The world is an interesting place. Different people like different things.

    Some people like loud music. Other people don't. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Many people like sport, but they don't all like the same sport. In some countries, cricket(板球运动) is a very popular sport. In other countries, no one plays it or watches it on TV. However, most people like soccer. The World Cup is very popular. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Different people like different foods. Some people don't like meat. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Some people don't like potatoes or bread. They prefer rice.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Most people have their favorite colors. Some people like bright colors. Others prefer black colors.

    Many people like traveling. Different people like different places. Some people like to go to the country. They like the fresh air. Some people like to go to the city. Because they like shopping. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. They like soft music.

B. Not everyone like the same color.

C. Millions of people watch the games on TV.

D. Different people like different kinds of pets.

E. They eat fruit and vegetables most of the time.

F. Some other people enjoy beautiful places like the mountains or beaches.

Human's Greatest Achievements

    The Earth is 4.5 billion years old, but the human race has lived on it for just 200,000 years. In that short time, we have achieved some amazing things.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The list is almost endless. The invention of the airplane has changed our lives. The discovery of antibiotics(抗生素) has saved the lives of millions of people. Can you imagine living without electricity? What about the printing press? Without the printing press, you wouldn't be reading this. In the last 50 years, there have been great achievements in communication, such as radio, TV, computers, the Internet, and smartphones{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    What about arts? The arts have brought pleasure to many people, but are the Beatles and Bach more important than antibiotics?{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Finally, we must not forget humans' early achievements{#blank#}4{#/blank#}We can't imagine modern life without cooked food and cars.

    What are humans' greatest achievements? To answer the question, we need to decide what we mean by “great”{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Or is it just something that makes us say “Wow,” like the Great Wall? What do you think? 

A. We could probably live without them, but life wouldn't be as interesting.

B. Is it something that makes us rich or happy or save lives?

C. And is Mickey Mouse as important an achievement as going to space?

D. They used fire for cooking and heating and invented the wheel.

E. Many of humans' great achievements are in science and technology.

    Students generally find it difficult to prepare for a speaking test because they have nobody to practise    (A)    or correct their mistakes. But that doesn't mean you can't test yourself.

    Whether you're taking an end-of-course test or an official (官方 ) exam like PET or IELTS, there's one great tool you can use: your mobile phone. Nearly every smartphone these days has an inbuilt recording feature (内置录音功能) which you can use to test your speaking skills. You can record yourself speaking, play the recording back, and correct your own mistakes.

    I practised this way in Italian. I chose some speaking questions from PET and did the exercise three times. The first time, I made a few grammar mistakes and didn't speak for long enough. The second time was a bit better, and the third time was nearly perfect.

    All in all, I made a real improvement with my grammar, pronunciation and how long I spoke. Also, recording myself put me under the pressure (压力) I would experience during an important speaking test.

    Many students found this method    (B)   . Nelia, from Brazil, said that she could hear her mistakes when she listened to her voice. She was mainly using the wrong verb tense (时态) and using prepositions(介词) incorrectly. When she tried the exercise again, she got its right! Donghyeon, from South Korea, said that the exercise helped him to improve his English skills in general.

    May: I'm 35. I like shopping, but shopping with young children is not an easy thing. I have to look after them while I'm shopping. Shopping with my husband is not fun, either. I only go shopping with my husband when I need to buy something for him. If I look at dress for myself, he always says something like "the queue is too long" or "you don't need to buy that right now". I often go shopping with my friends. It's fun. I like shopping alone, too.

    Lisa: I'm 26. I like shopping very much, but I never go shopping at weekends. There are too many people in the shops. I don't like shopping with other people. It usually takes me a lot of time to choose things because I never buy the first things I see. I always look around other shops to find the clothes with the best price. I'm good at finding the best deals. I don't like buying food in small shops and street markets. I think food in the supermarket is fresher and cheaper. So I usually shop there.

Information Card

    There once was a woman. She had a faithful (忠实的) dog. The dog was so faithful that she could leave her baby with the dog when she went out. (A) And after she returned, she would always find her baby safe.

    One day, the woman left the baby with the dog and went shopping. When she returned, she found something had taken place in the house. There were bloodstains(血迹)all over the bedroom. The woman then thought of her baby. She cried and started looking for him. Then she saw the faithful dog. It was licking(舔) its mouth. It seemed that it had just finished a delicious meal. The woman was angry and thought that the dog had killed her baby. Without thinking too much, (B)       .

    But as she continued looking for her child, she saw something else. Close to the bed, there was her baby and he was sleeping. And under the bed, there was a dead jackal (豺), The woman now understood what had happened. The dog tried to protect her baby from the jackal, but just now she killed the dog. How regretful she was!