Before you hit ‘Enter’ on MSN, read this
It is often said that the language we use online is less formal than that we use in a letter, or in direct speech sometimes. This is true, but it can also make us in trouble sometimes.
The thing about online communication is that you have no idea what the person who is reading your messages is feeling. For this reason, it is always a good idea to be polite and cautious when writing e-mails or messages to your friends.
Chinese can be a direct language, but in English, people often talk about a subject in another way. So instead of saying “Please meet me here” or “Do this for me now”, English speakers usually go for indirect phrases like “Would it be possible”, “if you have time” or “It would mean a lot to me if…”
If you have a close friend, you may still run into trouble because of your jokes. If you have asked someone to do something and they need a bit more time, you might joke with him: “What? You still haven’t done it yet? What’s wrong with you?” While this seems funny to you, your friend may feel unhappy.
If you have foreign friends in different countries, the time difference can also be a factor. While you are waking up for class on Friday morning, they may be having a party on Friday night. You will be serious and they will, probably, be excited. So don’t be angry if they seem not to care about you. Just try to message them at the proper time.
【小題1】 According to the passage, we learn that our letters are more ______ than the e-mails.

If you are one of those who want to know how to increase your vocabulary, there are some ways you may find useful. In fact, it is not that difficult to learn new words, but to remember them for a lifetime seems not to be so easy.
To make it easier, you can try word associations（聯(lián)想）. Try to find a connection between a new word and things or people you know. For example, if your neighbour is an unselfish person who cares about the needs of other people, think about this person every time you see the word, and very soon you'll start actively using it.
Try to use the words you learn as often as possible. Perhaps you are not sure which situations they should be used in, or whether you pronounce（發(fā)音） them correctly, but practice is the best way to understand that. It is not enough to find out the meaning of a word. You should hammer (敲打) it into your mind by using it in actual conversations in everyday life.
Also, it may be helpful to know the meaning of the word roots, prefixes (前綴) and suffixes （后綴）， especially if they have a Greek or Latin origin（起源）． Even if you meet a long unfamiliar word, it will be easy to know its meaning if you know the general meaning of its parts.  For example, if you see the word "philanthropy", it won't be difficult to surmise what it means if you know that "anthropo" means "human" and "philo" means "loving". Not only can ancient Greek and Latin be helpful, but a number of modern languages as well. So, if you speak French,  Italian, Spanish or Portuguese, guess the meaning of an unfamiliar English word if it sounds like  a word from another language you know.
【小題1】 Which of the following old sayings can show the main idea of Paragraph 3?

There are about fifteen hundred languages in the world. But only a few of them are very important. English is one of them. Many, many people use it, not only in England and the USA, but also in other parts of the world. About 200,000,000 people speak it as their own language. It is difficult to say how many people are learning it as a foreign language. Many millions of people are trying to do so. Is it easy or difficult to learn English? Different people may have different answers. Have you ever noticed ads(廣告) of this kind in the newspapers or magazines? “Learn English in six weeks, or give your money back…” “Easy and funny…” “Our records and tapes help you master English in a month”. Of course, it never happened quite like that.
The only language that seems easy to learn is the mother tongue. We should remember that we all learned our own language well when we were children. If we could learn English in the same way, it would not seem so difficult. Think of what a small child does. He listens to what people say. He tries what he hears.
So it is hard to say that learning English is easy. We must do a lot of practice. And practice needs great efforts and takes much time. Good teachers, record, tapes, books, and dictionaries will be helpful, but they cannot do the student’s work for him.
【小題1】How many languages are very important in the world?