In classes, your teachers will talk about topic that you are studying. The information they provide will be important for you to know when you take tests. So you must be able to take good written notes from what your teachers say.

Here are the three stages(阶段) of taking notes and what you should do during each stage.

1. Before Class Review your notes you have taken before you come to class. This will be good for remembering what was covered. Get you ready to understand new information your teacher will provide.

2. During Class Keep your attention on what your teacher is saying and „the signal words that tell you what your teacher is going to say and it is important to write in your notes. Examples of signal words are „The most important point…and „Remember that… Be sure to include in your notes information that your teacher repeats or writes on the blackboard. Write quickly so that you can include all the important information in your notes. Do this by writing abbreviations(缩写） such as med for medicine, using symbols such as % for percent, and writing short sentences.

3. After Class Rewrite your notes to make them more complete and accurate (准确的) by changing abbreviations into whole words, symbols into words, and shortened sentences into longer sentences. Use them to answer your questions. If necessary, ask your teacher for help.

    Every year, more than nine million people all over the world come to visit London. They go to the museums and theatres; they look at interesting old buildings or have a drink in a park.

    A quick and easy way to get to different places in the city is to take an underground train. The London underground is one of the best and most widely used transport networks（网状组织）in the world. The trains run all day and most of the night. (3)You'd better not take the underground between eight o'clock and ten o'clock in the morning, or four o'clock and six o'clock in the afternoon. (4) The trains are so crowded that you can hardly move or find a place to sit.

    London's famous red buses form a big part of getting around in London. Although the London underground is the fastest and the simplest way of getting around London, the buses play their part and are an experience you should try at least once. By sitting on the top deck (层) of the bus, you can get a great sightseeing (观光的)  experience of London as well.

    Some special visitors' buses take you to many of the interesting places in the city on one journey.  It takes about one and a half hours, but you can cancel your journey and get off (and on again) at the different places you want to visit.

    London taxis are called "black cabs”. Most of them are black, but some are not. You can stop one if it has a "For Hire (供租用的)n sign on it. The drivers are friendly and helpful.

    In a word, London is a big and beautiful city with Lots to see and to do. Welcome to London.

    I have a lot of problems recently. First, I'm not happy in class. I'm so shy that I'm afraid of speaking in class. Secondly, I argued with my best friend. I'm very worried because I have few friends. I don't want to lose her. Thirdly, I feel nervous as the middle exams are coming. And even I can't sleep well at night.

    Yesterday, my mother took me to the doctor. I told the doctor my problems and he gave me some advice. He asked me to make more friends who look friendly and play games in my free time, so that I'm not shy. He also said, "if you don't want to lose your best friend, you should talk with her. Tell her what you think and you are the best friends again." Because I can't sleep well, he asked me to eat some food that is good for sleep. And he asked me to relax. I'm trying to follow his advice.

    Dawa Dorji has many jobs: singer, barkeeper and English tour guide, but he is most famous as the lead singer of the first folk(民间的) pop band in Tibet(西藏).

    In 2003, Dawa Dorji met two fans of Tibetan music.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, and later another two joined the band.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, so they had to practise on weekdays in a small village after work. Dawa Dorji and his band members believed that they needed to communicate with their audience(听众) in order to write good songs. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    At the beginning, most audience were foreigners, but after a couple of months, many local people came to enjoy their music. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    “Whenever there is a festival, we Tibetans sing and dance, I sang songs with the old people, and I learned more about how to sing,” said Dawa Dorji.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, and many of them are from traditional ones.

    Dawa Dorji believes that their efforts(努力) are meaningful for introducing Tibetan folk music to the whole nation, and even the whole world.

    English dictionaries which were written before 18^th century had only words which were not common, or words which were difficult to spell. Then, in 1755, Dr. Samuel Johnson, a great English writer, wrote a famous dictionary. This dictionary contained common words as well as unusual ones. It also showed how words should be used in sentences.

    In 1858, a group of people who study language started to write The Oxford English Dictionary (OED). They wanted to list all the words of the English language. They even included words which were not used any more. They also wrote sentences that show the meanings of words. They also described the history of words, saying when words were first used in English, and which languages they came from. The OED tells us, for example, that "algebra" comes from Arabic and was first used in English in the 16^th century. The dictionary took hundreds of people over seventy years to complete. It has been improved many times, as the number of words used in English has increased. The more recent dictionary gives the meanings of over one million words. It is put into twenty-one books: each one is over one thousand pages long.

    Although Americans speak English, they use some words that are not used in British English. For example, the season an English person calls "autumn", is called "fall" by an American. The first dictionary of American English was published by Noah Webster in 1828. He also decided to spell some words in a simpler way. For example, he wrote "colour" as "color", "centre" as "center", and "plough" as "plow". These spellings are still used in America today. Since 1828, Webster's Dictionary of American English has been improved and made bigger many times.

    A good dictionary is a very important tool for every reader. Many modern English dictionaries are now available. They give different kinds of information. It is very important to choose the best dictionary for your needs and to use it often.