精听建议：

　　先完整地把一条新闻听一到三遍，争取掌握大意。然后，一句一句精听，力争每句话都听明白。遇到实在不懂的地方，再听写。

　　下面的文本材料中空缺部分里面要填的词都很简单，不过是一些值得注意的连读或者典型的美式发音哦，有些语速比较快。试试看，你能不能全部写对？

　　（参考文本，欢迎指出错误^^）

　　When I think about how my mother fed all seven of us, making us think that every day was a "different meal," I still appreciate how much a creative cook ___1___ a single potato.And it wasn't just in the kitchen. She would flip her old Singer sewing machine upright, study ___2___books and magazines, then make ethnic versions of those same dolls and stuffed animals to ___3___ church fundraisers. Without a TV in the house to distract us, we made the dolls come to life, ___4___ the hollow fabric sleeves one fistful of cotton at a time.

　　My mother made her own clothes and all my sisters' prom and wedding dresses. I always knew when she was making something, because she ___5___ or humming. She sang all the way through her home correspondence courses in floral design and interior decorating. She made being creative as normal as breathing and encouraged our participation by telling us that "idle hands and minds were the devil's workshop."

　　参考答案：

　　1.can do with

　　2.pictures in

　　3.sell at

　　4.filling

　　5.'d be singing