1 . As an active theater-goer and play-reader, I edit this book to share my passion for the theater with others. To do this I have searched through many plays to find the ones that I think best show the power and purpose of the short play.
Each play has a theme or central idea the playwright (剧作家) hopes to get across through dialogue and action. A few characters are used to create a single impression growing out of the theme. It is not my intention to point out the central theme of each of the plays in this collection, for that would, indeed, ruin the pleasure of reading, discussing, and thinking about the plays and the effectiveness of the playwright. However, a variety of types are presented here. These include comedy, satire (讽刺剧), historical and regional drama. To show the diverse nature of the short play, I have included a guidance play, a radio play and a television play.
Among the writers of the plays in this collection, Paul Green, William Saroyan, and Maxwell Anderson have all received Pulitzer Prizes for their contributions to the theater. More information about the playwrights will be found at the end of this book.
To get the most out of reading these plays, try to picture the play on stage, with you, the reader, in the audience. The house lights become less bright. The curtains (幕布) are about to open, and in a few minutes, the action and dialogue will tell you the story.
1. What do we know about the author from paragraph 1?A.He has written dozens of plays. | B.He is a professional stage director. |
C.He has a deep love for the theater. | D.He likes reading short plays to others. |
A.State the plays’ central ideas. | B.Select works by famous playwrights. |
C.Include various types of plays. | D.Offer information on the playwrights. |
A.Control their feelings. | B.Use their imagination. |
C.Apply their acting skills. | D.Bear their audience in mind. |
A.A short story. | B.An introduction to a book. |
C.A play comment. | D.An advertisement for a theater. |
2 . While more and more scientists are working on nonfiction science books for the general reader, I think we also need a change.
The typical expert-voiced monologues (独白) that scientists write are a wonderful component of the engagement effort, but the form is limited. Such books are largely ready people already willing to pick up a science book, or who are open to the authoritative academic’s voice telling them how to think. There are plenty of people who can engage with science but who find those kinds of books a sometimes unwelcome reminder of the classroom.
Following from my belief that science is for everyone, I suggest that publishers need to work with scientists to expand the kinds of books on offer, assured that there is an audience for them. Progress is possible. Many years ago, I realized it is hard to find books on the nonfiction science shelf that let readers see themselves as part of the conversation about science. So I thought about an entire book of conversations about science taking place between ordinary people. While “overhearing” those conversations, readers learn some science ideas. It’s a resurrection of the dialogue form, known to the ancient Greeks, and to Galileo, as a device for exchanging ideas, but with contemporary settings: cafes, restaurants, trains and so on.
I decided it would be engaging for the reader to actually see who’s having those conversations, and where, instead of describing them in words. This led me to realize that I was thinking about a powerful form of visual storytelling: Graphic novels for adults have matured and exploded in popularity in recent years. Spiegelman’s “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” and Bechdel’s “Fun Home” are just two well-known examples.
But the storytelling tools of the graphic book have been little used to convey nonfiction science ideas to a general adult audience. The vast majority of contemporary graphic books with a science focus are presented instead as “explainer/adventure comics” for younger audiences. This is an important genre, but graphic books about science should not be limited to that.
And while there are several excellent graphic books for adults that include science, they typically focus instead on the lives of famous scientists, with discussion of the science itself as a secondary goal. Some excellent recent examples that balance the two aspects well include Ottaviani arid Myrick’s “Feyrunan” and Doxiadis and Papadimitriou’s “Logicomix”. The scarcity of science-focused non-biographical (非自传体的) graphic books for adults is especially true in my field of physics. So I decided that here was an opportunity to broaden the kinds of nonfiction science book available to engage the public.
1. It can be inferred from Para.2 that the expert-voiced monologues don’t appeal to _________.A.those who are interested in scientific ideas |
B.those who have no talents for scientific research |
C.those who would like to know how scientists think |
D.those who think science classes in school are uninteresting |
A.announcement | B.comeback | C.explanation | D.representation |
A.A collection of scientists’ life stories. | B.A book written by a Nobel Prize winner. |
C.An adventure novel focusing on science. | D.A comic book conveying scientific ideas. |
A.A well-known writer who writes to promote science among the public. |
B.A possible way to get nonfiction science books to appeal to the public. |
C.A new approach to have the public get interested in new scientific ideas. |
D.An easy access for the public to have a general idea of what science is. |
A.She hopes he can stop reading. | B.She will turn it off at once. |
C.She is reluctant to turn it down. | D.She thinks reading is not important. |
A. nesting B. signals C. accessible D. overnight AB. decisively AC. illiterates AD. literally BC. unaware BD. motivated CD. accused ABC. terrifying |
The good news is that today’s teenagers are greedy readers and productive writers. The bad news is that what they are reading and writing are text messages.
It’s an unmissable trend. Even if you don’t have teenage kids, you’ll still see other people’s offspring wandering around, their eyes averted, tapping away, totally
Now before I am
According to a survey carried about in 2019, half of today’s teenagers don’t read books except when they’re made to. What is more
Why does this matter? Because, to some extent, this texting craze can and will produce a large number of cultural
So how can we encourage our teenagers to read books? Whether in the classroom or at home, one of the best ways to promote reading is by reading together. Another way to encourage reading is to help teenagers set a goal to read a certain number of books or read books from a certain genre. This will help them stay focused and
But don’t expect children to fall in love with reading
Does Reading Improve Health
When thinking about our well being and taking care of ourselves, some things that we should do are harder than others. Reading is one of the easier ones. What follows are a number of ways in which reading can help maintain and improve health.
Reading allows you to de-stress by unplugging and escaping. In one study, reading was found to be as effective as yoga and humor in reducing subjective feelings of stress over a 30-minute period, as well as blood pressure and heart rate. Note that a good old-fashioned book or a dedicated eBook reader is the best way to do this.
Readers may live longer than non-readers. One study found that this was supposed to be due to the effect that reading has on maintaining cognitive abilities over time. In another study of individuals aged 64 and over, those who read at least once a week were less likely to experience cognitive decline than those who did not. At the 14-year mark of the study, and regardless of educational level, those who read more enjoyed greater protection. This effect is maintained into readers’ 80’s.
Bibliotherapy, or the use of various reading materials for the promotion of psychological health, is a well-known aid to mental health treatment. Bibliotherapy can consist of any type of literature and may include self-help books, focused readings, first-hand accounts of others’ experiences, and even relevant fiction. This can be a powerful strategy and has been used successfully to reduce depression, suicidal thinking, anxiety, stress and etc.
The benefits of reading are innumerable and reading is a low to no-cost activity. Cheap and no-cost books are everywhere. Public libraries continue to be one of the most amazing resources. If you aren’t a natural reader, you have nothing to lose by giving it a try.
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76. 假设你是浦润中学高三学生李青。学校社团就本学期开展的“经典作品阅读(Classics reading)”活动发起征文。主题是:Classics connect me and _________。征文要求如下:
根据主题补全标题;
阐述二者(classics和“______”)的联系及其对你(“me”)的影响
(注:文中不得出现真实的姓名及学校名称。)
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A.Doing puzzles. |
B.Visiting the official website. |
C.Reading “Making Memories”. |
D.Purchasing popular fiction books. |
A.To help people strengthen their memories. |
B.To broaden the horizons of the passionate readers. |
C.To provide readers with high-quality fiction works. |
D.To recommend the rising stars in the literature field. |
A.To promote a renewed program. |
B.To teach how to strengthen memories. |
C.To warn people to improve poor memories. |
D.To appeal to people to be passionate readers. |
Why Should We Read Literary Classics?
Many have grown up on a healthy diet of literary classics. Some literary classics have been inspiring readers in many ways. In this age of fast-turners, how does investing our time in a timeless literary classic change us for the better?
Many literary classics from yesteryear, which got little or no success when published, are considered invaluable. These books offer a window through which we can experience histories rooted in different cultures. One can always ask, “But we can do so by reading our history books too. Why do we need to read classics?” The simple answer is that these literary classics are not just a retelling of history. They allow us to have a more individualized experience, where they show us other ways to look at history.
It is common knowledge that reading as a habit helps us improve our command of the language. But literary classics have an edge: the enriching writing style is something that sets them apart. Fascinated with the amazing wording and phrasing, we’ll surely pause and wonder about what we read. For instance, when we read Shakespeare, we naturally begin to consider how to better express our ideas just like his far-reaching “Have more than you show; speak less than you know.”
One more benefit is that after reading classics, we won’t see non-classics as just other stories: we’ll become interested in them. Maybe we’ll realize that some details we ignored last time are actually worth appreciating, or we’ll discover literary devices that bring a whole new meaning to the story. Literary classics offer us more perspectives to dig deep and enhance our ability to think and reason, which will inevitably spill over into our reading of other works. We finally fall in love with non-classics as well.
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9 . What’s UP? Here, let’s take a look at some excellent book reviews for this month.
Dead Good Detectives Jenny McLachlan This is the story of a 12-year-old girl called Sid who loves playing horror games with her friends. But when she accidentally releases the ancient ghost pirate, Bones, Sid is launched into an adventure! However, there is someone hiding in the shadows, intended to send Bones back into the mysterious inn that he came from. This is a funny, exciting book that l would recommend to people who love lots of laughs. | |
Totty Shirley Galligan To find his home, Totty the turtle goes on an impressive adventure with the help of his friends, and has different obstacles to overcome. He wakes up with a plastic bag stuck around his neck, swims through an oil spill and gets caught in a fishing net. My favourite part was when his friend, the whale, helped him out of the garbage mountain, and he was rescued by the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre. If you like sea animals and care for the environment then this is a good book for you! | |
Fact Book of The Month: Aliens Joalda Morancy Ever wondered what incredible creatures might live beyond our planet? This mind-blowing book teaches you everything about the search for alien lifeforms in our solar system and beyond. Meet the robots sent to Mars to look for Martians, find out how to spot an advanced alien civilization and discover what really goes on at Area 51! Do aliens exist? And is it only a matter of time before we find them?! |
A.Scientists and astronauts. | B.Kids and teenagers. |
C.Parents of middle school kids. | D.Environmentalists. |
A.Dead Good Detectives | B.Totty |
C.Fact Book of The Month: Aliens | D.None |
A.To praise the value of friendships. |
B.To introduce various kinds of sea animals. |
C.To encourage the spirits of overcoming difficulties. |
D.To show how human behaviors affect sea creatures. |
10 . I was always a reader.
As a kid, I walked to the library several times a week and checked out so many books and returned them so quickly that the librarian once snapped,“Don’t take home so many books if you’re not going to read them all!”
“But I did read them all,” I said.
But I had stopped reading gradually. I joined book clubs that I never attended. I requested a library book everyone was reading, only to return it a week late, unread, with fines.
Then I met David. When I asked him about his last book, his face lit up and his fingers danced.
David read much more than I did, about a book or two a week. He preferred history and nonfiction, while I loved fiction writers.
On our seventh date, David and I visited the library.
“I have a game,” he said, pulling two pens and Post-its out of his bag. “Let’s find books we’ve read and leave reviews in them for the next person.”
“We wandered in the library for an hour. In the end, we sat on the floor among the poetry, and I read him some. He listened, then asked,“What is it you like about that one?”
That summer, as we picnicked outside, I said, “If I tell you something, will you not judge me?” David paused and raised his eyebrows.
“I’ve only read one book this year,” I said.
“But it’s June,” he said.
“I know.”
“Well, read a book!”
The next time I visited a bookstore, his charge to “read a book” echoed in my head. I picked up a book solely for its poetic title.
I had a hard time getting into it. The narrator was an old man. Whenever I was tempted to give up on it, I thought of David. I pushed through the first two chapters and discovered a new narrator in the third. I loved the alternating points of view. I carried the book to work. I read at lunch and on my walk home.
“How’s your day?” David texted.
“Good. A little tired,” I replied. “I stayed up late and finished my book.”
I tried to make it sound casual, but I was proud of myself. It was not a competition, but I felt him pushing me to be more of the person I used to be and more of who I wanted to be.
I asked David once what he liked about me.
He paused, then said. “I see the world as a more wonder-filled place with you.”
By the end of that year, David suggested we visit the library again. He asked if I remembered the game we played on our first visit.
“I remember,” I said.
He pulled a book from the shelf, dropped to one knee, and opened it. Inside, his Post-it read: “Karla, it has always been you. Will you marry me?”
His proposal had rested between the pages of The Rebel Princess for over a year.
“Yes,” I said.
1. The word “snapped” (paragraph 2) most probably means ________.A.talked to someone voluntarily |
B.spoke to someone impatiently |
C.gave someone a suggestion |
D.laughed at someone heartlessly |
A.Carrying books around without opening them. |
B.Only reading the books everyone recommended. |
C.Avoiding sharing books when going to book clubs. |
D.Often forgetting to return the books already read |
A.She finished reading a book she didn’t like. |
B.She had read more books than David did. |
C.She did what she thought to be difficult. |
D.She had kept to her taste in poetic titles. |
A.He introduced a new library and a fun game to the author. |
B.He encouraged the author to read more fiction and poetry. |
C.He helped the author finish reading an entire book in a day. |
D.He motivated the author to rediscover her love for reading. |