Q: As an English teacher, one of the most common problems I've found with my students is their lack of confidence with speaking, and difficulty in understanding native speakers. Another problem could be that a foreign language taught in schools can sound quite different to what native speakers actually use. There are a few English words and expressions that I'd never heard until I came to China. The most common one in my experience is "How are you? I'm fine, thank you, and you?" I appreciate that although this greeting is much too formal for everyday use - it's easy to learn and helps build confidence. However, it can be a hard habit to break. I've seen many parents correct their kids if they don't use that exact phrase, as if simply replying "I'm fine" would somehow be rude. In fact I'm banning my students from saying that in the classroom, insisting a simple "I'm fine, thanks" is good enough. "Seldom" is another one that I find interesting. The first time a student told me "I seldom watch TV", my initial reaction was a stupefied look, followed by "Huh?" I then realized the student used "seldom" when it's more common for us to use "rarely." I was just as confused when I first heard a toilet referred to as a WC (water closet), another English term I'd never heard of back in Australia. Of course, my students know the other names for it like bathroom, toilet, washroom etc. so to prefer that name is an interesting choice.   I don't mind that my students have substituted familiar English words with their own, far from it. It reminds me how creative they can be with not only their language, but with mine as well. It's healthy for English to evolve   and change and I'm happy to add these new words to my vocabulary. One important lesson I've learnt is that textbooks can only help you so much. For further improvement you'd better practice with native speakers. It's possible for us to hear an Australian say "We   _   use the term '  _  ' for a toilet." A) seldom;  bathroom B) rarely;  washroom C) seldom;  WC D) rarely;  WC
A: D


Q: Spending just a few hours a week online may make people feel more socially isolated , lonely and downhearted , according to a two-year study of nearly 100 families with the Internet. "We were surprised to find that social technology has such bad effects on social communications," the lead author, Dr. Robert Kraut of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said in a statement to the news. The findings suggest that "Rather than encourage students to use the Internet alone for research, teachers might give pupils online group homework to complete with classmates. Local groups might build websites that allow neighbors to discuss local affairs ." "Before the technology develops and can be really more  _ , people shouldcontrol  their wishes to use much of the Internet," Dr. Kraut and other experts advise. In order to control their children and encourage family activities, parents might think of putting the computer in the living room rather than in a child's room, they suggest. Dr. Kraut also suggests that when surfing on the net, especially when chatting with strangers on the net, children should not use their real names, and that they should not tell the addresses, telephone numbers to the strangers. This research work took    . A) a week B) a few hours C) two years D) more than 100 days
A: C


Q: The leftovers in the fridge smelled a little unusual, but you ate them. You were so hungry that you didn't even heat them up. Later, you started to feel sick. Powerful waves of pain rumbled through your stomach. They went away, but not for long, then you even threw up.    That sounds like the case of food poisoning. No one put poison in your food, but bacteria probably grew in the food in the fridge and those bacteria made you sick. Food poisoning can be mild and last just a short time or can be more serious.    Food poisoning comes from eating foods that contain germs like bad bacteria, which are poisonous substances. Bacteria are all around us, so mild cases of food poisoning are common. You may have had mild food poisoning with diarrhea and an upset stomach --- but your mom or dad just called it a stomach bug or stomach virus.    You might think the solution is to get rid of all the bacteria, but it isn't possible and you wouldn't want to do it, even if you could. Bacteria are all around us, including food, and sometimes they can be good for you. It's confusing, but one thing is for sure ---- You can, however, learn how to avoid those bad germs in food. Foods from animals, raw foods, and unwashed vegetables all can contain germs that cause food poisoning. The most likely source is food from animals, eggs, milk, and shellfish. To avoid food poisoning, people need to prepare, cook, and store foods properly. What may mostly cause the food poisoning according to the passage? A) Growing bacteria in foods. B) Eating foods which contain bad germs. C) Eating foods from the fridge. D) Eating meat.
A: B


Q: The bicycling craze came in when we were just about at the right age to enjoy it. At first even "safety" bicycles were too dangerous and improper for ladies to ride, and they had to have tricycles. My mother had (I believe) the first female tricycle in Cambridge; and I had a little one, and we used to go out for family rides, all together; my father in front on a bicycle, and my poor brother Charles standing miserably on the bar behind my mother. I found it very hard work, pounding  away on my hard tyres; a glorious, but not a pleasurable pastime. Then, one day at lunch, my father said he had just seen a new kind of tyre, filled up with air, and he thought it might be a success. And soon after that everyone had bicycles, ladies and all; and bicycling became the smart thing, and the lords and ladies had their pictures in the papers, riding along in the park, in straw hats. My mother must have fallen off her bicycle pretty often, for I remember seeing the most appalling cuts and bruises  on her legs. But she never complained, and always kept these accidents to herself. However, the great Mrs. Phillips, our cook, always knew all about them; as indeed she knew practically everything that ever happened. She used to draw us into the servants' hall to tell us privately: "Her Ladyship had a nasty fall yesterday; she cut both her knees and sprained her wrist. But don't let her know I told you." So we never dared say anything. Similar little accidents used to occur when, at the age of nearly seventy, she insisted on learning to drive a car. She never mastered the art of reversing , and was in every way an unconventional and terrifying driver. Mrs. Phillips used then to tell us: "Her Ladyship ran into the back of a milk-cart yesterday; but it wasn't much hurt"; or "A policeman stopped her Ladyship because she was on the wrong side of the road; but she said she didn't know what the white line on the road meant, so he explained and let her go on." Mrs. Phillips must have had an excellent Intelligence Service at her... Cycling became popular when   _  . A) air-filled tyres began to be used B) the writer's father popularized it C) noble people started enjoying it D) newspapers had pictures of cyclists
