1 . Q：Where did you get the ideas for Counting by 7s?
A: The novel
| A．explores | B．divides | C．suggests | D．explains |
| A．rich | B．poor | C．gifted | D．disabled |
| A．met | B．lost | C．accepted | D．rejected |
| A．Additionally | B．Definitely | C．Absolutely | D．Eventually |
| A．financial | B．environmental | C．medical | D．cultural |
| A．prevented | B．informed | C．changed | D．challenged |
| A．started | B．finished | C．published | D．forwarded |
| A．normal | B．boring | C．natural | D．interesting |
| A．abandons | B．involves | C．warns | D．varies |
| A．turning back | B．staying on | C．moving on | D．breaking out |
| A．education | B．health | C．growth | D．examination |
| A．struggle | B．wealth | C．pride | D．advice |
| A．insider | B．outsider | C．organizer | D．inspector |
| A．condition | B．location | C．importance | D．existence |
| A．speech | B．film | C．program | D．book |
Dream of the Red Chamber, written by Cao Xueqin, is one of China's four great classical novels. Long
The writer shows deep sympathy for the victims
The content and meaning of the novel are
The novel has been translated into several other
3 . The end of the year is drawing near, and winter is in full swing. The season brings along with it strong winds and snow — an environment that’s never comfortable to be in.
This unpleasant and even frightening aspect of winter can often be seen in literature. In Shakespeare’s King Lear (1606), the king has given away his kingdom and been rejected by his two ungrateful daughters. He is out in the winter cold, suffering things that are usually reserved for the poorest and most unfortunate human beings.
The winter is bad enough for Lear, but being abandoned by his family is worse. A song from another Shakespeare play, As You Like It (1599), is fitting for this poor old man’s situation: “Blow, blow, thou winter wind,/Thou art not so unkind /As man’s ingratitude (忘恩负义)”. Here, winter is used to bring out the ugliness of inhumanity (不人道). There aren’t many things that are worse than winter, according to Shakespeare.
Once winter became less of a threat to human beings, literary works featuring it became more positive. Since Charles Dickens, the representation of the season in literature has often featured happy Christmas celebrations.
The cold of the winter weather provides a contrast to the fun going on indoors. Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843) was the start of this, but Christmas is still a common, cheery element in stories that feature winter scenes today. Consider the joy felt by Harry Potter and his friends in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997) as they sit down for their festive meal:
“Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas (小香肠) and so on.
It is almost as much a pleasure to read about the meal as it might have been to eat it.
Although winter still isn’t the most cheerful season in novels and poems, it’s safe to say that writers have certainly “warmed up” since Shakespeare’s days.
1. What is winter like in Shakespeare’s works?| A．Pleasant. | B．Comfortable. | C．Stressful. | D．Cruel. |
| A．He wrote a lot of stories that were set in winter. |
| B．He was an author famous for describing winter. |
| C．He made a turning point in the description of winter. |
| D．He inspired readers to experience the cheerful winter. |
| A．Magic. | B．Joy. | C．Cold. | D．Ugliness. |
| A．Science and technology. | B．Fashion and lifestyle. | C．Culture and history. | D．Health and medicine. |
4 . Here are the bestsellers this month.
The Story of Buildings: From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and Beyond
by Patrick Dillon, author; Stephen Biesty, illustrator(插画家)
Hardcover $26.99; Paperback $14.80
We spend most of our lives in buildings. We make our homes in them. We go to school in them. But why and how did people start making buildings? How did they learn to make them stronger, bigger, and more comfortable? Patrick Dillon's stories of amazing buildings and the amazing people who made them celebrate the human creation.
What Were the Twin Towers?
by Jim O'Connor, author; Ted Hammond, illustrator
Library Binding(装帧)$20.64; Paperback $7.91
When the Twin Towers were built in 1973, they were described as an architectural(建筑学的)wonder. Offices and companies moved into the Towers—also known as the World Trade Center—and the buildings were seen as the economic center of the world. Discover the whole story of the Twin Towers—from their construction to their sad end.
Where Is Machu Picchu?
by Megan Stine, author; Who HQ, author; John O'Brien, illustrator
Library Binding $21.02; Paperback $8.91
Built in the fifteenth century and set in the mountains of Peru, Machu Picchu was deserted after the Spaniards controlled the Incan empire in the sixteenth century. It remained hidden until 1911 when Hiram Bingham uncovered the amazing buildings and shared his discovery with the world. Today, hundreds of thousands of people visit the site to climb the 3,000 stone steps and explore the towering monuments.
Castle
by David Macaulay, author
Hardcover $11.98; Paperback $15.80
What could be more perfect for an author/illustrator who has continually shown the mystique(神秘性)of architectural structures that have long attracted modern man? With typical interest and a sense of humor decorating his drawings, David Macaulay finds the step-by-step planning and construction of both castle and town.
1. Which book is written by two authors?| A．The Story of Buildings: From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and Beyond. |
| B．What Were the Twin Towers? |
| C．Where Is Machu Picchu? |
| D．Castle. |
| A．$53.98. | B．$29.60. | C．$42.04. | D．$31.60. |
| A．Arts & Architecture. | B．Literature & Fiction. |
| C．Holidays & Celebrations. | D．Computers & Technology. |
5 . “Once upon a time there was a tiny country called Cornucopia.” Released after years in lockdown, this fairy story like so many unfinished projects has been dusted off in the corona virus (冠状病毒) crisis.
“I liked it because it’s another book by JK Rowling and I like the Harry Potter book.” said one of her fans. JK Rowling surprised fans with the news on Twitter of the stand-alone fairy tale called The Ickabog alongside pictures of the until now unpublished manuscript (手稿).
She revealed how she’d come to think of it as just for the family and kept it in the attic, but that after a bit of rewriting she’d now decided to publish The Ickabog for free online so children in lockdown can read it or have it read to them.
The author confirmed the existence of the story about truth and power in an interview three years ago. “Oh, that was a fairy tale. Yeah, and I ended up. I don’t know whether I’ll ever publish that.” But she’s keen to point out it is not Harry Potter and it doesn’t include magic.
Children’s author Nicola Riley says during the crisis it’s just what children need. “If you can provide something a story, an adventure that will take them to a magical world and transport them there, then I think it will really help right now.”
Young readers are being asked to submit their own artwork to illustrate the book when it goes to print. But for now its online installments (部分) are leaving them fascinated.
1. What does the underlined phrase “dust off” probably mean in the first paragraph?| A．Sold out. | B．Called off. |
| C．Brought out. | D．Cleaned off. |
| A．She had planned to copy it in the attic. | B．She had planned not to publish it. | C．She was going to write it for the crisis. | D．She was going to sell it online. |
| A．The book was not printed until nearly three years ago. | B．JK Rowling suspected the truth and power of the book. |
| C．The online parts of the book have already attracted readers. | D．Young readers are invited to help design the plots of the book. |
| A．A Fairy Book about Corona Crisis | B．JK. Rowling Released a New Book |
| C．Harry Potter Returned to the World | D．A Magical Adventure of Harry Potter |
6 . Best Science Fiction
The Sprawl Trilogy by William Gibson
This classic trilogy from william Gibson consists of Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive. The book that started the entire concept of Cyberpunk, the Hugo Award-, Nebula Award-and Philip K. Dick Award-winning Neuromancer remains one of the best sci-fi books ever written and the entire trilogy is worth a read, even if it’s the original that gets all the praise.
Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
This series by Dan Simmons consists of Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, End ymion and The Rise of Endymion. Truly one of the great works in science fiction history, the Hugo Award-winning Hyperion Cantos is an absolutely excellent story of extreme terror, character-building and wild-world-building that is almost without equal in the type. How we haven’t gotten a proper onscreen adaptation of this series yet, I have no idea, but Perhaps it’s best left in its original, amazing book form.
Ender’s Game Quartet by Orson Scott Card
Ender’s Game is often read in schools, but it has incredibly mature themes like isolation, loneliness, competition and fear- many of which are more relevant now than when Orson Scott Card first began the series in 1985. If you love Ender’s Game, it’s worth reading the whole series to follow the sci-fi adventures of Andrew “Ender” Wiggin: Ender’s Game, Ender in Exile, Xenocide and Children of the Mind.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
This is the only stand-alone book on this list, as the rest are all in a series, so if you don’t feel like investing in 300, 000 pages of content, Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash is for you. This book is the heir ( 继 承 人 ) to Neuromancer’s Cyberpunk throne and an absolutely excellent read from Stephenson. The author uses virtual reality as his setting, and the main character is a pizza deliveryman in one world and a warrior prince in another.
1. Which book won the most awards?| A．Neuromancer. | B．Hyperion. |
| C．Ender’s Game. | D．Snow Crash. |
| A．It consists of three books. | B．It is popular among students. |
| C．It has been adapted into a film. | D．It focuses on children’s problems. |
| A．It’s the longest story. | B．It’s about the solar system. |
| C．It’s not a series. | D．It’s not a real story. |
7 . 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. |
8 . First published in 2001，the book Life of Pi written by the Canadian author Yann Martel won the Man Booker Prize and an Asian American Prize for Literature.It is the story of a young boy named Pi who spends 227 days at sea with a small group of animals after a disaster strikes their ship and is an account of his journey of survival and hardship.
Piscine“Pi” Molitor Patel，on whom Life of Pi is based，is a young boy living in Pondicherry，India, where his father owns a zoo.The story starts when Patel's family decide to move to Canada，along with their zoo animals for their new home.
However，because of the bad weather，the ship sinks.Pi along with an orangutan(猩猩)，an injured zebra，a hyena(鬣狗)and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker are the only survivors who take shelter in a small lifeboat.Both the injured zebra and the orangutan are soon killed and eaten by the hyena.The tiger in turn kills and eats the hyena，leaving just the two of them alone on the boat now.
In an effort to avoid being eaten by Richard Parker，Pi acts himself as the head of the group and remains safe from harm.Since he does not want the tiger to die for fear of going mad by being alone on the boat，he fishes and feeds the two of them in order to stay alive.
The life of Pi then enters its third stage when their lifeboat washes up on the shores of Mexico and the tiger escapes into a nearby forest leaving Pi alone.After the Mexicans refuse to believe Pi's story，he changes his tale by replacing the animals with his mother，a cook and a sailor and asks the Mexicans which one they prefer.They prefer hearing the first story though they do not believe a word of it.
In my view，life of Pi is a must read book for all those who love reading.
1. We can learn that the book Life of Pi ________．| A．was written in 2001 |
| B．was awarded two prizes |
| C．tells a story about friendship |
| D．is based on the author's personal experience |
| A．Pi | B．the zebra |
| C．the orangutan | D．Richard Parker |
| A．By catching fish for the tiger. |
| B．By locking the tiger in a cage. |
| C．By being the leader of the two of them. |
| D．By fighting with the tiger. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Unconcerned. | D．Doubtful. |
