【推荐2】I was 16 years old the day I skipped school for the first time. It was easily done: Both my parents left for work before my school bus arrived on weekdays, so when it showed up at my house on that cold winter morning, I simply did not get on. The perfect crime!

And what did I do with myself on that glorious stolen day, with no adult in charge and no limits on my activities? Did I get high? Hit the mall for a shoplifting extravaganza（狂欢）?

Nope. I built a warm fire in the wood stove, prepared a bowl of popcorn, grabbed a blanket, and read. I was thrilled and transported by a book—it was Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises—and I just needed to be alone with it for a little while. I ached to know what would happen to Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley and Robert Cohn. I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting in a classroom taking another biology exam when I could be traveling through Spain in the 1920s with a bunch of expatriates(异乡客).

I spent that day lost in words. Time fell away, as the room around me turned to mist, and my role—as a daughter, sister, teenager, and student—in the world no longer had any meaning. I had accidentally come across the key to perfect happiness: I had become completely absorbed by something I loved.

Looking back on it now, I can see that some subtle things were happening to my mind and to my life while I was in that state of absorption. Hemingway’s language was quietly braiding itself into my imagination. I was downloading information about how to create simple and elegant sentences, a good and solid plot. In other words, I was learning how to write. Without realizing it, I was hot on the trail of my own fate. Writing now absorbs me the way reading once did and happiness is their generous side effect.

1. Why did the author skip school on that day?

A．Because her parents left home early.	B．Because she was fascinated by a novel.
C．Because it was a cold winter morning.	D．Because she hated to take the biology exam.

2. What did the author think is the source of true joy?

A．Reading by the fire.	B．Travelling in Spain.
C．Breaking the regulations.	D．Being occupied by one’s passion.

3. Which can best replace the underlined phrase “braiding itself into” in the last paragraph?

A．Maintaining.	B．Entering.
C．Mending.	D．Blocking.

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．I was tired of my real-life roles.

B．I learnt how to write on the Internet.

C．Becoming a writer was my childhood dream.

D．Hemingway skipped school when he was young.

【推荐3】Now let us look at how we read. When we read a printed text, our eyes move across a page in short, jerky movement. We recognize words usually when our eyes are still when they fixate (固定). Each time we fixate, we see a group of words, this is known as the recognition span or the visual span. The length of time for which the eyes stop — the duration of the fixation — varies considerably from person to person. It also varies within one person according to his purpose in reading and his familiarity with the text. Furthermore, it can be affected by such factors as lighting and tiredness.

Unfortunately, in the past, many reading improvement courses have concentrated too much on how our eyes move across the printed page. As a result of this misleading emphasis on the purely visual aspects of reading, numerous exercises have been devised to train the eyes to see more words at one fixation. For instance, in some exercises, words are flashed on to a screen for, say, a tenth or a twentieth of a second. One of the exercises has required students to fix their eyes on some central point, taking in the words on either side. Such word patterns are often constructed in the shape of rather steep pyramids so the reader takes in more and more words at a successive fixation. All these exercises are very clever, but it is one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently. Reading requires the ability to understand the relationship between words. Consequently, for these reasons, many experts have now begun to question the usefulness of eye training, especially since any approach which trains a person to read isolated words and phrases would seem unlikely to help him in reading a continuous text.

1. The time of recognition span can be affected by the following facts except         .

A．lighting and tiredness	B．one’s purpose in reading
C．the length of a group of words	D．one’s familiarity with the text

2. The author may think that reading            .

A．demands more mind than eyes

B．demands a deeply-participating mind

C．requires a reader to see words more quickly

D．requires a reader to take in more words at each fixation

3. What does the author mean by saying“but it is one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently” in the second paragraph?

A．The ability to see words is not needed when an efficient reading is conducted.

B．The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve one’s ability of efficient reading.

C．The reading exercises mentioned have done a great job to improve a person’s ability to see words.

D．The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve both ability to see and to comprehend words.

4. Which of the following is NOT true?

A．The emphasis on the purely visual aspects is misleading.

B．Many experts begun to question the efficiency of eye training.

C．The visual span is a word or a group of words we see each time.

D．The eye training will help readers in reading a continuous text.

【推荐1】A Guide to the University

Food

The TWU Cafeteria is open 7am to 8pm. It serves snacks, drinks, ice cream bars and meals. You can pay with cash or your ID cards. You can add meal money to your ID cards at the Front Desk. Even if you do not buy your food in the cafeteria, you can use the tables to eat your lunch, to have meetings and to study.

If you are on campus in the evening or late at night, you can buy snacks, fast food, and drinks in the Lower Café located in the bottom level of the Gouglas Centre. This area is often used for entertainment such as concerts, games or TV watching.

Relaxation

The Globe, located in the bottom level of McMillan Hall, is available for relaxing, studying, cooking, and eating. Monthly activities are held here for all international students. Hours are 10 am to 10 pm, closed on Sundays.

Health

Located on the top floor of Douglas Hall, the Wellness Centre is committed to physical, emotional and social health. A doctor and nurse is available if you have health questions or need immediate medical help or personal advice. The cost of this is included in your medical insurance. Hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to noon and 1;00 to 4;30pm.

Academic Support

All students have access to the Writing Centre on the upper floor of Douglas Hall. Here, qualified volunteers will work with you on written work, grammar, vocabulary, and other academic skills. You can sign up for an appointment on the sign-up sheet outside the door two 30-minute appointments per week maximum. This service is free.

Transportation

The TWU Express is a shuttle service. The shuttle transports students between campus and the shopping centre, leaving from the Mattson Centre. Operation hours are between 8am and 3pm. Saturdays only. Round trip fare is $1.

1. What can you do in the TWU Cafeteria?

A．Do homework and watch TV.

B．Buy drinks and enjoy concerts.

C．Have meals and meet with friends.

D．Add money to your ID and play chess.

2. Where and when can you cook your own food?

A．The McMillan Hall, Sunday.

B．The Lower Café, Sunday.

C．The TWU Cafeteria, Friday.

D．The Globe, Friday.

3. The Guide tells us that the Wellness Centre     .

A．is open six days a week	B．gives advice on mental health
C．trains students in medical care	D．offers services free of charge