问题10：我是个初中生，现在正在学过去时。可是在背不规则动词的过去式时，我觉得很难背出来。有什么窍门吗？ (来源：英语学习门户网站EnglishCN.com)

回答：在学英语时，光凭理解是不够的，有很多东西还是要靠记忆的，动词过去式就是其中之一。要说窍门，在多背一些动词的不规则过去式后，你会发现还是有一些规律的。如sleep的过去式是slept，sweep的过去式是swept，你可以发现-eep结尾的动词的过去式往往是-ept。学习时要注意总结。

Question 11: I've learned English for years.    However, I find it's still hard for me to understand VOA news no matter how hard I try.    Can you give me any advice on how I can improve my listening?

Answer: It's true that VOA news tends to be difficult for most of non-English majors to understand due to its pronunciation and large vocabulary.    I think it might be a good way to begin from VOA special news, which is a program for people like you.    Compared with the standard VOA news, it inclines to use simple and commonly used words and its speed is relatively low, about 25% lower than the standard one.    You may try doing some dictations in the course of listening so that you can understand it better and learn some new words as well.    But make sure that the unfamiliar words or phrases never distract you and you can get the general idea of the news and the information as a whole.    After getting accustomed to the pronunciation and mastering the words frequently used in the news, you may set your foot on the standard news.    It won't be that difficult for you at that time because the only difference is the speed.    To solve this problem, you merely need to have more practice and I suppose it's also the only way in which we learn any language.

问题11：我学习英语已有多年，但却发现再怎么努力，也无法听懂“美国之音”。请问您有什么办法帮我提高听力吗？

回答：对很多非英语专业的英语学习者来说，要听懂“美国之音”确非易事，因为它的词汇量很大而发音又和我们通常学习的英国音不同。我想，不如先从“美国之音特别英语”着手。这是一个专为像你这样的语言学习者提供的节目。比起“美国之音标准英语”，它用词浅显，而且它的播音速度相对较慢，比正常语速慢25%左右。在听的过程中，不妨做一些听写，以便加强理解；再者，也可以掌握一些生词。不过，需要注意的是，不要分心于个别生词和短语，要力争从总体上把握新闻的内容和其中的信息。在适应了发音并且掌握了一定的词汇量以后，再着手听标准英语，就容易多了。因为那时唯一的不同就是语速。要解决这个问题，你只要加强练习就可以了。我想，多实践也是我们掌握任何语言必由之路吧。

Question 12: I find it odd that the plural form of "woman doctor" is "women doctors" while the plural form of "coat-hanger" is "coat-hangers" instead of "coats-hangers".    Are there any rules I can keep when I need to change these words into a plural form?

Answer: Such words are called compound nouns.    We may use the following methods to change them into plural forms:

1). Change both of the two words into their plural forms.    It is widely used when the compound
        noun is composed of words such as "man" and "woman".    Eg. man-servant → men-servants;
        woman-doctor → women-doctors.
2). Change the first word, which is the central part of the compound noun, into its plural
        form. Eg. passer-by → passers-by; looker-on → lookers-on.
3). Change the second word, which is the main body of the compound noun, into its plural
        form.    Eg. coat-hanger → coat-hangers; boy-friend → boy-friends.
4). Change the last word into its plural form when there's no main body in the compound
        nouns.    Eg. sit-in → sit-ins; grown-up → grown-ups.

问题12：我觉得很奇怪，woman-doctor的复数形式是women-doctors，但coat-hanger的复数形式是coat-hangers，而不是 coats-hangers。请问转化时有什么规则可循吗？

回答：这些词我们称之为复合名词。复合名词的复数形式可采取以下几种形式：

1). 第一个和第二个词都变为复数，这通常用于有man或woman出现的复合名词。
        如：woman doctor → women doctors, man-servant →    men-servants
2). 第一个词(复合名词的主体）变为复数。如：passer-by → passers-by, looker-on → lookers-on   
3). 第二个词（复合名词的主体）变为复数。如：coat-hanger → coat-hangers, boy-friend → boy(-)
        friends   
4). 若没有主体，第二个词变为复数。如：sit-in → sit-ins, grown-up → grown-ups。

Question 13: Our teacher always asks us to recite the text.    Is it helpful for our English learning?

Answer: Reciting the texts seems to be quite dull, but it is really helpful for learning English, especially for the beginners.    Remembering a lot of articles helps you to master the usage of the words, the different sentence patterns.    As time passes by, you will get "the sense of language", which prepares you for the later learning.