1 . Technology seems to discourage slow, immersive 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 than print. The cognitive neuroscientist Mary Walt argued recently that this “new norm” of skim reading is producing “an invisible, game-changing transformation” in how readers process words. The neuronal circuit (回路) that sustains the brain’s capacity to read now favors the rapid absorption of information.
We shouldn’t exaggerate this danger. All readers skim. From about the age of nine, our eyes start to bounce around the page, reading only about a quarter of the words properly, and filling in the gaps by inference. 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 harvested as fodder (素材) to say something else. Everyone talks over the top of everyone else, desperate to be heard.
Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a social good and source of personal achievement. To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in the words. and their slow comprehension 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. What would Selvin Brown probably agree?| A．The culture is on the decline. | B．Online writing ruins immersive reading. |
| C．Worries of attention spans are unnecessary. | D．Reading poems is important to attention spans. |
| A．It lays the foundation for fast reading. |
| B．It counts on regular interaction with the readers. |
| C．It requires writers to give up traditional writing modes. |
| D．It causes too much talking and inadequate deep reflection. |
| A．Slowly-changed. | B．Fast-advanced. | C．Deep-rooted. | D．Rarely-noticed. |
| A．Slow Reading: Here to Stay | B．Immersive Reading: So Wonderful |
| C．Reading Habits: Constantly Changing | D．Digital vs Print: A Life-and-Death Struggle |
Should Writers Be Paid for Their E-books Lent by Libraries?
When libraries lend books to the public, authors and publishers receive remuneration from the Government under the Lending Rights schemes.
This year, the government has distributed almost a $ 22 million under these Public Lending Rights and Educational Lending Rights Schemes. For each book in public library collections creators receive $2.11 and publishers receive $0.52.
The amount that each claimant receives is often not very significant, with the majority of authors receiving between S100-500 annually, Still, a previous study has revealed that this remuneration constitutes the second most important source of income for creators from their creative work.
E-books, however, are not covered by these Lending Rights schemes.
One of the main reasons why e-books are not covered is that e-book lending is quite different from print book lending. In case of print books, authors and publishers are arguably losing on customers and revenues when libraries loan their books for free.Creators only receive $2.11 and publishers receive $0.52 for each book in public library collections.
At present, in the case of e-books, many publishers chose not to sell these books to libraries.
While publishers charge libraries high prices for e-books, writers complain that these amounts do not reach them. Publishing contracts often don't specify whether and how much authors receive for e-books sales or for e-lending.
| A．However,this is not the case when libraries lend e-books. |
| B．This may not be a big issue now, for e-books are minor in publishing. |
| C．Also, publishers assume get more profits from libraries where readers pay them more. |
| D．Publishing contracts often don't specify whether and how much authors receive for e-books sales or for e-lending. |
| E．Extension alone would do little if the current funds under the schemes were merely re-distributed from books to e-books. |
| F．For this reason, authors and publishers have been talking the Government into extending the Lending Rights Schemes to e-books. |
1. How do students enter the library?
| A．With a library account. |
| B．With a student card. |
| C．With a password. |
| A．12. | B．11. | C．9. |
| A．Books borrowed by local residents. |
| B．Books liked by a lot of people. |
| C．Books published recently. |
| A．Tell the students where to get bottled water. |
| B．Take the students on a campus tour. |
| C．Show the students around the library. |
1. Which organizations used to have a lot of power according to the speaker?
| A．Libraries and printing companies. |
| B．Universities and bookstores. |
| C．Newspapers and publishers. |
| A．They are easier to carry. | B．They are cheaper. | C．They are more interesting. |
| A．They were bought by a tech company. |
| B．They made billions of dollars this year. |
| C．They used to have more than 600 stores. |
1. What photos do yearbooks often include?
| A．Scenery around the school. |
| B．Sports teams. |
| C．Students’ parents. |
| A．There is a dog’s photo. |
| B．Everyone was photoed with an ID card. |
| C．It includes all staff members. |
| A．Wake him up. |
| B．Remind him to take medicine. |
| C．Guide him the way. |
| A．9 hours. | B．8 hours. | C．6 hours. |
6 . 听下面一段独白，完成以下小题，每小题不超过四个单词。
Today I’d like to introduce a book to you which I like much — The Five Thousand Years History, which
The author selects important and
I think everyone should read it and get this
7 . With the completion of the Human Genome Project more than 20 years ago, and the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA enjoying its 70th birthday last year, you might assume that we know how life works. Think again!
Evolution has a 4 billion-year head start on us. However, several aspects of the standard picture of how life works-the idea of the genome as a blueprint, of genes as instructions for building an organism, of proteins as precisely tailored molecular machines and more- have wildly reduced the complexity of life.
In the excellent book How Life Works, Philip Ball explores the new biology, revealing life to be a far richer, more delicate affair than we have understood. Ball explains that life is a system of many levels—genes, proteins, cells, tissues, and body modules-each with its own rules and principles, so there is no unique place to look for an answer to it.
Also, How Life Works is a much more appealing title than the overused question of “What is life?”. We should be less concerned with what a thing is, and rather more focused on what a thing does. Defining a living thing implies an unchangeable ideal type, but this will run counter to the Darwinian principle that living things are four-dimensional, ever changing in time as well as space.
But it’s an idea that is deeply rooted within our culture. Ball points out that we rely on metaphors (比喻) to explain and explore the complexities of life, but none suffice. We are taught that cells are machines, though no machine we have invented behaves like the simplest cell; that DNA is a code or a blueprint, though it is neither; that the brain is a computer, though no computer behaves like a brain at all.
Ball is a terrific writer, pumping out books on incredibly diverse subjects. There’s a wealth of well-researched information in here, and some details that are a bit chewy for the lay reader. But the book serves as an essential introduction on our never-ending quest to understand life.
1. What does paragraph 2 intend to state?| A．The research of biology is tricky. |
| B．Human evolution is a lengthy process. |
| C．Genes determine the structure of living things. |
| D．Commonly held models of life are oversimplified. |
| A．Go against. | B．Refer to. | C．Account for. | D．Contribute to. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Disapproving. | C．Objective. | D．Indecisive. |
| A．To review a book. | B．To introduce genetic map. |
| C．To honour a writer. | D．To correct a misperception. |
1. What is the man reading?
| A．A detective book. | B．A historical novel. | C．A classical textbook. |
| A．It is boring. | B．It is accurate. | C．It is fun. |
| A．In a library. | B．In a bookstore. | C．In the man’s house. |
9 . I came across the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less from a library app and I can say that after reading, it did not disappoint.
The book fits into the personal development category. It talks about how important it is to focus on absolutely important things and remove the unnecessary distractions. The common problem, Greg McKeown says, is spotting the important things. Essentialism means continuously defining where we can create the most value, then finding ways to execute these tasks most effortlessly.
In Essentialism, McKeown draws on experience and insight from working with the leaders of the most innovative companies in the world to show how to achieve the pursuit of less. More importantly, by applying a more selective standard for what is essential, the pursuit of less allows us to regain control of our own choices so we can channel our time, energy and effort into making the highest possible contribution toward the goals and activities that matter.
McKeown further explores the difference between an essentialist and a non-essentialist. He gives fantastic and relatable examples from his life as well as from others to illustrate how functioning as a non-essentialist is harmful for both you and those around you. He says the primary difference in both of them is the one who says yes to everything and the other (the essentialist) says yes only to the things that matter.
He also tells that a non-essentialist will commit to everything and put his personal priorities (优先事项) on the side while that is opposite in case of the essentialist. Whether it is in work-life or personal life, a non-essentialist will try to do more by quick-fix solutions but an essentialist will focus on removing barriers and nothing else. He also gives us examples of famous people like Mahatma Gandhi who followed essentialism.
Finally, the book tells us how to set out the important things in our life — like a routine of 8 hours of sleep, daily journal or playing or relaxing every day to let our minds rest. In today’s fast-paced life, McKeown says, restfulness is a precious escape from the noisy world.
1. What does the underlined word “execute” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Carry out. | B．Switch between. | C．Watch out for. | D．Get away from. |
| A．The significance of essentialism. | B．The inspiration for the book. |
| C．Achievements of essentialists. | D．Strategies for pursuing less. |
| A．Commitment to daily work. | B．High efficiency in work. |
| C．Positive influence by celebrities. | D．Concentration on priorities. |
| A．Avoid tiring work if possible. | B．Find meaning in everyday life. |
| C．Take a break when necessary. | D．Remain restless and unmotivated. |
10 . In 1916, two girls of wealthy families, best friends from Auburn, N. Y.—Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood—traveled to a settlement in the Rocky Mountains to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. The girls had gone to Smith College. They wore expensive clothes. So for them to move to Elkhead, Colo. to instruct the children whose shoes were held together with string was a surprise. Their stay in Elkhead is the subject of Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden, who is a magazine editor and Dorothy Woodruff’s granddaughter.
Why did they go then? Well, they wanted to do something useful. Soon, however, they realized what they had undertaken.
They moved in with a local family, the Harrisons, and, like them, had little privacy, rare baths, and a blanket of snow on their quilt when they woke up in the morning. Some mornings, Rosamond and Dorothy would arrive at the schoolhouse to find the children weeping from the cold. In spring, the snow was replaced by mud over ice.
In Wickenden’s book, she expanded on the history of the West and also on feminism, which of course influenced the girls’ decision to go to Elkhead. A hair-raising section concerns the building of the railroads, which entailed (牵涉) drilling through the Rockies, often in blinding snowstorms. The book ends with Rosamond and Dorothy’s return to Auburn.
Wickenden is a very good storyteller. The sweep of the land and the stoicism (坚忍) of the people move her to some beautiful writing. Here is a picture of Dorothy Woodruff, on her horse, looking down from a hill top: “When the sun slipped behind the mountains, it shed a rosy glow all around them. Then a full moon rose. The snow was marked only by small animals: foxes, coyotes, mice, and varying hares, which turned white in the winter.”
What is the text?| A．A news report. | B．A book review. |
| C．A children’s story. | D．A diary entry. |
