There are about fifteen hundred languages in the world. But only a few of them are very important. English is one of them. Many, many people use it, not only in England and the USA, but also in other parts of the world. About 200,000,000 people speak it as their own language. It is difficult to say how many people are learning it as a foreign language. Many millions of people are trying to do so. Is it easy or difficult to learn English? Different people may have different answers. Have you ever noticed ads(廣告) of this kind in the newspapers or magazines? “Learn English in six weeks, or give your money back…” “Easy and funny…” “Our records and tapes help you master English in a month”. Of course, it never happened quite like that.
The only language that seems easy to learn is the mother tongue. We should remember that we all learned our own language well when we were children. If we could learn English in the same way, it would not seem so difficult. Think of what a small child does. He listens to what people say. He tries what he hears.
So it is hard to say that learning English is easy. We must do a lot of practice. And practice needs great efforts and takes much time. Good teachers, record, tapes, books, and dictionaries will be helpful, but they cannot do the student’s work for him.
【小題1】How many languages are very important in the world?

Life in the 21^st century is different from that in the 20^th century because there are many changes in the new century.What will our life be like in 20 years?Maybe we will have robots at home. Here is my ideal robot.

I hope it’ll look like a pretty Barbie doll,with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She will be tall and slim. She will be able to speak English, Chinese, Japanese, German and French. When I travel around the world, she will be my guide. She will do most of the things for me. We will be also good friends.

Every morning she will wake me up and cook a healthy breakfast for me. After breakfast she will drive me to school. While I am studying at school, she will do some chores such as washing my clothes,cooking the dishes,cleaning the room and feeding my dog. When I come back from school, a delicious meal will be ready. If my mother is busy, my robot will go shopping with me. She will give me some advice when I don’t know which one to buy. She will also help me with my school work.

My robot will be smart and kind. If I feel sad, she will talk to me and make me happy. Most of all, she’ll never feel tired or angry, I hope I can have a robot like that. But my mum says it’s just my daydream and I should learn to do them all by myself.

1.What will the robot look like?

A It will have short blonde hair.        B It will have long black hair.

C It will be short and heavy.           D It will be tall and slim.

2.How many languages will the robot be able to speak?

A Two   B Three    C Four  D Five

3.What will the robot do after breakfast?

A Drive the writer to school.

B Read English with the writer.

C Go shoppping with the writer.

D Give the writer some advice.

Life in the 21^st century is different from that in the 20^th century because there are many changes in the new century.What will our life be like in 20 years?Maybe we will have robots at home. Here is my ideal robot.
I hope it’ll look like a pretty Barbie doll,with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She will be tall and slim. She will be able to speak English, Chinese, Japanese, German and French. When I travel around the world, she will be my guide. She will do most of the things for me. We will be also good friends.
Every morning she will wake me up and cook a healthy breakfast for me. After breakfast she will drive me to school. While I am studying at school, she will do some chores such as washing my clothes,cooking the dishes,cleaning the room and feeding my dog. When I come back from school, a delicious meal will be ready. If my mother is busy, my robot will go shopping with me. She will give me some advice when I don’t know which one to buy. She will also help me with my school work.
My robot will be smart and kind. If I feel sad, she will talk to me and make me happy. Most of all, she’ll never feel tired or angry, I hope I can have a robot like that. But my mum says it’s just my daydream and I should learn to do them all by myself.
【小題1】What will the robot look like?
A It will have short blonde hair.        B It will have long black hair.
C It will be short and heavy.           D It will be tall and slim.
【小題2】How many languages will the robot be able to speak?
A Two   B Three    C Four  D Five
【小題3】What will the robot do after breakfast?
A Drive the writer to school.
B Read English with the writer.
C Go shoppping with the writer.
D Give the writer some advice.

There are about fifteen hundred languages in the world. But only a few of them are very important. English is one of them. Many, many people use it, not only in England and the USA, but also in other parts of the world. About 200,000,000 people speak it as their own language. It is difficult to say how many people are learning it as a foreign language. Many millions of people are trying to do so. Is it easy or difficult to learn English? Different people may have different answers. Have you ever noticed ads(廣告) of this kind in the newspapers or magazines? “Learn English in six weeks, or give your money back…” “Easy and funny…” “Our records and tapes help you master English in a month”. Of course, it never happened quite like that.

The only language that seems easy to learn is the mother tongue. We should remember that we all learned our own language well when we were children. If we could learn English in the same way, it would not seem so difficult. Think of what a small child does. He listens to what people say. He tries what he hears.

So it is hard to say that learning English is easy. We must do a lot of practice. And practice needs great efforts and takes much time. Good teachers, record, tapes, books, and dictionaries will be helpful, but they cannot do the student’s work for him.

1.How many languages are very important in the world?

2.If we want to learn English well, what shall we do?

3.How does the writer like the ads in the newspapers or magazines?

4.Which language is easy to learn?

5.Which countries use English as the mother tongue?

Bill, Frank and Dave were three brothers. Every year they sent their mother expensive gifts on her birthday,. They liked to show her how rich they were.

The eldest brother. Bill, had a lot of money and he wanted his mother to have the most expensive gifts, but he didn’t know what to buy. So he put an ad in the newspaper. “Wanted－the greatest gift for my mother.”

About a week before his mother’s birthday a man came to his office. He brought a big bird.

“This bird.” the man said, “can speak ten languages and sing some pop songs.”

“Really?  I’d like to listen to it,” Bill said.

The man made the bird talk in French and tell a joke in Japanese. Then the bird sang a beautiful song. Bill was very happy and paid nine thousand dollars for the bird. The next day Bill sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card.

The day after his mother’s birthday he called his mother. “Well, mother” he asked, “What do you think of the bird?”

“Oh, it’s very delicious, dear.” said his mother.

1.Who is the eldest brother?

A. Dave  B. Bill   C. Jack  D. Frank

2.What did Bill put in the newspaper?

A. A show  B. A magazine  C. An ad  D. A report

3.How many languages could the bird speak?

A. Five  B. Seven  C. Fight   D. Ten

4.How much did Bill pay for the bird?

A. Nine dollars  B. Ten dollars   C. Nine thousand dollars  D. Ten thousand dollars

5.What did Bill send to his mother for her birthday?

A. A bird with a card  B. Some money  C. A joke   D. A song