【推荐1】How parents can help children with reading skills

Making sure that your children read well can help them perform better in school and increase their confidence in their ability to communicate well. The following ways can be very helpful.

Have your children read to you.

Have your children choose their favorite book and sit down to read with you each evening.     1     It doesn't matter whether that starts after dinner or around the time your children go to sleep.

Stock (储备) your house with reading materials.

    2     It is reported that children who have different kinds of books and magazines to choose from at home actually score higher on standardized tests.

    3    

Researchers suggest having your children read signs on the road, menus, game directions, movie listings and other daily things. This will help your children try to understand the importance and applicability (适用性) of being able to read well.

Pay attention to reading problems.

See how well your children can sound out words, understand what they have read and use reading context (上下文) to understand the meaning of new words.     4     For example, you can take them to reading learning centers.

Use other reading tools.

    5     Take games as an example, try to use them as much as you can, since they can make children look forward to and enjoy the process (过程) of improving their reading ability.

A．Read wherever it is possible.

B．Take your children to a library.

C．Make reading an important part of each day.

D．Keep some reading materials available in your house.

E．Games, textbooks and books on tape are good choices.

F．If your children have difficulty reading, get them some help.

G．You should watch your children's progress with their reading skills.

【推荐3】I was 15 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, 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 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 it was a biting cold winter morning.

C．Because she was fascinated by a novel.

D．Because she was anxious to take the exam.

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

A．Reading a fiction by the fire.	B．Travelling with a bunch of expatriates.
C．Breaking the rules and regulations.	D．Being occupied by one’s passion.

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．I was tired of his roles in the real-life.

B．Hemingway's style influenced me a lot.

C．Becoming a writer was my childhood dream.

D．I learnt how to write on the internet.

【推荐1】Bike-friendly cities around the world

Cycling is kind to the environment so it is an excellent way to take in the city. Here are 4 bike-friendly cities adopting this green mode of transport to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Malmö, Sweden

Cycling in Malmö is enjoyable due to the relaxed and easy-going manner of most cyclists. The calming atmosphere makes it a great experience, even for nervous riders. A highly recommended bike route is from Ribersborg park to Limhamn Harbour, where riders can take a few good photos of the famous Öresund Bridge.

Beijing, China

In the 1970s, bicycles were the main mode of transportation for people in Beijing. However, dedicated (专用的) cycle paths for cyclists were limited. Only in May 2019, did the city launch its first achievement in cycling facility is worth a shout-out for a city with over 21 million people.

Bogota, Colombia

Bogota first introduced the concept of cycle path in 1974. The idea sees cars being banned from city roads every Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., helping cyclists, runners and walkers exercise safely. Since then, the city has slowly but steadily expanded the program, including setting up dedicated cycle paths. As a result, Bogota now has 550km of bike paths and is the most bike-friendly city in Latin America.

Montréal, Canada

Montréal has already established protected bike paths since the 1980s. BIXI is the city’s bike-sharing system with 9,600 bikes and almost 800 stations. Cyclists can make their visit to the Tour de L’lle Montreal, a yearly bike ride where cyclists take to the streets for a day without any other vehicles being allowed on the roads.

1. Which city will attract cyclists interested in photography?

A．Beijing.

B．Malmö.

C．Montréal.

D．Bogota.

2. What do Beijing and Bogota have in common?

A．Improvement in cycling facility.

B．Shift in primary means of transportation.

C．Regular investment in building bicycle paths.

D．Multiple specific cycle paths connecting districts.

3. What makes Montréal different from other cities?

A．The most bike-friendly city.	B．The oldest protected bike paths.
C．An annual bicycle event.	D．The most calming effect on cyclists.

【推荐1】Abdulrazak Gurnah was born on 20 December 1948 on the island of Zanzibar, off the coast of East Africa. He went to Britain as a student in 1968, after leaving Zanzibar at 18. He initially studied at Canterbury Christ Church College, whose degrees were at the time awarded by the University of London.

He then moved to the University of Kent, where he earned his PhD in 1982. From 1980 to 1983, Gurnah lectured at the Bayero University Kano in Nigeria. He was a professor and the director of graduate studies at the University of Kent’s department of English until his retirement. His main academic interest is in postcolonial (殖民地时期之后的) writing and in discourses associated with colonialism (殖民主义), especially as they relate to Africa, the Caribbean and India.

He has edited two volumes (册) of Essays on African Writing, which has published articles of a number of contemporary (当代的) postcolonial writers, including V. S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie and Zoe Wicomb. He is the editor of A Companion to Salman Rushdie (Cambridge University Press, 2007). He has served as a contributing editor (特约编辑) to Wasafiri magazine since 1987.

He is the author of 10 novels, including “Memory of Departure,” “Pilgrims May,” “Paradise”— shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1994 — “By the Sea” and “Desertion.” On 7 October 2021, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2021 “for his influence on colonialism and his uncompromising efforts for the fates (命运) of the suffering people between cultures and countries”.

1. Choose the correct order of the following events.
a. Won the Nobel Prize b. Left Zanzibar for Britain
c. Edited Wasafiri magazine d. Taught at Bayero University Kano

A．bcda

B．bdca

C．dbca

D．cbda

2. What does the underlined word “uncompromising” in the last paragragh mean?

A．Upset.

B．Gentle.

C．Persistent.

D．Confusing.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Abdulrazak Gurnah had won a few awards before Nobel Prize.

B．Abdulrazak Gurnah wrote a great number of novels as a writer.

C．Abdulrazak Gurnah’s novel “By the Sea” was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

D．Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize for his attention to the suffering people in his works.

4. Which of the following best describes Abdulrazak Gurnah according to the text?

A．reliable and cautious.	B．courageous and serious.
C．responsible and generous.	D．sympathetic and knowledgeable.

【推荐2】I was about 30 years old and was working as a firefighter in the South Bronx’s Engine Co.82. It was a restful Sunday and between alarms I rushed to the office to read a copy of the New York Times. I read an article on the Book Review section which openly stated what I took to be a calumny (徘镑）-that William Butler Yeats had gone beyond his Irishness and was forever to be known as a universal poet. As I read it, my blood began to boil.

I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out a letter of anger to the editor. Yeats had lived his life and written his poetry through the very essence of his Irish sensibility. It was offensive to think Irishness was something to be transcended (超越）. I don’t know why I felt it my duty to safeguard the reputation of the world’s greatest poet. I just knew that I had to write that letter.

After my letter got published, I received a letter from The New Yorker asking for an interview. When my article Fireman Smith appeared in that magazine, the editor of a large publishing firm called me, asking if I was interested in writing a book about my life. I had little confidence to write a whole book, though the subject was worthy. I wrote Report From Engine Co.82 in six months, and it sold really well. In the years that followed, I wrote three more best-sellers.

Being a writer had been far from my expectations. How had it happened? I often found myself thinking about it, and my thoughts always came back to that letter to the New York Times. For me, the writing was a natural consequence of the passion I felt and the subjects represented the great values burning within me as I wrote.

Your education and your experience will guide you toward making a right decision, but your passion will enable you to make a difference in whatever you do. That’s what I learned the day I stood up for Ireland’s greatest poet.

1. What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 1 imply?

A．I felt awkward when I read the article.

B．I felt angry at the statement in the article.

C．I became excited when I read about Yeats.

D．I was very proud of Yeats being a universal author.

2. Why did the author write to the New York Times?

A．To present his love for literature.

B．To spread Irish culture to the world.

C．To protect the reputation of an Irish poet.

D．To express his expectation of being a writer.

3. According to the author,what is the key to his success in writing?

A．His skills in arguing.

B．His educational background.

C．His passion for writing.

D．His experience as a firefighter.

4. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．My Journey to Be a Writer.

B．A Letter that Changed My Life.

C．How to Become a Great Author.

D．My Defense of Ireland’s Greatest Poet.

【推荐3】“Your first home,” Laurence Yep wrote in his book, The Lost Garden, “will always be the one that you remember best. I have been away from it for over twenty years, but I still go back in my dreams.” For Yep, whose father came from China, home was an apartment and the family grocery store in a neighborhood of San Francisco. It was there that he learned about patience, hard work, and getting along with neighbors.
Mr. Brown, Laurence Yep’s high school English teacher, often set high goals for his students. He was the first person to encourage Yep to write. The experience of that class changed the direction of Yep’s life. At the age of 18 Yep published his first short story, a sci-fi fantasy. He has since written many books and many kinds of books. He has retold Chinese folk stories and written for the theater. In nearly all these varied works, Yep, who is married to the children’s book author Joanne Ryder, has returned to questions he has been asking himself since childhood: What does it mean to be Chinese and American? Can one who belongs to two cultures ever feel at home anywhere?
When asked, “How has being of a Chinese by origin been important to you?” Laurence Yep replied, “As a child I wanted to be as American as possible. Then, in my early twenties, I became very interested in my Chinese roots. For years after that, I thought that my function as a Chinese American writer was to act as a bridge between two cultures. Now, though, I am not so sure that it is possible to join them together. Compared with Asian culture, American culture pays more attention to individuals and competition. The two cultures pull in opposite directions. So I see myself now as someone who will always be on the border between two cultures. That works to my benefit as a writer because not quite fitting in helps me be a better observer.”
1. According to Paragraph 1, Laurence Yep _____.

A．misses his first home very much

B．goes back to China from time to time

C．moved to San Francisco at an early age

D．once worked part-time at a grocery store

2. 2We may infer from Paragraph 2 that Mr. Brown _____.

A．asked Laurence Yep to be a good observer

B．taught Laurence Yep the value of patience

C．helped Laurence Yep finish his first book

D．had high expectations of Laurence Yep

3. The last paragraph is mainly about Laurence Yep’s _____.

A．childhood memories

B．varied writing styles

C．view of the two cultures

D．relationship with his family

4. Which of the following best describes Laurence Yep’s attitude to life?

A．Learn to accept your own differences.

B．Put the needs of others ahead of your own.

C．Work hard and you will receive many benefits.

D．Challenge others as you would wish to be challenged.