We considered a list of the best American books. Here are five that may help accurately show the national character. Most from a century or so ago, they still entertain, teach, and inspire: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville First published in 1851, the adventure stories of Captain Ahab and his monomaniacal  pursuit of the white whale draw us into a universe full of fascinating characters and stories. The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams Published in 1918, the book was an autobiography. Born in one of America's most famous political families, Adams provides insight into his family, including his experience as private secretary to his father, minister to England during the American Civil war. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman When Whitman published Leaves of Grass in 1855, he wanted to accurately describe the American experience and reflect the great changes in the American literary world that had taken place during his lifetime. Poems by Emily Dickinson An enthusiastic poet whose works have had considerable influence on modern poetry, Dickson's frequent use of dashes, occasional capitalization  of nouns, and unconventional metaphors  have contributed to her reputation as one of the most inventive poets of the 19thcentury American literature. However, most of her poems were not published during her lifetime. The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow First published in 1855, this is Longfellow's most popular and most recognized poem, the heroic life and death of a magic American Indian, sent by the Great Spirit to guide the nations in the ways of peace. Why did the author write the passage? A) To introduce several best American books to readers. B) To make an advertisement for a book store. C) To tell stories of several famous writers. D) To talk about some knowledge about literature.
A

Who says constant texting is just a bad habit? The teenager with the fastest thumbs in the country was crowned on Wednesday at the LG US National Texting Championship in New York City, winning $50,000 after a series of fierce texting battles. 16-year-old Austin Wiershke comes from Rhinelander, Wisconsin of the United States. He took home the top prize at the fifth annual texting event, beating 11 other competitors in the final, including last year's champion Brianna Hendrickson from Brooklyn, New York. Wiershke, who was wearing a gray shirt and having Justin Bieber's hairstyle, sailed through each level of the competition by typing passages of text on a QWERTY keyboard rapidly without any mistaken. One special round even included being blindfolded  on the state to make up phrases by memory. "I'm extremely nervous," Wiershke said while waiting for the results after the final round. "I'm getting ready to hear Brianna's name. When I heard my name was announced, I really couldn't believe my ears." After the announcement was made, confetti  dropped from the ceiling and Wiershke was met on the stage by the singer who said that she liked texting very much. She was Ashley Tisdale, a famous and beautiful singer, who awarded him his check. In August, a film on Music Television called "Thumbs" took a behind-the -scenes look at the teenager's life. It shows how he practiced texting to be the fastest. The film followed a series of young texting competitors, including Brianna Hendrickson, in the weeks leading up to this year's LG US National Texting Championship. Besides showing the always -connected lifestyle of these teenagers nationwide, the mover also shows the studies, sports , dreams and friendships among these competitors. Through the film called "Thumb", people can know  _  . A) the development of the LG US National Texting Championship B) various parts of the competitors' life C) what happened to the competitors after the contest D) the details of the texting contest
B

How do you improve your English speaking skills, so that you can communicate more easily and effectively? These tips will help you to become a more confident speaker. Practice where you can and when you can. Any practice is good--- whether you speak to someone who is a native English speaker or not. It's important to build your confidence. If possible, use simple sentence structure that you know is correct so that you can concentrate on getting your message across. Try to experiment with the English you know. Apply words and phrases you know to new situations. Native English speakers are more likely to correct you if you use the wrong word than if you use the wrong grammar. Experimenting with vocabulary is a really good way of getting feedback  Try to respond to what people say to you. You can often get clues to what people think by looking at their body language. Respond to them in a natural way. Try not to translate into and from your own language. It takes too much time and you will find it difficult to get an English answer right away. You don?t know how to do well. The more you want to act well, the more slowly you act. This will make you more shilly-shally. If you forget a word, do what native English speakers do all the time ,and say things that 'fill' the conversation. This is better than remaining completely silent. Try using ' um',or 'er',if you forget the word. Don't speak too fast! It? s important to use a natural rhythm in speaking English, but if you speak too fast it will be difficult for people to understand you. Try to relax when you speak and you,11 find that your mouth does most of the pronunciation work for you. Speak English at normal speed. Final tips --Try to become less hesitant and more confident. --Don't be shy to speak------ the more you do it, the more confident you,11 become. --Remember to be polite------ use "please" and "thank you" if you ask someone to do something for you. How many tips does the author offer in the passage? A) 9. B) 10. C) 11. D) 12.
C

You may think that sailing is a difficult sport, but it is really not hard to learn it. You do not need to be strong. But you need to be quick. And you need to understand a few basic rules about the wind. First, you must ask yourself, "Where is the wind coming from? Is it coming from ahead or behind or from the side?" You must think about this all the time on the boat. The wind direction tells you what to do with the sail. Let's start with the wind blowing from the behind. This means the wind and the boat are going in the same direction. Then you must always keep the sail outside the boat. It should be at a 90deg angle   to the boat. Then it will catch the wind best. If the wind is blowing from the side, it is blowing across the boat. In this case, you must keep the sail half way outside the boat. It should be at a 45deg angle to the boat. _ needs to be out far enough to catch the wind, but it shouldn't flap  . It shouldn't look like on a flagpole. If it is flapping, it is probably out too far, and the boat will slow down. Sailing into the wind is not possible. If you try, the sail will flap and the boat will stop. You may want to go in that direction. It is possible, but you can't go in a straight line. You must go first in one direction and then in another. This is called tacking. When you are tacking, you must always keep the sail inside the boat. What should you consider first while sailing? A) Sailors' strength. B) Wave levels. C) Wind directions. D) Size of sails.

C