1 . Readers who long imagined themselves in Harry Potter’s world have a chance to absorb themselves in another fictional universe created by J.K. Rowling. The author said that she would release (发布) The Ickabog, a new story for young readers, for free online.
The first chapter of the fairy tale about a monster known as the Ickabog was published on May 26, and further chapters will be released every week until July 10. It is targeted to readers aged 7 to 9 and will be published as a book in November. The story concerns rumors (谣言) of a fierce child-eating monster with extraordinary powers which lives in the northern tip of an imaginary land known as Cornucopia.
Rowling said she had started working on the book more than a decade ago, while she was still writing Harry Potter, and originally intended to publish it after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last of her seven-book Potter series. But she ended up keeping The Ickabog, which isn’t related to Harry Potter or any of Rowling’s other work, in her family, reading it to her young children and then putting it away until recently. “I’ve decided to publish The Ickabog for free online, so children on lockdown, or even those back at school during these strange, unsettling times, can read it or have it read to them,” Rowling said. Rowling said she would donate her royalties (版税) for the book to causes related to the coronavirus (冠状病毒) diseases.
Readers will have a chance to participate in the process. Rowling’s publishers around the world will hold an illustration (插图) competition, encouraging children to submit (提交) drawings to accompany the story. The best submissions will end up in the book’s final edition when it is published in the fall.
Rowling’s children, now teenagers, are “touchingly ecstatic” about the publication of their childhood bedtime story, Rowling wrote on her site. She started reading chapters to them again recently, which she said was “one of the most extraordinary experiences of my writing life. ”
1. It will take at least ______ for readers to finish reading The Ickabog online.| A．a week | B．one month and a half | C．three months | D．six months |
| A．It is the name of an imaginary island. | B．It sees teenagers as targeted readers. |
| C．It is a continuation of the Potter series. | D．It was completed a long time ago. |
| A．To collect money for coronavirus research. |
| B．To involve readers in the illustration competition. |
| C．To entertain children over the COVID-19 period. |
| D．To appeal to Harry Potter lovers. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Worried. | C．Nervous. | D．Excited. |
David Copperfield is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens. The novel features David Copperfield and is written
David Copperfield
3 . We all like fantasy stories, and grow up reading and listening to fantasies. These tales fuel our imaginations, and satisfy our longings for adventures. The most interesting thing about fantasies is that their plots involve magical beasts and heroes，animal creatures talking like humans，and other things we can’t see in real life. Also, fantasies have a distinguished writing style, with freedom of expression.
Toy Fantasy
In toy fantasy stories, narrators(叙述者)bring their beloved toys to life that can live, talk, think，breathe and behave like human beings. You would see modern toy fantasies in a picture book format. Representative works are A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh and Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio.
Animal Fantasy
The animal fantasy tells tales about animals behaving like human beings, experiencing emotions, and having the ability to talk. However, animals in fantasies hold their various animal characteristics, too. Examples include The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, and The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter which influences children around the world.
Magical Fantasy
In a magical fantasy, you see a character having magical powers, or a strange magical object becomes the subject of the story. Stories of this type began widely spreading long ago, including Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.
Modern Folktales
Modern folktales are types of fantasy that narrators tell in a traditional tale accompanying some typical parts, such as strong conflict, little description of characters, and sometimes magical elements. These tales come before all others and are popular, as authors throughout history, have written them. Hans Christian Andersen has written several tales of this category including The Nightingale, The Emperor’s New Clothes and Thumbelina.
1. What is the common feature of the fantasies?| A．Their characters are highly popular. |
| B．Their events occur in the unreal world. |
| C．Their writing styles show desires for freedom. |
| D．Their plots encourage people to have adventures. |
| A．Carlo Collodi. | B．Beatrix Potter. |
| C．William Steig. | D．Hans Christian Andersen. |
| A．The toy fantasy. | B．The animal fantasy. |
| C．The magical fantasy. | D．The modern folktales. |
4 . The ways of narration (讲述) in novels are various. Wuthering Heights has a difficult narrative structure. The story begins in 1801. It is first narrated by Lockwood, a visitor staying in Thrushcross Grange, one of the two houses, where we can meet different characters in the novel. Lockwood is a narrow, dull man and also a bad man who lives emotionally through a dirty interest in the lives of others. It is this side of his character that leads into the main narrative stream of the novel. His interest in what he sees and experiences on his visits to Wuthering Heights leads him to encourage Nelly Dean, the house-keeper at the Grange, to provide him with the information concerning the people that he has met: Heathcliff, Cathy, Hareton, Joseph and, of course, the ghost of Catherine.
Nelly Dean’s story forms the major part of the narrative. While Nelly is meant to be an objective narrator, she has a lot to do with what has happened over the past twenty-five years that have led to the present state of affairs. Therefore, as readers, we need to realize how Nelly presents events and characters and her own role in determining the course of events.
The final part of the novel concerns the immediate future and provides us with the results of Lockwood’s visit to the Heights and the appearance of Catherine’s ghost. It is narrated by both Lockwood and Nelly.
Finally, Isabella, the wife of Heathcliff, through a letter, narrates one middle part of the novel. Although this narrative structure may, at first, be very difficult, it is necessary because in the world of the novel, time order of the years is not so important.
1. From the first paragraph, we can know the first narrator is ______.| A．Lockwood | B．Thrushcross |
| C．Heathcliff | D．Nelly Dean |
| A．One part of it is written in the form of a letter. |
| B．It describes how Isabella and Heathcliff got separated. |
| C．It is the most difficult part in the novel. |
| D．One part of it suggests Catherine has been dead |
| A．a piece of news | B．a part of a novel |
| C．a writing instruction | D．a reading guide |
5 . Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926. Since Lee’s mother was mentally ill, she was raised by her father. She became very close to her father.
The naughty Lee loved reading, and would make up stories with Truman, her neighbour who was two years older than her. Seeing her daughter’s imagination, Lee’s father gave her a typewriter.
Before her final year in the university of Alabama, Lee dropped out to become a writer. She moved to New York City where her childhood friend Truman was already established as a famous writer. While there, she worked on her first book—To Kill a Mockingbird. It won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was made into an Academy Award winning movie the following year. To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of six-year-old Scout and her brother who lived in the town of Maycomb Alabama with their single father Attics. Attics is a lawyer who defends the blacks. At a young age, Scout is exposed to the terrors of segregation(宗族隔离). Then, in 2014, the first draft of a new book—Go Set a Watchman was discovered among Lee’s papers. It is the story of 26-year-old Scout who returns to Maycomb to visit her father. She is shocked to find her father a changed man. Attics has turned into a segregationists! The story shows the mixed feelings Scout has for the changes that have taken place in her hometown and father.
A loner for most of her life, Lee stayed unmarried, preferring to lead a small town life. On February 19,2015, Lee passed away at the age of 89.
1. What can we learn about Lee?| A．She became a professional writer at college. |
| B．She developed a gift for writing in childhood. |
| C．She was persuaded to become a writer by Truman |
| D．She got interested in writing after getting a typewriter. |
| A．Her love for writing stories. |
| B．The effect of having an ill mother |
| C．Her experience of living in a small town |
| D．Her childhood relationship with her father |
| A．He had complex feelings towards the black. |
| B．He struggled for the equal right of the black |
| C．He supported segregating the blacks and the whites. |
| D．He failed to get used to the changes of his hometown |
| A．She has no taste for social life. |
| B．She write only a book in her life. |
| C．She feels lonely for most of her life. |
| D．She enjoys the fame for her successful book. |
6 . The play “The Million Pound Bank Note” is based on a short story 
tain ship and landed in London, where he found himself without money, friends
7 . In the novel “Number the Stars”,
8 . Last year, the most-read children' s books at least in UK were almost all fantasy novels. But why is this the case? What. exactly does fantasy offer to young readers？
What' s important to point out here is that fantasy writing has come to be considered as belonging to popular culture, and is therefore generally regarded as being of lower quality than realism.
This idea was formed in me during childhood by my mother, who believed that fantasy was "rubbish". She was always trying to persuade my two brothers to let go of their dog-eared copies of American author David Eddings' books and read something "proper".
I had also met some people who were against reading fantasy. While living in Finland, where I joined a book club, I was told at my first meeting that the club didn't read "genre" books, which meant that realism was in", but everything else including fantasy was " When it comes to the subject of children, discussions about which books are "better" for them often focus on the fantasy and realism debate, causing Professor John Stephens to write that: one of the more curious sides to the criticism of children's literature is the strong wish to separate fantasy and realism into competing types, and to state that children prefer one or the other, or "progress" from fantasy to realism or vice versa（反之亦然).
A quick survey of the big children's publishing trends over the past ten years confirms that fantasy is as popular as ever in the children' s book scene. From the 450 million copies of Harry Potter books sold over this period to the more recent Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, it would seem that children are as enthusiastic about fantasy as ever before and rather than "progressing" out of fantasy, the popularity of fantasy in the young adult market would suggest just the opposite.
1. What was the author's mother's attitude towards fantasy?| A．Uncaring. | B．Cautious. |
| C．Unfavorable. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．didn't have a realistic aim |
| B．was always full of people in and out |
| C．had a tense atmosphere in most cases |
| D．was not acceptive of various literature styles |
| A．want to separate children into different groups. |
| B．want to divide fantasy and realism into separate groups |
| C．aim to get children to progress from fantasy to realism |
| D．wish to explore the difference between fantasy and realism |
| A．Fantasy books are and continue to be popular among children. |
| B．Realism books are the bestsellers of the present time. |
| C．Young readers are moving away from fantasy . |
| D．Fantasy books are better than realism ones. |
When Jake and his cousin Lorina Murphy journey to Mars Station in search of educational opportunities，they never guess they will turn into life savers. But because of the extreme poverty and child exploitation(剥削)happening on Mars，these two cousins are forced to accept their true destiny(命运)．However，they are not alone in their efforts to save the poor “street kids”．Early in the story these two heroes are joined by the crew(船员)of the Ishmael，which in the course of the story，becomes a rescue ship and a safe place for over one hundred homeless children.
In this novel，there are different themes. While fighting the cruel people who sell the “street kids” of Mars Station，the colorful characters of The Orphan Ship also manage to fall in love，find wealth，and form lasting friendships.
The real power of the story comes from the characters' expression of fellow feeling—a feeling of understanding others because you have shared similar experiences. The characters in The Orphan Ship have a sense of social duty and spiritual commitment. For example，at one point in the story，shocked by the way the homeless children have been treated，Lorina notices “a pair of black children sitting under a streetlight begging food from passersby”．Yet “no one gave the children a second look.” Fortunately，however，Lorina and her newfound friends—the crew of the Ishmael，which soon becomes the “Orphan Ship”—do indeed care for the children of Mars Station，as they join forces to provide them safe passage to earth and also a home. In this way the theme of compassion is the centerpiece of the entire novel.
1. Jake decides to go to Mars because ______.
| A．studying medicine is cheaper on Mars than on earth |
| B．the medical school on Mars is better than that on earth |
| C．Mars is the only place where he can realize his dream |
| D．his cousin encourages him to become a doctor on Mars |
| A．To save other people's lives. |
| B．To become the crew of the Ishmael. |
| C．To fail to get an education on Mars. |
| D．To make friends with homeless children. |
| A．friendship | B．spreading knowledge |
| C．finding wealth | D．love |
| A．passersby | B．Lorina's newfound friends |
| C．homeless children | D．the black |
Several teens are talking about this. Most of them are unhappy and worried. But Chris is not. He laughs and tells a story about two mice, two “little people” and some cheese.
The four are in a maze looking for the cheese. Here, cheese means something important in life, like moving to a new class or getting into college. But they find the cheese is gone. The mice realize that they can’t change what has happened and have to find more cheese. This means finding different dreams. The little people, however, can’t do this. They are afraid of change so they find no cheese.
After Chris finishes the story, the friends understand one thing: to get more cheese, move in a new direction quickly. His friends understand how this can be used in the changes all teens face, such as doing well at school or having good relationships or just feeling good about yourself.
1. The book Who Moved My Cheese is __________.
| A．written all over the world | B．read across the world |
| C．sold only in America | D．loved only by teens |
| A．Never change in our life. | B．Change whenever you like . |
| C．Change with the changes. | D．Pay attention to the changes, |
| A．mice and little people | B．students |
| C．cheese | D．readers |
| A．mice | B．little people | C．Chris | D．Spence Johnson |
