1 . If you missed the best books last year, there’s time to catch up between new releases.

Four Hundred Souls

A unique collection, Four Hundred Souls is a new way to learn history. Ninety African American writers each wrote the 400-year history using a five-year period. Each writer chose their own method ranging from short stories to sharp arguments. The works were edited by X. Kendi and N. Blain. Read together, it’s a story of history from 1619 told through varying perspectives and styles.

Set Boundaries, Find Peace

From the desk of licensed cousultant and relationship expert Tawwab, Set Boundaries, Find Peace should be required reading for every people-pleaser. The guide defines the term “healthy boundaries” within the context of real communication and backed by research and best practices in cognitive behavioral therapy (认知行为疗法). It is a must-read for the overburdened work- from-home employees always working.

Harlem Shuffle

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Whitehead, Harlem Shuffle is a historical fiction novel set in 1960s Harlem. The initial impression is a crime novel against the background of historic New York City. But as the pages turn, the underlying family story reveals commentary on morality and social power. With the pace of a crime novel and the depth of a psychology essay, it’s a book that’s sure to keep you going once you get into it.

The Other Black Girl

With a television adaptation with Hulu already signed, The Other Black Girl, the first novel from New York author Harris, is set in a shared workplace where two black colleagues face increasingly tense conditions that rapidly threaten more than their careers. The work is quick- paced and surprising the entire way with dark comedy about workplace politics.

1. What is special about Four Hundred Souls?

A．It takes 400 years to finish.

B．It is a collection of art works.

C．It tells history from diverse angles.

D．It is a reflection of the entire history.

2. Which book deals with moral issues?

A．Four Hundred Souls.	B．Set Boundaries, Find Peace.
C．Harlem Shuffle.	D．The Other Black Girl.

3. What do Set Boundaries, Find Peace and The Other Black Girl have in common?

A．They are related to workplace burden.

B．They are about racial discrimination.

C．They are in the style of dark comedy.

D．They are based on the new research.

2 . Do you find it easy to start books but struggle to finish them? Does your TBR (to-be-read) list overwhelm you?

This happened to me in February. I had 10 books on my currently-reading list. Despite this, I was tempted to start a new book every three to four days.     1    . But this time, I figured the problem is with me and not with the books I am reading. With so many half-read books waiting to be finished, I was overwhelmed.

    2    . For this, I systematically created a framework that allowed me to finish 4 of these books in 10 days. Mind you, I did this with a 9-hour day job and some writing on the side too.

The first thing I did was declutter (清理) my TBR list.     3    . So I just picked books I wanted to finish and abandoned the rest. As hard as it seemed, dropping some books out of reading list actually created a much-needed space for me to focus on one book at a time and finish it.

Another way I tried is to avoid the SOS Trap. SOS refers to people repeatedly leaving their current pursuits for a newer pursuit. It is easy to get carried with SOS in reading too. You’re reading a book, and you spot another one you’re tempted to start reading.     4    . To escape the reader’s SOS trap, I committed to one book at a time before starting a new one.

I also used James Altucher’s day analysis technique to analyze my day. With the help of a data usage app, I figured out how much time I spent unnecessarily on the web.     5    . By sticking to this routine, I finished a long-pending book in three days.

A．This is exactly how our reading list piles up

B．Starting March, I decided to get back on track

C．I cut some of this time and devoted it to reading

D．It helped me focus and progress more efficiently

E．The sight of too many books in the list was overwhelming

F．To start again, I searched the Internet for professional advice

G．Sometimes the book itself is so boring that you struggle to finish it

3 . In the Ancient Greek world, one was meant to focus on a close knowledge of just two books. Homer’s Odyssey and his Iliad, because these were the best guides to action in military and civilian affairs. However, the modern world firmly equals the intelligent person with the well-read person.

Nowadays, if we do not rush to read four of this year’s major prize winning books, we will feel guilty at how far behind we are. We think that there should be no limit to how much we read because in answer to the question of why we read, there is only one response that will ever be ambitious enough: we read in order to know everything.

But this tiring approach to reading does not make us particularly happy. So in order to ease and simplify our lives, we might have a much more limited, focused and useful goal. We might, for example, read in order to learn to be content. Nothing less and nothing more.

With this new, far more targeted ambition in mind, much of the pressure to read constantly and randomly starts to fade. Once we know that we are reading to be content, we don’t need to chase every book published this season. We can zero in on titles that best explain what we need. So for example, we may need a few key books that will teach us about how families work and how they might work better, that can take us through how to find a job, or how to develop the courage to develop our opportunities.

The more we understand what reading is for us, the more we can enjoy close relationships with a few works only. The truly well-read person isn’t the one who has read a huge number of books, but someone who has let themselves be deeply shaped by just a few, very well-chosen titles.

1. Why are Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad mentioned in the first paragraph?

A．To present a fact.	B．To explain a point.
C．To raise a question.	D．To make a comparison.

2. What can we infer from paragraph 2 and 3?

A．Major prize winning books should be read.

B．We should be ambitious to read to know everything.

C．Reading as much as we can leads to happiness.

D．We should read with focused purpose.

3. What kind of books does the author advise us to read?

A．The newly published ones.

B．Those with innovative names.

C．The books meeting your needs.

D．The books improving your ambitions.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To promote our interest in reading.

B．To advocate a targeted reading way.

C．To criticize reading blindly.

D．To compare different reading styles.

4 . NEW STORIES AWAIT JUST FOR YOU

A Long Road to the Right Kind of Care
Alexander Rogerson, MD
www.xlibris.com
Hardback | Paperback | E-book
$29.99 | $19.99 | $3.99

This book is a combined medical autobiography and dissertation on medical care as it was from personal experience starting 70 years ago; it presents why prepayment is best and why our present care system is not the right kind of care.

One Day I was Thinking About?
Alice Hartley
www.authorhouse.com
Paperback | E-book
$19.95 | $3.99

This book shares poems inspired by events and family members who came to visit but never stayed. Brief encounters have brief poems. Others are about love and hate. Let them bring a smile to your face!

Mickey Maux Muddles a Murder
Philip Emma
www.xlibris.com
Hardback| Paperback | E-book
$29.99 | $19.99 | $3.99

Mickey Maux is a wealthy retired scientist who invents things and takes on detective cases when they’re too hard for the police. He comes across a puzzling murder scene and solves it like no other detective can.

Princess Amber
Margaret Wright
www.xlibris.com.au
Paperback | E-book
$24.19 | $4.99

Princess Amber was written to celebrate the short but amazing life of a young child in the author’s class. Born with a medical condition and walking only with assistance, she desired more than anything else to dance on the stage.

Delayed Departure
Tall Paul
www.authorhouse.com
Hardback | Paperback | E-book
$23.99 | $13.99 | $3.99

In this historical tale inspired by true events, a young orphan is led down a compelling path through war to his destiny where he discovers the power of a promise.

1. What is special ab out the book One Day I was Thinking About?

A．The author of it is Philip Emma.

B．Readers can enjoy some poetry.

C．The author of it usually smiles.

D．Readers can learn to write poems.

2. What can we know from the book Princess Amber?

A．The paperback of it is not available.

B．It tells a story of a disabled student.

C．The e-book of it is the cheapest of all.

D．It is about a child who disliked dancing.

3. Which of the following books is sold at the lowest price in paperback?

A．Delayed Departure

B．One Day I was Thinking About?

C．Mickey Maux Muddles a Murder

D．A Long Road to the Right Kin of Care

5 . Books are the backbone of my life. So when I was pregnant and people kept telling me that once the baby was born, I would never have time and energy to read books again, I felt upset. I knew if I had to stop reading, I wouldn’t be the best me, and I wouldn’t be the best mother for my baby.

My husband did his best to comfort me. He said, “The people who quit reading after they had kids never made reading one of the most important things in life.” In time, I discovered that he was right. I thought of my fellow readers who were already moms. I knew they were still reading because we talked about our reading lives all the time. And I believed I could also be like them.

After my daughter was born, she always needed attention. She wouldn’t sleep unless she was held. But there’s a great benefit in rocking a baby who’s lying in your arms; it gives you lots of time to read. I had resisted using my e-reader until then, but it became my best friend as I discovered that I could hold it with one hand and download library books when I was stuck in the house. I read over one hundred books in my daughter’s first year, far surpassing my own record.

I’m a better person and a better mother when I’m reading every day. Should my daughter one day choose to have a child herself, I will not tell her that she’ll never read again. And if anyone else says that to her, I’ll tell her to just do what she wants to do.

1. What did the author think of stopping reading?

A．It would save much energy.	B．It would make her a better mom.
C．It would make her life become worse.	D．It would hurt the people around her.

2. What’s Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．How useful an e-reader is.	B．How many books the author read.
C．What the author did to keep reading.	D．How the author benefited from reading.

3. What can we learn about the author?

A．She always likes e-readers.	B．She has a book-loving husband.
C．She found taking care of a baby tiring.	D．She gained confidence from other readers.

7 . Let a great book to the heart, and we discover a new world, a world of dreams and magic. To enter and enjoy this new world, we need to love and explain literature. Behind every book is a man, behind the man is the race, and behind the race are the natural and social environments. In a word, we wish to enjoy and understand literature.     1    

The first quality of literature is its description of truth and beauty. In fact, we are surrounded with truth and beauty.     2     Men pass a field and see only dead grass; but a poet stops and looks deeper, saying, “Yesterday’s flowers am I.” One who reads it can see the beauty that was hidden from his eyes.

The second quality is its appeal to our feelings and imagination.     3     When Christopher asks in the presence of Helen, “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?” he opens a door through which our imagination enters a new world, a world of love and heroism.

The third quality is its permanence. To achieve this, it should contain two elements: universal humanity and personal style.     4     It also takes on a personal style—no writer can describe human life without reflecting his own life and experiences.

    5     It is also the written record of man’s thoughts and feelings, and the history of the human soul.

A．The first step is to determine some of its significant qualities.

B．Its attraction lies more in what it awakens in us than what it says.

C．Therefore, what amaze us about literature is its essential qualities.

D．In summary, literature is the expression of life in forms of truth and beauty.

E．Good literature reflects basic human nature—love and hate, joy and sadness.

F．Literature will provide us with a vivid picture of what will happen in future life.

G．But some remain unnoticed until a sensitive human soul brings them to our attention.

8 . When I was a kid, my only interest was watching television. But now, my interest is reading, thanks to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the first book I ever read that inspired me to read.

This wonderful book pulled me in with its adventure. It's about a boy, Harry Potter, who discovers he's a wizard. After this, his life becomes full of uncertainty. He starts his new school and makes two best friends. Then Voldemort, the man who killed Harry's parents, comes to steal the stone that will extend his life. The three bravely defeat the bad guy. This was a life-changing book for me. After finishing it, I really started to enjoy reading. Ever since then, I don't ever put a book down before I'm finished with it.

When I read a book, it inspires me and shows me a different world. It makes me excited. When I read, I never get bored. Books can also change my state of mind. Regardless of how angry, depressed, or stressed I am, a book will make me happy.

Since I started reading, I have learned that even if I'm not comfortable with something, I should try it out. It might turn out to be something I love doing. It might even become another one of my interests.

Interest is a factor that can turn a job into a career. Hopefully, one day, I will get my dream job at a publishing house. Then, my interest would become my life, and I would have lived my life to its fullest.

1. What is the author's attitude towards Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone?

A．Objective.

B．Doubtful.

C．Negative.

D．Thankful.

2. Why does Voldemort want to own the stone?

A．To defeat Harry.	B．To become a wizard.
C．To make his life last longer.	D．To bring his parents back to life.

3. Who do the underlined words “The three” in the second paragraph refer to?

A．Voldemort and his parents.	B．Harry Porter and his parents.
C．Harry Porter and his two best friends.	D．Voldemort and Harry Porter's parents.

4. We know from the fourth paragraph that reading helps the author ________.

A．expand his comfort zone	B．find many other interests
C．keep his emotions under control	D．gain the courage to try new things