1 . Best Books for Children 2024
Who’s Cute? by Camilla Reid
Meet the cute woodland creatures in the forest and find out which is the cutest. Will it be the tiny, baby rabbit, the little mouse or the young, wide-eyed owl? An adorably illustrated board book for babies and toddlers with a surprise mirror ending, Who’s Cute? will be read and enjoyed time and again.
Keep Smiling by Floella Benjamin
Vina is known for her smile; her mum says that sharing it is the best gift she can give. But the day she starts her new school, Vina finds that her smile has mysteriously disappeared. As she searches for it all over the school, she learns that sometimes happiness is found in the most unexpected places. With its message of positivity, this book offers a great starting point to help young children to talk about their feelings.
The Little Mermaid by Campbell Books
Dive in the sea with this best-loved fairy tale, The Little Mermaid. This board book’s push, pull and turn mechanisms give little hands many surprises to discover as they follow the underwater adventures. Nneka Myers’ bright, bold illustrations of the little mermaid, the prince, the sea witch (巫师) and many more favorite characters will attract babies and toddlers as you read the story together.
I’m Not Scary! by Rod Campbell
A fun touch-and-feel mini-beasts story from Rod Campbell, creator of the preschool lift-the-flap classic, Dear Zoo. Join in the fun by touching a scritchy-scratchy grasshopper, a shiny beetle and even a slimy snail in I’m Not Scary!, an interactive touch-and-feel book, packed full of favorite bugs and mini-beasts. But will you be brave enough to touch all the creatures?
1. What does Keep Smiling teach readers about?| A．How to adapt to a new life. | B．Being brave to express oneself. |
| C．Being creative when making friends. | D．Where to find happiness. |
| A．They have illustrations. | B．They teach ocean diving. |
| C．They are fairy tales. | D．They involve sea creatures. |
| A．Rod Campbell’s. | B．Camilla Reid’s. |
| C．Campbell Books’. | D．Floella Benjamin’s. |
1. What can students do at the online club?
| A．Write book comments. | B．Discuss books. | C．Talk to the writers. |
| A．Many teenagers like reading. |
| B．The club is popular with students. |
| C．Students do school projects easily. |
| A．About 800． | B．About 1,000． | C．About 1,200. |
| A．By paying some money. | B．By donating a book. | C．By filling in a form online. |
1. How does Rose feel about Peter’s poetry?
| A．Classic. | B．Unique. | C．Romantic. |
| A．On Monday. | B．On Thursday. | C．On Tuesday. |
| A．Love. | B．Friendship. | C．Nature. |
| A．John Keats’. | B．Emily Dickinson’s. | C．William Wordsworth’s. |
4 . An 80-foot floating library, built in 1963 and called Bokbaten in Norway, visited around 250 small communes along the west coast of Norway twice every year before 2020. Many of the villages along the west coast of Norway are most easily accessible by boat rather than car, so in 1959, a group of librarians got government funding to s art a waterborne library service with special on stress on children’s literature.
Large enough to hold around 6, 000 books, the boat also hosted readings, children’s pays, and other cultural events onboard. It traveled along the coast on 64-day tours during the fall and winter months, welcoming up to 150 children at a time and unloading books for each community to keep until the boat made it swayback the next time around. In summer, the library was repurposed as a tourist boat.
But in 2020, it looked like it might be the end for the library. After nearly 60 years in action, the popular boat had its funding cut by the government, which ended the floating library program. “The book boat is a floating house of culture, which means a lot to thousands of children in the communities that don’t have a good library offering,” Norwegian librarian and author Stig Holmas wrote on Facebook at the time. “It has large numbers of visits,” he went on, adding: “What a shame!”
Luckily, 28 local municipalities (市政当局) banded together in support of the beloved library, helping organize 88 cultural events to make people realize the importance of the boat between August and November 2021. Then, in February 2022, the Fritt Ord Foundation, a private Norwegian nonprofit, provided the library with nearly $300, 000 to keep the program running. Later that year, journalist Maria PileS vas and, whose grandfather built the library, was employed as manager for Bokbaten.
The boat is now a traveling bookstore, and it continues to carry on the tradition of inviting authors, actors and musicians to come aboard and perform live readings for children.
1. What do we know about Bokbaten?| A．It also held a variety of activities. |
| B．It was not that popular in the summer. |
| C．It was suggested by the 250 communities. |
| D．It allowed people to keep the book for 64 days. |
| A．Relieved. | B．Shocked. | C．Puzzled. | D．Angry. |
| A．They provided enough funds for the library. |
| B．They helped to promote the value of the library. |
| C．They invited Maria Pile Svasand to manage Bokbaten. |
| D．They set up the Fritt Ord Foundation to raise funds for Bokbaten. |
| A．Why the floating library in Norway is so popular |
| B．The establishment of a floating library in Norway |
| C．How a floating library in Norway was saved |
| D．The influence of a floating library in Norway |
1. What do the speakers agree on heroes?
| A．They are like Superman in films. |
| B．They achieve great success in their work. |
| C．They are common people making important contributions. |
| A．His grandfather. | B．Great writers. | C．Superman. |
| A．Unusual. | B．Realistic. | C．Dull. |
| A．It’s hard to find great books. |
| B．It’s great to do some reading. |
| C．It’s good to help some people. |
6 . Nearly two decades ago when the Google Books Project digitized and freely distributed more than 25 million works, book publishers argued that free digital distribution weakens the market for physical books. However, new research from Imke Reimers and Abhishek Nagaraj reveals that the opposite—increased demand for physical books, through online discovery—could be true.
The two researchers focused on a particular part of Google Books’ digitized works: those from Harvard University’s Widener Library, which helped seed the project in its early days. The condition that enabled their experiment: Harvard’s digitization effort only included out-of-copyright works, published before 1923, which were made available to consumers in their entirety. The works from 1923 and later were still copyrighted and not digitized.
The researchers analyzed a total of 37,743 books scanned (扫描) between 2005 and 2009. They looked at sales for the two years before this digitization period and the two years after, and found clear differences in the increased sales between digitized and non-digitized books. Approximately 40% of digitized titles saw a sales increase from 2003-2004 to 2010-2011, compared to less than 20% of titles that were not digitized. The increase in sales was also found to be stronger for less popular books.
“If a book is readily available online, people may decide that it’s a useful book and want to buy it,” Reimers said. “The ‘discovery effect’, which even increased the sales of a digitized author’s non-digitized works, is a strong driver of increased sales. It’s not a huge jump in sales, but it’s still good news for publishers.”
“And book lovers,” Reimers said, “are known for their preference for physical books, as opposed to digital versions, which could also play a role.” She added, “Whenever I talk to people about my research on books, at some point they all say, ‘I just love the feel of a book in my hand.’”
1. Why did the researchers choose the publications before 1923 for their research?| A．They were all masterpieces. | B．They were mostly searchable. |
| C．They were not protected by copyright. | D．They were only partly downloaded for free. |
| A．By interviewing book users. | B．By comparing the sales data. |
| C．By classifying the book titles. | D．By referring to historical records. |
| A．To point out the limitations of the study. | B．To stress people’s different reading tastes. |
| C．To tell another contributor to the sales rise. | D．To show a growing trend in reading books. |
| A．Consumers Are Enthusiastic About E-books |
| B．Book Publishers Object to Digitizing Books |
| C．Physical Bookstores Are Declining in Importance |
| D．Digitizing Books Promotes Demand for Physical Copies |
Jackie was searching for her library book in her room. Outside her house stood her friend Sasha waiting for her to go to the library. But the book was missing.
Jackie then ran into her sister’s bedroom. “Have you seen my library book? Last week my book was bitten by your cat. The week before that, you dropped my book in the park,” Jackie asked angrily. Her sister shook her head. Despite her efforts, Jackie found no traces of the book there.
“What’s taking you so long, Jackie?” Mom’s voice rang through the house. “I need to find my library book. It has a red cover. It’s due (到期) today. If I have lost the library book, I am not allowed to check out any books for a whole month,” Jackie sighed, walking down the stairs. She nearly ran into her mom, who was carrying a heavy laundry (待洗衣物) basket.
“Good luck with that book. The library closes in twenty minutes.” Mom stopped to grab Jackie’s clothes from the railing and wrinkled her nose. “I’m putting these in the laundry,” said Mom, disappearing down the basement stairs.
Jackie ran around the house, looking under the sofa, in the fridge, and behind the piano. However, the book was nowhere to be found. Where was that library book? The thought of not being able to get into the world of stories and knowledge for a whole month made her feel very sad. Jackie sank onto the living room sofa, her mind racing with thoughts of the result she would soon face.
Just then Mom came into the living room and suddenly said, “Have you searched all the places? You need to think carefully and see if you’ve missed anything?” “I’ve searched everywhere I can think of, but I still haven’t found it,” Jackie almost cried. “I looked for you in your painting room in the backyard last night where you were practising your painting. I seemed to see a red thing. Maybe it was in the painting room,” Mom added.
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。
Without wasting another moment, Jackie rushed outside to the painting room.
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Rushing to the library, Jackie and Sasha found the door still open.
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8 . Shared Reading is a unique experience and exposes us to great and varied literature.
Create a positive and supportive reading environment. When children and adults come together to read and explore a text, they develop a sense of community and a shared experience.
Develop a lifelong love for books. As children observe the pleasure and value their adult counterparts place on reading, they are more likely to develop a lifelong love for books themselves.
Promote social and emotional growth. During shared reading, children participate in discussions and share their thoughts and opinions. What’s more, they listen to others. As for them, it is of significance.
| A．Learn more about the world |
| B．This can enhance their motivations to read |
| C．Expand vocabulary and comprehension skills |
| D．It allows people to discover more about themselves and others |
| E．It’s important for them to finish reading as many books as they can |
| F．They learn to express themselves effectively and respect the ideas of others |
| G．The affection can have a significant impact on their academic achievements |
9 . Four Essential Novels for Students
While the last thing a kid wants is advice from their parents, try suggesting one of these powerful books or leaving it on their bed. You just may be rewarded with a hug!
Clean Getaway
by Nic Stone
In Clean Getaway, an-11-year-old boy named Scoob goes on a road trip with his mom. As they make their way across the American South, Scoob faces upsetting information about the area’s history and his family’s heritage.
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit
by Paula Danziger
The story of Marcy, a middle school student whose parents don’t understand her, but whose favorite teacher, Ms Finney, does, will resonate(产生共鸣)with anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider. When Ms Finney got fired, Marcy found the strength she didn’t know she had to fight the decision.
Strange Birds
by Celia C. Perez
Over a sleepy summer in a sleepier Florida town, an unlikely friendship forms between four very different girls as they team up to protest an outdated and environmentally-unfriendly tradition carried out by the Floras, the local Scout group. At turns moving and funny Strange Birds mixes themes of friendship and small, everyday rebellions(反叛)that make a huge difference.
Girl Stuff
by Lisi Harrison
Middle grade readers will fall in love with Fonda, Drew, and Ruthie — three best friends who find life in seventh grade a lot harder than they thought it would be. As each girl deals with issues around friendship and new experiences, they’ll learn that there is nothing as special as the support of friends!
1. Who is the text written for?| A．Students. | B．Teachers. | C．Parents. | D．Environmentalists. |
| A．She lost her job. | B．Her teacher punished her. |
| C．Her parents misunderstood her. | D．She had a fight with her classmates. |
| A．They are love stories. | B．They are about friendship. |
| C．They show travel experiences. | D．They focus on environmental protection. |
10 . Popular Libraries in the World
The idea of a public library —— where anyone in the community is trusted to borrow books, often for long stretches of time, for free —— is fairly magical. Some of the libraries in the world are pretty popular now.
The British Library, London, the UK
The British Library is comparable to the Library of Congress in terms of the size of their holdings, many of which are unique. According to its annual report, the British Library welcomes millions of visitors every year, but the figure in 2016-2017 represents a small but disappointing reduction in the overall visitor numbers.
The State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
According to its annual report, the State Library of Victoria’s visitors broke the 2 million in 2016-2017 visit record for the first time in its history, making it the busiest library in Australia. It also recorded many online visits, accessed collection items and uses of digitized collection items.
The New York Public Library, New York, the USA
The New York Public Library reports that it has hosted millions of visitors and circulated large numbers of items over their locations. According to a press, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building —— the main branch of the library —— yearly receives the greatest number of visitors.
The National Library of China, Beijing, China
Established as the Imperial Library of Peking in 1909, the National Library of China is now the largest library in Asia, with holdings of over 30 million items. The library’s annual report puts its total visitors across multiple locations at several million every year.
1. What do we know about the British Library?| A．It holds many rare collections. |
| B．Its visitors are constantly on the rise. |
| C．It has the largest collection of books in Europe. |
| D．Its coverage is the smallest in the world’s libraries. |
| A．They possess two branches. |
| B．They gain plentiful visitors. |
| C．They are the busiest libraries in their countries. |
| D．They face a decline in tourism in the 20th century. |
| A．Finance. | B．Culture. |
| C．Architecture. | D．Technology. |
