1 . It is simple enough to say that since books have classes - fiction, biography, poetry - we should separate them and take from each what it is right and what should give us.
| A．Yet few people ask from books what books can give us. |
| B．Reading is a longer and more complicated process than seeing. |
| C．How can we get the deepest and widest pleasure from what you reed ? |
| D．How at the comer of the street, perhaps, you passed two people talking |
| E．But when you attempt to reconstruct it in words, you will find that it breaks into a thousand conflicting impressions. |
| F．If you hang back, and reserve and criticize at first, you are preventing yourself from getting the fullest possible value from what you read. |
2 . I was about 13 when an uncle gave me a copy of Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World. It was full of ideas that were new to me, so I spent the summer with my head in and out of that book. It spoke to me and brought me into a world of philosophy (哲学).
That love for philosophy lasted until I got to college. Nothing kills the love for philosophy faster than people who think they understand Foucault, Baudrillard, or Confucius better than you — and then try to explain them.
Eric Weiner’s The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers reawakened my love for philosophy. It is not an explanation, but an invitation to think and experience philosophy.
Weiner starts each chapter with a scene on a train ride between cities and then frames each philosopher’s work in the context (背景) of one thing they can help us do better. The end result is a read in which we learn to wonder like Socrates, see like Thoreau, listen like Schopenhauer, and have no regrets like Nietzsche. This, more than a book about understanding philosophy, is a book about learning to use philosophy to improve a life.
He makes philosophical thought an appealing exercise that improves the quality of our experiences, and he does so with plenty of humor. Weiner enters into conversation with some of the most important philosophers in history, and he becomes part of that crowd in the process by decoding (解读) their messages and adding his own interpretation.
The Socrates Express is a fun, sharp book that draws readers in with its apparent simplicity and gradually pulls them in deeper thoughts on desire, loneliness, and aging. The invitation is clear: Weiner wants you to pick up a coffee or tea and sit down with this book. I encourage you to take his offer. It’s worth your time, even if time is something we don’t have a lot of.
1. Who opened the door to philosophy for the author?| A．Foucault. | B．Eric Weiner. |
| C．Jostein Gaarder. | D．A college teacher. |
| A．To compare Weiner with them. |
| B．To give examples of great works. |
| C．To praise their writing skills. |
| D．To help readers understand Weiner’s book. |
| A．Its views on history are well-presented. |
| B．Its ideas can be applied to daily life. |
| C．It includes comments from readers. |
| D．It leaves an open ending. |
| A．Objective and plain. |
| B．Daring and ambitious. |
| C．Serious and hard to follow. |
| D．Humorous and straightforward. |
3 . Literature opens up a new world for the reader. Whenever I feel upset by anything or stressed out about the little or big things in life, going back to my books gives me an escape from the harsh reality I am surrounded with.
For me, English Literature isn’t just reading extensively or collecting knowledge from various sources and assembling them, it is so much more. Since my childhood, I have been fascinated by how the authors, poets, and, more importantly, playwrights convey passion and sentiments. I personally find it so difficult to convey my feelings and emotions in a set of words, but it continues to fascinate me as to how they accomplish to cede their sentiments almost perfectly in a string of words. For example: “Lines along my face, they dull my eyes, yet keep on dying, because I love to live.” She says that by facing the challenges and pain presented by life to her, there are now lines of resignation and sadness on her face. The sufferings given by life are such that her eyes have lost their light and have become dull. Yet the wonders of life give her the power to continue.
What I like the most about literature is that we are shaken out from our comfort zone when we read literary masterpieces. A lot of books may not glorify the protagonists but give an insight into why a particular character behaved in a certain manner.
Being an ardent lover of history, I have always been intrigued by the evolution of English literature over the ages. Take the books by Charles Dickens or Jane Austen for example, you can clearly see they have always shown the other side of the world, the sufferings experienced by the working class. Even their comedies do not feel like comedies at all. However, after the Victorian era ended and Modernism started, the modern literature’s influence (I believe) was WW1 and WW2. When you read “Gone with the Wind” and read about people like Ashley Wilkes, you begin to question the purpose of fighting wars. They have always written of times which transcend their own. They have shown rebellions of their ardors averse to the understandings of the society. These rebellions against the society’s established dogmas have been one of the main themes of the literature of those times. But there is a clear contrast between the Victorian literature and the modern literature. All of the writers always took on the moral code, character and conscience. The evolution of literature is totally unique in its own way.
English Literature has opened my mind towards intellectual activities and has helped to define my feelings and emotions with beautifully weaved words.
1. The underlined word “resignation” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ________.| A．dismission | B．retirement | C．happiness | D．obedience |
| A．Adaptability to the status quo. | B．Reflections on the characters’ behaviors. |
| C．Relief from the actualities. | D．Knowledge about the times. |
| A．The leading character in the literary works outweighs the minor roles in inspiring readers |
| B．In the context of a set era, almost all writers have identical literary genre |
| C．The end of the Victorian era marked the beginning of questioning the purpose of the battlefield |
| D．I find it hard to convey emotions while I was absorbed in the expressiveness of the literature |
| A．How English literature speaks my heart? | B．How literary giants help me advance ahead? |
| C．Why literature is a microcosm of society? | D．Why I love studying English Literature? |
| A．She only read the contents of the book. | B．She didn’t omit a single detail. |
| C．She scanned the whole book. | D．She read only some chapters of the book. |
5 . According to a research, the average reading score of students in the USA this year declined in comparison to the previous study last year. The study indicates that there is a significant
Perhaps it is no surprise to researchers that the decline in reading ability
An argument for providing
Besides, compared with the crowded casual classroom environment, independent reading libraries in school can help students produce a sense of being
The research concludes that there are millions of students who do not have the basic reading
Therefore, secondary educators need to guide students to associate reading with enjoyment by offering time and choices. This
| A．balance | B．drop | C．reflection | D．concentration |
| A．lack | B．input | C．feedback | D．operation |
| A．harms | B．includes | C．matches | D．prevents |
| A．boring | B．unique | C．random | D．limited |
| A．improves | B．provides | C．realizes | D．breaks |
| A．innocent | B．fun | C．precious | D．serious |
| A．rules | B．teaching | C．time | D．fund |
| A．adding | B．exposing | C．attaching | D．mailing |
| A．benefits | B．symbols | C．hobbies | D．friends |
| A．dependent | B．traditional | C．formal | D．inferior |
| A．interest | B．defeat | C．cheat | D．invent |
| A．resources | B．companions | C．opportunities | D．skills |
| A．income | B．method | C．loss | D．presence |
| A．production | B．link | C．knowledge | D．discovery |
| A．social | B．reluctant | C．keen | D．practical |
6 . Today, I’ve been recording an audio book. I am excited that I have realized my life-long dream.
I will never forget at primary school I used to wait with breathless anticipation to take my turn reading out a paragraph of great works in front. At my secondary school, when students were encouraged to select and present a reading at “morning talk”, I often added my name to the list.
This was all handy background for my career in broadcasting. But, much as I enjoy hosting shows and interviewing people, I often find myself missing the simple pleasures of reading out loud. I’d thought about putting myself forward as a narrator (朗读者) for audio books. But I’m not an actor. I can’t do regional accents or play female voice. Non-fiction, then, seemed the obvious target, but I felt that such books were best read by their original authors. If it were authors’ own voice, their stories would touch me.
Recently, delivering my son’s nightly bedtime story has reawakened my love for reading out loud—highlights so far have included Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlotte’s Web. But I never thought I’d get the opportunity to do it professionally.
Then, last month, I was contacted by James Plunkett, author of End State, a forthcoming book about political ideas. He had no desire to read his book out loud, but as a fan of my program, he thought I might do a reasonable job.
So, I’ve spent this week in a studio, simply reading stuff out loud. And I’m LOVING IT!
Obviously, it’s an entirely unexpected experience. It’s disheartening when the recording needs to be stopped because I’ve just carelessly skipped over a “the”, or had to clear my throat, or catch my breath. I’ve also learned how many words I’ve been mispronouncing my entire life: behavioural is BE-HAYVE-YOU-RAL, not BE-HAYVE-EE-AH-RUL. Though tackling this 339-page book doesn’t turn out to be that easy, I’ve found the whole process awesome, and hope this becomes the first of many.
1. What does the writer want to show by mentioning his experiences at school?| A．The power of dreaming. |
| B．His love for reading aloud. |
| C．The impact of schooling. |
| D．His talent for reading. |
| A．He regretted being a host. |
| B．He disliked non-fiction books. |
| C．He lacked working experience. |
| D．He lacked confidence in narrating. |
| A．He was good at reading bedtime story. |
| B．He applied for it in person. |
| C．He was appointed by the author. |
| D．He had crowds of fans. |
| A．Demanding but enjoyable. |
| B．Risky but fruitful. |
| C．Turing but stress-free. |
| D．Boring but rewarding. |
7 .
Travel Back in Time | |
| TOMORROW THEY WON’T DARE TO MURDER US By Joseph Andras In 1956, National Liberation Front Member Fernand Iveton planted a bomb near Algiers. The hoped-for explosion was intended only to be a piece of symbolism, so he put it in an unused shed. He was arrested before it could go off and then mercilessly tortured and hanged. Andras’s fictionalized retelling of Iveton’s story was published in French in2016 to immediate acclaim, winning the prestigious Prix Goncourt. It’s now been translated into English. The book is just 137 pages long, but every one of them is tense, a nightmare of noble intentions gone horribly wrong. | INSIDE MONEY By Zarchary Karabell Given complete access to the 200-year accomplishment of the U.S.’s oldest private bank, Karabell weaves a fascinating tale of the East Coast WASP establishment includes characters such as Alan Greenspan and Averell Harriman, one-time governor of New York. The firm has remained privately held, so its inner workings have been a mystery until now. |
Or See the Future | |
| THE FLIP SIDE OF FREE By Michael Kende It’s not a new insight that we pay for “free” apps and sites with our personal data, but Kende has a more detailed take than most. The digital development specialist at the World Bank Group looks at how the web came to be free via unified standards and the coming social considerations that will need to be faced once the public understands how much “free” actually costs. | THE CODE BREAKER By Walter Isaacson Isaacson’s previous biographies have focused on such men as Steve Jobs and Leonardo da Vinci. Here he tells the story of Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist who won a Noble Prize for the gene-editing technology known as Crispr. The book is an excellent reader on the complex subject, its benefits (fighting disease) and its ethical hurdles (designer babies). |
Anything Other Than Covid | |
| LETTERS TO CAMONDO By Edmund de Waal There are very few ceramic artists working today and even fewer ceramic artists with a part time as an author. Best known for his exquisitely crafted porcelain and his bestseller The Hare with Amber Eyes, de Waal’s latest piece of fiction combines the two sides of his professional life. This book consists of imaginary letters to the real-life Moise de Camondo, a rich Jewish banker who ran one of the most successful institutions in the Ottoman Empire and was also an art sponsor. | ANTIQUITIES By Cynthia Ozick Most people experienced some form of Covid isolation. Ozick, 92, who’s been shortlisted for the Pulitzer and Man Booker International prizes, has created a character who's similarly tortured, though it’s old age, rather than a pandemic, that finds him holed up indoors. As he recalls his life, he is drawn to memories of his cousin, a famous archaeologist and to a mysterious schoolmate. |
Or More About Plagues | |
| LET THE RECORD SHOW: A POLITICAL HISTORY OF ACT UP NEW YORK, 1987-1993 By Sarah Schulman Michael Lewis is something of a master at the onset of the AIDS crisis that no one, other than the tortured, seemed to care. ACT UP, a political and activist effort, was born from that apathy. Schulman's comprehensive, timely Book records the group’s hundreds of demonstrations, and almost as many political groups. | THE PREMONITION: A PANDEMIC STORY By Michael Lewis Thirty years ago, fear and death played out at capturing complex events in the very recent past. Here he turns the pandemic into a tale of good and evil: Evil, in this case, is the administration; good is a crew of scientists, doctors and public health experts. The narrative follows three central characters-a biochemist, a public health worker, and a U.S. federal employee. |
| A．drew inspiration from something real. |
| B．reveal something ugly about their society |
| C．are works written against a background of war. |
| D．provide thrilling plots even though they are short in length. |
①cybersecurity
②artificial robot
③disease-curing
④economic development
| A．①② | B．①③ | C．②③ | D．③④ |
| A．Both are fictionalized works. |
| B．Both are about artistic creations |
| C．Both deal with the theme of isolation |
| D．Both are written against the background of Covid-19. |
①One is a true story and the other is fictional.
②One is about history and the other focuses on the present.
③One is about the causes of the plague and the other focuses on the results.
| A．①② | B．①③ | C．②③ | D．①②③ |
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Face It
Debbie Harry
HARPER COLLINS
Picture this: it’s the late 1970s and the punk music scene is starting to take hold. Blondie releases the album Parallel Lines, which soars straight into the charts. Every teenage girl wants to be lead singer Debbie Harry, while every teenage boy wants to be her boyfriend. Now 75, Harry bares all in her memoir Face It, from her childhood to the hedonistic (享乐的) years of Blondie an then solo artist. Part entertaining, part shocking, this biography is as humorous, moving and as dynamic as its subject.
Scatterbrain
Henning Beck
NEWSOUTH BOOKS
The brain really dislikes being in a condition of uncertainty, says award-winning neuroscientist Henning Beck. If what we remember is fragmented, the brain will substitute in the rest of the information without you even noticing, he says in the chapter “Memory”. In this “user’s guide for your brain”, Beck argues that mistakes and faults are the keys to success. He combines science with brain-boosting advice and real-life stories to take the reader on a fascinating adventure through human memory.
The Right-Brain Work Out
Russel Howeroft with Alex Wadelton
PENGUIN
In 1968, 1600 five-year-olds were given a creativity test. They were retested at ages 10 and 15 and their scores were compared against adults. While 98 percent of five-year-olds were assessed in the “highly creative” range (genius level), only two per cent of adults could be considered “highly creative”. In The Right-brain Work Out, the authors promise to retrain your brain to be more creative, using 70 questions to probe and challenge you.
1. What can we learn from the introduction of Debbie Harry’s biography?| A．She was the lead singer in the Blondie during her whole art lift. |
| B．It was not true that The Parallel Lines was a hit in the 1970s. |
| C．Only teenager boys were greatly fascinated by her. |
| D．She reveals something seldom known to the public in her biography. |
| A．It mainly deals with memory science. |
| B．Readers will get enlightened on the power of mistakes. |
| C．Our brain can’t automatically make up for what’s missing. |
| D．Our brain likes the condition of finding fault. |
| A．two tests were given to the subjects in 1968 |
| B．genius kids maintained their creativity into adulthood |
| C．a set of questions were designed to train creativity |
| D．the effect of the brain exercise remained to be proved |
The Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks
Reviewed by Helena
No lyrical, romantic account, but a hard-bitten, dull and down-to-earth story of a family, a community and an environment. A story of cycles — of seasons, years, people, generations, stretches back centuries. A story of farming which only exists now in the remoter, wilder regions of the UK, where the land is too hard and the environment too harsh for farming to be an “agribusiness”. Where success, survival of farms, their sheep are dependent on knowledge passed down through generations and shared between farmers and shepherds in a small, close-knit and mutually-dependent community. A story of people hefted to their land every bit as much as their sheep are hefted to their fells.
A Month in the Country by J.L.Carr
Reviewed by L. R. Fisher
It is unbelievably simple and delightfully slow-paced, full of Lawrence-like description of a vanished (消失的) country landscape. The focal points are a casual and peculiar friendship between two war-scarred, shell-shocked men Tom Birkin and Moon. In a book barely 100 pages long, the author not only manages to give us a story that flows like a stream, but also achieves impressive characterization, bitter feelings of war and a corresponding celebration of peace, a little suspense, and even a twist in the tail.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Reviewed by T. Bently
Having read all of Bill Bryson’s travel books, this was the last one left. I hadn’t read this because I had been told it was one of his weakest one. But I decided, through no other reason that I needed a hit of Bryson, to read it. People couldn’t have been more wrong. From the very beginning of assessing the feasibility, arranging for Katz to accompany him to the purchasing of his equipment and the purchasing of “a large knife for killing bears and hillbillies”, Bryson is at his absolute best. His cute eye is a wise witness to this beautiful but fragile trail. His encounters along the trail and Katz anti-social, childish antics (滑稽动作) make the first 150 pages more than a laugh-out-loud hike. I couldn’t have been more surprised. An adventure, a comedy, and a celebration, A Walk in the Woods is destined to become a modern classic.
1. In The Shepherd’s Life, James Rebanks takes readers through a shepherds’ life ________.| A．featuring a hard struggle in the remote and beautiful area |
| B．alternated by the seasons and changed by the generations |
| C．little noticed, and deeply attached to the harsh land |
| D．spent in a profitable agricultural and friendly community |
| A．have lived in a slow-paced country throughout their life |
| B．are war survivors with troubled memories |
| C．were deafened by the explosion of a shell in the war |
| D．will make the end of their story more fascinating to read |
| A．Bryson’s travel book is the best seller in travelling literature |
| B．Bryson’s travelling experience is laughable |
| C．it’s a pity that people turn a blind eye to Bryson’s travelling experience |
| D．A Walk in the Wood combines artistic quality well with natural beauty |
