1 . J.K. Rowling frequently shows there is magic every day. Her Harry Potter series has helped people through times of stress and depression and she is always there to deliver wise words of encouragement.
She is one celebrity who is very active on Twitter. So when a single dad named Matt Burke sent her a message thanking her for the series, she noticed. Her series had helped strengthen his relationship with his 9-year-old daughter Bailey.
He included a link to his article titled Being a Broke Parent. He explained how he hadn’t found a level of financial stability that allowed him to pay bills on time and take his daughter on more activities and events. The family also doesn’t have the Internet or TV, which means there’s no “digital babysitter”, and he has to rely on his own creative ways to bond with his daughter. Since he received the series, the main thing that has occupied them these days is reading books together.
Burke admits that he thought he was “too cool” for the books when they first came out and he was in his twenties, but he’s loving reading them now. “We switch off chapter by chapter reading them out loud,” Burke explains. “This not only allows her to get more used to reading aloud in front of someone, but it gets me directly involved in something she loves, and it gives me the chance to be very dramatic when I read my chapters and bring myself into the characters in the book, which has proven to be a ton of fun.”
After hearing Burke’s story, Rowling said how honored she was when Harry Potter was a part of his family’s life and offered Burke more signed books. Besides, people are also offering to send Burke more books as gifts. For Burke, this experience, far more than gifts, will be what he treasures.
1. Why did Burke thank J.K. Rowling according to the text?| A．She guided him how to write a good story. |
| B．She encouraged him when he was in trouble. |
| C．Her books helped him through times of confusion. |
| D．Her books helped him improve his bond with his daughter. |
| A．He has found it interesting to read the series. |
| B．He was too old to understand the series better. |
| C．He has chosen a better way of reading the series. |
| D．He hopes to play a role in the drama in the future. |
| A．Unique. | B．Normal. | C．Precious. | D．Funny. |
| A．J.K. Rowling chooses to help improve kids’ health. |
| B．J.K. Rowling gives a magical gift to a single father. |
| C．J.K. Rowling has a deep influence on others’ growth. |
| D．Burke comes to know J.K. Rowling through her series. |
2 . The printed book is back. Recent studies have shown that students remember more information when they read a paper book compared to reading an e-book. One school responded to these findings by ditching its e-readers and encouraging students to pick up traditional books. The students found that “the ease of navigation (导航)” was greater when using a traditional book.
I love the way we now judge printed books using the language of the digital world. E-books may come with “navigational tools,” but it turns out the best navigational tools are the “devices (设备)” at the ends of your arms. You can use them to flip (翻) the pages forward and backward.
Fans of digital books may point out that e-readers have a handy “search” tool. Old-fashioned books also have a search function, in which you turn back to the opening part to help you remember the hero’s name. They even have a “bookmark system,” which uses something called a “bookmark.”
Can a traditional book offer all the features of an e-book? Also, no. It has no “progress bar (进度条)” indicating how much of the book has been read. Luckily, a clever tip is available: turn your book so that it can be viewed from the side or top. It will naturally form two parts joined in the middle. If the left part is thicker than the right one, you are more than halfway through.
Admittedly, e-books are lighter than paper books, but one must question whether this is really an advantage. In secondary school my body figure was actually transformed by the daily need to carry textbooks. For me and my fellow students, these weighty books would draw our shoulders back and our chests forward.
Educational fashions come and go, so maybe the return of traditional books won’t last. But for the moment, I find myself welcoming their wonderful return.
1. Which can best replace the underlined “ditching” in paragraph 1?| A．Referring to. | B．Getting used to. |
| C．Getting rid of. | D．Making use of. |
| A．Bookmarks. | B．Fingers. | C．The progress bar. | D．The opening part. |
| A．It has a handy search function called a bookmark. |
| B．It is convenient for us to search whatever you want. |
| C．It is lighter than a paper book to help change our body shape. |
| D．It tells you how much of the book has been read by a progress bar. |
| A．Why the Printed Book Is Back? | B．How the Printed Book Benefits us? |
| C．What Future the Printed Book Faces? | D．Which Is Better, Printed Book or E-book? |
3 . When I pulled out a copy of The Lost Words, my seven-year-old son stared in amazement. When I opened it up, it spread across both of our laps. He read the inner title page aloud—“The Lost Words: A Spell Book”—and then looked up doubtfully. “It’s a spell book? Like a magic spell book?”
Indeed, that’s exactly what Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris set out to do when they made this book. They were responding to a decision by the Oxford Junior Dictionary to remove around 40 common words related to nature from its 2007 edition. They were replaced by words like blog, broadband, cut-and-paste and voicemail. The two creators saw this as a tragic loss for children.
Macfarlane wrote for The Guardian about a 2009 study from Cambridge University that found children were better at identifying Pokémon characters than common British plant and wildlife species. They had around 80% accuracy for Pokémon, but less than 50%for real-life species. The paper concluded children have the tremendous ability to learn about creatures, both natural and man-made, but are currently more inspired by made-up creatures than by “living ones”. So we need “to re-establish children’s links with nature”.
The Lost Words aims to do that. The book features 20 words, each with three-page spreads. First comes a word search, where a child can decode (破译) the letters and the name of the species, painted in gold. Next, there’s a poem based on each word, accompanied by a full-page painting. These are called “spells” rather than poems because they’re designed to be spoken out loud to bring back these words and creatures into the minds of children.
Eventually, there’s a full double-page watercolor illustration of the plant or animal in its native habitat. The book was published in 2017 and I’m sorry it’s taken me these years to discover it. But its message remains relevant. If there are young children in your life, this is a book well worth checking out of the library or adding to your collection.
1. What made Macfarlane and Morris create the book?| A．Their interest in nature. |
| B．The magic of the natural world. |
| C．The loss of many natural species. |
| D．Their concern about the practice of a dictionary. |
| A．Kids know real species. | B．Kids have a learning talent. |
| C．Kids need to connect with nature. | D．Kids prefer Pokémon to real species. |
| A．They contain magical elements. |
| B．They are meant to be recited aloud. |
| C．They help children learn new words. |
| D．They are accompanied by illustrations. |
| A．A news report. | B．A short story. | C．A book review. | D．A research article. |
4 . At 8 years old, Danay Ferguson is the youngest business owner in Fresno, California, where the literacy (识字) rate is shockingly low when compared to the rest of the United States.
“I wanted to share my enthusiasm for reading with other kids, so I asked my daddy if I could open up my business,” Danay says, adding that her father, Dwayne Ferguson, asked her to prove she was serious about taking on such a major project. “He said I had to invite all of his friends on Facebook to the fan page he made for me,” she says. “It took me two days to invite my dad’s 4,000 friends to ‘like’ my page, one by one.”
With the help of her family and team of over 40 volunteers (mostly consisting of kids), Danay strengthened her literacy support in 2014 with her very own no-profit (非营利的) organization named Reading Heart. Danay has worked hard to raise awareness of her organization’s task by giving talks at schools, meeting with city officials and hosting board meetings.
“Her main line is ‘How about you get a book and read it and then share the book with somebody else, and do it again?’ instead of, ‘I give you a book and keep it,’ says Dwayne. “She’s starting a movement on ‘I will give everybody books, but you have to read and share them.’ And she’s trying to do this worldwide.”
And Danay also hopes to break the Guinness World Record for most books collected in a 24-hour period. Danay has a goal of beating the existing record (set at 274,325) with 500,000 donated books, which she is now making possible with a speaking tour that covers 130 schools encouraging kids to read. So far, Reading Heart has collected 90,000 books and given out over 20,000 books, having gifted used and new books to kids in schools, hospitals and in poor areas. “It is the most amazing thing to be a part of,” Dwayne tells us. “My wife and I have to remember that we are her parents because we have great respect for her.”
1. What is Reading Heart intended for?| A．Collect books. | B．Encourage reading. |
| C．Break world records. | D．Make friends. |
| A．To show its achievements and aims. | B．To explain why it is successful. |
| C．To voice Danays’s views on books. | D．To discuss its future. |
| A．Danay’s fan page on Facebook has few followers. | B．Reading Heart offers books to readers for a fee. |
| C．Danay has broken the Guinness World Record. | D．Danay’s parents gave her great support. |
| A．Outgoing and selfish. | B．Warm-hearted and traditional. |
| C．Smart and self-centered. | D．Strong-minded and tireless. |
5 . Here are some books that are carefully picked for your kids.
Corduroy
It’s about a little bear, Corduroy, in a toy shop. He has lost one of his buttons. This makes him very sad because he wants to be taken home by a kid. So he decides to find a new button. Corduroy contains some hard words. So you’d better use a dictionary while reading it.
Price: $18; a 10% discount on Sunday
Curious George
Curious George, a monkey, is a little too interested in everything, which causes humans to bring him from the forest to a big city. However, there he calls the fire department, is sent to prison, escapes from prison and is carried into the sky by balloons. Though the book uses a lot of short and simple sentences, some of its words are not simple.
Price: $20; a 20% discount on Sunday
The Story of Ferdinand
Ferdinand, a bull, loves to smell the flowers in the grasslands. One day people come to pick a male cow for bullfights. Ferdinand doesn’t want to be chosen, but a bee stings (蜇) him. It causes him to jump around crazily, so he’s picked. In Ferdinand’s first fight, he lies down to smell the flowers instead of fighting. So he is sent back to the grassland. The book has many similar stories that bring laughter. And it has everything that makes a children’s book great for English learners—simple and hard words.
Price: $16; a 10% discount on Sunday
Green Eggs and Ham
In this book, a cat named Sam really likes green eggs and meat. So he offers them to a friend. Read the book to see if his friend likes the meal or not. This book is a poem. Despite the simple vocabulary, the words are used in a way that feels smart.
Price: $15; a 5% discount on Sunday
1. Which book is about a small toy bear?| A．Curious George. | B．Corduroy. |
| C．Green Eggs and Ham. | D．The Story of Ferdinand. |
| A．He lies to the audience. | B．He jumps around crazily. |
| C．He refuses to fight. | D．A bee stings him. |
| A．To help. | B．To advertise. | C．To comment. | D．To educate. |
1. What is the probable relationship between the speakers?
| A．Friends. | B．Hostess and guest. | C．Teacher and student. |
| A．When he was little. |
| B．When he went to university. |
| C．When he started teaching English. |
| A．From travel. | B．From everyday life. | C．From movies. |
Hope Book Club A book club is a small group of persons that are reading the same book in order to share different feelings and opinions about the book. The book club meets once a month for an hour of lively discussion. All students (3+), teachers and parents are welcome! Here you can discover a new world, learn new ideas and make new friends! What you should do: ★You will read the book on your own and then discuss your reading in the book club. ★You must keep up with your reading so that you can join as a part of your group. The book club will decide what pages or chapters you will read. ★You should take down notes and thoughts as you read. ★Everyone in the book club is expected to join in the discussion. More tips: ★Keep our place clean. ★No pets and no smoking. ★Take good care of books and return them on time. ★You must ask for leave if you cannot join in the discussion. Fees: Kids from 3-7: Free; Kids from 8-18: 10 dollars a month; Adults: 15 dollars a month. If you are interested, call 487-256-656 or 487-266-545, send an email to hopebook@yahoo. com or visit our website at www. hopebookclub. com. |
| A．Keep quiet all the time. | B．Bring your cats or dogs. |
| C．Read your own favorite books only. | D．Ask for leave if you cannot join in the discussion. |
| A．30 dollars. | B．60 dollars. | C．75 dollars. | D．90 dollars |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
8 . Anthony Wood remembers sitting in the classroom one snowy morning as his teacher eyed the flakes(雪花) flying outside the window. “Please boys and girls”, she said, “pray that it stops snowing.” How little she grasped the mind of children, Mr. Wood observes, “We were praying，alright -- praying that it would snow-until June.”
Everyone knows children loves snow. Mr. Wood’s new book is meant for adults who remain passionate. It is less a systematic history than a discussion through various snow-related subjects -- beginning with the snowflake itself, which the author describes poetically as “the DNA of God”. Monster snowstorms interest Mr. Wood, such as the great white hurricane of 1888, during which hundreds of people in the north-eastern United States died of severe coldness. Winter storms that prevented the transportation from functioning normally were disasters for cities like New York and Philadelphia. But snow also contributed to the development of subway systems.
His chapters touch on the impact of unpredictable snowfall on the water crisis in California and on winter fun everywhere. He offers some frustratingly disconnected guesses about how climate change will alter future snowfalls. The short answer is that there will probably be more snow in places where the amount of water in the air increases, and less where temperatures become too high to keep it.
And he reflects, if briefly, on snow’s delights and unusual charm. Why do people either love it or hate it? Many long for it, Mr Wood proposes, because of the splendid isolation(隔离) that it brings. It can direct attention inward, and help people return to themselves.
1. Why is Anthony Wood’s memory mentioned in Paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To draw a conclusion. | D．To take an example. |
| A．It focuses on the history of snow. |
| B．It explains why children loves now. |
| C．It covers a wide range of topics about snow. |
| D．It only talks about the disaster caused by snow. |
| A．Pessimistic. | B．Unclear. | C．Objective. | D．Critical. |
| A．A biography of Anthony Wood. | B．An essay on climate change. |
| C．A fiction about snow. | D．A review of a book. |
9 . Reading is not just an important professional skill. It is also a way to enjoy informative, creative, and inspiring works of literature that enrich our life experiences. Like any skill worth mastering, a reading habit requires time to develop.
When you read, read for the main idea of each paragraph, along with its supporting reasons. When you are building up reading skills, it can be helpful to read with a pencil in hand to take notes or underline the key idea of each paragraph.
Look up unfamiliar words
It is quite normal to meet with some unfamiliar words when reading. Merriam Webster online is a wonderful and thorough resource for defining unfamiliar words.
Become familiar with literary devices
Particularly if you are a fan of novels and short stories, becoming familiar with common literary tools like metaphor, simile, parallel structure and personification is an important part being a better reader.
Don’t rush
Reading for learning and enjoyment is never a sprint (冲刺). Instead, take your time, advance your skills and their development at your own pace.
| A．Read for content |
| B．Read to get the author’s attitude |
| C．You will be an excellent reader if you stick. |
| D．Simply underline or make a list of these words. |
| E．Understanding them can enrich the reading experience greatly. |
| F．To enjoy your reading, practicing good reading skills is a must. |
| G．Do not get discouraged if you are a slow reader, especially at first. |
1. What might be the relationship between the speakers?
| A．Teacher and student. | B．Classmates. | C．Co-workers. |
| A．Exploring different types of books. |
| B．Focusing only on classic American novels. |
| C．Reading history books and traditional novels. |
