The advantages of using flashcards to build up a vocabulary are well known. You can buy sets of cards, or make your own, and carry them with you wherever you go. There's no question this is useful and because you can use them in short bursts, it's not too much for you. It can be fun. I don't recommend drilling for hours at a time with flashcards. If you want to use flashcard software, things get even better. There are many packages out there for maintaining and drilling flashcards. I recommend VTrain though there are many others. One stands out, however: SuperMemo. Similar to Pimsleur, SuperMemo is engineered according to a carefully researched methodology   in order to test you on a card the very minimum number of times you need to see it for it to stick. When you look at a card, you give some feedback to the software on whether you got it right and how easy you found it. It uses this information, and that of your previous attempts, to decide when you will be shown the card next. It's smart and it really works. If you're like me, the news is even better! I have a version of SuperMemo that runs on my PalmOS phone. Wherever I am, if I have my phone handy, I have thousands of flashcards with me too. Honestly, it would be worth purchasing a cheap Palm device only for this. You can pick one up for $20 or even less on eBay or elsewhere. Consider it, at least. What is the main purpose of the author in writing the passage? A) To introduce to us a way to build up a vocabulary. B) To teach us how to make flashcards. C) To suggest us buying flashcards. D) To tell us how to use flashcard software.
A


The latest research suggests that the key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success. Instead, it's purposeful practice. Top performers spend more hours practising their craft. If you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you'd take a girl who possessed a slightly above average language ability. It wouldn't have to be a big talent, just enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar qualities. Maybe the writer was from the same town, had the same family background, or shared the same birthday.  This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would give her some idea of a fascinating circle who might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, giving her a strong sense of insecurity and fuelling a desperate need for success. Armed with this ambition, she would read novels and life stories of writers without end. This would give her a primary knowledge of her field. She would be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly understand its inner workings.  Then she would practise writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and error-focused. By practising in this way, she delays the automating process. Her mind wants to turn conscious, newly learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills. By practising slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, she forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance. Then she would find an adviser who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance form the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By now she is redoing problems--how do I get characters into a room--dozens and dozens of times. She is establishing habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems.  The primary quality our young writer... The passage mainly deals with_. A) the function of I.Q. in cultivating a writer B) the relationship between genius and success C) the decisive factor in making a genius D) the way of gaining some sense of distinction
C


Q: Most students try to learn English grammar using grammar textbooks. They study grammar rules and take grammar tests. They use an analytical  approach, attempting to memorize, and then apply, a great number of rules. However, research has proved this method inefficient and ineffective. The truth is, the human brain simply cannot consciously remember process and use hundreds of or thousands of grammar rules. Real speech is too fast. Native speakers do not learn grammar in this way, but rather intuitively   and unconsciously. They learn in a complete way, not by attempting to memorize individual grammar rules. As a result, native speakers use correct grammar fluently and easily. Fortunately, it is possible for English learners to learn grammar this way. Language teacher Blaine Ray has developed a unique "intuitive" approach to teach English grammar. Her system uses "point of view" stories to teach the patterns of English grammar, allowing students unconsciously to acquire correct grammar without ever studying grammar rules. In this system, the teacher first tells a simple story from one point of view. It may be told about the past, then repeated, but beginning with "since he was a child"; then repeated again, but this time about the future. Listening to these stories allows students intuitively and effortlessly to learn English grammar and makes them be able to use it correctly when they speak. Point of View Stories is a creative new way to study English grammar, and offers hope to millions of frustrated English learners. This passage wants to   _  . A) criticize the traditional way of learning grammar B) introduce a new way to study English grammar C) ask students to learn English grammar by listening to stories D) tell us how the native speakers learn English grammar
A: B


(Q).
Talking on a mobile phone is expensive, so a lot of people send text messages. Text messages are much cheaper than talking on a mobile phone, and you can make it cheaper by making the words shorter. You can do this by taking out "unimportant" letters in the words and using numbers instead of words (2 =" to," 3 =" free," 4 =" for," 8 =" ate," so h8 =" hate," etc.). You can also keep away from using punctuation  . Here is an example: Do U wnt 2 g 2 th cnma tnite (Do you want to go to the cinema tonight?) What do you think these text messages mean? Whr hv U bn? Iv bn wtng hrs fr a cll. Im hm nw, why nt gv me a cll. I gt a txt mssge frm my frnd. Shes hvng a prty on Strdy. Mobile phone users have developed a group of symbols   to show how they feel. They are called emoticons, and there are some examples below. To read an emoticon, you have to look at it sideways. For example, if you say something in a text message that is a joke, you can follow it with a smiling face. Like this: Why didt u call me? I'm so sad.   ( Here are some others. Can you think of text messages where you could use them? ) laughing     ( sad    < really sad V shouting    |*| asleep   :0 shocked 8*| surprised    \*o bored Why do people use emoticons? A) Because they can show how users feel. B) Because the symbols are beautiful. C) Because text messages are short. D) Because the users can't make the words shorter.
(A).

A