1 . How to Improve Speed Reading Skills

Speed reading is one of many skills that can improve your reading comprehension and shorten your study time.    1    

Look at groups of words, not single words.    2     However, if you can get into the habit of reading groups or chunks of words at one time, then you can read much faster. Start by trying to look at a group of three or four words at once, then work up to looking at an entire line of works. Focus on words that give the sentence meaning, such as the nouns and verbs and pay less attention to the filler words, such as a, the, and, etc.

Scan for keywords.

Scanning is a highly effective way of extracting answers from a text without really reading it. If you know exactly what you are looking for﹣a name, a date, a statistic, or a specific word-you can find it quickly by skipping over large chunks of the text. To scan, first visualize the word, number, or phrase you would like to find.    3     The information you are looking for should pop out at you.

    4    

You can train yourself to read faster by timing yourself as you go. Start by getting your base time. Set a timer for fifteen minutes, and speed read as you normally do.    5     Do not count the words, just the pages or paragraphs. Record your figures: for instance, you night write "15 min/6.5 pages."

A．Race the clock.

B．Cheek your comprehension.

C．Here are some speed reading techniques.

D．Then, run your eyes rapidly over the text.

E．When the timer goes off, cheek to see bow far you have got.

F．If you read a text one word at a time, then this will slow your reading speed down.

G．One of the reasons is that you have to pause to understand what a passage is saying.

2 . 假定你校英语角举办“我最喜欢的一本书”征文活动，目的是向同学们推荐值得一读的书，鼓励同学们去发现阅读的快乐。现在请你就读过的一本书写一篇100词左右的书评。内容要点如下：
1. 这本书的基本信息；
2. 故事梗概、主题思想等；
3. 你对这本书的评价或感受。
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3 . 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

When I was little, my parents would read me some fairy tales before I sleep, I fell in love for books and I couldn’t sleep if my parents missed that part. Thank to my parents, books have been part of my life. Some people educate their children to reading more books. They expect their children to make many money when they will grow up. But my parents just want me to enjoy reading. The more I read, greater joy I get from the books. Reading books also bring me some skills to solve problems in life. I know the ways to adjust myself but then face life positively, especial when I’m in low spirits. So I’ll continue to read books.

4 . 某英文报社举办以 “I Like Reading”为主题的征文活动， 你打算投稿。 请根据以下要点些一篇短文：
　　1．你为什么喜欢读书；
　　2．你喜欢读哪一类的书（例如：历史、科学、文学等）？请给出至少两个理由。
　　注意：词数120左右；

5 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Where does Thomas Manning work?

A．In the Guinness Company.

B．At a radio station.

C．In a museum.

2. Where did the idea of a book of records come from?

A．A bird-shooting trip.

B．A visit to Europe.

C．A television talk show.

3. When did Sir Hugh's first book of records

A．In 1875.

B．In 1950.

C．In 1955.

4. What are the two speakers going to talk about next?

A．More records of unusual facts.	B．The founder of the company.
C．The oldest person in the world

6 . In between running one of the world’s largest charitable agencies and acting as Microsoft’s technology advisor, Bill Gates manages to find time to read books, both long and short. Now Gates --who has been labeled a “greedy” reader—has released a list of his favorite books of the year. All of the books are standout reads, according to the billionaire, most of which are focused on business and economy.

Here are Bill’s top four picks for the year (with parts of his full review of each book).

Business Adventures, by John Brooks

Brooks’ collection was published in 1969 and remains one of Gates’ favorites. He re-read it again this year, labeling it “the best business book I’ve ever read”.

“Shortly after we met, Warren Buffett lent me this collection of New Yorker business articles from the 1950s and 1960s. I loved them as much as he did. Brooks’ insights about business have aged beautifully, and they are as true today as ever.”

Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty

Piketty’s novel hit the shelves in August 2013 and sparked much discussion concerning income inequality throughout this year. Gates also got to sit down with Piketty himself after reading the non-fiction work to discuss the topic.

“As I told him, although I have concerns about some of his secondary points and policy prescriptions, I agree with his most important conclusions: inequality is a growing problem and that governments should play a role in reducing it.”

How Asia Works, by Joe Studwell

Studwell’s work, which was published in May this year, addresses how countries such as Japan, South Korea and China have continued to achieve high growth, and why other countries have failed to do the same.

“The agriculture section of the book was particularly insightful. It provided ample food for thought for me as well as the whole agriculture team at our foundation. And it left us thinking about whether parts of the Asian model can apply in Africa.

Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization, by Vaelav   Smil

Smil’s books are a constant favorite of the Microsoft founder—one of his books makes   Gates’ list almost every year. Making the Modern World came out late last year and explores the global use of materials, from silicon to wood, and plastic.

“If anyone tries to tell you we’re using fewer materials, send him this book. With his usual skepticism and his love of data, Smil shows how our ability to make things with less materials—say, soda cans that need less aluminum—makes them cheaper, which actually encourages more production.”

1. Of the books, ______ is best praised by Bill Gates.

A．How Asia Works

B．Capital in the Twenty-First Century

C．Business Adventures

D．Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization

2. The books mentioned in the text are all about______.

A．charity in the world

B．business and economy

C．poverty in the world

D．Bill Gates’ life experience

3. In How Asia Works, the author analyses ______.

A．why African agriculture cannot be developed fast

B．How they can apply Asian economic model in African countries

C．why Asia is so slow in agricultural development

D．How some Asian countries have rapidly grown in economy

7 . Everyone can benefit a lot from reading books. The following is about the various benefits of reading books.

    1     Whenever you read something, you learn information that you otherwise wouldn’t have known. It can be a fact about history or a theory you didn’t know existed. If you want to learn new words, reading books is a great way to enlarge your vocabulary.

Reading keeps your mind in good condition. Similar to solving puzzles, reading books allows your mind to practice its processing skills.    2    .

One of the primary benefits of reading books is its ability to develop your critical thinking skill.     3     Wherever you are faced with a similar problem in real life, your mind is able to put its mystery-solving skills to a test.

One of the real benefits of reading books is that the information in it can be accessed over and over again. For example, reading a cookbook allows you the luxury of reviewing the procedures whenever you need to.    4     Don’t even think about writing the information down because you may lose the paper you wrote down on sooner or later.

These are just some of the wonderful benefits of reading books.     5       If you can’t even go outside, you can download free e-books on line and read them on your computer. That way, you can set how advantageous reading can be for yourself.

A．Reading books keeps your mind absent.

B．You can improve your memory by reading.

C．Reading books provides you with new knowledge.

D．Following a recipe from a cooking show will be difficult.

E．Reading mystery novels, for example, sharpens your mind.

F．Going without books for too long will turn your mind into a whirl (混乱).

G．Why don’t you drop by the bookstore or library and pick a book up?

8 . Do you know how to pick a good book you’ll really like? Here are some tips.

Start with your interest.     1    . You can pick something that you love to read, not for school. They can be ancient martial (武术) arts, computers, or fashion design. You name it, there are books about it.

Pick your type. Do you prefer fiction or nonfiction (or both)? Fiction books, like novels, can transport you to another world or help you imagine something beyond your own experience. Nonfiction books give you the who, what, when, and why of something.     2    . Many of them read like novels from start to finish.

Read the description. The reviews and quotes on the back and inside covers of many books give you an idea of what the book is about. They can also help you pick future books, too. If you find a book you really like, take a minute to read the quotes and see which authors praised the book.     3    .

Find a family favorite. Which book did your mother love best when she was at your age?     4    . Find out and give them a read — then you can share your thoughts about the book.

Find a quiet place and make time for the book.     5    . You can put on some good music, get yourself some tea and let yourself be carried away by the book. You’ll see that time does fly when you’re reading something you love!

A．How about your brothers and sisters?

B．They tell stories using facts — but that doesn’t mean they’re boring.

C．Reading is a good way to improve your English.

D．Most reading is best enjoyed when you can concentrate on it.

E．Often, they’ll have similar styles and you might find books you like by those authors, too.

F．So you should read as much as possible when you are free.

G．Reading on your own isn’t like reading for school.

9 . Londoners are great readers. They buy vast numbers of newspapers and magazines and of books — especially paperbacks(平装本), which are still comparatively cheap in spite of ever-increasing rises in the costs of printing. They still continue to buy “proper” books, too, printed on good paper and bound(装订)between hard covers.

There are many streets in London containing shops which specialize in book-selling. Perhaps the best known of these is Charring Cross Road in the very heart of London. Here bookshops of all sorts and sizes are to be found, from the celebrated one which boasts of being “the biggest bookshop in the world” to the tiny, dusty little places which seem to have been left over from Dickens’ time. Some of these shops stock(贮存), or will obtain, any kind of book, but many of them specialize in second-hand books, in art books, in foreign books, in books on philosophy, politics or any other of the myriad(无数的)subjects about which books may be written. One shop in this area specializes only in books about ballet!

Although it may be the most convenient place for Londoners to buy books, Charring Cross Road is not the cheapest. For the really cheap second-hand volumes, the collector must venture(敢于去) off the beaten track, to Farringdon Road, for example, in the East Central district of London. Here there is nothing so impressive as bookshops. Instead, the booksellers come along each morning and pour out their sacks of books onto small barrows(流动集售货车)which line the gutters(贫民窟). And the collectors, some professionals and some amateurs(业余爱好者), have been waiting for them. In places like this one can still, occasionally, pick up for a few pence an old volume that may be worth many pounds.

1. “Londoners are great readers” means that ________.

A．Londoners are great because they read a lot

B．There are a great number of readers in London

C．Londoners are readers who read only great books

D．Londoners read a lot

2. Charring Cross Road ________.

A．is in the suburbs of London

B．is famous for its bookshops

C．contains various kinds of shops

D．is the busiest street in London

3. If you want to buy really cheap second-hand books, you must ________.

A．venture in a most busy street

B．venture away from a busy street

C．take the risk of going to the beaten track

D．take the risk of wasting time to hunt them in less noticeable streets

4. The book sellers on Farringdon Road ________.

A．keep fine bookshops

B．keep only small bookshops

C．sell books on hand-carts

D．sell the same books as the bookshops on Charring Cross Road

5. The best topic for this passage is“_______”.

A．Bookshops in London

B．The biggest bookshop in the world

C．Charring Cross Road

D．Buying books in London

10 . A good book can be satisfying. If reading is a habit you’d like to get into, there are some ways to develop it.

●Realize that reading is enjoyable if you have a good book. If you have a difficult book and you are forcing yourself through it, it will seem like a task.     1    

●Set time. You should have some time during every day when you’ll read for at least 5 to 10 minutes.    2     For example, make it a habit to read during breakfast and lunch and even dinner if you eat alone.

●Always carry a book.     3    When I leave the house, I always make sure to have my car keys and one book at hand. The book stays with me in the car, and I take it into the office and to appointments and pretty much everywhere I go.

●    4    Find a place in your home where you can sit in a comfortable chair. Don’t lie down unless you’re going to sleep. There shouldn’t be a television or a computer near the chair, and no music or no noisy family members/ roommates. If you don’t have a place like this, create one.

●Reduce television/ the Internet. If you really want to read more, try cutting back on time on TV or the Internet.     5    Still, every minute you reduce of the Internet/ TV, you could use for reading. This could create hours of book reading time.

A．Go to bookstores.

B．Find a quiet place.

C．This may be difficult for some people.

D．Wherever you go, take a book with you.

E．Have some good tea or coffee while you read.

F．It means you will read no matter how busy you are.

G．If this happens, give up the book and find another one that you’ll really love.