Everyone knew that Stuti was the best speller in the whole class. She could spell difficult words like “encyclopedia” and “amendment” very 1 . She used to get perfect scores during each weekly spelling test.

Ms. Daisy, her English teacher, made a 2 for the spelling tests that any child who doesn’t get at least 60% correct spellings would have to correct each wrong word and copy three times for next week’s spelling test. Seema, who sat next to Stuti always struggled （挣扎） in spellings. Last Thursday, she received 56%, which meant she had to 3 the rest 44% words three times.

Stuti was so 4 in her spelling abilities that she decided not to study for her next spelling test. The test began. Ms. Daisy pronounced each word and then repeated it. Everything was OK until she spoke “Handkerchief”. Stuti scribbled （匆匆书写） h-a-n-d-k-e-h...now what? Her mind was blank.

Ms. Daisy started to move on to the next word. An idea came into Stuti’s mind that Seema 5 how to spell it! Seema had written this word three times.

There it was, spelled out in Seema’s handwriting. Her eyes went quickly back to her own paper and 6 the word with the letters “i-e-f”.

Stuti remained nervous as Ms. Daisy read the last spelling word. She had 7 just for the first time in her life. She thought, “Is this the way I want to keep my perfect record—by being a cheater?”

Finally, she erased what she had written earlier and replaced it with what she knew was the wrong answer. She wrote “e-i-f”. As her hands put down her pencil and passed the test up to the front, she sighed with relief （解脱） . She thought, “So what if my perfect scores are no longer being kept? At least my 8 is.”

1 ． A ． happily B ． easily C ． slowly D ． carefully

2 ． A ． plan B ． suggestion C ． guess D ． rule

3 ． A ． check B ． copy C ． read D ． pronounce

4 ． A ． special B ． unusual C ． confused D ． confident

5 ． A ． knew B ． proved C ． found D ． wondered

6 ． A ． changed B ． picked C ． finished D ． replaced

7 ． A ． cheated B ． asked C ． looked D ． remembered

8 ． A ． choice B ． courage C ． honesty D ． pride

Misadventure in English

Last week, our forum ( 论坛 )asked if you had any funny or strange stories about using English. Here are some of our favourite posts.

Sophie

When I first visited New York, I went to a shopping centre. I asked a lady where the shoes were. She said they were on the first floor. I went upstairs. But I couldn’t find any. I thought she gave me the wrong information. Then, I realized that the first floor was the ground floor.

Yancy.

I went to a summer school in Manchester. One day, the head master told us that our English teacher Maggie couldn’t teach that day because she had a frog in her throat. Why did she eat a frog? Then I learned that it means someone’s throat is dry or blocked. How funny!

Julien

My British penfriend once told me that his grandfather was “wicked （邪恶的） ”. But when I met his grandfather, I liked him a lot. I found it very strange. Why did my friend use a bad word about such a nice man? Guess what? When speaking informally, “wicked” means “very nice”.

Zheng Xu

I was part of a student exchange programme between a school in England and one in China. I knew I had done a good job writing my first English paper. But my teacher gave me “Not bad!” Not bad? There weren’t any mistakes! Actually, British people use “not bad” when things are pretty good! I got a good comment!

1 ． Who posted the story about buying shoes?

A ． Sophie. B ． Yancy. C ． Julien. D ． Zheng Xu.

2 ． What happened to Maggie?

A ． She ate a frog. B ． She had a dry throat. C ． She lost her penfriend. D ． She got a bad comment.

3 ． What does Julien think of his penfriend’s grandfather?

A ． Strange. B ． Funny. C ． Strict. D ． Nice.

Dog’s Best Friend

Jarrett Little was road testing his mountain bike outside of Columbus, Georgia, when his riding partner, Chris Dixon, stopped suddenly. Something nearby moving among the trees had caught her attention. It turned out to be a sandy-colored five-month-old dog.

“He was really thin, and had a broken leg,” Little told CBS News. The cyclists fed the friendly dog and shared their water. They also quickly realized that the dog was coming with them, although they had no idea how. They were more than seven miles from downtown and riding bikes. “We couldn’t leave him,” Little said. “Out there next to the Oxbow Meadows, he was going to end up as alligator ( 短吻鳄 ) food.”

Little, a 31-year-old business owner, had an idea. He carefully picked up his new friend and put the 38-pound dog’s back legs into the pockets of his cycling shirt. Then he placed the dog’s front legs over his shoulders.

“He was hurt, so he wasn’t trying to fight,” Little says. “He was also happy that we were there, touching him, and hadn’t taken off on him.”

Their 30-minute ride into town ended at a bike store, where they got more water and food for the dog. “That was when Andrea Shaw, a company worker, happened by. The dog went straight to her, smelling and “loving on her,” says Dixon. Shaw was touched and, after learning what had happened, decided to keep the dog.

Shaw called him Columbo after the town where they’d met and planned an operation on his leg. Today, Columbo is living the high life on a farm with a horse and a six-year-old boy to keep him company. As Dixon said, “He is really the luckiest dog alive.”

1 ． Why did Dixon stop suddenly during the road testing?

A ． She noticed something moving among the trees.

B ． She had cycled seven miles and wanted to rest.

C ． She met some other riding partners by chance.

D ． She wanted to share some water with Little.

2 ． What can we learn about the dog?

A ． He is unfriendly to people.

B ． He is kept happily on a farm.

C ． He weighed about 31 pounds.

D ． He ended up as alligator food.

3 ． According to the passage, the dog’s best friend is .

A ． the alligator B ． the human C ． the horse D ． CBS News

There is a famous English saying “You are what you eat”, and it means what you put in your mouth will become part of you. Many experts ( 专家 ) use it to tell people it’s important to have a good eating habit. For example, too much sweet food makes a person overweight. To avoid being fat, kids are told to keep off sweet food. However, a team of American scientists have discovered something new about eating sweet food.

“When we say some people ‘sweet’, we mean they are kind and friendly to us. Perhaps this word can help us learn more about people’s feelings and acts,” said Brian Meier, a scientist from the study team. “Taste is something we experience every day. What we have done is to find whether we can know someone’s character and behavior depending on their taste.”

In one of their experiments, college students were asked questions about their character — whether, for example, they were soft-hearted or not. Then they were asked to make a list of their favorite food. According to their answers, the scientists found that the students who liked sweet food were nicer.

In their another experiment, the scientists found that people who preferred sweet food such as cookies and chocolate were more willing to help other people in need, and those who ate non-sweet food such as chips weren’t. For example, people with a sweet tooth were more likely to volunteer to clean up their city, visit sick children in the hospital and so on.

The result of the experiments is that people’s helpfulness or being nice has something to do with their taste for sweet food. So eating sweet food is a useful way to make people nice and helpful. Next time, try some ice-cream.

1 ． According to the result of the experiments, sweet food can make people ________.

A ． overweight B ． excited C ． relaxed D ． friendly

2 ． The purpose of the experiment in Paragraph 4 is to show ________.

A ． character and behavior has something to do with people’s taste

B ． why some people like sweet food better than other kinds

C ． people who like cookies and chocolate like helping others

D ． non-sweet food eaters are not willing to volunteer to help those in need

3 ． We can learn from the passage that ________.

A ． people’s taste decides their characters and acts

B ． sweet food makes people overweight

C ． people with a sweet tooth are more willing to help others

D ． people’s character has nothing to do with their taste

Mindlessly checking Facebook makes you an awful lot like a lab mouse continuously pushing a button in order to get a treat.

When you check your phone, your brain gets its own little zing; Someone might be talking about you on Facebook! No? Reload. Maybe your Instagram got a heart! Reload. Reload.

But you’re no rat. Human brains can fight the ways apps hijack our brains, if we learn some skills to deal with this problem.

Are Facebook or Twitter “addictions” （瘾） ? Recent scientific research about social media doesn’t agree on that term, but evidence that we aren’t doing well is present at dinner tables where everyone is staring at screens, and at crosswalks where absent-minded people walk into traffic.

I became mindful of my early-morning bad habits. Pre-coffee, half awake, I’d lie there for an hour with my phone. So I called up psychologists, brain scientists and app designers for advice on what actually would help me.

Surprisingly, they didn’t tell me to immediately stop, but instead, they told me I needed the skills for managing social media as part of my life.

Limit Triggers （诱因）

Our brains are made to quickly eat up information. So why let social-media companies decide when to attract you? Turn off app notifications on your phone and computer, especially for live video broadcasts. They are designed to create the fear of missing out.

Avoid Quicksand （流沙 , 陷阱）

When you’re on Facebook, it is easy to read one article, then another. Nir Eyal, author of the 2014 book “Hooked” says he forces himself not to read anything right away. Instead, he saves articles to a service called Pocket, which reads them aloud while he’s at the gym.

We hurt ourselves when we use social media as a break from serious work. Our brains need a chance to be empty. Research suggests the best way to help your brain focus is exercise, even for a short period. Staring into space would be better than refreshing Facebook.

Make New Norms

Not that long ago, you could be fired for not paying attention during a meeting or class; now, many openly use their phones or laptops. Bosses could set a better work culture by providing charging stations at meetings where everyone could leave their phones, then focus on the discussion at hand. Mr. Eyal suggests you try shaming friends who have bad habits-if you do it politely. If someone is not listening to you at dinner, ask, “Is everything OK?” The answer might start an important conversation.

Tech Should Help

The social-media industry has a responsibility here, too. Since companies usually know exactly how much time users spend on their apps, they should offer help to people who have problem behavior. And for the rest of us, let’s encourage app makers to make their products more helpful, not more demanding of our time.

1 ． What does the underlined word “hijack” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A ． Wash. B ． Hurt. C ． Control. D ． Empty.

2 ． Why does Mr.Eyal save articles to Pocket?

A ． To rest his tired brain. B ． To refresh his Facebook immediately.

C ． To get more time to exercise. D ． To avoid being attracted by social media.

3 ． What is the best title of this passage?

A ． Take a break from busy life. B ． Free your brain from social media.

C ． Separate social life from your work. D ． Keep your life away from apps.

4 ． What can we infer from the passage?

A ． The social-media industry should make more app products.

B ． People with problem behavior should ask brain scientists for help.

C ． We should decide when to connect to social media by ourselves.

D ． A company with charging stations must have a better work culture.