Question

“I don’t speak English”-these are the first words I learned when I came to America. Soon I was able to pronounce the four words clearly, and said them whenever an American tried to talk to me. This answer was very effective（有效的）at ending our conversation and saving me from another uncomfortable situation, or I would have to communicate in a language that I was not familiar with.
Before coming to the States, I thought I knew English pretty well. But the truth is that the grammar and vocabulary-based English that is taught in schools overseas（海外的）is not the English people speak in America.
But fear not! Once you are in America, you can immediately begin to bridge the gap（彌補差距）between the learned English that you already know, and the spoken English that is all around you. To do this, first of all, it is important not to fear when you realize that you may not be as prepared for daily communication as you thought. For me, as soon as I stopped worrying about my accent and started speaking, I made rapid progress. Often the people didn’t notice my mistakes because they were so glad to finally be able to communicate with me.
Another good idea is to listen carefully and pay attention to the way in which ideas are expressed. For example, if you are working hard and you want to stop working and rest for a little while, you can either say “I would like to stop working and rest for a while” or “I want to take a quick break from work.” The first sentence, I quickly learned, sounds dry and too formal for any kind of communication, while the second is an idiom（成語）that is widely used in American English conversation.
Finally, use what you already know---the vocabulary, the grammar and the spelling. Try to use these into the spoken language for more impressive and accurate（精確）speaking results.
小題1:What’s the main idea of this passage?
A．You’d better say “I don’t speak English” in the USA.
B．How you can improve your spoken English in the USA.
C．Idioms are widely used to express your ideas in the USA.
D．Listening is the best way to improve your spoken English in the USA.
小題2:At first the writer preferred to use the sentence “I don’t speak English” to       .

A．admit he is a foreigner

B．save much time for himself

C．prevent himself from being laughed at

D．avoid getting upset in communicating with others

小題3:What’s the problem with the English taught outside the English-speaking countries?

A．It is quite different from what the natives speak.

B．It is taught in boring and wrong grammar.

C．It has nothing to do with English.

D．It has too small a vocabulary.

小題4:When did the writer make rapid progress in spoken English?
A．As soon as he paid attention to the way Americans spoke.
B．The minute he found what has been learned useless.
C．The moment he got rid of the fear of speaking.
D．Immediately he arrived in the USA.
小題5:All the following are tips given buy the writer EXCEPT “       .”

A．speaking bravely	B．listening carefully
C．using what you have learned	D．making few mistakes

Answer 1

小題1:B
小題2:D
小題3:A
小題4:C
小題5:D

試題分析
本文首先提出許多初到美國的人都會遇到的問題，即他們以前學的英語和在美國聽到的英語不同，然后提出了自己的建議，就是丟掉畏懼心理，仔細聽別人說英語并利用以前學到的語言知識。
小題1:主旨大意題。文章一、二兩段提到很多初次來到美國的人都會遇到的問題：他們以前學習的英語不同于在美國實際聽到的英語。本文就是教給讀者如何”bridge the gap”. 為此，作者提出三點建議：去除恐懼心理；細心聽；利用已有知識。所以本文主旨是improve your spoken English. 答案為B.
小題2:細節(jié)題。由文章第一段This answer was very effective（有效的）at ending our conversation and saving me from another uncomfortable situation可知，告訴別人”I don't speak English”可以讓自己避免與人交談以免陷入尷尬。故答案為D.
小題3:細節(jié)題。由文章第二段the grammar and vocabulary-based English that is taught in schools overseas（海外的）is not the English people speak in America.可知，以前以語法和詞匯為核心的英語不是美國人說的英語。B,D兩項中的boring and wrong grammar和too small a vocabulary文章未提及；C項明顯錯誤。故A項正確。
小題4:細節(jié)題。由文章第三段as soon as I stopped worrying about my accent and started speaking, I made rapid progress.可知，一旦不再擔心自己的口音并大膽開口說，英語進步很快。故答案為C.
小題5:細節(jié)題。通觀全文作者為“bridge the gap”所提三個建議，即“不恐懼、細心聽、利用已知”，可得D項非作者建議。故D項正確。