On my 69th birthday，my dear wife gave me one week in a French language school．Six years ago we bought a holiday home in the southwest of France．My wife speaks the language fluently，having read French at university，but I often complained about the problem I had understanding our French neighbours．
The course my wife had chosen was to be very intensive．The working day would start at 8．15 and end at 10．30 at night．French had to be spoken at all times．Certainly there were times when I thought of the school as a kind of open prison．There weren't any locks on the door except to keep intruders out，but nobody，as far as I know，left the premises during the week we were there．We were a very dedicated group．
Let me tell you about my fellow students．There were twenty-four of us from no fewer than eleven countries from Finland to Venezuela．The sexes were evenly represented．In age，we ranged from thirties to late sixties．Five were absolute beginners，but none of us was fluent．The reasons for our being there varied considerably but most were attending for professional or business reasons．
As soon as dinner was over on the first evening，we were given the first of two comprehensive multiple choice tests to establish our level．I didn't do too badly at the grammar，but I found I was absolutely hopeless at comprehension．
The next morning the serious work began—and continued without a break apart from meals and sleep until the following Friday evening．I was placed in a group with four others，a Norwegian woman MP，a Dutchman，an American from the Museum of Modern Art in Philadelphia，and a young English woman who was taking a job in Marseilles．Our teacher was Nathalie，very bright and jolly and wonderfully patient with our dreadful accents and endless mistakes．
Most people reckoned that，however exhausting，they had got what they came for．Some were staying on for a second or third week；others intended to come back the next year．Of course we had a complaint or two．I would have preferred to be in a group of three rather than five，since two ofour bunch slowed up our proGREss，and I would have appreciated more help in spoken French and less time spent on reflexive verbs and prepositions．But by the end I was certainly more confident in comprehension and pronunciation．What made the course a success？Mostly the teachers who were，without exception，a wonderful team：cheerful，enthusiastic and patient．
1．The author's wife booked the French course for her husband because____．
A．he had studied the language at university
B．he had been asking her to do so for a long time
C．they were planning to live in France
D．he was unhappy with his ability in the language
2．He compares the school to a prison because ____．
A．no one was allowed to leave the building
B．he didn't enjoy his time there
C．the students never went out
D．he was forced to speak French all the time
3．The majority of students at the school were ____．
A．male
B．learning French for the first time
C．studying for work purposes
D．in their forties
4．What was his opinion of his teacher？
A．He found her rather strict．
B．He thought she was beautiful．
C．He would have preferred her to correct more．
D．He liked the fact that she was cheerful．
5．During the evening，the author ____．
A．had lessons from a private tutor
B．was tested on his comprehension
C．relaxed by watching television programmes
D．used to take some exercise
6．In general，the students ____．
A．were satisfied with the course
B．thought the course had been too tiring
C．felt they had made little proGREss
D．would have liked the course to last longer
7．One criticism the author had was that ____．
A．he didn't think group work was a good idea
B．two members of his group talked too much
C．the group made less proGREss than it could have
D．he felt he had been put in the wrong group
参考答案: 1—7DCCDBAC
