The Horn Book Magazine

The Horn Book Magazine is one of the most famous resources in the field of children’s and young adult literature.

Want to write for the Magazine?

We are always on the lookout for good magazine articles and welcome your submissions (note: reviews are assigned in-house). Submissions must be original, unpublished works. Articles should be of a critical nature on some aspect of children’s literature and should be no longer than 2, 000 words; contributors are advised to have a familiarity with The Horn Book Magazine. Submissions may be sent by email to magazine@hbook.com. They can also be mailed to: The Horn Book Magazine, 300 The Fenway, Palace Road Building, Suite P-311, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.

Find us online

Check our website for special web-only features. Visit hbook.com/category/news / for links to new reviews, articles, booklists, events, awards, and more.

The Horn Book’s blog Read Roger reports on publishing news; our Out of the Box blog takes a look at what comes into the Horn Book offices, covering books not reviewed in our publications. At Calling Caldecott, you will find conversation centered on the Caldecott Medal. Lolly’s Classroom features teachers talking about using trade books in the classroom.

Blowing our own horn

To subscribe to the Horn Book’s publications, visit hbook.com/subscriber-info. You can also reach us by phone at 1-877-523-6072 (U.S.) or 760-317-2335 (outside the U.S.); by email at hbmsubs@pcspublink.com.

       Back issues are available for sale, but supplies are limited. To order back issues, write to The Horn Book, Inc., 7858 Industrial Parkway, Plain City, Ohio 43064. Call 866-270-9072.
1. What do we know about readers’ submissions?

A．They can be a book review.

B．They can be a published article.

C．They should be longer than 2,000 words.

D．They should focus on children’s literature.

2. Which blog offers publishing news?

A．Read Roger.

B．Out of the Box.

C．Calling Caldecott.

D．Lolly’s Classroom.

3. How can readers buy back issues?

A．By calling 866-270-9072.

B．By sending emails to magazine@hbook.com.

C．By visiting hbook.com/category/news/ for a payment link.

D．By writing to The Horn Book Magazine’s address in Boston.

Matilda is new to the Ripple Africa team. This year she, alongside volunteers, has started Disability groups that meet weekly. What started as one group has now grown to four groups. Every week new families find out about the Disability groups and come with their children. One mum walks over two and a half hours from high up in the hills with her 10-year-old daughter Ruth, who has cerebral palsy (大脑性麻痹), on her back as she does not have a wheelchair.

This family found out about the group from James who also has cerebral palsy and spends his time at one practicing schoolwork as he would like to learn English. The heart of these groups is to bring families together to allow them time to share and learn from each other.

Each session (课) includes activities and games as well as physical therapy (治疗). Last week I watched in amazement as the mother of Mphaso, a young girl with cerebral palsy who has learned to walk, came alongside seven-year-old Steven who does not walk, picked him up and started showing Steven’s mum how to safely stand him up and support him while encouraging him to take steps. She then got Steven’s mum doing it and was helping her, while teaching things like head positioning and feet placement.

As a nurse at these groups I’ve been able to talk to families about health concerns they have for their children and help and support them with managing wounds and pressure areas. With the help of the women’s sewing group we have been able to make supportive belts for maintaining one boy’s position in his wheelchair, and cushions for preventing pressure areas.

Some children attending the Disability groups had been unable to go to school for different reasons; one had stopped going to school because of seizures (疾病发作). And now through the work of Matilda some are back at school. We have also been able to advocate for the families with local health clinics to see children’s seizure medications reviewed and children referred to other clinics for treatment. These groups have been incredibly rewarding as changes and development in some children have been significant.

4. What does the story of Ruth and James show?

A．The members like to study together.

B．The Disability groups are building up.

C．The Disability groups are giving all sorts of help.

D．The members come from extremely poor families.

5. What did Mphaso’s mother do at the weekly meet?

A．She worked as a volunteer.

B．She learned from Steven’s mum.

C．She helped her girl make friends with others.

D．She shared her knowledge of physical therapy.

6. What role does the sewing group play?

A．It offers the disabled children more comfort.

B．It teaches the disabled children about sewing.

C．It gives the disabled children a lot of amusement.

D．It encourages the disabled children to support each other.

7. What’s the purpose of the last paragraph?

A．To give the Disability groups some advice.

B．To express support for the disabled children.

C．To stress the Disability groups’ achievements.

D．To encourage families to join the Disability groups.

Over the past 20 years, mandatory (强制的) community service policies have come to many U. S. high schools. Many states and districts have their own regulations. Some schools require students to complete 75 to 100 hours of community service to graduate. Other school officials allow youth to receive course credits. But school districts struggle to find the best approach to bringing a real-world aspect to learning.

Mandatory community service programs were implemented to help connect youth to others and to teach them how to contribute to their community. However, the idea of mandatory community service has been the source of controversy (争议). Parents and students have filed lawsuits challenging the legality of mandatory service policies. Supporters of this view argue that mandating community service will lead youth to believe that they should only help others when they receive an immediate benefit in return, and thus ultimately discourage volunteering later in life. But legal scholars have concluded that mandating community service is legally permissible.

Does mandatory service undermine (削弱) motivation to participate in voluntary service? Most research either has found that mandatory service is linked with heightened intention to engage in future volunteering or has not found links between mandatory service and intention to volunteer. The result may seem contradictory to other developmental theory that stresses the importance of autonomy for personal motivation and healthy development. One possibility is that mandatory service may prevent intention to engage in future service if youth reflect on their experience and do not find any value in participation other than to finish the mandate.

Service experiences greatly vary, and the level of enjoyment or meaning youth get from their service may be tied to the type of activity they perform. Volunteer experiences that provide teenagers with an opportunity to grow, to make friends, to reflect on social problems, and to develop a sense of purpose provide them with greater benefits (including greater intention to volunteer in the future) compared to those without these opportunities. Thus, mandated service that involves organizational tasks (e.g., clearing floors, filing papers) and other types of activities that do not provide youth with high-quality experiences, may not be serving their purpose. That is to say, the focus of parents, teachers, and school officials should be on how to organize high-quality service activities.

8. What do we know about mandatory community service policies?

A．They have a long history.	B．Communities require the policies.
C．Schools practice them differently.	D．Schools know the best way to adopt them.

9. Why do some people disagree with providing mandatory community service?

A．It may cause a misunderstanding of the value of volunteering.

B．It may make students value money instead of serving.

C．I may waste students’ learning time.

D．It may be in a sense against the law.

10. What can we learn from most research mentioned in paragraph 3?

A．Motivation in mandatory service is a key factor.

B．Developmental theory may be in favor of mandatory service.

C．People may get different feelings from the same service experience.

D．Little evidence shows mandatory service discourages future volunteering.

11. Which of the following might the author agree with?

A．Mandatory service discourages motivation.	B．Required service can be both good and bad.
C．The quality of service activities is important.	D．Volunteering should be a must for graduation.

You’re walking along a busy city street. All around you are the sounds of subway trains, traffic, and music coming from storefronts. Suddenly, you realize one of the sounds you’re hearing is someone speaking, and that you are listening in a different way as you pay attention to what they are saying.

Scientists have understood for some time that when we hear sounds of understandable language our brains react differently than they do when we hear non-speech sounds or people talking in languages we do not know. When we hear someone talking in a familiar language, our brain quickly pays attention, processes the speech sounds by turning them into words, and understands what is being said.

In a new study, Maryland researchers mapped and analyzed participants’ neural (神经的) brain activity while listening to a single talker telling a story. The study showed that the brain quickly recognizes the phonetic (语音的) sounds and processes them into linguistic information in a highly specialized and automated way. The brain has to keep up with people speaking at a rate of about three words a second. It achieves this, in part, by distinguishing speech from other kinds of sounds in about a tenth of a second after the sound enters the ears.

In another part of the study, participants heard a mixture of two speakers in a “cocktail party” scenario (场景), and were told to listen to one and ignore the other. The participants’ brains only processed language for the conversation which they were told to pay attention to, not the one they were told to ignore.

This study lays the foundation for additional research into how our brains interpret sounds as words. For example, how and when does the brain decide which word is being said?

12. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?

A．To explain how people process music.

B．To present what influence noises have on people.

C．To show people’s reactions to speech in a noisy environment.

D．To list what people hear while walking along a busy city street.

13. What did the researchers find in the new study?

A．People recognize music faster than other non-speech sounds.

B．People understand non-speech sounds in a tenth of a second.

C．People can pick out speech from other kinds of sounds quickly.

D．People process an unfamiliar language at about three words a second.

14. How did the researchers do the “cocktail party” study?

A．By watching participants’ reactions to a single speaker.

B．By requiring participants to listen to non-speech sounds.

C．By mapping participants’ brain activity while listening to music.

D．By asking participants to selectively listen to one of two speakers.

15. What can we learn about the study?

A．It makes clear how brains process foreign languages.

B．It explains why our brains can understand familiar languages.

C．It shows how brains listen to one speaker and ignore the other.

D．It helps researchers to further study how brains recognize sounds as words.

Volunteering in your community gives you a chance to give back. You’ll feel that you are volunteering your time, and a local organization will benefit, too. Below are some tips on finding an organization that’s a good fit for you.

When you decide to volunteer, you may choose the first volunteer opportunity you come across.     16     When looking for an organization to volunteer at, try to pick one with a cause that arouses your passions.

Look for more than just the “standard” volunteer organization. When you think about volunteering, your mind may immediately focus on organizations such as soup kitchens, homeless shelters, or food banks. While those organizations are very worthy of your time, you may find other opportunities better fit your personality or skill set.     17     For example, you may find that volunteering with your local parks and youth organizations may be more to your liking.

    18     Much like job search sites, you can use volunteer sites to help you find volunteer opportunities in your area. Organizations list volunteer openings on their websites, and you can search through and narrow them down.

    19     You may find one of them has the perfect opportunity for you, and it may be easier to volunteer with someone you know at first. Volunteering with friends can make it more enjoyable because you’re with people you know and have fun with.

Pick an organization that will teach you something new. The first objective of volunteering is to help an organization and your community. However, volunteer opportunities can also benefit you. They can give you career experience you don’t have.     20    

A．Use a volunteer site to find a good match.

B．Some organizations will also offer you training and career development.

C．If that doesn’t work, consider finding another opportunity somewhere else.

D．These are the ones that you may not think of immediately but that still need help.

E．If you can’t narrow down the choices, start asking people you know where they volunteer.

F．Knowing the length of time you want to commit to can also help you choose an organization.

G．However, you’re likely to be happier at an organization that supports a cause you care about.

Maryann Webb, a former teacher, knew the impact that literacy (文化水平) and social skills can have on a child's well-being. After a little research, she ________ that three million Australians were living below the poverty line in 2017, and over 700,000 of these were ________. “As a parent, I was shocked by that statistic and how many ________ children live across Australia,” says Webb. “The more I learnt, the more I was ________ to do something.”

Her bright idea was first to ________ Play and Learn packs. The “Play and Learn” packs each come with a(n) ________ doll, the book Imagine If You Had a Friend, which also ________ advice to parents and carers about bonding with children over reading, and an activity book. The packs are gifted to children from ________ socioeconomic backgrounds, and kids ________ disadvantage, trauma (精神创伤) and vulnerability.

What ________ was Project KIN (Kids in Need): a charity that not only helps underprivileged kids, but ________ social pathways for women who feel socially isolated. Today, Project KIN has more than 600 female ________ who sew (缝纫), knit and crochet (用钩针编织) dolls.

“Our goal is to encourage human ________ that contribute to the social and emotional well-being of our volunteers and the communities they live in,” says Webb.

“We know our ‘Play and Learn’ packs won't ________ the problem of disadvantage, but we believe they're a ________ and real piece of the change puzzle,” adds Webb.

21.

A．discovered

B．decided

C．argued

D．remembered

22.

A．graduates

B．children

C．students

D．adults

23.

A．special

B．innocent

C．disadvantaged

D．healthy

24.

A．inspired

B．allowed

C．invited

D．required

25.

A．test

B．record

C．create

D．choose

26.

A．strange

B．similar

C．expensive

D．handmade

27.

A．seeks

B．receives

C．offers

D．expects

28.

A．different

B．low

C．complicated

D．easy

29.

A．experiencing

B．introducing

C．dropping

D．noticing

30.

A．changed

B．followed

C．developed

D．reported

31.

A．loses

B．examines

C．provides

D．orders

32.

A．volunteers

B．teachers

C．monitors

D．friends

33.

A．purposes

B．imaginations

C．reactions

D．connections

34.

A．ignore

B．bring

C．cause

D．solve

35.

A．serious

B．generous

C．powerful

D．skillful

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

From infrastructure (基础设施) projects to humanitarian aid as well as     36     help offered to the continent’s fight     37     Ebola, China has been providing development       38     (assist) for Africa in various forms since the 1950s.

China’s investment in Africa     39     (reach) over 100 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2017. Official statistics also show that Chinese companies     40     (base) in Africa have paid at least 900 million U.S. dollars in tax to host countries and hired 41,000 foreign employees.

Do you know     41     else China has been doing to help African countries? China is not only helping build their infrastructure but also offering them expertise and technology. That means teaching Africans to fish instead of just     42     (give) them fish. For example, China has been sending technical experts to Africa and providing many with learning     43     (opportunity) including scholarships for Africans.

According to the 2014 white paper on China’s foreign aid, just from 2010 to 2012, China had     44     (successful) aided African countries in agriculture, infrastructure, medical care, education and climate change.     45     (teach) African countries “how to fish,” China had built 14 agricultural technical centers and 150 schools, and trained over 5,000 agricultural technicians and over 3,000 medical staff.

46. 假定你是李华，你的英国笔友Susan得知在新冠肺炎疫情期间，中国对很多国家提供了援助，发来邮件询问相关情况。请给她回封邮件，内容包括：
1. 写信目的；
2. 介绍中国提供的帮助：派出医疗队、提供抗疫物资等；
3. 这些帮助带来的反响。
注意：写作词数应为80左右。
参考词汇：流行病 pandemic； 新型冠状病毒novel coronavirus
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47. 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Long ago, a man and a woman and their daughter, Oksana, lived in a tiny cottage on the edge of a village. The family was poor, but their home was rich with love and laughter. And Oksana was never lonely, for behind their cottage was a high hill where the village children played throughout the year.

But one winter, Oksana fell ill. Her parents were too poor to pay for the costly medicine she needed. Oksana would sit by the window all day, watching her friends outside. While Oksana watched the children, a little spider watched Oksana from her web in the rafters (椽子).

One day, the spider spun down next to her. “Hello there, little spider,” Oksana said. She watched as the spider began to spin a delicate design in the window.

When Mama came to set some tea by Oksana’s bed, she noticed the spider too. “What’s this?” she said. “Let’s get the creature out of here!” She reached for the broom.

“No, Mama, please let her stay,” said Oksana. “She is my friend. Look, she’s spinning a web for me.”

“Ah, Oksana, talking to spiders. You silly girl!” Mama patted Oksana’s cheek. “We need to get you back outside with your friends. You’re as pale as the snow.” As the spider scurried (小步疾跑) away, she turned her head toward Oksana as if to say thank you.

One day, Dad took home an evergreen tree. Mama hollowed (挖空) out some eggs so Oksana could paint them as decorations for the tree. But halfway through painting the first one, Oksana stopped. “Mama, I’m too tired.” She sighed and shut her eyes. Mama finished the egg and hung it on the tree.

As the spider watched Oksana’s family, an idea came to her. Once Oksana, Mama, and Dad were asleep, the little spider set to work. She carefully climbed every branch, leaving a trail of sticky webs behind her. As the night sky lightened, the spider reached the top of the tree. It was only a short way to her own web in the rafters, but it felt like miles.

注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。

Suddenly, a gust (股) of air blew under the door and turned the gray webs to silver — real silver.

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When villagers got word of the silver tree, they all came to see it.

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