Students in American schools learn from an early age to give presentations as part of their regular classroom activities. Children as young as five years old often give short talks about objects they bring in to school - called "show and tell," this training is a basis for later public speaking.

Speaking English in public meetings is necessary for many students and employees. The best way to improve is to practice public speaking in a friendly environment. Learners need to receive feedback about what they are doing well and about their mistakes. One group that gives members the chance to practice is Toastmasters.

Toastmasters is an international organization that holds weekly meetings. At the meetings, members each give a speech and give others advice about their speeches and speaking style.

Charles LeBeau is a public speaking professor and consultant（顾问）. He began his career in Japan in 1982. Currently, he teaches at two universities and at the Toshiba International Training Center. He has also written books on the subject.

"The approach that I've taken is to simplify（简化）and break it down. First if we look at presentation, what's going on, there are basically three messages that the presenter is giving the audience, all together. There's what I call the physical message. Physical message is basically body language. It's the way that my body, as a speaker, is talking to the audience. And then there's also the visual （视觉的）message. The visual message(s) are the slides that we now make and show the audience. The third message is the story message. The story message is the content of our presentation. So another way we can think of the story message is that it's the verbal message, it's what we say to the audience. The story message also includes how we organize our ideas to present to the audience," LeBeau said.

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1.School kids at five are usually asked to talk about ________.

A classroom activities

B school training

C public speech

D personal objects

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据第1段...give short talks about objects they bring in to school...，可知他们要对自己带到学校的物品进行简短的阐述，故选D。

2.What does Toastmasters do?

A To receive feedback from learners

B To make better one’s speeches

C To correct mistakes made by learners

D To improve the environment

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据第2段最后1 句...One group that gives members the chance to practice is Toastmasters，可知这是一个给成员创造机会练习表达，提高演讲水平的组织，故选B。

3.What do we know about Charles LeBeau?

A He’s helped make giving speeches much easier.

B He gives speeches in public with other consultants.

C He’s been teaching at two universities since 1982.

D He has written many books with other professors.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。由最后1段The approach that I've taken is to simplify and break it down.可知他将演讲进行了简化和分解，从而使演讲不再是件难事，故选A。

4.How can one offer messages to others without any word or body language?

A to simplify the presentation

B to break down the presentation

C to present prepared slides

D to make some physical actions

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据最后1段 The visual message(s) are the slides that we now make and show the audience. 可知演讲时还可以借助幻灯片传递信息，故选C。

5.The underlined word verbal in the last paragraph probably means ______.

A spoken

B simple

C basic

D organized

解析：选A。A 词义猜测题。由it's what we say to the audience，可以判断该词语和说话有关，故选A。