【推荐1】Kwame Alexander is a best-selling author of 24 books. His novel in verse (诗体) The Crossover won the Newbery Medal in 2015, and was followed by another verse novel in 2016, Booked. In the just-released The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life, Alexander aims to inspire readers to dream big and reach for their goals.

Time For Kids:

What can you tell us about The Playbook?

Kwame Alexander:

I wanted to write a book about how important it is to persevere (坚持) and accept the challenges that come, because they only make you stronger. And I wanted to do it in a really cool and fun way, using sports as a metaphor (隐喻), so students would be interested in reading a book that is telling them how to make their lives better.

TFK:

Where did you get the idea for the book?

Alexander:

In The Crossover, the father of the main characters, Josh and Jordan, gives them these rules for life, called Basketball Rules. Well, I was having breakfast with a friend of mine in New York City. He said, “Kwame, I love those Basketball Rules you have in The Crossover. You should think about writing a whole book on those.” That’s where it all began.

TFK:

Is it hard to mix sports and poetry (诗歌)?

Alexander:

I love sports, and I’ve been writing poetry since I was a kid. So those two things are as natural to me as breathing, laughing and walking.

TFK:

You’ve said teachers need to make learning poetry fun. Did you have a teacher like this as a kid?

Alexander:

My mom. She read poetry to my sisters and me when I was a kid, and she would make the words jump off the page!

TFK:

What advice would you give to young writers?

Alexander:

Read everything you can get your hands on. The best way to become a good writer is to read what other people have written.

1. What can we learn about The Playbook?

A．It is a historical novel.

B．It won the Newbery Medal.

C．It is actually about rules for life.

D．It is based on Alexander’s true life.

2. Who inspired Alexander to write The Playbook?

A．His mom who read poetry to him.

B．The teacher who taught him poetry.

C．His friend who read The Crossover.

D．The two characters in The Crossover.

3. When Alexander was a kid, how did he feel about poetry?

A．It was rather boring.	B．It was quite difficult.
C．It was pretty mysterious.	D．It was very interesting.

4. In Alexander’s mind, what’s important to become a good writer?

A．Always dream big.

B．Gladly accept challenges.

C．Read as much as possible.

D．Have a wide knowledge of poetry.

【推荐2】Long long ago there were a lot of donkeys. The donkeys worked hard every day. They had no time to play or to relax, but they never felt appreciated（得到赏识的）for the work they did.

One day two donkeys got bored. They wanted to live a comfortable life, so the donkeys went to see a wise old man. They told him their problem. The wise old man agreed they worked too hard, and he wanted to help the donkeys. “I have an idea,” he said.

“What is your idea?” asked the donkeys.

“I will paint you and no one will know you are donkeys,” said the man.

The man went off to find some paint and he returned in just a matter of minutes. He had two pots of paints. One pot was filled with white paint, and the other black paint.

The old man first painted them white, and then painted stripes（斑纹）over the white paint. When he finished, the donkeys did not look like donkeys at all. “You no longer look like donkeys,” the old man said. “Everyone will be fooled（欺骗）. I will call you something else, zebras（斑马）.”

The zebras went to a field to eat grass. Now they did not have to work.

Soon, other donkeys saw the zebras. They asked the zebras where they came from. When the zebras told the donkeys their secret, the donkeys all rushed to see the old man.

“Please make us into zebras, too,” they pleaded. So the wise old man painted more donkeys. As he did, more and more donkeys came.

The old man could not paint fast enough. Soon the donkeys became impatient （不耐烦的）. They began to kick about, and they knocked over the paint pots.

There was no more paint. The painted donkeys ran off to become zebras. The unpainted donkeys, because of their impatience, had to return to work.

1. The two donkeys went to see a wise old man in order to       .

A．change into zebras	B．have a rest
C．become patient	D．ask him for help

2. What does the underlined word “pleaded”（in Paragraph9）mean?

A．agreed	B．begged
C．relaxed	D．knocked

3. What finally happened to the impatient donkeys?

A．They won praise for the work they did.

B．They hated the zebras and fought with them.

C．They looked for another wise man to paint them.

D．They were still donkeys working hard all the time.

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．The wise old man was killed by these impatient donkeys.

B．There is always a good way not to work hard.

C．Being patient is very important.

D．Both donkeys and zebras had to work hard.

【推荐1】Early when I was having my first go at being a father, our family lived in Philadelphia, and near our house there was a small playground where boys gathered for ball games. My son loved playing sports, but he was unprepared for what developed as his friends grew older.

After years together laughing and playing, several of the boys grew angry and unkind. Finally, they turned on my son, leaving him out of their games.

At first, I tried to encourage him so he would give the playground another go. But one Saturday morning I told him he could not come into the house. “You have to figure this out,” I said. “I’ll stay with you as long as you need, but I cannot let you just give up.” He cried. I kept saying: “You can do it.”

Did I do the right thing? Even now I’m not sure. He did go back to the playground. But while teaching him to stand up for himself, was I also passing along the prejudice that a boy should override his pain and never back down from a fight?

Research has found high school boys are more likely than girls to have been in a fight in the past year and boys are more likely to have been victims of violence.

When I was young, I went to an all-boys high school where the bigger and more violent guys ruled. One spring, after a school dance, a fight broke out. One of them, an older boy others said was “crazy,” was kicking another boy, who was seriously injured that night.

I have never forgotten that. As a psychologist, I have spoken with many young men who have had similarly sad experiences, and I have heard from many parents about the influence on their sons. When having stressful experiences like these, boys often pull away from their families.

The parents, understandably, feel anxious, but what they can do, must do, for their sons is never underestimate the power of listening to them, knowing them, and standing by them.

1. How did the author’s son feel during his first years on the playground?

A．Proud.

B．Happy.

C．Unprepared.

D．Unwelcome.

2. What did the author do to encourage his son to return to the playground?

A．He comforted him.	B．He went there with him.
C．He pushed him forward.	D．He had a talk with the other boys.

3. Why does the author mention the boy injured in a fight?

A．To show the harm of violence.	B．To show violence is inborn in boys.
C．To show fighting is common in boys.	D．To show uncontrolled violence at school.

4. What does the author advise parents to do for their sons?

A．Leave them alone.	B．Set a good example for them.
C．Teach them never to give up.	D．Understand and support them.

【推荐2】As a child, when my family took a vacation, we wrote postcards to show our friends the new places we had explored. I regarded postcards as simply a way to share travel experiences until I saw my grandmother’s postcard album (册).

My cousin and I discovered the dark gray album when we were going through Grandma’s things. Some were holiday postcards. But most of the postcards had pictures of flowers or birds that did not show a holiday or a travel destination. Instead of describing a holiday, the notes were invitations to come to a dinner party or go for a walk the next day.

“Why do these postcards ask you to come to tea?” I asked.

“Because this is how we communicated before we had a telephone,” she said.“I would put a postcard in the morning mail, and a friend would receive it that afternoon. Then she’d post a reply that arrived in my mail the next morning.”

“You got mail twice a day?”

“Yes. Remember, we had no phone.”

My cousin and I looked at each other. Connecting by postcards seemed as strange as using a carrier pigeon (信鸽).

I had forgotten about my grandmother’s postcards until lockdowns restricted (限制) our trips to see our three granddaughters. While I sent them texts, I wanted to give them something tactile (能触知的) to remind them of my love during this special time. Remembering my grandmother’s postcard album, I bought several sets of cards. Every few weeks, I’d write notes and mail them. The girls sometimes replied with short thank-you texts.

Then one day I opened my mailbox and saw three hand-addressed envelopes. Each girl thanked me for the postcards. The notes said how they’d been separated from friends, and how my messages had comforted them in a difficult time.

Yes, I received my granddaughters’ letters. Even when the lockdowns end, I will continue to send them postcards because everyone loves getting something tactile in the mail.

1. What did the author’s grandmother mainly use postcards for?

A．Telling interesting stories.	B．Sharing travel experiences.
C．Keeping up with friends.	D．Expressing holiday wishes.

2. How did the author feel when hearing Grandma got mail twice a day?

A．Worried.

B．Surprised.

C．Interested.

D．Encouraged.

3. What did the author decide to do during lockdowns?

A．Write letters to her grandchildren.

B．Buy postcards for her grandmother.

C．Learn how to send texts to her grandchildren.

D．Look for her grandmother’s lost postcard album.

4. What can we infer about the author’s granddaughters from the text?

A．They just want to send texts.

B．They collect postcards as a hobby.

C．They have difficulty getting along with friends.

D．They are beginning to accept communicating by letter

【推荐3】A mystery surrounds my grandmother’s collection of salt cellars (盐瓶). No one in the family seems to know when she started collecting them, or exactly how many she had.

My grandmother died just over two years ago. At 91, she had spent 30 years without her right leg, which was removed due to cancer the year I was born. She was a poet, an artist, a food lover and a salt cellar collector. The funny thing about the salts, as she called them — I never once heard her say salt cellar — was that although everybody knew they were her hobby and everyone was always searching for them at yard sales or in stores, nobody seemed to know what they meant to her and they just wanted to make her happy. Grandma kept her salts in a dark wooden corner display case in the living room. Since her death the case has remained exactly as she left it. Grandpa tries his best to preserve his memories of her just as they are.

Now I am collecting, too. Collecting memories about my grandmother’s hobby, a way she spent her time. And as I hold one of them in my hand, I picture her holding it in her hand on the day she got it. She is smiling. My mother and her two sisters all have small collections, but my mother admits that she was more interested in finding salts to send to Grandma.

Grandma once wrote a poem titled “When April Comes”. The poem contains the line, “When April comes and I am not around, remember me when daffodils are found.” Now, Grandpa is working on a poem with the line, “April came and you were not around”.

But she was, somehow. She was there in the memories left behind by her possessions.

1. It can be inferred from the text that the author’s family_______ .

A．are very proud of their interesting family history

B．value the wonderful poems Grandma wrote

C．are much influenced by Grandma’s interest

D．know much about grandparents’ love

2. In writing the text, the author expressed ________.

A．her love for her grandma	B．her desire to collect more salt cellars
C．her sadness at losing her grandma	D．her curiosity about her grandma’s possessions

3. The underlined part “her possessions” in the last paragraph refers to ________.

A．Grandma’s experience	B．Grandma’s strong will
C．Grandma’s talent	D．Grandma’s hobby

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Grandma’s Salt Cellar Collection	B．The Mystery of Grandma’s Salt Cellars
C．Grandparents’ Lifelong Devotion	D．A Family’s Collection History

【推荐1】Mike frowned at his calendar and then picked up his guitar. His band had been together for five months. Everyone said they were fantastic but they still had not been blessed with a paying job.

The three guys had become acquainted in band class, and organizing a group had been Mike’s idea. Mike played the guitar and acted as leader. John was on drums and James was on the saxophone. The three got together just for fun and named their group Playday.

But when some fans praised their talent, they decided to turn fun into profit. To make themselves known, Playday volunteered to entertain at parties. They played for free at school get-togethers. Mike loved the applause! He felt like a superstar. They practiced hard and discussed young musicians who had vaulted into prominence.

“The Jackson Five were kids,” John said. “Michael shot to fame like a rocket!” He exclaimed. “We can do it!” Mike encouraged the group.

After months of keeping Spirits high, Mike was tired. They haven’t seen even a cent. Let alone making a killing. Everyone was in low spirits. They decided to break up after one final volunteer job. The next day, they were to perform for patients at the Children’s Hospital where Mike’s mother worked as a nurse.

The next day the three young guys set up in the hospital lobby, and the nurses brought in the audience. As Playday began its number, Mike could feel their lack of spirit. Then Mike spotted one patient sitting limply in her wheelchair. Her expression was vacant, but when music filled the room, this rag doll came to life. She sat up straight, and the light that shone in her eyes lighted up something in Mike. He felt the thrill he’d been missing. As Mike’s playing caught fire, James and John gained energy. Soon, Playday was rocking as never before.

After the performance, the three guys spent time with the patients. Mike spoke to the girl who had encouraged him to play so well. “Wouldn’t it feel great to be rich and famous?” she asked, eyes still bright. “Will you be a rock star?” “Probably not,” Mike answered. “But I’ll never give up my music. I felt like the big time playing for you!”

1. The underlined phrase “had vaulted into prominence” most likely means         .

A．had grown into adults	B．had made a promise
C．had played The Jackson Five	D．had become successful

2. The members of Playboy were tired and depressed because they _______.

A．had no offer of a paying performance	B．competed cruelly with other bands
C．called an end to the band	D．performed at the Children's Hospital

3. While performing at the Children's Hospital, Mike became inspired because _______.

A．his guitar caught fire	B．a girl took him as a rock star
C．a patient was much cheered up	D．a toy doll suddenly became alive

4. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Mike, John and James got to know each other as they were relatives.

B．They planned to make money when they had a big fan base.

C．Their wonderful performance at Children’s Hospital cured the girl of her disease.

D．Mike found out the enjoyment of volunteer performance after playing at the hospital.

【推荐3】One morning, Ann's neighbor Tracy found a lost dog wandering around the local elementary school. She asked Ann if she could keep an eye on the dog. Ann said that she could watch it only for the day.

Tracy took photos of the dog and printed off 400 FOUND fliers (传单), and put them in mailboxes. Meanwhile, Ann went to the dollar store and bought some pet supplies, warning her two sons not to fall in love with the dog. At the time, Ann's son Thomas was 10 years old, and Jack, who was recovering from a heart operation, was 21 years old.

Four days later Ann was still looking after the dog, whom they had started to call Riley. When she arrived home from work, the dog threw itself against the screen door and barked madly at her. As soon as she opened the door, Riley dashed into the boys' room where Ann found Jack suffering from a heart attack. Riley ran over to Jack, but as soon as Ann bent over to help him the dog went silent.

“If it hadn't come to get me, the doctor said Jack would have died，” Ann reported to a local newspaper. At this point, no one had called to claim the dog, so Ann decided to keep it.

The next morning Tracy got a call. A man named Peter recognized his lost dog and called the number on the flier. Tracy started crying, and told him, “That dog saved my friend's son.”

Peter drove to Ann's house to pick up his dog, and saw Thomas and Jack crying in the window. After a few moments Peter said, “Maybe Odie was supposed to find you, maybe you should keep it.”

1. What did Tracy do after finding the dog?

A．She looked for its owner.	B．She gave it to Ann as a gift.
C．She sold it to the dollar store.	D．She bought some food for it.

2. How did the dog help save Jack?

A．By breaking the door for Ann.	B．By leading Ann to Jack's room.
C．By dragging Jack out of the room.	D．By attending Jack when Ann was out.

3. What was Ann's attitude to the dog according to Paragraph 4?

A．Sympathetic.

B．Doubtful.

C．Tolerant.

D．Grateful.

4. What can we infer about the dog from the last paragraph?

A．It would be given to Odie.	B．It would be kept by Ann's family.
C．It would be returned to Peter.	D．It would be taken away by Tracy.