Question: I have been learning English for about 7 years.   1   And I still can't make myself understood in
English. However, I love learning English. How can I learn English well? Please help me.
     Answer: Many people have asked me this question.   2   Here I will give you several tips for learning English.
   3   
     First of all, you must want to learn. If you are not interested in learning English, no class will help you and
no book will help you. So you have to be honest with yourself. Ask yourself, "Do I really want to learn
English?" If you can't answer "yes" to this question, it is better for you to set English aside until you're ready
and willing to learn.
     Set goals(目标)
     To learn English well, you must set some goals.   4   It will also help you to see your progress. Ask
yourself,"What are my goals? What areas would I like to improve?" Think about what your goals are, and
review once in a while to see that you are making progress toward your goals.
      Practice, practice, and practice.
     After you have set your goals, you have a better idea of what you need to practice. Just like the athlete
whose goal is the Olympics must train daily, you as a language leaner must practise language every day to
make progress toward your goal.   5   

A. Want to learn.
B. I think it is not easy to learn it well.
C. Make friends with some Americans online.
D. Reading is a very good way to learn new words.
E. The answers are as different as the people asking the question.
F. The more you practise, the more progress you will make.
G. Having goals will help you remember what areas you want to work on.

    In the current economic downturn, many American schools are adding a new
Subject: financial literacy (理财). One program in Virginia even gets students out of
the classroom for a day to learn how far their money will go in the real world.  What
looks like a shopping mall is actually an educational field trip experience for a group of
young people.
    Finance Park is a special place where students apply what they have been taught in
class about money management.  The facility (设施) opened last year in Fairfax,
Virginia.  It is the fifteenth Finance Park built in the last decade by Junior Achievement
USA, a non-profit organization helping to prepare young people for financial success.
"Since the financial crisis (危机), the demand for Finance Parks around the country
has grown," says Ed Grenier, president of the Washington, DC chapter.
    Financial literacy has only recently become part of the regular subjects in Fairfax
County. "Some students, some teachers, some schools did it, but now it is much
more systematic," Reilly says, "and it can ensure that all students get this background
information." That is why every eighth grade student in Fairfax County will eventually
spend a day here.
    Thirteen-year-old Sam says she has learned an important life lesson. "I didn't know
how expensive everything would be." Anthony, also 13,is looking forward to telling
his parents what he learned."I'11 probably tell them I want to stay a kid a little longer
and take my time to become an adult." This isn't the end of financial studies for
Anthony and the other students here.  Virginia is one of 23 states which requires
students to take a financial education class in high school in order to graduate.

1. The purpose of opening financial literacy is to _____.  

A.  help students learn how to make money
B.  tell students what the financial crisis is
C.  change the current economic downturn
D.  prepare young people for financial success

2.   From the text we know that Finance Park is _____.    

A.  an actual shopping mall
B.  a profit-making organization
C.  an educational field trip experience for students
D.  a special place for students to spend money freely                  

3.  We can infer from the text that _____.    

A.  financial literacy will be popular all over America
B.  but for the financial crisis Finanle Park wouldn't have been opened
C.  students can graduate after taking a financial literacy class in Finance Park
D.  students are interested in Finance Park and have the benefit of it

     In America it is common for children as young as four to participate in organized activities. Piano and
ballet lessons, scouts meetings, soccer and softball practices surround their normal school schedules.
However, one person is very important in the logistics of how these children are able to get from swimming
practice to French lessons: The Soccer Mom.
     The Soccer Mom is a very important stereotype in American suburban life. The phrase Soccer Mom was
first created in 1995 and broadly refers to a married middle-class woman who lives in the suburbs, works
outside the home and has school age children. Much of her time is spent managing her children's schedules
and transporting them to sporting events and other activities. The image of the Soccer Mom conjures a busy
woman who drives a minivan large enough to contain her children, their friends and their sporting equipment.
Once they arrive at the sporting event or other activity, the Soccer Mom will stay to watch, serving granola
bars and juice to their children after their game or activity is finished.
     In America, the roles of mother and of career woman demand opposite responsibilities from a woman.
The role of a career woman is to work hard and climb the corporate ladder, while the role of mother often
asks women to put her family's interests ahead of her own. The Soccer Mom attempts to straddle this divide,
at once balancing her children and their activities with her own life outside her family. The Soccer Mom
becomes overburdened with the weight of responsibilities A 1999 poll states that being stressed out is one of
the most frequently mentioned characteristics of a Soccer Mona. Yet without Soccer Moms, who would fill
the responsibilities of getting children to where they needed to be?

1. The best title for this passage is "_____".

A. The Hectic Lifestyle of Suburban Children
B. The American Family
C. Minivans the Realm of the Soccer Mom
D. Soccer Moms in American Society

2. The main role of Soccer Moms is _____.

A. transporting their children
B. buying things for their children
C. pushing their children to achieve
D. a successful career

3. Why are American mothers stressed out? 

A. Because they are very career centered.
B. Because they work and have children.
C. Because they push their children to achieve.
D. Because their husbands are lazy.

4. What is a frequently mentioned characteristic of Soccer Moms?

A. Overburdened.
B. Works outside the home.
C. Has young children.
D. Brings juice to soccer games.

5. What does "Climbing the corporate ladder" mean?

A. Working.
B. Having a career as a woman.
C. Advancing your career.
D. Working in a ladder factory.

     There are many famous museums throughout the world where people can enjoy art. Washington, D.C. has
the National Gallery of Art (美术馆); Paris has the Luvre; London, the British Museum. Florida International
University (FIU) in Miami also shows art for people to see. And it does so without a building, or even a wall for
its drawings and paintings. FIU has opened what it says is the first computer art museum in the United States.
You don'[t have to visit the University to see the art. You just need a computer linked to a telephone. You can
call the telephone number of a university computer and connect your own computer to it. All of the art is stored
in the school computer. It is computer art, produced electronically by artists on their own computers. In only a
few minutes, your computer can receive and copy all the pictures and drawings.
     Robert Shostak is director of the new computer museum. He says he starts the museum because computer
artists had no place to show their works.
     A computer artist can only record his pictures electronically and send the records, or floppy discs, to others
to see on their computers. He can also put his pictures on paper. But to print good pictures on paper, the
computer artist needs an expensive laser printer.
     Robert Shostak says the electronic museum is mostly for art or computer students at schools and universities. Many of the pictures in the museum are made by students. Mr Shostak said the FIU museum will make
computer art more fun for computer artists because more people can see it. He says artists enjoy their work
much more if they have an audience. And the great number of home computers in America could mean a huge
audience for the electronic museum.

1. The main purpose of this text is to give information about _____.

A. museums throughout the world
B. an electronic art museum in Miami, U.S.A.
C. art exhibitions in Florida International University
D. latest development of computer art

2. To see the art in FIU museum, you need _____.

A. floppy discs
B. a computer and a printer
C. pictures and drawings on paper
D. a computer connected to the museum by telephone line

3. The museum was started when _____.

A. Robert Shostak wanted to do something for computer scientists
B. Robert Shostak wanted to help computer artists
C. art students needed a place to show their works
D. computer scientists wanted to do something about art

4. The words "an audience"in the last paragraph refer to _____.

A. art students
B. computer owners?
C. exhibits in the museum
D. those who will enjoy art

     There are two ways to save money traveling. The first way is to get the best deals on the specific (特
定的) things you want. There is a limitation to this type of approach though. If you find the lowest price
on the best hotel in Honolulu at the height of the season, you will save money, but still have a very
expensive vacation. Trying to get exactly what you want will generally be an expensive proposition(提议),
in travel and in life.
     The other approach is to be a true opportunist. This will be difficult for some of you, and entirely
unacceptable to others. Nonetheless (尽管如此), the travelers who get to travel the most, go to the
widest variety of places, learn the most and do the most, are the opportunists. This will be true until you
are so wealthy that you have no monetary (货币的；钱的) limits. Zxxk
     The first time I went to Ecuador, I went there because it was cheap. If it wasn't, I would have had a
great time-somewhere else. The trip lasted a month, and cost $1045, which included air fare and even
the $130 fee for a guide to take me to the top or glacier (冰川) covered Mount Chimborazo.    
     I cut the cost by taking a bus from my home in Michigan to Miami, and back again when I returned
from Ecuador. The round-trip (双程) ticket cost $158. The round-trip flight to Quito from Miami was
only $256, because it was a courier (信使, 通讯员) flight, which meant I signed for some luggage(car
parts), and  could only take carry-on luggage.
     Never did I feel deprived, or bored. I had a great time, eating wherever it was cheap and clean, doing
all sorts of inexpensive, but interesting things, and traveling across the country to climb Chimborazo. I also met and fell in love with my wife Ana.
     Being an opportunist means you'll have just as much variety, and probably almost everything you
want-eventually. You just have to stop trying to get exactly what you want exactly when you want it. If
the guide that took me up Chimborazo hadn't dropped his price from $200 to $130, I would have spent $2 for a bus and gone hiking on EI Altar, another great Andean mountain. That would have left me with
enough money for several other minor adventures.

1. The underlined phrase "the best deals" in the first paragraph probably refers to ______.

A. the best service  
B. the lowest price
C. the cheapest goods
D. the best approaches

2 . The last paragraph was to tell us how to ______.

A. save money for minor adventures
B. cut down traveling costs.
C. deal with different situations
D. become opportunist travelers

3. It's suggested that the author _____.

A. went hiking on El Altar
B. traveled with his wife in Ecuador
C. is an opportunist traveler
D. likes traveling around the world

4. Which of the following can serve as the best title of the passage?

A. Cheap Travel Secrets
B. Travel Secrets
C. A Travel Opportunist
D. Travel Tips

     If you are having trouble falling asleep, you are in good company. About 65% of Americans said they
have sleeping problems a few nights each week, according to a recent study by the National Sleep
Foundation. Sleeping too little can lead to a higher risk of becoming fat and getting depressed(沮丧的).
But before you go to a doctor for advice, it is worth examining your sleeping habits one more time. Some
of your favorite evening habits may have something to do with the sleeping problems.
     1.Setting a Bright Alarm Clock.
     The light of your bright alarm clock can prevent you from falling asleep. You can make your room as
dark as possible. Cover the bright numbers with a book or consider buying a small travel clock. Your
cellphone alarm may also do the trick.
    2.Counting Sheep
     When you just can't fall asleep, it's useless to stay in bed to count sheep. If you've been trying to fall
asleep for more than 30 minutes, the National Sleep Foundation suggests you get up to do some reading
or watch TV for a while. Such activities will make you sleepy. Before you know it, you'll be going back
to bed really tired.
     3. Exercising Late at Night
      Daytime workouts(锻炼) will keep you full of energy for hours. That's why you don't want to exercise within three hours of hitting the sack. Fierce(剧烈的)physical activity raise your body temperature and
pumps your energy level-both are bad for a good night's sleep.