English is the most widely used language in the world. Methods( 方法 ) of learning English have been improved greatly since the beginning of this century. Learning a language is not just a matter of knowing a lot of grammar rules and building up a number of isolated( 孤立的 )words. A student’s mastery( 掌握 ) of a language is measured( 衡量 ) by how well he can use it. English is not a “subject” like geography or history, but a “skill” like swimming or football .You learn to swim by getting into the water and swimming. You learn football by going and kicking a ball. And you learn English by using it , not by knowing about it. The usual aims( 目标 ) in learning English are to understand spoken English, to speak English as correctly as possible, to read English without difficulty and to write it correctly. But for us, reading is probably more important than anything else.