1. What are the speakers talking about?
A.Managing the reading workload. |
B.Deciding which books to read. |
C.Choosing the right pen for marking. |
A.Orange color. | B.Blue color. | C.Yellow color. |
A.He prefers to mark as little as possible. |
B.He marks after reading the entire paragraph. |
C.He uses smiley faces to identify amusing areas. |
2 . It’s no secret that reading good news feels a lot better than reading bad news. Like, would you rather bite into a lemon, or sip on a fresh glass of lemonade?
In fact, good news, known as solutions journalism, is becoming more popular, as publishers and news stations discover the benefits of sharing positive stories. Good Good Good is one of them.
“If it bleeds, it leads.” has long been a saying used in the media to describe how news stories about violence, death and destruction draw readers’ attention.
A.Share good news with people around you. |
B.It’s just that we don’t hear as much about them. |
C.But the “bad news” has its place in the world. |
D.It provides a more balanced view of the world. |
E.And so, negative news stories are everywhere on news media. |
F.Heartwarming stories make you cry and feel good. |
G.The news media company is devoted to providing good news intentionally. |
3 . The Christmas Pig, J.K. Rowling’s first children’s novel since Harry Potter I, is a feel-good book, full of surprises, which will delight adults and children alike, not only for the original story, but also for the imaginative scenery, characters and objects that interact with the main characters.
It tells the story of Jack and the love he feels for Dur Pig, a stuffed toy pig who has been with him since he was a toddler. After losing him on Christmas Eve, Jack will embark on a great adventure to save Dur Pig with the help of the Christmas Pig, a brand-new replacement for Dur Pig.
J.K. Rowling shows again, with this book, why she is considered one of the greatest storytellers of her time. She distinguishes herself again in world building, and younger and older readers will be surprised, chapter after chapter, by the original ideas that she introduces in this world that Jack and his friend visit. The world Rowling creates is not complex but it does not underestimate children: it is a world with clear logistics that the protagonists (主人翁) must follow, carefully crafted to serve the story and not its readers.
Those long time readers of J.K. Rowling’s works will find familiar passages and themes that they may want to connect to the Harry Potter books. It is hard to tell if those references are there on purpose, but there may be some satisfaction in thinking that Rowling must have noticed and enjoyed them privately while she was writing them.
Parents around the world may have a difficult time every night, once a chapter is finished and their children must go to sleep. The Christmas Pig will keep readers turning pages with a great and imaginative story, filled with cliffhangers at the end of most chapters that will leave kids asking for more. If some reviewers said that The Ickabog lacked Harry Potter’s magic, they can rest assured that The Christmas Pig has all the magic that J.K. Rowling can provide, and that’s more than enough.
1. Why is J.K. Rowling rated as one of the best storytellers of her time?A.Her capacity in building characters. | B.Her ability to design complicated plots. |
C.Her tendency to write to children’s taste. | D.Her creativity in world building. |
A.Imagination. | B.Suspense. | C.Magic. | D.Challenge. |
A.She intentionally included references to her previous works. |
B.Parents have difficulty falling asleep after finishing a chapter. |
C.Some reviewers found The Ickabog full of magic. |
D.The Christmas Pig is a good illustration of J.K. Rowling’s magic. |
A.Critical. | B.Objective. | C.Enthusiastic. | D.Indifferent. |
4 . Four new books to read
The books that are included in this list can meet your reading needs at any time of year.
Nobody Will Tell You This but Me
Bess Kalb
In this book, the author shares the advice her beloved grandmother Bobby left her. Bobby was a powerful woman who should never be underestimated, and she was very knowledgeable about the family’s traditions and secrets. The book proves that family bonds can endure through generations and beyond death.
We Came Here to Shine
Susie Orman Schnall
We Came Here to Shine focuses on the strong female friendship between an aspiring journalist and an unlucky actress at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Leaning on each other, these two ambitious women struggled against adversity (困境) at a time when women had little say.
A Star Is Bored
Byron Lane
Favored by television star Jonathan Van Ness, this novel is partly based on the author’s experiences as the former personal assistant to Carrie Fisher, a legendary American actress. The book follows Charlie Besson, the new assistant to the Hollywood icon, Kathi Kannon. Their three-year journey together is an unforgettable adventure that is funny, heartbreaking, and hopeful.
Fast Girls
Elise Hooper
The story in Fast Girls took place during the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where Betty Robinson, Louise Stokes, and Helen Stephens overcame difficult pasts to attain Olympic glory as the world’s fastest female athletes. Beyond the athletic journey, they also aimed to challenge the social standards of what females can achieve.
1. Who is the character in Bess Kalb’s book?A.Bobby. | B.Susie Orman Schnall. | C.Carrie Fisher. | D.Betty Robinson. |
A.A biography. | B.An industry report. |
C.A real-life based novel. | D.A fictional adventure story. |
A.We Came Here to Shine | B.Nobody Will Tell You This but Me |
C.A Star Is Bored | D.Fast Girls |
5 . For some people, the warmest memories from childhood come from being read a great story.
A new report by the American Academy of Pediatrics says reading aloud is so important that parents should start as soon as their children are born and continue to read aloud even after their children can read by themselves. They say parents should also point to and talk about pictures in books for infants (婴幼儿).
The company Scholastic is a major U. S. publisher of children’s books. Every two years, Scholastic publishes a report on American reading attitudes and habits. The 2015 report says only 31percent of children in the U. S. read a book for fun almost every day.
There are other methods that might help you with your studying.
A.Do children still read for fun? |
B.A book does not have to be serious to be good for kids. |
C.But reading to children does more than create warm memories. |
D.For young children, parents should ask questions about the book. |
E.Another way to develop a reading habit in children is to read to them. |
F.Scholastic also identifies some ways to develop a love of reading in a child. |
G.The Scholastic report also suggests permitting children to choose their own books. |
6 . Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now, the website Book Crossing.com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.
Members go on the site and register (登记) the books they own and would like to share. Book Crossing provides an identification number (识别码) to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.
Bruce Pederson, the managing director of Book Crossing, says, “The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. Book Crossing combines both.”
Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it.
People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E— mails are then sent to the BookCrossers to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.
Book Crossing is part of a trend (趋势) among people who want to get back to the “real” and not the virtual (虚拟).The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty—five countries.
1. Why does the author mention book groups in the first paragraph?A.To explain what they are. | B.To introduce Book Crossing. |
C.To stress the importance of reading. | D.To encourage readers to share their ideas. |
A.An adventure. | B.A public place. |
C.The book. | D.The identification number. |
A.Keep it safe in his bookcase. | B.Mail it back to its owner. |
C.Meet other readers to discuss it. | D.Pass it on to another reader. |
A.Online Reading: A Virtual Tour | B.Electronic Books: A New Trend |
C.A Book Group Brings Tradition Back | D.A Website Links People through Books |
7 . Whenever you read text, your brain processes the visual stimuli (刺激物) to create meaning and understand the content. Chances are, you don’t pay much attention to the way the information is presented- particularly the font (字体) choice. That’s because your main target is reading comprehension, not aesthetics.
Although typography(排印) is missed by most of us, it’s essential in making texts legible, readable and appealing for audiences. Beyond the visual aspect, research shows that fonts play a significant role in the mental processes of understanding that happen while we read. A font’s impact on the way you learn and memorize information might be hard to notice consciously, but your brain is certainly tuned in. Perhaps surprisingly, hard-to-read fonts such as Bodoni, Comic Sans, or Monotype Corsiva are better for memorizing information than fonts like Arial or Times New Roman, according to some studies.
“Difficulty can function as an alarm signal, giving the reader a sense that the task is challenging and will require mental effort,” says Daniel Oppenheimer, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University and one of a 2010 study authors, “Additionally, slowing down the reading speed to deal with the disfluency may increase the probability of spotting errors in a text.”
Font characteristics such as style, size and color play a role in information retention memory or recall as well, says Stephen Banham, a typography lecturer at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Experiments have proved a U-shape relationship between font size and memory: Large-font items may predict higher recall regardless of style, but very small font sizes can also introduce a desirable difficulty.
A document’s specific method of formatting information also makes an impact. Using font styles like bold or italics to indicate significance can also improve memory. That’s because people are better able to remember information they consider important, says Oppenheimer. Researchers found that bolded text has a higher recall than text in italic or regular styles, regardless of the font size. However, if an entire document is bolded, the emphasis is lost, and readers can no longer spot vital passages.
1. Why do readers often ignore the font choice?A.They lack aesthetic knowledge. | B.They aim to understand the meaning. |
C.Their brains are not sensitive to the font. | D.Fonts are of little significance in reading. |
A.They can lead to desirable challenges. | B.They may distract readers from the text. |
C.The meaning of the text may be mistaken. | D.They will affect reading performance negatively. |
A.Using fonts of medium size. | B.Choosing bright font colors. |
C.Putting the words in italic type | D.Making the whole passage bold. |
A.What Fonts Make Reading Easy | B.What Fonts Make Memory Lasting |
C.Why Fonts Impact Retention and Recall | D.How Fonts Affect Learning and Memory |
8 . A decade ago, I attended a banquet in Guangzhou where the food was exceptional. The bird’s nest soup, made from chicken and possibly ham with dried scallops (干贝), was gentle and slippery. The sea cucumber was rich and sticky, and the fish was sparklingly fresh and steamed to perfection. However, what stood out was the plain white soup of broth (肉汁), served at the end. It was simple, plain, and perfect.
Ending a banquet with soup may seem odd to Westerners, who are used to sweets at the end of meals. But as an English food writer named Fuchsia Dunlop explains in her book Invitation to a Banquet, soup is a unique expression of a chef’s art, much like a singer’s voice. The transparent, almost invisible soup is an ideal conclusion to a banquet, with its luxury and strong flavors.
Invitation to a Banquet is Dunlop’s seventh book. Unlike her other books on Chinese cuisine such as The Food of Sichuan and Revolutionary Kitchen, this one is not a cookbook. Instead, she has chosen 30 dishes from different regions of China to illustrate different aspects of Chinese cuisine and history.
What makes Dunlop’s writing unique is her perspective. She argues that Chinese cuisine is superior (更胜一筹的) not only in taste but also in its ability to incorporate foreign influences while still maintaining its own identity. Furthermore, Dunlop makes an equally compelling case that what Westerners think of as “Chinese food” is neither false nor wrong. It is merely a diasporic (离散的) branch that reflects local tastes and is representative of the cuisine’s diversity. Immigration and adventurousness have made authentic Chinese food more accessible outside China than ever before.
In conclusion, Invitation to a Banquet by Fuchsia Dunlop provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of Chinese cuisine. Through her well-researched book and insightful discussions, she encourages readers to appreciate the complexity and richness of Chinese food.
1. To the author, what is the most memorable dish about the banquet in Guangzhou?A.A sweet dessert. |
B.A bowl of plain white soup. |
C.A dish made from expensive ingredients. |
D.A fish that was rich and strong-flavoured. |
A.Include. |
B.Reject. |
C.Strengthen. |
D.Reduce. |
A.Chinese desserts are the highlight of Chinese cuisine. |
B.Immigration makes little difference to Chinese dishes. |
C.Chinese food is limited to traditional ingredients and flavors. |
D.Chinese food is influenced by foreign elements while preserving its own identity. |
A.To introduce a dish. |
B.To recommend a book. |
C.To share an experience. |
D.To compare different cultures. |
9 . Nobody likes to spend money on a new book only to face disappointment when it doesn’t live up to your expectations. Here are the best book review sites to help you avoid buying books that you’ll regret reading.
Goodreads
Goodreads is the leading online community for book lovers. If you want some inspiration for which novel or biography to read next, this is the best book review site to visit. There are an endless number of user-generated reading lists to explore.
Fantasy Book Review
Fantasy Book Review should be high on the list for anyone who is a fan of fantasy works. The book review site publishes reviews for both children’s books and adults’ books. It has a section on the top fantasy books of all time.
Booklist
Booklist is a print magazine that also offers an online portal. Trusted experts from the American Library Association write all the book reviews. You can see parts of reviews for different books. However, to read them in full, you will need to subscribe.
YouTube
YouTube is not the type of place that immediately springs to mind when you think of the best book review sites online. However, there are several engaging YouTube channels that frequently offer opinions on books they’ve read.
Although it’s easy to be attracted by an impressive book cover, it’s always best to have a quick look at the book reviews before actually buying a copy. This way, you can save your money and spend it on the books that you’ll be proud to display on your shelves for a long time.
1. Which site best suits people who are into the story of one person’s life?A.Goodreads. | B.Fantasy Book Review. |
C.Booklist. | D.YouTube. |
A.Edit book reviews. | B.Discuss with experts. |
C.Read full reviews after payment. | D.Find information about writers. |
A.Noting the book cover. | B.Reading the book reviews. |
C.Preparing a display shelf. | D.Checking the book’s ratings. |
10 . Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now, the website Book Crossing.com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.
Members go on the website and register (注册) the books they own and would like to share. BookCrossing provides an identification number to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.
Bruce Pederson, the managing director of BookCrossing, says, “The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. BookCrossing combines both.”
Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it.
People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E-mails are then sent to the BookCrossing to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.
BookCrossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the “real” and not the virtual. The website now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty-five countries.
1. Why does the author mention book groups in the first paragraph?A.To make comparisons. | B.To introduce the topic. |
C.To stress the importance. | D.To provide an example. |
A.They like to pass books to another reader. |
B.They like to mail books back to their owner. |
C.They like to keep books safe in the bookcase. |
D.They like to get back to the traditional style. |
A.Unreal. | B.Effective. | C.Meaningful. | D.Wonderful. |
A.Electronic Books: A new Trend | B.A Website Brings Tradition Back |
C.Online Reading: A fashionable trend | D.A Book Group for unselfish people |