4 . The great thing about libraries is that they house all types of books — from mysteries to biographies to dramas — all in one location. The bad thing about libraries is that they house all types of books in one location, and if it’s a location you can’t get to, you’re out of luck. Now, mobile library solutions are appearing quickly around the country to bring books to people who need them.

A few years ago, when the Little Free Libraries Movement launched, more people of all ages could have access to books. Now, more than 15,000 free book stands can be found around the world, bringing books to unexpected places. But many folks simply can’t get to the places where the books are. Bookmobile buses are a good solution, but they can be expensive to fund and to operate.

Books on bikes programs are popping up (出现) in areas where there is a strong bike culture, such as Seattle, or a strong need to bring books to the masses, such as in San Francisco.

The Seattle Public Library’s Books on Bikes program is made up of three bike/trailer combos (复合) that librarians bring to community events. The trailers are even Wi-Fi enabled so that visitors can sign up for a library card and browse (浏览) the library’s card catalog on the spot.

“Seattle has a really strong bike culture so we want to tap into that and provide full service library programs but do it in a way that is quick and smart.” librarian Jared Mills said in an interview.

San Francisco’s program, called Bibliobicicleta, was launched in 2013 by librarian Alicia Tapia. Her trailer can hold about 100 books and attracts readers of all ages and income levels.   It’s an independent, donation — based library — ike a Little Free Library, but on wheels.

When asked why she would launch a free library on a bike, Tapia answers, “Why not? Bikes are cool, and can go anywhere.”

1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Free libraries on bikes.	B．Unique bicycle cultures.
C．Popular online libraries.	D．Various library movements.

2. The underlined words “tap into” in paragraph 5 are closest in meaning to ________.

A．come up with

B．stay in touch with

C．keep pace with

D．take advantage of

3. What did Tapia think of the program?

A．Environment-friendly.

B．Practical.

C．Creative.

D．Profitable.

5 . The Best Way to Enjoy a Book

I am no slow eater. I can’t remember the number of times I was told as a child not to gobble my food. Nor have I been a slow reader. I went through books like combine harvesters through crops in the English village of my childhood.

Perhaps I will continue to gobble my food until my last meal on this planet. But books! They are an entirely different matter. Having been prevented from visiting bookstores and libraries during these days of isolation. I have decided to make changes. After all, didn’t someone once say, “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.”

I imagine slow reading to be like slow cooking: a variety of ingredients mixed into something one can truly enjoy. Slow reading means enjoying each sentence, absorbing all of those paragraphs of description that had probably been sweated over by the author and, more often than not, skipped over by readers like me.

This isn’t to say I pay only random attention to a book. Before deciding on one to buy or borrow, I always read the synopsis and the “About the Author” section. I would also read the dedication, the foreword and the author’s acknowledgments. Only then do I move on to the book’s opening sentence. This is essentially how I had selected the two books that I most recently finished.

In order to truly enjoy these two novels, I rationed my reading to two hours a day-no more and no less. A funny thing happens when you take two hours out of the day - every day – for something you really, really enjoy. I experienced a quiet sense of accomplishment that I had missed for years.

English writer Kate Atkinson’s Transcription has been advertised as “a novel of rare depth from one of the best writers of our time.” Award-winning Newfoundler Michael Crummey’s The Innocents, meanwhile, is said to be “a richly imagined and fascinating story of hardship and survival.” I am glad I didn’t read Transcription at my usual pace. I suspect I would have missed much of the brilliance of the writing. Instead, I made myself completely involved in the life of 18-year-old Julie. I often paused at the end of a chapter to reread it for the joy of laughing aloud at the heroine’ observations.

The Innocents is about the life of two orphans in an isolated bay in Newfoundland. It was hard not to run through this powerful narrative—but I resisted the temptation. My patience was rewarded with a deeper understanding of the character and rich description of northern Newfoundland— so real that I could almost feel the lichen (地衣) between my toes.

So here I am, two books finished that took me a month to read. I have been entertained, enriched and transported in time and place like I never have before. Having discovered the joys of taking my time over a book now, I doubt I will ever again announce proudly, “It only took me a day or a couple of hours to finish!”

1. According to the article, the author used to ______.

A．read novels while gobbling her food.

B．spend no more than two hours reading every day.

C．consider it a waste of time to read fictional stories.

D．finish reading a book in a day or even a couple of hours.

2. The underlined proverb “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good,” probably means ______.

A．even the craziest ideas can become popular.

B．even the most popular ideas can go out of fashion.

C．even the most positive situations can harm someone.

D．even the most negative situations can benefit someone.

3. The author compared reading to cooking in order to illustrate that ______.

A．it is fun to read book related to food.

B．it is rewarding to pick up various types of books.

C．it is worthwhile to appreciate the brilliance of every sentence.

D．It is important to read the synopsis before deciding on a book to read.

4. While reading The Innocents, the author ______.

A．imagined herself to be an orphan.

B．ended up with a deep appreciation of the story.

C．read through the descriptive part of the book quickly.

D．thought about the relationship between hardship and survival.

6 . Reading is essential but how can one choose the right books to read and where can one find them? A few famous people may give you some helpful tips.

● Read books from past eras.

    1     Otherwise, you’d be “completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of your times,” just as Albert Einstein put it. “Somebody who reads only newspapers and books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely near-sighted person who dislikes eyeglasses,” he said.

●     2    

Reading too wide a variety in too short a time would keep the teachings from leaving a lasting impression on you. Seneca the Younger, a first-century Roman philosopher, suggested that “you must linger (流连) among a limited number of master thinkers, and digest their works, if you would obtain ideas which shall win firm hold in your mind.”

● Shop at secondhand bookstores.

Virginia Woolf believed the works in secondhand bookstores have an attraction which the usual volumes of the library lack. Browsing through these books gives you the chance to run into something that wouldn’t have risen to the attention of librarians and booksellers.     3    

● Check out authors’ reading lists.

In his 1940 guide How to Read a Book, American philosopher Mortimer J. Adler talked about how to choose books. He attached importance to those that other authors consider worth reading.     4     Mortimer wrote that “one way to understand them is to read the books they read.”

● Make the final decision by yourself.

    5     It’s you yourself who should choose what, how and when to read. Theodore Roosevelt recommended choosing books on subjects that interest you and letting your mood guide you to your next great read.

A．Interest is the best teacher.

B．Great authors are great readers.

C．Leave some room for older works.

D．Learn more about those great authors.

E．Don’t jump too quickly from book to book.

F．There’s no “best books” list that everyone should follow.

G．Usually they are much more selective in organizing their collections.

8 . A second-grade education has not stopped garbage collector Jose from bringing the gift of reading to thousands of Colombian children.

Jose started rescuing books from the trash almost 20 years ago, when he was driving a garbage truck at night through the country’s wealthier neighborhoods. The rejected reading material slowly piled up, and now the ground floor of his small house is a temporary community library piled from floor to ceiling with some 20, 000 books, ranging from chemistry textbooks to children’s classics.

He says books are luxuries for boys and girls in low-income neighborhoods such as his, with new reading material at bookstores too expensive. There are 19 public libraries in Bogota, but they tend to be located far away from poorer areas. “Books are our salvation and that is what Colombia needs,” says Jose.

The 53-year-old Jose has a love of reading he attributes(归因于) to his mother, who always read to him even though she was too poor to keep him in school. “She used to read me stories every night,” said Jose, “To me, books are the greatest invention and the best thing that can happen to a human being.”

Jose still searches through the rubbish for additions to his library though he is very famous in Columbia. Jose is also a greedy reader of works by famous authors. He says he doesn’t reject technology that allows books to be read digitally, but says he prefers to read the printed word on paper. “There’s nothing more beautiful than having a book in your pocket, in your bag or inside your car,” he says.

1. How did Jose start his library?

A．By receiving textbooks from kids.

B．By collecting rejected books from garbage.

C．By rescuing used books from public libraries.

D．By getting donated books from local communities.

2. What is the barrier to public libraries in Bogota for kids in poorer areas?

A．High cost.

B．Limited access.

C．Bad location.

D．Long distance.

3. Why did Jose quit school?

A．He hoped to found a library for poor kids.

B．He loved to stay at home studying alone.

C．His family couldn’t afford his tuition fees.

D．His mother taught him at home every night.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Jose gains fame for collecting trash.

B．Jose has become a well-known author.

C．Jose takes an objective attitude to digital books.

D．Jose prefers to read pocket books inside his car.

9 . 假如你是李华，你的英国朋友Philip 送给你一本英语读物，你读后收获颇多。请你给他写一封email，内容包括：1.表示感谢；2.分享阅读收获。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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10 . Some people think that as more and more people have televisions in their homes, fewer and fewer people will buy books and newspapers. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read the life story of a famous man, when a short television program can tell you all that you want to know？

Television has not killed reading, however. Today, newspapers sell in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. Books are still a cheap way to get information and enjoyment. Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are printed today as paperbacks (平装本), which are quite cheap. A paperback collection of short stories, for example, is always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or the theater, and you can keep a book for ever and read it many times．

Books are a wonderful provider of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home. Every home should have a good dictionary. A good encyclopedia (百科全书),though expensive, is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. Besides, you can have such books as history books, science textbooks, cookbooks, and collections of stories and poems. Then from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favorite poets．

1. It can be inferred from the passage that_________．

A．TV programs are a chief provider of knowledge

B．cinemas are the best choice in getting information

C．reading is a cheap way of learning and having fun

D．newspapers are an expensive way to enjoy oneself

2. What does the sentence “Television has not killed reading, however.” underlined in the second paragraph suggest?

A．People only need reading, though.

B．Reading is still necessary today.

C．Reading is more fun than television.

D．Watching television doesn’t help reading.

3. Where can you probably see this passage?

A．In a travel booklet.

B．In a science report.

C．In a fashion show magazine.

D．In an education book review.