A
No wonder English is such a challenge for non-native speakers. The language has more words than any other—over 1 million, according to the Global Language Monitor. Out of this number, the average (平均的) American college student knows between 8,000-15,000.
Realizing that words are the building blocks of language, many Chinese students try hard to catch up. They often make long lists of words, and memorize their meanings and Chinese translations.
The bad news is that this method may do them little good when it comes to college entrance tests (入学考试), like the SATs. For these tests, a student needs to fully understand many words and their different uses.
But the good news is that there are better ways to build your English vocabulary.
Vocabulary learning system (系统)
The first thing to do is to develop an organized (有条理的) but easy way of collecting and learning new words. For example, a card system should include the following information:
Word—Simple definition (定义) in English—Phrase or sentence—Related (相关的) words— Synonyms (同义词) and antonyms (反义词) —Chinese meaning on the back of the card.
The good thing about this system is that with a single card, a student can learn not just one word, but a group of related words.
Keep your cards on a removable metal ring, so you can carry them around and add more to your collection every day.
Learn by theme (主题), not alphabet
Experts have found that people understand and remember facts better if they are given in logical (合逻辑的) groups. For example, it is much easier to remember words that are related to each other than it is to remember a list of unrelated words.
Creating lists of words related to common themes—such as friendship, family, wealth, poverty, careers, sciences—will be much easier to learn and remember than collecting words related only by their first letters.
1. Why is English learning a challenge to non-native speakers, according to the writer?
A. English grammar is different from Chinese grammar.
B. English has the largest vocabulary among languages.
C. It’s difficult for them to understand the logic of the language.
D. Many English words have different meanings and usages.
2. What problem do Chinese students have in studying English according to the article?
A. Their method of learning English vocabulary is poor.
B. They think there’s no need to learn a large vocabulary.
C. They do not work hard enough to increase their vocabulary.
D. They find it hard to communicate with native speakers.
3. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. American college students have a vocabulary of more than 15,000 words on average.
B. Memorization of words is of little help in learning English.
C. Students should not use Chinese when they memorize English words.
D. SATs examiners look out for how well Chinese students understand English words.
【答案】1. B 2. A 3. D
【解析】
【分析】这是一篇应用文。文章向我们介绍了两种增加你的英语词汇量的好的方法。
【1题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章第一段关键句“The language has more words than any other—over 1 million, according to the Global Language Monitor.”可知，这门语言的单词比其他任何语言都多。由此可推断出，按照作者的说法，英语学习对非母语的人来说是个挑战，是因为英语是所有语言中词汇量最大的。故选B项。
【2题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章第三段关键句“The bad news is that this method may do them little good when it comes to college entrance tests (入学考试), like the SATs.”可知，坏消息是这种方法在大学的入学考试时对他们几乎没有什么用处。根据上文可知，这里的方法指的是中国学生学习单词的方法。由此可推断出，中国学生在学习英语时遇到的问题是他们学习英语单词的方法很差。故选A项。
【3题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章第三段关键句“For these tests, a student needs to fully understand many words and their different uses.”可知，对于SATs（标准成绩考试）来说，学生需要充分理解许多单词及其不同用法。由此可推断出，SATs考官关注的是中国学生对英语单词的理解程度。故选D项。
