【推荐1】It may surprise bookworms, but apparently masterpieces such as Jane Eyre are lacking in something — sound effects. An electronic-book firm is adding background noises and music to the works of Charlotte Bronte, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Shakespeare in the hope of attracting younger readers. In one example, a description of rain lashing against a window in a Sherlock Holmes story will be “enhanced” with matching noises.

The first multimedia e-books — with sounds to accompany novels — will be available this Friday in the UK. The Booktrack releases are available to iPad users, with other tablet computer versions to follow. The concept is already in use in the U.S., where the classics come with added sound effects. Readers for example can hear the china cups chinking in Mr. Darcy’s garden as they read Pride And Prejudice.

A story by Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie will be released later in the year with a specially crafted orchestral score. Rushdie’s story In The South will be released with a soundtrack provided by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

The Power Of Six by Pittacus Lore, a novel for young adults, is one of the first to be tested with a soundtrack which builds in suspense in keeping with the plot. It works by timing the speed of each reader and the software measures the “turning” of a page and moves the music or sounds along accordingly. It has been created by Booktrack which synchronizes (使同步) music to each novel. It is funded by Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal.

Mr. Thiel said, “It’s always exciting to witness the creation of a new form of media. The technology promises to captivate readers in a different way.”

However, they have been greeted with horror by traditionalists, who say the technology takes away the pleasure of having one’s imagination stimulated by a story. They also raise the prospect (预期) of having to ask an overly eager reader to turn their book down. David Nicholls, whose bestseller One Day was recently turned into a film starring Anne Hathaway, said, “This sounds like the opposite of reading. It would be a distraction.”

1. What’s the purpose of the electronic-book firm adding sound effects to masterpieces?

A．To add some creative factors to the e-books.

B．To arouse interest of the readers.

C．To satisfy the readers’ great need.

D．To promote the technology progress.

2. Where was the idea that sounds are added to accompany novels first put forward?

A．Britain.	B．Australia.
C．New Zealand.	D．America.

3. The following should be done to make a soundtrack work, EXCEPT _________.

A．measuring how long each reader spends in reading

B．increasing the volume of the music or sounds

C．making out the reading speed

D．changing the music or sounds with pages turned

4. What’s Mr. Thiel’ attitude to the future of the new form of media?

A．Doubtful.	B．Indifferent.
C．Hopeful.	D．Pessimistic.

【推荐2】

Franz Kafka wrote that “A book must be the ax (斧子) for the frozen sea inside us.” I once shared this sentence with a class of seventh graders, and it didn't seem to require any explanation.

We’d just finished John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. When we read the end together out loud in class, my toughest boy, a star basketball player, wept a little, and so did I. “Are you crying?” one girl asked, as she got out of her chair to take a closer look. “I am,” I told her, “and the funny thing is I’ve read it many times.”

But they understood. When George shoots Lennie, the tragedy is that we realize it was always going to happen. In my 14 years of teaching in a New York City public middle school, I’ve taught kids with imprisoned parents, abusive parents, irresponsible parents; kids who are parents themselves; kids who are homeless; kids who grew up in violent neighborhoods. They understand, more than I ever will, the novel's terrible logic — the giving way of dreams to fate.

For the last seven years, I have worked as a reading enrichment teacher, reading classic works of literature with small groups of students from grades six to eight. I originally proposed this idea to my headmaster after learning that a former excellent student of mine had transferred out of a selective high school — one that often attracts the literary-minded children of Manhattan's upper classes — into a less competitive school. The daughter of immigrants, with a father in prison, she perhaps felt uncomfortable with her new classmates. I thought additional “cultural capital” could help students like her develop better in high school, where they would unavoidably meet, perhaps for the first time, students who came from homes lined with bookshelves, whose parents had earned Ph.D.’s.

Along with Of Mice and Men, my groups read: Sounder, The Red Pony, Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. The students didn’t always read from the expected point of view. About The Red Pony, one student said, “it's about being a man, it’s about manliness.”I had never before seen the parallels between Scarface and Macbeth, nor had I heard Lady Macbeth's speech read as raps, but both made sense; the interpretations were playful, but serious. Once introduced to Steinbeck's writing, one boy went on to read The Grapes of Wrath and told me repeatedly how amazing it was that “all these people hate each other, and they’re all white.” His historical view was broadening, his sense of his own country deepening. Year after year, former students visited and told me how prepared they had felt in their first year in college as a result of the classes.

Year after year, however, we are increasing the number of practice tests. We are trying to teach students to read increasingly complex texts, not for emotional punch but for text complexity. Yet, we cannot enrich the minds of our students by testing them on texts that ignore their hearts. We are teaching them that words do not amaze but confuse. We may succeed in raising test scores, but we will fail to teach them that reading can be transformative and that it belongs to them.

1. The underlined words in Paragraph 1 probably mean that a book helps to________.

A．realize our dreams

B．give support to our life

C．smooth away difficulties

D．awaken our emotions

2. Why were the students able to understand the novel Of Mice and Men?

A．Because they were bred in a violent society.

B．Because they had read the novel many times.

C．Because they got the explanation from the teacher..

D．Because they had similar life experiences.

3. The girl left the selective high school possibly because________.

A．she was a literary-minded girl

B．her parents were immigrants

C．she couldn't fit in with her class

D．her father was then in prison

4. The author writes the passage mainly to ________.

A．suggest reading classic works of literature creatively

B．advocate teaching literature to touch the heart

C．argue for equality among high school students

D．criticize the current education system bitterly

【推荐3】How do young children learn to have good values? How can parents teach their children about the importance of kindness and patience? At a time when more and more parents worry about the violent images their children see on TV, some are turning to fairy tales.

It is believed that fairy tales have a great influence on children because they describe the two sides of good and evil very clearly. When children hear the stories, they learn to care about others’ feelings. In each tale, they can see that there are many different kinds of people in the world and that we all have a choice about what kind of person we want to be. We can choose to do good actions, rather than bad ones, in our lives.

What kind of values can children learn from fairy tales? In The Princess and the Pea, a poorly dressed girl, who insists she is a princess, is given a difficult test by the Queen. When she passes the test, we learn that her dream comes true because she stays true to herself. In The Little Mermaid, the mermaid, who lives under the sea, wishes to be with the humans on land. Through her experiences, we learn about the importance of living with and accepting other cultures. In Pinocchio, a wooden puppet turns into a boy when he finally learns how to tell the truth.

Teaching values is the reason most often given for encouraging children to read stories. These fairy tales can teach children lessons about human relationships that are accepted around the world for many centuries. This might be the reason why they have been around for so long and will not disappear any time soon.

1. Why do fairy tales have a great influence on children?

A．Fairy tales can teach them how to make a choice.

B．Fairy tales can help them get higher scores at school.

C．They can learn how to avoid most difficulties in their lives.

D．Good and evil are shown in a way they can easily understand.

2. Who is the main character of The Princess and the Pea?

A．A queen.	B．A girl living under the sea.
C．A wooden puppet.	D．A girl staying true to herself.

3. The Little Mermaid may be helpful when children ______.

A．are given a difficult test	B．make friends with foreigners
C．wish to be a princess or prince	D．are going to lie to their parents

4. The author writes the text mainly to ______.

A．introduce some fairy tales

B．talk about the history of fairy tales

C．discuss how to improve human relationships

D．show how fairy tales help children shape values

【推荐2】Our busy modern lives don't always make it easy for us to plan healthy meals. These books provide a guide to different types of healthy diets and plenty of recipes and hacks to keep your eating on track.

The Blue Zones Solution

Author Dan Buettner defines Blue Zones as places in the world where people have recorded as living the longest. The Blue Zones Solution explores diet and lifestyle techniques used in areas like Okinawa, Japan, Sardinia, Italy, and more. Buettner explains how you can apply these to your own daily life. There are recipes and checklists to help you create your own Blue Zone.

Food to Live By

Food to Live By takes things back to the basics. Myra Goodman, author and cofounder of Earthbound Farm, focuses on cooking simple dishes with organic ingredients. The recipes are easy to prepare and include important information about care and handling of ingredients. Goodman also includes full-colored photos of her dishes.

Wildly Affordable Organic

Eating organic is a healthier choice because the food is free of pesticides and antibiotics. Unfortunately, it can also be an expensive option. Wildly Affordable Organic gives you tricks to eat well without the high price. There are tips for how to make your family's lifestyle greener, save money on grocery runs, and cook easy seasonal meals.

The New Primal Blueprint

The New Primal Blueprint is an update on author Mark Sisson's The Primal Blueprint, released in 2009. It continues to focus on the benefits of eating the way our primal ancestors did and emphasizes Sisson's lifestyle laws for health and well-being. In addition to expanded and updated information, the new book comes with updated photos, graphics, and cartoons.

1. What does The Blue Zones Solution mainly feature?

A．Live longer with your own recipes.

B．Live your own life to the fullest.

C．Seek recipes from long-lived people.

D．Apply book knowledge to daily life.

2. What do Food to Live By and Wildly Affordable Organic have in common?

A．They are about eating organic.

B．They are written by the same author.

C．They concerns ways of making dishes.

D．They offer full-colored photos of dishes.

3. What is special about The New Primal Blueprint?

A．It focuses on health.	B．It is an updated version.
C．It emphasizes lifestyles.	D．It contains good photos.

【推荐3】AT&T International Day Pass

International travel tips

Use your domestic plan when you travel in over 100 countries for $10 a day. Add International Day Pass to your existing plan before you go, then follow these tips to help manage costs and make the most of your travels:

How it works

While abroad, if you make or accept a call, listen to a voicemail, send a text, or use data, you will be automatically charged $10 for 24-hour access to your domestic plan. During that period you can:

● Use your domestic plan data to email, post on social media, translate languages and more.

● Make unlimited calls to countries included in International Day Pass

● Send unlimited texts to the world.

How to help manage costs

● If you are outside of a 24-hour access period and you dn’t want to use your phone, turn off data roaming（漫游）to avoid being charged $10 accidentally.

● Save date by connecting Wi-Fi, especially if you download, or send and receive large files.

How to call, text and use data internationally

● To call or send a message to another country, dial + (country code) (local phone number)

● To use cellular data, turn on Cellular Data Roaming in your device Settings

● To call using Wi-Fi Calling, visit att.com/wificalling for information

How to remove International Day Pass

To remove International Day pass, go to att. com/myatt or call+1.31.925.6925. Once removed, pay-per-use rates will apply unless you add another international travel feature of package to your device. go to att.com/travel for information on pay-per-use rates and products available by country.

Note: INTERNATIONAL DAY PASS: Coverage not available in all areas. Int’l Day Pass may be removed if international talk, text, or data use exceeds （超过）50% of your total talk, text, or data use for two months.

1. With the AT&T International Day Pass________.

A．one can make unlimited calls to any country for $10 a day.

B．the phone will automatically turn on Cellular Data Roaming

C．the phone calling can enjoy a favorable price, saving your cost

D．one can save money by using WiFi to download or send large files

2. According to the travel tips, which of the following is TURE?

A．Without International Day Pass, one cannot make phone calls back to the US.

B．$10 will be automatically charged if roaming remains turned on after 24 hours.

C．Pay-per-use will apply when one forgets to remove the International Day Pass.

D．The pass will be removed if the use of data exceeds the average monthly amount.

3. Which of the following groups of people might be in the greatest need of the AT&T International Day Pass?

A．People who have steeled abroad.

B．People who work in AT&T overseas offices.

C．People who have relatives in foreign countries.

D．People who make frequent business trips abroad.