If you are interested in studying at an American university, you have to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The test is widely known as the TOEFL. It is the most widely used language exam for American universities.
There are two major kinds of the TOEFL test. The first is the IBT, or Internet-based Test. It is offered in most of the world and accepted by nearly every university and scholarship program in the United States. The other kind of the test is called the Paper-based Test or PBT. The PBT is less costly to take and does not require use of the Internet.
But how to get started with TOEFL? Here are some tips.
⒈Plan ahead —It takes a long time to improve your TOEFL score. Do not expect a big lift in your test results after two weeks. You will have to spend a lot of time and energy.
⒉Master the basics first —You should have to be good at basic English before you take the test. If you score below 500 on the PBT or 70 on the IBT, study for a few months and come back to the TOEFL later.
⒊Get a study guide — It is easy to find study guides for the IBT. Pearson, Barron's, ETS, and Kaplan all produce quality materials. Take a practice test once or twice a month. The best study guides will have explanations in the answer key.
⒋Use outside resources — Remember, you are learning a language, not a test. You can improve your TOEFL score by making English part of your daily life. Some simple ways are listening to English speakers, watching movies and reading newspapers. Some others are reading English textbooks, sending and reading text messages in English, and writing online in English.
The best way to do well on the TOEFL is to know English well. The real goal of the test is to measure how well a student can communicate in English-speaking classroom.
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A Russian spacecraft traveling to the International Space Station Thursday had to make an emergency landing when a rocket engine failed to fire. It was the latest in a recent series of failures for the Russian space program, which is also used by the U.S. to carry its astronauts to the station.
United States astronaut Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Alexei Ovchinin landed safely about 20 kilometers from Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. The city is about 450 kilometers from the Russia's Baikonur space center, which Russia operates through an agreement with the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Both the U.S. space agency NASA and Russia's Roscosmos reported that the two were quickly recovered from the landing area by rescue crews. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "Thank God the crew is alive" after they had landed safely.
About two minutes after launching, the three-stage Soyuz booster rocket suffered an unspecified failure of its second stage. Russia's TASS news agency said the capsule carrying the two men separated from the troubled rocket safely. This caused the capsule to drop very sharply into the Earth's atmosphere. Parachutes(降落伞)helped slow the returning capsule. Search and rescue teams were sent to recover the crew.
Russia's RIA news agency reported that Russia has immediately put off all manned space launches after the failure. Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin said he had ordered a state commission to carry out an investigation into what went wrong. He said Russia will share all relevant information with the U.S.
The TASS news agency said that the ISS crew has enough supplies and that the failed launch will not affect operations.
The U.S. and other nations have depended on Russia to carry astronauts to the ISS since the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. In coming years, American aerospace companies SpaceX, with its Dragon 2, and Boeing, with its Starliner, are expected to return to space.
Monkeys seem to have a way with numbers.
A team of researchers trained three Rhesus monkeys to associate 26 clearly different symbols consisting of numbers and selective letters with 0-25 drops of water or juice as a reward. The researchers then tested how the monkeys combined — or added — the symbols to get the reward.
Here's how Harvard Medical School scientist Margaret Livingstone, who led the team, described the experiment: In their cages the monkeys were provided with touch screens. On one part of the screen, a symbol would appear, and on the other side two symbols inside a circle were shown. For example, the number 7 would flash on one side of the screen and the other end would have 9 and 8. If the monkeys touched the left side of the screen, they would be rewarded with seven drops of water or juice; if they went for the circle, they would be rewarded with the sum of the numbers — 17 in this example.
After running hundreds of tests, the researchers noted that the monkeys would go for the higher values more than half the time, indicating that they were performing a calculation, not just memorizing the value of each combination.
When the team examined the results of the experiment more closely, they noticed that the monkeys tended to underestimate (低估) a sum compared with a single symbol when the two were close in value — sometimes choosing, for example, a 13 over the sum of 8 and 6. The underestimation was systematic: When adding two numbers, the monkeys always paid attention to the larger of the two, and then added only a fraction (小部分) of the smaller number to it.
"This indicates that there is a certain way quantity is represented in their brains," Dr. Livingstone says. "But in this experiment what they're doing is paying more attention to the big number than the little one."
Whatever your level is, choosing to take French lessons in France is the best way to learn French. Place yourself in the local culture and practice your newly found skills in your free time.
You will be taught by native French speakers who have a love for teaching and use excellent teaching techniques. Lessons are interesting and you will speak French on the first day both inside and outside the classroom.
Learners
1 Suitable for all levels from beginners to advanced
2 Over 18 years old
Class Schedule
1 Classes start on Mondays and run throughout the summer.
2 Please arrive at the school by 8:15 am on your first day for a short level test. It will help to place you in the right class.
3 Classes run from Monday to Friday each week.
4 Classes start at 8:45 am each day depending on your level.
5 You will have 3 classes per day lasting 55 minutes each.
6 You will have a short break between classes.
Free Time and Tours
1 The school offers a lot of cultural activities throughout the week. These activities can include cooking lessons, wine and cheese tasting, visits to Paris, cycling, movies and much more.
2 You will have plenty of free time to explore (探索) the local area and practice your newly found language skills or just relax on this learning holiday with a difference.
Other Information
1 You should bring a small dictionary, pens and paper with you.
2 Get more from your holiday, have fun, meet new people and take home a new language skill that will stay with you forever.
Most of us are aware that we must take care of the environment, and the majority of us take steps to save energy and reduce waste and pollution. But recently some "green truths" have been shown to be only half true, or even completely false. Here are some common ones. Which are really green?
? It's better to take a shower than a bath.
It depends on how long you spend in the shower and how large your bath is. If you spend more than eight minutes in a shower, you'll use as much water as in a bath—about 50 litres of water. Therefore, the key is to keep your shower time as short as possible.
? Eating local food is good for the environment.
It seems like common sense: eating local food should be better for the environment, because it does not need to be transported long distances and kept cold during transport. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. In some cases, local produce might have used more energy and produced more greenhouse gases than produce grown a long way away.
?_____________________________
When we tun off a device, such as television, it goes into stand-by mode. Devices in this mode still use power, and older devices in stand-by mode can use even more. This happens because electricity continues to leak from the device, even when it is turned "off". To make sure your appliances are in fact off, remove the plug from its power supply.
Environmental awareness is now part of daily life. But it's worth checking common ideas and opinions to see what's really green.
This may be music to your ears.
Researchers P. Jason Rentfrow and Samuel Gosling gave 3,500 people a personality quiz. “We found that the musical styles people like are closely linked to their personalities,” Gosling says.
RAP/HIP-HOP
Known for their quick speech, some rappers can say more than 700 syllables(音节)a minute!
If you like rap/hip-hop, you are energetic(精力充沛的)and have a way with words. You put a fresh spin on things, whether it's new moves on the dance floor or your hip style.
CLASSICAL
In the 18th century, classical musicians were like rock stars. Beethoven and Mozart, for example, played in crowded concert halls.
If you like classical, you are open to new ideas and like debating with friends. Creative and imaginative, you can easily spend many hours scrapbooking, writing or painting.
COUNTRY
Country music came from the folk songs of English, Scottish, and Irish settlers of the southeastern United States.
If you like country, you express your opinions well, which makes you the ideal class president or team captain. Traditional and loyal, you enjoy spending time with your family.
POP
Pop music is designed to attract almost everyone, and it does. Each year, the industry brings in about 30 billion dollars!
If you like pop, you are attractive to your friends. You can make big things happen, like planning for a huge party or inspiring your team to victory.
ROCK/ALTERNATIVE
In the 1950s, rock music created a brand-new culture. Teenagers, for the first time, had an identity separate from adults and children.
If you like rock/alternative, you are a risk-taker who never accepts no for an answer. You rise to any challenge, like doing very well in a big exam or landing the lead in the school play.
If these personality profiles(人格剖析)don't match you, that's OK. These are just for fun.
One day an old woman was travelling alone in the mountains. Suddenly she saw something shining in the stream(溪流). When she came close, she found it was a precious(宝贵的)stone. She put the stone into her bag and went on with her trip.
The next day the old woman met a young man, who was also a traveler in the mountains. The young man looked very hungry, so the old woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked carefully, "The stone is beautiful. Would you like to give it to me?"
"Sure. Why not?" the woman said, and handed the stone to him.
The young man left happily with the stone. He knew it was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the woman.
"I've been thinking." he said. "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back and hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have in your bag."
The woman opened her bag. It was almost empty. She looked at the young man and smiled, "I have nothing special in my bag, but I do have something precious—the joy of giving!"
The young man felt ashamed (惭愧的)and left silently.
Those successful deaf dancers think that dancing is an activity .
.By the time Jack returned home from England, his son _____ from college.
A . graduated B . has graduated
C . had been graduating D . had graduated
Your job here is only _______. You will be removed from it when we have a proper post for you.
A. permanent B. fundamental C. compulsory D. temporary
We strongly advise you ________ eating your meal so late. It's not healthy.
A. on B. against C. from D. over
Some experts think reading is the fundamental skill upon ______ school education depends.
A.it B.that C.whose D.which
—You had better break up with the boy, Lucy.
—I don’t hang out with him any more. You have told me that at the beginning.
A. would B. should C. could D. must
Mexican President Vicente Fox was once invited to a university to give a lecture. A student asked him, “In your experience in politics have you 41 ?”
Fox said, “No, never.”
The students were chuckling (轻声地笑) 42 every politician always said so.
Fox wasn’t 43 . He said, “In this society, perhaps it is very 44 to prove that I’m an honest man, 45 you should believe that in this world there’s 46 , which is always around us. I want to tell you a 47 which means a lot to me.
“There was a father who was ready to dismantle (拆除) the pavilion (亭子) in the garden. His son said to him, ‘Daddy, i want to 48 how you dismantle the pavilion, so can you not dismantle it 49 I come back from school?’ His father 50 . However, after the boy 51 , he asked some workers to dismantle the pavilion. After the boy returned from school, he found the old pavilion had 52 . Therefore, he said 53 to his father, ‘Dad, you told me a lie.’ His father was embarrassed and said, ‘My boy, I was 54 .’ The father called in the workers again and had them rebuild a pavilion in the 55 of the old one. After the pavilion was rebuilt, he called in his son and said to the workers, ‘Please dismantle it.’
“I know the father. He was not rich, but he kept his 56 .”
Hearing this, the students said, “What’s the father’s name? We hope to 57 him.”
Fox said, “He has died, but his son is still 58 .”
“Then, where’s the son? He must be an honest man.”
Fox said, “His son is 59 here. It’s me. I’d like to treat this country and everyone in it like my father 60 me.”
A storm of applause thundered in the audience.
Dismantling and rebuilding a pavilion restored the boy’s faith in honesty.
41. A. failed | B. lied | C. feared | D. dreamed |
42. A. if | B. once | C. because | D. although |
43. A. angry | B. careful | C. excited | D. shy |
44. A. simple | B. hard | C. useful | D. possible |
45. A. and | B. or | C. so | D. but |
46. A. selflessness | B. knowledge | C. power | D. honesty |
47. A. method | B. book | C. story | D. view |
48. A. show | B. prove | C. see | D. discuss |
49. A. until | B. unless | C. after | D. for |
50. A. apologized | B. agreed | C. changed | D. succeeded |
51. A. forgot | B. refused | C. left | D. arrived |
52. A. finished | B. disappeared | C. shined | D. improved |
53. A. proudly | B. impolitely | C. patiently | D. unhappily |
54. A. wrong | B. tired | C. satisfied | D. clear |
55. A. middle | B. shape | C. face | D. interest |
56. A. record | B. secret | C. promise | D. appointment |
57. A. help | B. attract | C. criticize | D. know |
58. A. brave | B. alive | C. bright | D. alone |
59. A. standing | B. travelling | C. running | D. regretting |
60. A. trained | B. needed | C. treated | D. praised |