Get Your Degree at Home!
Have you ever wondered what a degree might be worth to you in your job or career? It means a lot of Americans with an Associate Degree average nearly $10,000 more in yearly earnings than those with just a High School Diploma(毕业证).
① Harcourt Learning Direct offers you a way to get a Specialized Associate Degree in 11 of today’s growing fields without having to go to college full time. ② With Harcourt, you can study at home, in your spare time—so you don’t have to give up your present job while you train for a better one. Choose from exciting majors like Business Management, Accounting, Dressmaking & Design, Bookkeeping, Photography, Computer Science, Engineering, and more!
Your training includes everything you need!
Books, lessons, learning aids—even professional quality tools and equipment—everything you need to master your training and move ahead to a new career is included in the low tuition(学费) price you pay.
Your education is nationally recognized!
Nearly 2,000 American companies—including General Electric, IBM, Mobile, General Motors, Ford, and many others have used our training for their employees. If companies like these recognize the value of our training, you can be sure that employers in your area will, too!
Earn your degree in as little as two years! Get a career diploma in just six months!
The career of your dreams is closer than you think! Even if you have no experience before, you can get valuable job skills in today’s hottest fields! Step-by-step lessons make learning easy. Prepare for promotions, pay raises, even start a business of your own!
Send today for FREE information about Harcourt at home training!
Simply fill in your name and address on the coupon(登记表) above. Then, write in the name and number of the one program you’re most interested in, and mail it today. We’ll send you free information about how you can take advantage of the opportunities in the field you’ve chosen. Act today!
Mail coupon today or call the number below!
1-800-372-1589  Call anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
www.harcourt-learning.com
E-mail: harcourt@learning.com
【小题1】What kind of people will probably answer this advertisement?

“Colour” and “color”, “favourite” and “favorite”···Have you ever wondered why Americans spell those words without a “u”? Is it because they are lazy?
Of course not. In fact, the difference in spelling was created by Noah Webster (1758—1843). He is a teacher who reformed English to make American identity stronger. Linguists（语言学家） celebrated his 250^th birthday on October 16. After the Revolutionary War(1775—1783), Webster believed that Americans should have their own dictionary, rather than rely on British versions（版本）. He dropped the British “u” in some words. And he changed “centre” into “center” for children to learn English by spelling words more like they sounded.
Webster wasn’t shy about expressing his opinions. In defining（定义） preposterous, he wrote: “A republican government in the hands of females is preposterous.”
Webster spent 28 years on the project before completing the 70,000-word dictionary in 1828 with his American-style spellings. He also added local words. His dictionary was widely used in schools. Linguists believed it helped a new nation achieve unity and cultural independence at a time when most were focused on political freedom.
“He was the shaper of our language and the shaper of American identity,” said Joshua Kendall, who is working on a biography（传记） about Webster. “He at last bonded（联合） us through our language.”
【小题1】          According to the passage, when he worked on his dictionary, Noah Webster did all of the following EXCEPT______.

Have you ever wished you could solve complex math problems without thinking? What about learning to play the piano in just three days? Or mastering several foreign languages within a month?

Eddie Morra, the main character in the movie Limitless can do all these things. But he isn’t Superman or Harry Potter. Eddie has taken pills called NZT.

Thriller Limitless came out in China on October 13. In the movie, Eddie is faced with “writer’s block”. He hasn’t written a single word of a novel, and his deadline has passed. And there’s more bad news: his girlfriend breaks up with him. By chance, Eddie runs into a relative who is a drug dealer. He gives Eddie some pills called NZT that allow people to make use of 100 percent of their brains. With the magic pills, Eddie’s life changes completely. He can recall everything he has ever read, seen or heard. He gains a sixth sense that allows him to predict future events. He even becomes a kungfu master by simply memorizing actions in Bruce Lee’s movie.

Before long he has finished his novel, won back his girlfriend and stepped into the financial world. He becomes rich incredibly quickly and is soon employed by a powerful Wall Street company. However, bad side effects are just around the corner. The effects of the pill last for only one or two days, and Eddie has to find more supplies of the pills. Meanwhile, the pills start to have other effects on him. Eddies’ mind loses the ability to control the actions of his body. What does destiny hold for him? Will he be able to go back to his normal life?

“Eddie’s fate turns out to be a barbed （讽刺的） joke… a sharp-eyed comic fable for an age of greed (贪婪)and speed.” writes A. O. Scott, a movie critic with the New York Times.

The drug isn’t real-----yet, some researchers say such memory-enhancing drugs might not be far off. Would you take such a pill despite its side effects? Is the ability to remember everything a blessing or a curse?

1.Which of the following happened to Eddie after he took the pill?

2.What’s A. O. Scott’s opinion of the movie?

A. The movie can help slow our pace in life.

B. The movie turned out to be only a joke.

C. The movie can help invent a memory-enhancing drug.

D. The movie aims to show something is wrong with our society.

3.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

4.What is writer’s purpose of writing the passage?

根据对话内容，从对话后所给的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）请把答案填在下面的方框内，否则不计分。）

---It’s so hard for me to learn English.Why is it so easy for you?

---I didn’t know you were having problems._1___But also, I really work at it.

---Well,I always do my homework and go to classes._2___

---Well, you might try reading newspapers. And you can talk with Americans when you get a chance.

---__3_____

---How about sitting next to an Amercian at lunch, or have you ever thought of asking someone over to your house for dinner?

---__4___But I’m a little shy to speak English.

---You won’t learn if you don’t try and speak.__5__They will give us a lot of help.

A.  You can have a try.

B.  Those are good ideas.

C.  That’ll improve your English.

D.  But how can I find this kind of chance.

E.  What else do you think would help?

F.  If I were you, I’d talk to the English teachers.

G.  Maybe it's easier for me because I already speak two languages.

Have you ever noticed someone "talking" to them-selves? What did you think? The word "crazy" probably came to your mind. Wait a minute, though. Maybe they’re doing something meaningful.
Speaking practice can be effective in many different forms when people learn English or another foreign language. Imitating the speech of others is proven to be highly effective in developing a native speaker’s level of fluency in a language. Actually you’ve already proven that to your-self.
How? That’s how you learned your first language! Whether it was English, Spanish, French or some other language, you "imitated" your mother, father, other family members, friends, teachers and whoever else was around making "talking" noises at you as you formed your first communicative language skills.
So don’t think those who are talking to themselves are "crazy". At least don’t do so until you’ve tried it for your-self, in English or in your new foreign language.
As you go through your day, in English or your new foreign language, tell yourself what you’re doing at the moment and what you’re going to do during the day.
"Which of these shirts, ties, etc. should I wear today? Not this one, I wore it just last week. Maybe this one, but I don’t like this color with the pants. Let’s try another one," you might say as you are getting dressed.
If you live alone, you can talk aloud whenever you want without disturbing others. If you don’t live alone, however, then first explain to your family or roommates what you’ll be doing, to avoid a quiet phone call to the local psychiatrist (精神病学家).
【小题1】The author wrote the passage mainly to _______.