1 . Finding just the right book to read together can open a door to helping a child understand difficult subjects like illness, loss, and big change. Here’s a list of some of the best.
Black Dog
Author: Levi Pinfold
A black dog appears outside the Hope family’s home. As each member of the family sees it and hides, the dog grows bigger and bigger. Only the youngest Hope has the courage to face the black dog. When it chases (追逐) her she shows no fear, so it grows smaller and smaller. Finally, back to the size of a normal dog.
I Remember
Author: Jeanne Willis
A sweet little boy visits an old lady one day. He seems familiar to her. He’s even got the same name as her grandson, George! Of course, he is her grandson George. He gently reminds her of what they’ve done together before. A beautiful book that might help children learn about dementia (痴呆).
I Talk Like a River
Author: Jordan Scott
In class, a boy hides at the back in the hope that he won’t be asked to speak. But the teacher directs a question his way. All his classmates watch him stumbling over (结结巴巴地说) his words. His father collects him from school, and takes him for a walk by the river.
Susan Laughs
Author: Jeanne Willis
Susan can do so many things - she can laugh, sing, fly, dance, swim and much more. The final page of this book reveals that Susan is in a wheelchair, showing that "disabled" doesn’t mean “disadvantaged”.
1. Which book is about overcoming our fears?| A．Black Dog. | B．I Remember. | C．Susan Laughs. | D．I Talk Like a River. |
| A．She has lost her memory. | B．She has problems with speaking. |
| C．She has a poor relationship with George. | D．She completely relies on a wheelchair for mobility. |
| A．They focus on various diseases. | B．They remind readers of their family. |
| C．They were written by the same author. | D．They help children learn about tough topics. |
2 . The Adventures of Huckleberry Fine by Mark Twain is one of the first Great American Novels. It was also one of the first major American novels ever written by using Local Colorism (地方色彩主义). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is famous for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River.
This book is about how a boy called Huck set the slave (奴隶) free and realized his dream of living an adventures life. In order to get out of his father’s control. Hook pretended that he was dead by Jim, who is practical and loyal to friends. Jim went together with Huck in the journey, and they became friends after experience. scenes of adventures. In their voyage, they met two frauds (骗子). One called himself king, the other duke. Because of the king, Jim got caught by his master. By an expected chance, Huck and Tom, best friend of Hack. Got together, and they decided to set Jim free. At last, they made it.
Although the book has been popular with young readers since it came out, the book immediately became controversial (有争论的) and has remained so today because the Southern society that it satirized (讽刺) had already been history.
1. Where did the story happen in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? ________| A．In the northern states. | B．In Canada. | C．Beside the Mississippi River. |
①Huck met two frauds.
②Huck met a run-away slave Jim.
③Jim was caught by his master and then set free.
④Huck pretended to be dead.
| A．④②①③ | B．①②③④ | C．③①②④ |
| A．popularity of the book |
| B．Huck’s experience |
| C．history of Local Colorism |
| A．The book has attracted many attention. |
| B．Buck’s dream was to live a peaceful life. |
| C．Huck succeeded in setting Jim free on his own. |
3 . An ordinary day in 2008, first grade teacher Alvin Irby stopped by a Bronx barbershop after school for a haircut. Before long, one of his students came in.
“He is getting antsy; he’s kind of looking bored,” Irby recalled. “I’m looking at this student (thinking), ‘He should be practicing his reading.’ But I didn’t have a book.” That moment stayed with Irby, and five years later he started Barbershop Books. Since 2013, the nonprofit has brought more than 50,000 free children’s books to more than 200 barbershops in mainly Black neighborhoods across the country.
According to Irby, they are putting books in a male-centered space. “Less than 2% of teachers are Black males and many Black boys are raised by single moms. Black boys don’t see Black men reading.” So, Irby involves the barbers in his mission—training them to engage boys about reading.
“We want them to encourage kids to use the reading spaces,” he said. “Then they can talk to them about how they like reading, how funny a book was, or tell them about another book another kid was reading.” Irby believes that talking about books with a Black man can be powerful for the boys he serves. “Our goal is not to turn barbers into tutors,” he said. “This is an opportunity to provide boys with male role models.”
Denny Moe was the first barber to work with Irby. Moe had previously offered video games at his Harlem shop, to bring in extra income, but he was willing to forego that to help the community. “I decided to pay it forward by getting rid of the video games, putting books in here, just to get the kids’ minds going,” he said. “You want to make an impact.”
And that’s what keeps Irby motivated. “I’m just excited that we get to create a safe space for boys to do something that’s really life changing,” he said. “That’s what I really believe reading is. It unlocks potential.”
1. What inspired Irby to launch the project Barbershop Books?| A．His encounter with his student in the barber’s. |
| B．His childhood experience in his neighborhood. |
| C．His bad impression on Black men. |
| D．Barbers’ enthusiasm and generosity. |
| A．To collect books for Black boys. |
| B．To set a good example as a behaved citizen. |
| C．To help Black boys comprehend books. |
| D．To draw Black boys to reading. |
| A．Give up. | B．Build up. | C．Give away. | D．Open up. |
| A．Black boys’ increased interest in reading. |
| B．New policies concerning barbers’ shops. |
| C．Irby’s firm belief in the power of reading. |
| D．Effective cooperation between Irby and Denny Moe. |
1. What do the speakers agree on heroes?
| A．They are like film characters. | B．They achieve great success. | C．They can be common people. |
| A．He is devoted to his career. |
| B．He motivates Hank to be better. |
| C．He tries his best to help others. |
| A．Uninteresting. | B．Acceptable. | C．Realistic. |
| A．It’s great to read more. | B．Great writers do count. | C．He dislikes storybooks. |
5 . TikTok is making a mark on the world of publishing. Much of this is done through BookTok, the app’s community of users who comment on books. It is among the largest communities on the app; videos with this tag have been viewed 179 billion times, more than twice as many as BeautyTok. Whoever said books are dead has not spent much time on TikTok, nor in bookstores, which now have whole displays promoting titles “as seen on TikTok”.
Last year in Britain one in four book buyers used TikTok. Although the sales share is still very small, TikTok’s influence is significant and growing. The largest group of book buyers—women aged 54 and younger—are more likely to use the app than their male peers. TikTok recommendations influence their purchases, creating new literary stars and unearthing unlikely past ones, too.
One way to think about BookTok is as a book club for the Internet age. Just as stars like Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama can cause copies to fly off bookstore shelves by updating their lists of recommended reads, BookTok does something similar. However, the tastemakers are not usually celebrities (名人) but attractive book girlies doing reading challenges, often in artfully lit bedrooms.
Some old-fashioned bibliophiles (藏书家) may suspect that BookTok is less about books than about people seeking attention by promoting them. But BookTokers are already swaying bestseller lists. For example, novels categorised as “romance” have enjoyed the biggest push due to the promotion of BookTok. In addition, because TikTok is so visual, the app has an outsize impact on sales of physical books in particular. E-books do not make such attractive visual props. BookTokers show off their notes and flick through pages. Filming themselves finishing a book in a single day against a backdrop of hundreds of them on shelves is all part of the performance, and viewers will be extra impressed if the book looks thick.
1. How has TikTok influenced the world of publishing?| A．By promoting the celebrity authors and their works. |
| B．By encouraging people to read e-books. |
| C．By creating a community of users who comment on books. |
| D．By focusing on promoting e-books. |
| A．Changing direction rapidly. | B．Causing change. |
| C．Moving back and forth. | D．Remaining still. |
| A．The visual nature of TikTok makes physical books more appealing as props. |
| B．TikTok users prefer reading physical books over e-books. |
| C．E-books already have a more popular platform than TikTok. |
| D．TikTok offers discounts on physical books but not on e-books. |
| A．TikTok’s impact on book sales is limited to specific genres such as romantic novels. |
| B．The popularity of TikTok has significantly decreased the sales of physical books in bookstores. |
| C．TikTok has a great impact on the purchasing decisions of young women aged 54 and below. |
| D．TikTok’s influence on book sales primarily results from the recommendations of celebrities. |
6 . BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE
Susie Dent is Britain’s most-loved word expert. She has two new books: Interesting Stories About Curious Words (John Murray) and Roots of Happiness (Puffin), both available now.
Le Grand Meaulnes by Alain Fournier
This was the first book that really stopped me in my tracks. I lapped up its romantic but melancholy (忧郁的) story of the dreamy world between childhood and adolescence. I’ve never found as acute a description of longing as I did here, and for many things: for the mysterious castle, for love, and for freedom. It is an mysterious and dreamy book. What adds to the magic is that this was the only story that Fournier wrote—he died on the front line in the early months of the First World War.
The Oxford English Dictionary
If I could take just one book to a desert island it would (of course) be the complete Oxford English Dictionary —all 20 volumes. It may sound predictable, but the OED is anything but. In its pages you’ll find comedy, passion, tragedy, and thousands of hidden stories. Even the simplest of words have had quite a journey— “nice”, for example, has gone from meaning “stupid” to “pleasant”. Add to that a host of words that have unaccountably disappeared when—to my mind—we could really do with them, and you have entertainment forever. And which of us hasn’t met an “ultracrepidarian”: one who loves to talk about something they know nothing about?
Maus and Maus II by Art Spiegelman
The graphic novels Maus and Maus Ⅱ by the American cartoonist Art Spiegelman are not easy reads, but they’re important ones. They’re really a tale within a tale, in which the narrator (叙述者) interviews his father about his experiences of the Holocaust and his liberation from a concentration camp. Here the Nazis are drawn as cats, and Jews are mice. Overarching it all is an unforgettable tale of a son’s relationship with his broken father. Given that German has always been my first love, it felt necessary to read these books. Spiegelman takes the unspeakable and gives it an immediacy I’ll never forget.
1. What is the probable purpose of this text?| A．To recommend and classify. | B．To encourage and enrich. |
| C．To introduce and inform. | D．To memorize and alarm. |
| A．It inspires her to write stories. | B．It helps her describe something particular. |
| C．It fuels her passion for referring to a dictionary. | D．It entertains her with the development of language. |
| A．German geography. | B．Unexplained tales. |
| C．Adapted life story. | D．Parent-child relationship. |
Jackie was searching for her library book in her room. Outside her house stood her friend Sasha waiting for her to go to the library. But the book was missing.
Jackie then ran into her sister’s bedroom. “Have you seen my library book? Last week my book was bitten by your cat. The week before that, you dropped my book in the park,” Jackie asked angrily. Her sister shook her head. Despite her efforts, Jackie found no traces of the book there.
“What’s taking you so long, Jackie?” Mom’s voice rang through the house. “I need to find my library book. It has a red cover. It’s due (到期) today. If I have lost the library book, I am not allowed to check out any books for a whole month,” Jackie sighed, walking down the stairs. She nearly ran into her mom, who was carrying a heavy laundry (待洗衣物) basket.
“Good luck with that book. The library closes in twenty minutes.” Mom stopped to grab Jackie’s clothes from the railing and wrinkled her nose. “I’m putting these in the laundry,” said Mom, disappearing down the basement stairs.
Jackie ran around the house, looking under the sofa, in the fridge, and behind the piano. However, the book was nowhere to be found. Where was that library book? The thought of not being able to get into the world of stories and knowledge for a whole month made her feel very sad. Jackie sank onto the living room sofa, her mind racing with thoughts of the result she would soon face.
Just then Mom came into the living room and suddenly said, “Have you searched all the places? You need to think carefully and see if you’ve missed anything?” “I’ve searched everywhere I can think of, but I still haven’t found it,” Jackie almost cried. “I looked for you in your painting room in the backyard last night where you were practising your painting. I seemed to see a red thing. Maybe it was in the painting room,” Mom added.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右;
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Without wasting another moment, Jackie rushed outside to the painting room.
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Rushing to the library, Jackie and Sasha found the door still open.
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8 . Children who grow up at homes filled with books tend to have less cognitive (认知的) decrease when they reach old age, even when taking factors such as wealth and education into consideration.
Previous studies have found that children with large home libraries are more likely to do well at school and in their later careers. Ella Cohn-Schwartz at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and her workmates wondered whether the benefits of early book exposure extend into old age.
They analyzed data from over 8000 men and women aged 65 and older without Alzheimer’s disease in 16 European countries, who had taken memory tests in 2011 and 2013. The tests included trying to memorize lists of words and naming as many animals as possible in one minute. Participants were asked to recall how many books their family homes contained when they were children: no books, one shelf (about 25 books), one bookcase (about 100 books), two bookcases or more.
Those who grew up with larger book collections performed better in all memory tests. They also showed slower cognitive decrease, with a smaller drop in their test scores between 2011 and 2013. This may be because their early book exposure encouraged them to read more, which in turn improved their “cognitive reserve”, says Cohn-Schwartz.
The findings remained the same when the researchers made adjustments for the participants’ wealth, education, physical health and other factors. This suggests that large home libraries are not just a sign of having more money, they can also protect the brain in various ways, says Cohn-Schwartz.
Moreover, children who grow up at homes filled with books are probably also encouraged to take up other wholesome activities, doing sports, for example, which could also improve their cognitive reserve according to Ralph Martins at Edith Cow an University in Perth, Australia.
1. Why did Ella and her workmates perform the study?| A．To explain the benefits of early book exposure. |
| B．To prove books make a difference only in our old age. |
| C．To show whether people should read books in old age. |
| D．To test if book exposure in childhood benefits old people. |
| A．They reported their early book exposure. |
| B．They grew up at homes filled with books. |
| C．They showed a sign of Alzheimer’s disease. |
| D．They were asked to memorize as many animal names as possible. |
| A．Setting up a home library needs a lot of money. |
| B．People with early book exposure tended to read more books. |
| C．The findings were affected by participants’ wealth, education and physical health. |
| D．The test scores of people who grew up with larger book collections increased between 2011 and 2013. |
| A．Doing sports could improve cognitive reserve. |
| B．People are encouraged to read more books in their childhood. |
| C．Children who grow up at homes filled with books have a better memory. |
| D．Old people with early book exposure tend to have less cognitive decrease. |
1. 什么时候读的这本书；
2. 书的大概内容；
3. 这本书给你最大的影响是什么。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
提示：
1. a large number of; make a (n) ... impression on
2. What attracts me most is...
3. the message that the book delivers...
4. overcome one difficulty after another...
My Favourite Book
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10 . Here are four books for you and your children. Pick anyone you like!
Football with Dad by Frank Berrios
After watching the big game on TV every Sunday, a boy and his dad head outside to throw around a football like their favorite players. With its focus on playing safe and having fun. Football With Dad is the perfect way to introduce your little reader to the game of football.
There’s an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer
Mayer Fear of the dark often brings people another fear, like having a monster (怪物) under your bed. This story uses clever thinking to show children how to do with their fear during the night. And it does have helped lots of children overcome their fear of the dark.
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
The story has a great message of friendship. A witch (女巫) is happily flying around on her broom when the wind blows away her hat, then her bow, and then her wand. Luckily, a helpful animal finds her missing belongings each time. .
7 Days till Ice Cream by Bernardo Feliciano
Jerron, A. J. , and Cha are so excited about ice cream day! But sometimes, the ice cream car drives down a different street. Can they work together to control their car right to their house? This fun, easy-to-read story also shows us problem-solving and hands-on activities that your children will love!
1. What is the book Football With Dad about?| A．How to enjoy an exciting football game. | B．How to play football. |
| C．How to be a father. | D．How to get kids to be athletic. |
| A．Football with Dad. | B．There’s an Alligator Under My Bed. |
| C．Room on the Broom. | D．7 Days till Ice Cream. |
| A．Frank Berrios. | B．Mercer Mayer. |
| C．Julia Donaldson. | D．Bernardo Feliciano. |
| A．Boring. | B．Responsible. | C．Sensitive. | D．Intelligent. |
