We should make it a habit to read every day. Reading has a lot of advantages. If you expect     1     (develop) reading skills, you should read a lot. The more you read, the better you get at reading. Second, it helps enrich vocabulary. You can learn a lot of new words by reading. At the same time, you see how those words     2     (use). Third, reading helps you develop good writing skills. If you read a lot, it will help you become a good writer.     3     (final), you can learn a lot by reading. You learn about heated     4     (issue) by reading newspapers. A novel     5     is set in another country will     6     (able) you to deepen your     7     (understand) of that country and the people there. Keep     8     mind that there is no limit to     9     you can learn. All this makes reading a     10     (value) activity.

In Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, she imagined a world without birds, aiming     1     (alert) the scientific community and the general public to the damaging effects of human activity     2     natural ecosystems. She wished to see pesticides     3     (use) in a more responsible, limited and carefully monitored way.

Carson urged people     4     (make) themselves aware of the facts and do something about the situation. The 50 or so     5     (page) at the end of the book list Carson’s sources, showing how thorough and precise she was as a scientist.

Carson’s message was very alarming,     6     (cause) a great increase in environmental awareness. Its impact was immediate and far­reaching: the use of DDT     7     (ban) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in the US.

    8    , Silent Spring was not received positively by everyone. Though Carson’s research was strong and was supported by most scientists     9     reviewed her work, the book quickly became a target for critics in the pesticide industry.

    10     (personal), I enjoy Carson’s book. She made a crucial but potentially difficult­to­understand subject interesting and accessible to millions of people.

More than three hundred children,     1     were aged four and five, were observed in classrooms in Ohio and Virginia. The children came from poor     2    (family) and were below average in their language skills. This put them at risk for reading problems later. For thirty weeks, the children took part in a program called Project STAR, for Sit Together And Read. The project     3     (base) at Ohio State. It tests the short-term and long-term results of reading regularly to preschool children in their classrooms.