1 . What Are Great Books?
There’s no end to the making of books. Nor does there seem to be any end to the making of lists of “great books”.
Great books are probably the most widely read.
They’re not bestsellers for a year or two. They are lasting bestsellers. Gone With The Wind has had relatively few readers compared to the plays of Shakespeare. It would be reasonable to estimate that Homer’s Iliad has been read by at least 25,000,000 people in the last 3000 years.
Great books arc popular, non-academic.
They’re not written by specialists about speciaties. Whether they be philosophy or science, or history or poetry, they treat of humans not academic problems.
They have more ideas per page than most books have in their entirety. That is why you can read a great book over and over again and never exhaust its contents. They can be read at many different levels of understanding. Obvious examples are Gulliver’s Travels, Robinson Crusoe and Odyssey. Children can read them with enjoyment, but fail to find there in all the beauty and significance which delight an adult mind.
Great books are the most instructive.
Great books contain what cannot be found in other books. Whether you ultimately agree or disagree with what they say, these are the primary teachers of mankind.
| A．Great books are the most readable. |
| B．Great books are the most representative. |
| C．They have made basic contributions to human thought. |
| D．The listing of the best books is as old as reading and writing. |
| E．What are the signs by which we may recognize a great book? |
| F．It may take time for a great book to accumulate its ultimate audience. |
| G．To read advanced textbooks, you have to read elementary textbooks first. |
2 . 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. |
3 . 2023 Upcoming Book Releases
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
Although they were inseparable growing up, Emily and Chess have begun to grow apart in their 30s.Now they hope to reconnect on a girls’ trip to an Italian villa(别墅) that was the setting of a celebrity murder.The further Emily tries to solve the long-ago murder, the more Chess becomes uncomfortable and their hidden secrets come spilling out. You won’t be able to tell the true kiler until the last minute.
Stateless by Elizabeth Wein
This thrilling murder mystery set in 1937 Europe rises quickly with attraction, secrets, and betrayal.When Stella North is chosen to represent Britain in Europe’s first air race for young people, she knows all too well how high the stakes are. But promoting peace in Europe feels empty to Stella when civil war is raging in Spain and the Nazis are gaining power.
Good for a Girl by Lauren Fleshman
Lauren Fleshman is a distance runner in the United States. In Good for a Girl, Fleshman tells her true story of how she fell in love with running as a girl and shares her own running journey. Yet, the book isn’t just a memoir(回忆录). It’s a powerful look at how competitive sports are designed for men and boys and routinely fail female athletes, leading to injuries, eating disorders, and mental health issues.
All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willing ham
One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his little bed in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep. With little evidence and few clues for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. With great twists, the excellent thriller will keep you gripped to the page, never knowing which character you can trust.
1. Which book might attract a history lover?| A．The Villa. | B．Good for a Girl. |
| C．All the Dangerous Things. | D．Stateless. |
| A．Nonfiction. | B．Romance. | C．Fantasy. | D．Mystery. |
| A．Someone was dead in these two books. |
| B．They criticize the police for their failure. |
| C．They tell stories happening between friends. |
| D．They keep readers guessing until the very end. |
4 . From cottages surrounded by impressive gardens to days spent exploring sandy beaches and deep woods filled with wildlife, in My Family and Other Animals, English writer Gerald Durrell provided a vivid account of his family’s time on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930s.
Come for the arresting descriptions of Corfu landscapes and stay for Durrell’s laugh-out-loud tales of his unusual family. This book, Durrell wrote humorously in the introduction, “was intended to be a nostalgic(怀旧的)account of natural history, but in the first few pages, I made the mistake of introducing my family.”
Durrell, later known for his zoo keeping and the preservation of wildlife, was just a child during his family’s five-year stay in Corfu. He is 10-year-old Gerry in the book—curious, passionate about animals and a detailed storyteller of his strange family: his imaginative elder brother Larry with his literary ambitions, lovestruck sister Margo, sporty brother Leslie and his ever-calm, loving mother.
Durrell’s attention to detail is what makes the book so winning, with every sight, sound and smell of the island brought to life. One minute you’ll be laughing as Larry’s clever literary friends walk down to the daffodil-yellow cottage, the next you’ll be catching your breath as Durrell describes swimming at night in the Ionian Sea: “Lying on my back in the silky water, staring at the sky, only moving my hands and feet slightly, I was looking at the Milky Way stretching like a silk scarf across the sky and wondering how many stars it contained.”
My Family and Other Animals is quite difficult to classify, being one part travel, one part autobiography, one part natural history, and one part comedy, with a thread of descriptive language running throughout that sometimes raises it nearly to poetry.
As a real delight to read, it’s the perfect literary escapism for any adult or older teenager who is currently walking down a tough road in life.
1. Which word best describes Durrell’s life in Corfu?| A．Diverse. | B．Busy. | C．Risky. | D．Tough. |
| A．I just introduced my family by mistake. | B．I shouldn’t have introduced my family. |
| C．I gave false information about my family. | D．I couldn’t help introducing my family. |
| A．Durrell’s rich imagination. | B．Some interesting plots of the book. |
| C．The book’s writing feature. | D．Some vivid descriptions of the island. |
| A．To share an experience. | B．To introduce a writing style. |
| C．To recommend a book. | D．To describe an unusual place. |
| A．The woman. | B．The woman’s daughter. | C．The woman’s husband. |
6 . The Easter holidays are nearly upon us, and they’re a great opportunity to relax and catch up on some reading. Here are some brilliant new books for you to enjoy.
THE SECRET OF SPLINT HALL
It is a magical adventure story set in 1945, perfect for fans of C.S. Lewis. When Isobel and Flora’s home is destroyed in the Second World War, they’re taken to live in their mysterious ancestral family home. The two girls set about unearthing an ancient myth hidden deep beneath Splint Hall.
GRIMWOOD
There are foxes on the run and an evil cat out for revenge (复仇)! When fox Ted and Nancy escape to Grimwood, they expect to find peace and safety. Instead, they’re met with thieving eagles, dramatic ducks, mad rabbitsand an adventure they’ll never forget.
SKANDAR AND THE UNICORN THIEF
You can be excited to go into a breath-taking world of unicorns (独角兽) as you’ve never seen them before. In this grand fantasy adventure, get ready for unlikely heroes, elemental magic, super sky battles and violent unicorns as a new hero takes flight.
Plus, there’s a competition to be won. We’re giving away the books to one lucky reader. To be in with a chance of winning, you’ll need to find the 11 Easter eggs hidden in the pages. Each egg contains a letter. When you’ve found them all, rearrange them to unscramble (解读) the hidden phrase, then send that phrase and your information to competitions @ theweekjunior. co. uk. The closing date is 10 April. Happy hunting!
1. What can you see in the Grimwood?| A．Foxes find safety successfully. | B．Ted tries to escape to find peace. |
| C．Eagles made friends with ducks. | D．Many animals have a rest there. |
| A．By giving away the books. | B．By finding the hidden pages. |
| C．By sending your information. | D．By unlocking the right phrase. |
| A．They are set in the war. | B．They are about animals. |
| C．They are about adventures. | D．They are about fairy tale journeys. |
1.简述“育才读书节”（时间及目的）；
2.讲述读书的益处；
3.呼吁多读书。
注意：
1写作词数应为80左右；
2.按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置答题。
Dear fellow students,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 . Four Novels Recommended to Readers
Come Back for Me by Sharon Hart-Green
Loss, sufferings, memory, and, above all, the ties of family and being Jewish are the factors that weave together this whole story. Come Back for Me travels through time and place only to bring us, eventually, to the connections between generations. The main character is a young war survivor whose effort to find his sister takes him to post-war Israel.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
It is 1939, Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.
Liesel Meminger is a little girl living outside of Munich, who tries to keep body and soul together by stealing when she meets with something she can’t resist—books. With the help of her father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing attacks as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
Red Shoes for Rachel: Three Novellas by Boris Sandler
Rachel, a daughter of Holocaust survivors raised in Brighton Beach, meets with a Moldovan Jewish woman as she is tending to her disabled, elderly mother along the Coney Island boardwalk. As the two begin a relationship, the story exposes their past and the common points between the two children of Holocaust survivors raised in very different societies.
Shidduchcrisis: Short Stories by Penina Shtauber
Like any world, it has its stereotypes. We’ve got the mean guy and the shallow girl, the too-religious, the not-religious-enough and everyone in between, those who are in it because they want to and those who are in it because their moms made them.
And mostly we’ve got the pressure, pressure on all ends.
Basically, it’s a lot of fun, a lot of tears, a lot of arguments and some love.
1. What does the main character want to do in the book Come Back for Me?| A．Travel to Israel. | B．Search for a family member. |
| C．Find the way back home. | D．Try his best to survive in the war. |
| A．Family. | B．War. | C．School. | D．City life. |
| A．Come Back for Me | B．The Book Thief |
| C．Red Shoes for Rachel: Three Novellas | D．Shidduchcrisis: Short Stories |
9 . Reading involves looking at illustrative symbols and expressing mentally the sounds and ideas they represent. Concepts of reading have changed
These authorities
Many adults, although they have the ability to read, have never read a book in its
| A．specifically | B．dramatically | C．abstractly | D．ridiculously |
| A．understanding | B．translating | C．defining | D．substituting |
| A．involves | B．concentrates | C．specializes | D．analyzes |
| A．opinions | B．effects | C．manners | D．functions |
| A．view | B．look | C．reassure | D．agree |
| A．support | B．argue | C．attempt | D．compete |
| A．interpreting | B．saying | C．reciting | D．reading |
| A．in addition to | B．for example | C．according to | D．such as |
| A．completely | B．carefully | C．publicly | D．actually |
| A．part | B．whole | C．standard | D．straight |
| A．applied | B．granted | C．classified | D．graded |
| A．instructive | B．doubtful | C．certain | D．complicated |
| A．strike | B．illustrate | C．define | D．unlock |
| A．purposes | B．degrees | C．stages | D．steps |
| A．On the other hand | B．In short | C．By the way | D．So far |
10 . My Favorite Travel Books
Matthew Karsten has been traveling around the world for nine years now, and it all started after he was inspired by reading some useful travel books. Here is his personal list of the best reads.
Travels With a Donkey in the Cévennes
Robert Stevenson
It is one of the first travel books I have read, which takes me on a walking journey with Robert and his donkey (驴) Mosestine across a mountainous region of France. I get to feel what traveling through 1870’s Europe was like. Robert and his donkey don’t get along well at first, but they finally learn to become travel companions.
World Walk
Steven Newman
World Walk is the story of newspaper writer Steven Newman who packed his bag at the age of 28 to start a four year-long journey around the world on foot. He walked his way across 22 countries in five co6d heartfelt stories of the people he met along the way, as well as wild adventures A lesson of hope and love is told through the exciting backpacking.
On the Road
Jack Kerouac
On the Road is a classic American travel book. The story, which is based on Kerouac himself, tells us about Dean Moriarty’s cross-country journey across America in the 1940’s. A great read for those who would like to escape the real world for a while and just go where the wind blows them.
The Cat Who Went to Paris
Peter Gethers
For someone who expects to experience life-changing wonders that await abroad, there’s perhaps no better resource (资源) than The Cat Who Went to Paris. Peter Gethers’ global journey with a cat named Norton puts a note of humor into many common travel situations.
1. Who does “I” refer to in the text?| A．Robert Stevenson. | B．Matthew Karsten. | C．Steven Newman. | D．Jack Kerouac. |
| A．World Walk. | B．On the Road. |
| C．The Cat Who Went to Paris. | D．Travels With a Donkey in the Cévennes. |
| A．They are based on the same experience. | B．They show a useful skill in raising cats. |
| C．They are about a journey with an animal. | D．They focus on a love story in Europe. |
