1 . Technology seems to discourage slow, careful reading. Reading on a screen tires your eyes and makes it harder for you to keep your place. Online writing tends to be more skimmable (易略读的) and list-like than print. The neuroscientist Mary Walt argued recently that this new standard of skim reading is producing“an invisible, game-changing transformation”in how readers process words. The neuronal circuit (神经回路) that maintains and supports the brain’s ability to read now prefers the rapid absorption of information.

We shouldn’t overplay this danger. All readers skim. From about the age of nine, our eyes start to skim quickly across the page, reading only about a quarter of the words properly, and filling in the gap s by inference. Nor is there anything new in these fears about declining attention spans (持续时间). So far, the anxieties have proved to be false alarms. “Quite a few critics have been worried about attention spans lately and see very short stories as signs of cultural decline,” the American author Selvin Brown wrote. “No one ever said that poems were evidence of short attention spans.”

And yet the Internet has certainly changed the way we read. For a start, it means that there is more to read, because more people than ever are writing. And digital writing is meant for rapid release and response. This mode of writing and reading can be interactive and fun. But often it treats other people’s words as something to be quickly taken as materials to say something else. Everyone talks over the top of everyone else, eager to be heard.

Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a source of personal achievement. But this argument often emphasizes “enthusiastic” “passionate” or “eager” reading, non e of which words suggest slow, quiet absorption. To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in the words and their slow understanding of a line of thought.

The human need for this kind of deep reading is too tenacious for any new technology to destroy. We often assume that technological change can’t be stopped and happens in one direction, so that older media like “dead-tree” books are kicked out by newer, more virtual forms. In practice, older technologies can coexist with new ones. The Kindle has not killed off the printed book any more than the car killed off the bicycle. We still want to enjoy slowly-formed ideas and carefully-chosen words. Even in a fast-moving age, there is time for slow reading.

1. Which statement would Selvin Brown probably agree?

A．Online writing harms careful reading.	B．Fears of attention spans are unnecessary.
C．The situation of cultural decline is serious.	D．Poetry reading helps lengthen attention spans.

2. What is TRUE about digital writing?

A．It demands writers to abandon traditional writing modes.

B．It depends heavily on frequent interaction with the readers.

C．It leads to too much talking and not enough deep reflection.

D．It prepares readers for enthusiastic, passionate or eager reading.

3. What does the underlined word “tenacious” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Deep-rooted.

B．Widely-acknowledged.

C．Slowly-changed.

D．Rarely-noticed.

4. Which can be the best title for this article?

A．Slow Reading is Here to Stay	B．The Wonder of Deep Reading
C．The Internet is Changing the Way We Read	D．Digital vs Print: A Life-and-Death Struggle

2 . Here are some of the best nonfiction books of recent years.

Somebody’s Daughter

$ 16 at Amazon

Ashley C. Ford talks about growing up as a black girl in Indiana, dealing with poverty, the complexities of adolescence, and a tense relationship with her mother. She often wished that she could express her feelings with her father, but failed for reasons she didn’t know. Until one day — after going through a heart-broken experience with a boy, which she kept from her family — her grandmother told her. And what she learned turned her entire world upside down.

Crazy Stories About Racism

$ 14 at Amazon

New York-based comedian Amber Ruffin, along with her sister Lacey Lamar, shares their everyday experiences about their bad conditions. It gets especially bad for Lacey who still lives in their home state of Nebraska, and is a start for these ridiculous but all-too-real encounters (遭遇).

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

$ 25 at Amazon

If you want to get in touch with your creative side, this book might just be the trick. As the title suggests, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a literary master class that takes readers into the mind of Booker Prize-winning author George Saunders. He discusses what makes great stories, how they work, and what they say about ourselves and today’s world.

All In

$ 21 at Amazon

Sports legend Billie Jean King writes a self-portrait that talks about the highs and lows of her amazing tennis career, her work in activism, and the ongoing fight for social justice and equality.

1. What is special about Somebody’s Daughter?

A．It tells a girl’s relationship with parents.	B．It tells a confused girl.
C．It tells a girl’s education.	D．It describes a girl’s secret.

2. What can we get from A Swim in a Pond in the Rain?

A．The steps of writing a good story.	B．The secret of George Saunders’ success.
C．The situations of the present society.	D．Experiences of swimming in a pond.

3. Which describes a sport career?

A．All In.	B．Somebody’s Daughter.
C．A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.	D．Crazy Stories About Racism.

3 . 假定你是李华，你校拟在周末举办“名著读书会”。请你写一张留言条邀请交流生Lucy参加。内容包括：
1. 活动的时间和地点；
2. 活动内容。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Lucy,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

4 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。
1. What does Tony have in his hand?

A．Lots of books.

B．A book review.

C．A reading list.

2. What is the probable relationship between the speakers?

A．Teacher and student.

B．Reader and librarian.

C．Friends.

3. Which book will Tony read?

A．A Song of Ice and Fire.

B．Thirteen Reasons Why.

C．First Test.

6 . To fight against learning loss over the vacation, Tennessee is funding (提供资金) the delivery of surprise books to keep almost a quarter million kids interested in reading.

In response, Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation (GELF) has taken a step further by expanding its K-3 Home Library program to include all lower grade students in a public school across the state. Working in partnership with Scholastic, the program will provide 1.2 million books for over 200,000 students, teachers and librarians.

To ensure the books reach their intended readers, they will be delivered directly to the homes of participating students in six packages filled with grade-level books, at no cost to families or schools. One parent who joined the program last summer said her son struggled to read but was improving every week. These couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. A Morgan County educator praised the program for getting much-needed books into the hands of students who may not have access (使用的机会) to them at home, for it can have a significant impact on their overall academic performance.

“If we don’t get reading right, everything else can go wrong,” said James Pond, GELF President. “Our goal is to encourage a culture of reading in Tennessee. We achieve this by meeting students and providing them with the books and resources they need to become lifelong learners. We hope other states look to us as a leader in early literacy (读写能力) efforts.”

Most parents reported that their children were excited to receive the books and said they were valuable to their families. The books included in the Home Library program were selected by a group of 28 Tennessee educators. With this program, Tennessee is showing that it takes vacation learning loss seriously and promises to improve literacy rates for its young students. It’s a model that other states would be willing to follow.

1. What is the K-3 Home Library program about for all lower grade students?

A．Teaching them how to read books.

B．Making books accessible to them.

C．Providing financial support for them.

D．Encouraging them to be lifelong learners.

2. How will kids get the books?

A．Librarians offering them to kids.

B．Teachers collecting them for kids.

C．Scholastic donating them to kids.

D．GELF mailing them to kids’ homes.

3. What’s most parents’ attitude to the program?

A．Worried.

B．Negative.

C．Thankful.

D．Uncaring.

4. Which is the main idea of the text?

A．Tennessee’s vacation reading program does work.

B．Grade-level books play significant roles at school.

C．Improving students’ literacy needs proper measures.

D．Kids’ early literacy has a deep effect on their growth.

8 . What does the man suggest the woman do?

A．Read a novel.

B．See a movie.

C．Watch a TV program.

9 . What did the man think of the book?

A．Out of date.

B．Unsuitable for students.

C．Worth reading.

10 . What are the speakers probably talking about?

A．A dictionary.

B．A page.

C．A book.