1 . As we close out the final days of this year, treat yourself to a deliciously distracting new book —a book that you can dip into and out of throughout the holidays. Read up, rest up, and enjoy yourself.
Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and beyond
A must-have guide for yoga-loving mamas, Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond offers helpful relaxation techniques and breathing exercises that are tailored to each pregnant woman. The book also lays out valuable techniques for labor and staying in touch with your body as it continuously changes.
Mindfulness Activities for Kids
We could all use a little more peace in our lives. Uniquely suited for children and parents to do together, the 40 mindfulness exercises recommended here —from pausing to fully enjoy a tasty sandwich to taking chalk walk together—will not only teach children calm and gratitude, but also bring grown-ups and their littles closer together.
Before She Disappeared
Frankie Elkin is a recovering alcoholic who devotes her time to solving cold cases, especially those involving people of color. A new investigation brings her to Boston, searching for a Haitian teenager who disappeared months ago. But as Frankie starts asking questions, someone else will stop at nothing to keep the answers hidden.
Oak Flat
Lauren Redniss’ Oak Flat tells the story of the land near the San Carlos Apache Reservation through an Apache family fighting to protect the land which the U. S. government and two world-power mining enterprises are attempting to seize and destroy for its copper resources. Visually striking and deeply reported, Oak Flat tells a larger story of endless westward expansion and native resistance.
1. Which book can help to improve family relations?| A．Oak Flat. |
| B．Before She Disappeared. |
| C．Mindfulness Activities for Kids. |
| D．Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond. |
| A．It’s a brief account of mining enterprises. |
| B．It centers on an Apache family’s struggle. |
| C．It sings high praise of the US government. |
| D．It supports westward expansion and native resistance. |
| A．Teenagers. | B．Men. | C．Kids. | D．Grown-ups. |
2 . One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: I was to borrow at least one book for the summer in the public library. This was one more weapon for her to
I started to read about Amos.
| A．defeat | B．shoot | C．compose | D．cause |
| A．heart | B．random | C．rest | D．best |
| A．recognized | B．reviewed | C．presented | D．completed |
| A．rescued from | B．taken in | C．turned away | D．given away |
| A．identical | B．unique | C．likely | D．opposite |
| A．out | B．behind | C．off | D．over |
| A．Normally | B．Hopefully | C．Occasionally | D．Unknowingly |
| A．Though | B．Since | C．When | D．Before |
| A．freed | B．separated | C．lost | D．connected |
| A．purpose | B．channel | C．scenery | D．scene |
| A．occurred | B．happened | C．hit | D．took |
| A．procedure | B．improvement | C．recovery | D．speed |
| A．relieved | B．proud | C．fortunate | D．calm |
| A．read | B．recorded | C．authored | D．awarded |
| A．sound | B．saying | C．words | D．observation |
1. What is the woman?
| A．A writer. | B．A reporter. | C．A hostess. |
| A．It’s inspiring. | B．It’s boring. | C．It’s relaxing. |
| A．Twice a week. | B．Once a week. | C．Once a month. |
| A．Before they go to bed. |
| B．When they’re on the subway. |
| C．When they’re on the bus. |
4 . With over 125,000 followers, 34-year-old Oliver James is a star in the Book Tok community. And it all started with a simple
For most of the kids, school is a place where they can develop a relationship with learning in a
Reading
Starting his journey with a book of inspirational quotes gifted by his wife, James began reading bits out loud and
But perhaps the biggest
| A．title | B．goal | C．name | D．campaign |
| A．safe | B．dangerous | C．quiet | D．noisy |
| A．Putting up | B．Going up | C．Clearing up | D．Growing up |
| A．logical | B．mental | C．special | D．common |
| A．depended | B．turned | C．brought | D．focused |
| A．struggles | B．proposals | C．conflicts | D．regrets |
| A．developed | B．increased | C．reduced | D．damaged |
| A．leave | B．occupy | C．expand | D．forgive |
| A．commenting | B．posting | C．writing | D．connecting |
| A．Fans | B．Librarians | C．Speakers | D．Booksellers |
| A．weakness | B．outcome | C．threat | D．impact |
| A．ruined | B．shaped | C．ended | D．saved |
| A．collapsed | B．bonded | C．quarreled | D．argued |
| A．resource | B．barrier | C．preference | D．loan |
| A．unrealistic | B．greedy | C．ambitious | D．influential |
5 . A new study published by Dan Johnson of Washington and Lee University shows experimentally that reading fiction increases empathy (共情).
The participants were asked to read a short story and report their mood. Then, in a staged accident, the experimenter knocked over several pens and recorded whether the participants helped pick them up. They found that the more people were transported into the story, the more likely they were to help pick up the dropped pens. Those who engaged more deeply with the fictional characters also showed more empathy for the real-life person.
Empathy, like patience appears to be a character that can be improved with practice. Study has shown the more students read books, especially storybooks, the better they are at understanding the emotions of others. However, researchers at the University of Michigan reported last year that empathy among college students had declined during the past 30 years, with an especially steep drop in the last decade. The reason is plain to see.
It’s important to understand where empathy comes from in the first place. Looking at the evolution of the human mind, it has been suggested that the ability to process hypothetical scenarios (假设情景) of what another person might be thinking provided an advantage to our early ancestors. Empathy may have arisen from one of the most fundamental human characteristics—the ability to cheat.
Storytelling is essentially just a kind of art. Is Harry Potter real? No, but by projecting ourselves into his story, we’re engaging a very real part of our brain. That sense of escape or social participation often is what makes books so enjoyable. Unfortunately, books are falling out of style. The cause of this is partially due to e book sales, which have arisen greatly over the past few years and taken a share out of the physical book market without necessarily indicating a decline in reading.
Even though some of us would like to, we can’t blame the digital retailers for our decreased empathy. In fact, some people probably read more with their more convenient e-readers than ever before with hard copies. It’s the culture of reading in general that needs to change.
1. What did the experiment show?| A．The participants stressed teamwork. | B．The participants were forced to pick up pens. |
| C．A story might have an instructive effect. | D．A person lost in a story paid less attention to real life. |
| A．Limited patience | B．The lack of reading | C．Diverse emotions. | D．The social practice |
| A．The art of lying. | B．The culture of reading |
| C．The escape from the society. | D．The ability to process real information |
| A．Reading stories can increase empathy. | B．Paper books have edges over digital ones. |
| C．Writers play a trick on readers by cheating. | D．College students tend to lack understanding. |
As I began to wade through thirteen pages of the credit-card company’s new policy, I wasn’t sure how it was going to affect me personally. As I waited to be connected to a customer service rep, I considered whether I should even write the fifth novel in my Old Cape House series. Did my readers really enjoy the mysterious historical stories I told? Should I take on more debt to buy my paperback books? I thought about all the author events, book signings, and book fairs that might be canceled because of the virus. When would normal life return?
“Hello, Ms. Struna, this is Thomas. May I have your account information?”
After repeating the information he needed, I explained my dilemma in trying to understand the new policy and asked how it would affect my future purchases.
“Please, do not worry. You will have no change.”
“Are you sure? I am an author and travel frequently. I need to have access to my card at all times for big or small purchases.” I laughed to myself, thinking I wasn’t going anywhere for a while, at least until there was a vaccine.
“Let me reassure you. There will be no change to your card, but Ms. Struna, may I ask you one more question? Are you the author of The Old Cape House?”
My jaw dropped. He was talking about my first novel of suspenseful historical fiction, The Old Cape House, published in 2013. I was stunned and I stammered, “Why, yes I am.” I was still skeptical about what he wanted from me.
Thomas kept talking. “I thought it was you. I recognized your name, and when you told me you were an author, I knew it was you.”
“Oh, my goodness.” My heart started to beat faster with delight at the connection I was making with an unknown foreign reader.
“Ms. Struna, your book changed me. It changed how I look at the world. It showed me ways to be more adventuresome and to be open to new things. Thank you so very much.”
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。
Paragraph 1:
I was stunned at the idea that I had made a difference in someone’s life.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
I hung up, ending this coincidental connection to a fan reader in a faraway place.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 . If you want to make sure that you understand this story as fully as possible, you might consider printing the article and reading it on paper. That is one of the findings of a recent study of research done on the differences between paper and screen reading.
Virginia Clinton carried out the research examination. Clinton looked at 33 past studies done between 2008 and 2018 that examined paper versus screen reading. Her examination found that reading from paper generally led to better understanding and improved a person’s performance on tests connected to the reading material. And, she found no major differences in reading speed between the two. Such differences were notable only when the reading materials were expository texts — or explanatory and based on facts. Clinton said she found no major difference when it came to narrative, fictional texts.
Clinton also found that paper readers usually have a higher recognition of how well they have understood a text than screen readers. This skill is called metacognition. The word “cognition” means the mental action of increasing knowledge and understanding. “Metacognition” simply means thinking about one’s own thinking.
Clinton said, “We think that we’re reading the story or the book better than we actually are. We think we understand what we are reading better than how we are actually reading.” Yet, this inflated（夸大的）sense of understanding, or over-confidence, is especially common among screen readers.
Clinton said there are many possible reasons for such findings. Over-confidence of screen readers, for example, could be the result of a less focused mind. Clinton said, “If you are enjoying the reading, you’re going to be more concentrated. You’re going to be paying better attention. Preferences are a key issue here.”
Several studies have found that people often think of paper materials as more important and serious. “If you are reading from paper, your mind thinks, ‘This is something important. I need to pay attention to it’,” Clinton said. Readers might connect computer screens with fun, less serious activities — such as checking social media or watching Netflix. That, Clinton said, could explain why most studies find no major difference in screen and paper among narrative, fictional reading materials. Clinton described this kind of reading as “enjoyment reading”.
Although her findings may support paper reading over screen reading, Clinton points to new and developing tools that can be used to improve a screen reader’s understanding and focus. “For example, when you’re reading off of a screen it can be programmed that you have to answer questions and get them right before you can continue. Paper can’t make you do that.”
1. Which of the followings is not true about Clinton’s research?| A．In order to carry out the research, Clinton checked over 30 studies that shared similar topic. |
| B．When it comes to fictions, paper readers and screen readers tend to have the same speed. |
| C．Paper readers usually are more aware of their level of understanding about the text. |
| D．Whether a reader likes the reading or not does not influence his or her degree of concentration. |
| A．Matt always tries to figure out the personality of the characters when reading a book. |
| B．Tom often writes down his mind map and evaluates it after solving a math problem. |
| C．“I think I am in love with you.” Ted said to Mary without a second thought. |
| D．We are expected to pay attention to others’ feelings when talking with them. |
| A．It can be programmed to check understanding. |
| B．It provides the same reading materials. |
| C．It has tools to force readers to continue reading. |
| D．It encourages readers to read at a high speed. |
| A．Screen time makes reading more effective. |
| B．Paper reading is more effective than screen reading. |
| C．Screen-reading is more suitable for some readers. |
| D．Computer reading is improving paper reading. |
8 . Why do we read poetry? First obvious one: because we enjoy it. The only other reason is for academic purposes, and that’s not why this is here.
Many of us read poetry simply because we often feel depressed and hopelessly lost, and in poetry we see how beautiful and strange everything is.
Here are the remain reasons I respond to poetry, as far as I can tell. Metrical(格律的）poems are about setting up rules and then bending them. Usually this is done by setting up a rhythm and then breaking it or almost breaking it, and then returning to it again.
Poetry plays with language and often puts words together in surprising ways, which is thrilling the way that food can be, when the chef has paired ingredients you never thought would taste good together but somehow do.
And, of course, there’s the subject matters. It interests me just as it would if the same subject was explored in a story or an essay.
| A．Many poems are complicated. |
| B．Not all poems interest me in this way. |
| C．There are many different kinds of poems. |
| D．So in that way poetry calm our anxiety. |
| E．There are many different reasons why I love poems. |
| F．I don’t care much about whether a poem is long. |
| G．This satisfies my desire for order and also my desire for testing boundaries. |
9 . You can either travel or read, but either your body or your soul must be on the way. The popular saying has inspired many people to read or go sightseeing. Here are four books that you can take on your trip.
1. On the Road, 1957, by Jack Kerouac
The book is a popular spiritual guidebook about youth. The main character in the book drives across the US continent with several young people and finally reaches Mexico. After the exhausting and exciting trip, the characters in the book begin to realize the meaning of life.
2. Life Is Elsewhere, 1975, by Milan Kundera
Jean-Jacques Rousseau once said, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." The book describes a young artist's romantic but miserable life, about how he reads, dreams and has a relationship during his trip to Central Europe. The book invites you to deeply reflects on your current life and to honor the Czech-born writer Kundera.
3. My Name Is Red, 1998, by Orhan Pamuk
The book, a masterpiece of the Nobel Prize winner for Literature Orhan Pamuk, has been translated into more than 50 languages and published around the world. It tells a story of a young man, who was away from home for 12 years, coming back to his hometown in Istanbul. What embraces him is not only love, but a series of murder cases as well.
4. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, 2013, by Rachel Joyce
The novel tells a story of a 60-year-old man who lived a boring and unhappy life, until one day, he received his old friend's letter who got cancer. In deep shock and sorrow, he went out to send his reply letter. 627 miles in 87 days, he walked depending on one belief that “his friend can survive as long as he walks”.
1. Whose book can make you rethink your own life?| A．Jack Kerouac. | B．Milan Kundera. | C．Orhan Pamuk. | D．Rachel Joyce. |
| A．On the Road. | B．Life Is Elsewhere. |
| C．My Name Is Red. | D．The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. |
| A．He walked to keep healthy. | B．He was in deep shock and sorrow. |
| C．He expected his friend to live longer. | D．He lived a very boring and unhappy life. |
10 . Reading books can exercise your brain. Kids who started reading at an earlier age go on to perform better on certain intelligence tests, such as analyses of their vocabulary size. As one gets older, it might help slow down or even cease cognitive decline.
Academic research has mostly focused on the ability to remember. A study took place in a laboratory setting： Students all read the same text, but some looked at the words on paper and others viewed an on-screen PDF. It turned out that no meaningful difference between the two media existed. As for audiobooks, they affected the brain gray matter somewhat differently.
Ultimately, if you hope to get a reading habit going, you shouldn't dismiss paper digital, or audio—
| A．Audiobooks still affect your thoughts and feelings. |
| B．Go with what makes the most sense for your needs. |
| C．Words on a page can improve the emotional intelligence. |
| D．This brings about a great debate: pages vs screens vs audio. |
| E．Keep a book, e-reader, or audiobook app on you as you go about the day. |
| F．Despite this, the overall book-reading time for Americans is on the decline. |
| G．However, they stimulated the brain just as deeply as black-and-white pages. |
