looked down upon her

D. placed great hope on her

We can infer that ______ contributed most to her global popularity.

A. the judges   B. the Internet   C. the newspaper   D. the advertisement

The 4^th paragraph intends to tell us ______.

A. how Susan Boyle achieved her success

B. the comment made by American actor Ashton Kutcher

C. Susan Boyle’s influence in the USA

D. Oprah Winfrey’s invitation to Susan Boyle