1 . 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. |
2 . On a rainy afternoon, maybe one of the following books will keep you company leisurely, allowing you to spend your time alone as well as stepping into a different world.
Don’t Shed Your Tears for Anyone Who Lives on These Streets, by Patricio Pron
In April 1945, Italy, a writer disappeared at a conference and was found dead at another place. Thirty years later, a young man interviewed survivors from the conference, trying to uncover the truth about what happened and its consequences. This novel, by a well-known Argentine writer, explores art, crime and politics.
When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
At thirty-six, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed (诊断) with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient. This autobiography finds hope and beauty in the face of death as Kalanithi attempts to answer the question “What makes a life worth living?”.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Set in a small Alabama town in the 1930s, the story focuses on honest, highly respected lawyer Atticus Finch who puts his career on the line when he agrees to represent Tom Robinson, a black man accused of committing a crime.
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story by Bess Kalb
Bess Kalb saved every voicemail from her grandmother Bobby Bell who died at ninety. In this book, Bobby is speaking to Bess once more, in a voice as loving as it ever was in life and brings us several generations of brave women. They include Bobby’s mother, who traveled alone from Belarus to America to survive, and Bess’s mother, who always fought against convention.
1. What type of book is the first novel?| A．Sci-fi. | B．Biography. | C．Detective books. | D．History books. |
| A．To Kill a Mockingbird. |
| B．When Breath Becomes Air. |
| C．Don’t Shed Your Tears for Anyone Who Lives on These Streets. |
| D．Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story. |
| A．Bobby Bell. | B．Bess Kalb. | C．Bess’s mother. | D．Bobby’s mother. |
3 . How many books have you finished since high school? Between study, work, family, and social lives, trying to find time to read can require more effort than a relaxing hobby. How to fit books into your tight schedule?
Borrow more books than you can consume. Libraries have extremely large “limits” on items you can check out. 
books unread. This is not something to feel guilty about.
Try the 50-page rule. If you feel you have to finish all the books you start, you may get caught up on something boring and not read again for weeks.
Ignore any thoughts about what you “should” be reading. It is OK if you won’t make it through a lot of the world’s great literature. Read what you want.
| A．Read more than one book at a time. |
| B．Humans don’t do well with suffering long term. |
| C．You may have trouble deciding what to read first. |
| D．So go crazy and grab anything that looks interesting. |
| E．Quit after a few dozen pages if you’re not feeling it. |
| F．Reading is one of the most pleasurable activities out there. |
| G．Here’s how to make more time for your favorite page-turners. |
4 . By the end of the year, editors of New York Times have picked the 4 best books of 2019, including fiction and non-fiction. Let’s see which one will take your fancy.
Disappearing Earth
By Julia Phillips
In the first chapter of this novel, two young girls vanish, sending shock waves through a town on the edge of the remote and mysterious Kamchatka Peninsula. What follows is a novel of overlapping short stories about the different women who have been affected by their disappearance. Each tale pushes the narrative forward another month and exposes the ways in which the women of Kamchatka have been destroyed — personally, culturally and emotionally — by the crime.
No Visible Bruises
By Rachel Louise Snyder
Snyder’s thoroughly reported book covers what the World Health Organization has called “a global health problem”. In America alone, more than half of all murdered women are killed by a current or former life partner; domestic violence cuts across lines of class, religion and race. Snyder reveals pervasive myths (restraining orders are the answer, abusers never change) and writes movingly about the lives (and deaths) of people on both sides of the equation. She doesn’t give easy answers but presents a wealth of information that is its own form of hope.
Midnight in Chernobyl
By Adam Higginbotham
Higginbotham’s superb account of the April 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is one of those rare books about science and technology that read like a tension-filled thriller. Filled with vivid detail and sharply etched personalities, this narrative of astonishing incompetence moves from mistake to mistake, miscalculation to miscalculation, as it builds to the inevitable, history-changing disaster.
Exhalation
By Ted Chiang
Many of the nine deeply beautiful stories in this collection explore the material consequences of time travel. Reading them feels like sitting at dinner with a friend who explains scientific theory to you with no airs and graces. Each thoughtful, elegantly crafted story poses a philosophical question; Chiang arranges all nine into a conversation that comes full circle, after having travelled through remarkable areas.
1. Which of the following tells about the violence from a husband to a wife in a family?| A．Disappearing Earth | B．No Visible Bruises |
| C．Midnight in Chernobyl | D．Exhalation |
| A．Delighted. | B．Awkward. |
| C．Tense. | D．Calm. |
| A．A folk tale. | B．A biography. |
| C．A love story. | D．A sci-fi story. |
5 . Critical Reading
Critical reading applies to non-fiction writing in which the author puts forth a position or seeks to make a statement. Critical reading is active reading.
Consider the context of what is written.
You may be reading something that was written by an author from a different cultural context than yours. Or, you may be reading something written some time ago in a different time context than yours.
Question opinions made by the author.
Don't accept what is written at face value.
Assumptions are whatever the author must believe is true in order to propose opinions. However, in many cases, you must read carefully in order to identify any indirect assumption. Once you identify an assumption, you must decide whether or not the assumption is valid.
Evaluate the sources the author uses.
In doing this, be certain that the sources are credible as well as relevant.
| A．Analyze assumptions made by the author |
| B．What is written may very well reflect the author’s position |
| C．Before accepting it, be certain that the author provides abundant support for any view made |
| D．Look to see that what is written is consistent with what others have written about the subject |
| E．It involves questioning, evaluating and forming your own ideas about what the author is saying |
| F．Moreover, if the author is writing about a subject in its current state, be sure that the sources are current |
| G．In either case, you must take into account any differences between your values and attitudes and the author’s |
6 . Almost none of us have the time to read everything we’d like to read. Yet we lose countless hours to daily activities that bring us little joy like taking buses and waiting in line. What if we could turn these little blocks of unoccupied time into precious and rewarding moments for learning and reflection?
Founded in 2012, iReader, a micro-learning app on mobile phones, brings the biggest ideas from best-selling books through 15-minute audio (音频) and text. So far, more than 3,000 books have been included, ranging from psychology and parenting to management and economics, with new titles added every day.
Reader is pioneering a new method of reading, with over 9 million users enjoying the benefits already. According to the Pew Research Center (PRC), the British read just 4 paper books a year and over 25% haven’t read a single paper book this year, but reading isn’t dying. There are now more ways for the British to read than ever before, due to the widespread use of e-books and audio books.
The books in iReader are rewritten to ensure it is easy to remember the main content. The way the content is edited has been specifically designed to ensure it is useful in practice. Besides, the content is rewritten with relevant examples in real life, which means users are more likely to remember and apply what is helpful to them.
Holger Seim, German co-founder of this app, declares, “iReader gives you the biggest ideas in the shortest possible time. It transforms great ideas into little packs you can listen to or read in just 15 minutes.”
1. What does the author suggest people do in the unoccupied time?| A．Read and think. |
| B．Write and share. |
| C．Avoid taking buses. |
| D．Bring joy to daily routines. |
| A．The British benefit a lot from reading. |
| B．Reading methods are more important than before. |
| C．Digital technology are taking the place of paper books. |
| D．New forms of books are changing the way the British read. |
| A．By bringing fun to it. |
| B．By making it useful. |
| C．By using artistic designs. |
| D．By taking users as examples. |
| A．iReader Prevents Reading from Dying |
| B．iReader Unites Worldwide Book-lovers |
| C．iReader: The Best New App Creation |
| D．iReader: Big Ideas in Small Packages |
7 . Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table, reading his book. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to copy him in every way he could.
One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read the book just like you, but I don’t understand it, and I forget what I understand as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the book do?”
The grandpa quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandpa laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned. Out of breath, he told his grandpa that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, so he went to get a bucket instead. The grandpa said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough.” The boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandpa the basket was empty again. Out of breath, he said, “Grandpa, it’s useless!”
“So, you think it is useless?” the grandpa said, “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean.
“Grandson, that’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you’ll be changed, inside and out.”
1. What puzzled the grandson most was _________.| A．why he forgot what he read soon | B．whether it was useful to read books |
| C．what kind of book he could understand | D．how he could read books like his grandpa |
| A．To get him to realize the use of reading books. | B．To punish him for not reading carefully. |
| C．To clean the dirty basket in the river. | D．To train him to run faster. |
| A．The old are always wiser than the young. | B．It is foolish to carry water with a basket. |
| C．You can’t expect to remember all you read. | D．Reading books can change a person gradually. |
| A．Grandpa and Grandson | B．Carrying Water in a Basket |
| C．Baskets and Books | D．Reading for Total Changing |
The Campus Bookstore Bookie’s , the campus bookstore is located at the Campus Activity Centre , main floor . Bookie’s is the only place in Kamloops to buy your course textbooks . There is a booklist in the bookstore listing the books required for each course . If you need help in finding your course textbooks , ask any of the staff in the bookstore . There are more than just textbooks at bookie’s . They carry a wide variety of stationary , art supplies and gift items . You can also buy telephone cards , postage stamps and bus passes . You must show your student card to get a discount for the bus passes . | |
| TEXTBOOK RETURNS 1) Do I need my receipt to return books ? Yes . 2) How long do I have to return books ? Books purchased must be returned within ten working days of the date of the purchase . 3) What if I wrote my name in the book ? Unfortunately , we cannot give you a full refund for books not in mint condition as publishers will not accept this for credit . 4) What happens if I miss the last day for return ? We may purchase the text book as “ used ” in accordance with our Buyback program . 5) What if I discover that my book has missing Pages half way through the semester ? We will replace the defective books , new or used , for a like copy of that title . Cash refunds are not given for defective books returned outside the normal return dates . | BUYBACKS 1) What books do you buy back ? We buy back all current edition textbooks . If we do not use them at UCC , we buy them 2) How much do I get for my books ? If bookie’s is buying the book for use at UCC , you will receive 50% of the current new retail price . In order to receive optimum buyback price , discs and supplements must accompany the book . 3) What happens to the books that I sell ? Books for bookie’s are processed by our staff and sold to students at 75% of the new retail price . 4) What condition do my books need to be in ? Books should be in good condition , meaning that the cover is still attached and all pages intact . Highlighting , notes and markings on the pages are perfectly fine . Workbooks and study guides are generally not purchased back unless they are free of all markings . No sales receipt is required for these books . |
| Bookstore Hours Monday—Thursday 9:00am—6:00pm Friday 9:00am—5:00pm Saturday and Sunday Closed | |
1. The intended readers of this passage are __________ .
| A．Book dealers | B．University students |
| C．Publishers | D．Campus staff |
| A．faulty | B．adapted | C．new | D．latest |
| A．you have lost the sales receipt |
| B．there are markings and notes on the pages |
| C．the cover of the book is missing |
| D．you miss the last day for return |
| A．Bookie’s is a place for students to buy their course textbooks . |
| B．Student cards are needed to get a discount for the textbooks . |
| C．Books bought in bookie’s can be returned within ten working days . |
| D．Books bought back are processed by the staff and sold to students . |
