【推荐1】To become a flexible reader, you need to know how to select and use a reading style that is consistent with your purpose reading.     1     Each has its own purpose. Read to earn about the three reading styles used by flexible readers.

    2     The purpose of this reading style is to read difficult material at a high level of comprehension (理解). When using the study reading style, you should read at a rate that is slower than your normal reading rate. Sometimes, reading the material aloud will also Kelp you improve your comprehension.

The second reading style is skimming. The purpose of this reading style is to quickly get a general idea about the reading material.     3     When using the skimming style, you should identify the main ideas in each paragraph and ignore the details in supportive sentences.

The third reading style is scanning. The purpose of this reading style is to quickly locate a specific piece of information within reading material.     4     Since you know exactly what you are looking for, move your eyes quickly over the reading material until you locate the specific piece of information you need to find.

Before you begin your next reading assignment, identify your purpose of reading. Decide if you are reading for a high level of comprehension, trying to get a general idea about what you are reading, or looking for specific information.     5    

【推荐2】Beverly Cleary has sold 85 million copies of 41 books and — if those numbers weren't impressive enough — she turns 100 on Tuesday. Though the world was a very different place when Cleary was a child, she has always maintained that kids pretty much stay the same — which explains the ongoing popularity of her beloved characters, like Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins and Ralph S. Mouse.

Cleary was in her early 30s and working part time in a bookstore when she sat down at a typewriter to see if just maybe she could write a book for kids. She had worked as a librarian before World War II, and she wished she'd had books for young readers about children living everyday lives.

"I think children want to read about normal, everyday kids," she told NPR in 1999. "That's what I wanted to read about when I was growing up. I wanted to read about the sort of boys and girls that I knew in my neighborhood and in my school. ... I think children like to find themselves in books."

Her first book, Henry Huggins, came out in 1950. Henry had a friend named Beezus, and Beezus had a mischievous（爱恶作剧的） but lovable little sister named Ramona. Over the next five decades, Cleary took Ramona all the way from nursery school （托儿所）to the fourth grade. Cleary says when she was writing Ramona, she took inspiration（灵感） from a little girl who lived in the house behind her as a child.

Her books have hooked generations（几代） of children, including a young Jeff Kinney, who grew up to become the author of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series.

"I must have been about 8 or 9 years old when I first read Beverly Cleary," Kinney recalls. "The book that really grabbed me was Ramona Quimby, Age 8. She looked feral. I needed to get to know this character."

"Most kids have parents, teachers, bullies（欺凌） — we all experience these things,"Kinney says. "And Beverly Cleary tapped into that. Her work is still as relevant today as when it first came out."

Now, generations of children have been fortunate enough to enjoy her stories of Klickitat Street.

【推荐3】I arrived home from work, my mind racing. I was scheduled to perform an experiment using a pricey piece of equipment, but I had spent the whole day worrying about the experiment which was on the top of my agenda (日程), and I amazingly longed to shut off my anxious thoughts. So after dinner, I made a cup of hot chocolate, stretched myself on my sofa, and opened a page. Almost instantly, my mind left behind the details of experimental design and stepped into a land of monsters, magic dust, and man-like bears comprising a wonderful world distinct (不同的) from my daily life. It was exactly what I needed.

Growing up, I was virtually never a big fan of novels. My classmates would be crazy about the latest Harry Potter book, while my copy sat collecting dust on a shelf. Instead, I would choose to read through the reference books related to my academic fields for better grades. After I started graduate school, extracurricular reading didn’t appeal to me at all but I spent most of my time on campus digesting research papers and textbooks and my mind couldn’t handle processing fact-filled nonfiction books at home, too. So I knew that I needed to find a way to enjoy reading again.

To help me stick with it, I made a New Year’s resolution: I would read two fiction books per month for the entire year. The result was an almost instant appreciation of fiction, along with many unexpected results including ones that have benefited my schoolwork.

What surprised me the most was how much I learned. Some of the best books I read were historical fictional stories happening in a realistic historical setting. I learned about life in different countries, as well as struggles people there faced during difficult periods in their histories. The books have helped me build sympathy and understanding, with an unexpected benefit: I’ve started to think more deeply about the diversity of issues in the scientific community and could serve it, heart and soul.

You’re only three years old, and at this point in your life you can’t read, much less understand what I’ll tell you in this letter. But I’ve been thinking a lot about the life that you have ahead of you, about my life so far as I reflect on what I’ve learned, and about my role as a dad in trying to prepare you for the trials(磨难) that you’ll face in the coming years.

You won’t be able to understand this letter today, but somebody, when you’re ready, I hope you will find some wisdom and value in what I share with you.

You are young, and life has not yet to show a cold face to you, to throw disappointments and loneliness and pain into your path. You have not been worn down yet by long hours of thankless work, by the slings and arrows of everyday life.

For this, be thankful. You are at a wonderful time of life. You have many wonderful stages of life still to come, but they are not without their costs and perils.

I hope to help you along your path by sharing some of the best of what I’ve learned. As with any advice, take it with a grain of salt. What works for me might not work for you.

There will be people in your life who won't be very nice. They’ll tease you because you’re different, or for no good reason. They might try to bully you or hurt you.

There’s not much you can do about these people except to learn to deal with them, and learn to choose friends who are kind to you, who actually care about you, who make you feel good about yourself. When you find friends like this, hold on to them, treasure them, spend time with them, be kind to them, love them.

There will be times when you are met with disappointment instead of success. Life won’t always turn out the way you want. This is just another thing you’ll have to learn to deal with. But instead of letting these things get you down, push on. Accept disappointment and learn to persevere, to pursue your dreams despite pitfalls. Learn to turn negatives into positives, and you’ll do much better in life.

You will also face heartbreak and abandonment by those you love. I hope you don’t have to face this too much, but it happens. Again, not much you can do but to heal, and to move on with your life. Let these pains become stepping stones to better things in life, and learn to use them to make you stronger.

Yes, you’ll find cruelty and suffering in your journey through life, but don’t let that close you to new things. Don’t move back from life, don’t hide or wall yourself off. Be open to new things, new experiences, new people.

You might get your heart broken 10 times, but find the most wonderful woman the 11^th time. If you shut yourself off from love, you’ll miss out on that woman, and the happiest times of your life.

You might get teased and bullied and hurt by people you meet, and then after meeting dozens of jerks, find a true friend. If you close yourself off to new people, and don’t open your heart to them, you’ll avoid pain…, but also lose out on meeting some incredible people, who will be there during the toughest times of your life and create some of the best times of your life.

You will fail many times but if you allow that to stop you from trying, you will miss out on the amazing feeling of success once you reach new heights with your accomplishments. Failure is a stepping stone to success.

You will meet many people who will try to do better than you, in school, in college, at work. They’ll try to have nicer cars, bigger houses, nicer clothes, cooler gadgets. To them, life is a competition—they have to do better than their peers to be happy.

Here’s the secret: life isn’t a competition. It's a journey. If you spend that journey always trying to impress others, to outdo others, you’re wasting your journey. Instead, learn to enjoy the journey. Make it a journey of happiness, of constant learning, of continual improvement, of love.

Don’t worry about having a nicer car or house or anything material, or even a better-paying job. None of that matters a whit, and none of it will make you happier. You’ll acquire these things and then only want more. Instead, learn to be satisfied with having enough—and then use the time you would have wasted trying to earn money to buy those things… use that time doing things you love.

Finally, know that I love you and always will. You are starting out on an unknown, tiring, scary, but badly wonderful journey, and always remember I will be there for you when I can. Godspeed

Love, Your Dad

【推荐2】Below are some classified ads from an English newspaper. Classified ads

FOR DIRECT CLASSIFIED SERVICE CALL 800-0557 10a.m.-4p.m. MONDAY-FRIDAY

COME to moving sale-Plants, pottery, books, clothes, etc,

Sat, Dec.14th-9a.m.-5p.m.

1612 Femdale, Apt.1.

800-4696.

USED FUR COATS and JACKETS. GOOD condition.

30-50. Call 800-0436 after 12 noon.

MOVING: Must sell. TV21, 50; AM /F M radio A/C or battery 15; cassette tape recorder, $10. Call Jon or Pat, 800-0739 after 5p.m.or weekends.

SHEEPSKIN COAT: man’s, size 42, 1 year old. $85. After 6 p.m.800-5224.

FOUND: Cat, 6 months old, black and white markings. Found near Linden and South U.Steve.800-4661

OVERSEAS JOBS—Australia, Europe, America, Africa

Students all professions and occupations, 3000 monthly. Expenses paid, overtime. Sightseeing. Free information at STUDENTS’ UNION.

THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER plans to publish a booklet of student travel adventures. If you like to write about your foreign experiences, unusual or just plain interesting. Call us (800-9310) and ask for Mike or Janet.

Life-Planning Workshop, Dec.13th-15th, Bob and Margaret Atwood, 800-0046.

FEMALE ROOMMATE WANTED: Own room near campus. Available December 1st. Rent$300 per month until

March 1st. $450 thereafter. Call Jill for details, 800-7839.

EARLY HOUR WAKE-UP-SERVICE: For prompt, courteous wake-up service, call 800-0760.

Babysitter—MY HOME

If you are available a few hours during the day, and some evenings to care for 2 school-age children, please call Gayle, days 800-1111, evenings and weekends 800-4964.

PERSONS WANTED for delivery work. Own transportation.   Good pay. Apply 2311 E. Stadium. Office 101, after 9a.m.

TELEPHONE RECEPTIONIST WANTED.

NO experience necessary. Good pay. Apply 2311 E. Stadium. Office 101, after 9a.m.

From: benjaminrothschild

To: evaluation@midlandsmusic.com

Subject: Piano restoration

Date: November 1

I own a piano that I would like to have restored. It is one of the very first Steinway & Sons pianos produced, and dates back to the late-1800s.

I would like to have the piano fully restored. This restoration will involve the piano’s internal mechanics (机械部件) as well as the piano’s wood, which has a rough surface. The piano stool (琴凳) will also need restoring. Remarkably, all of the piano’s keys are still in perfect condition.

As I would probably qualify for free pickup and delivery, could you also tell me which transport company you use?

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,

Benjamin Rothschild