1 . There are always some persons in your life who touch your soft heart with kindness.

As a little girl, my favorite thing was _________. And when I thought about _________ I wanted to be when I grew up, I figured I’d be a librarian, just because the two librarians changed my life.

At that time, the town library limited the number of books a person borrowed _________ two once a week. I _________ the books in just three days. So to read more, I was _________ about what books to choose. The librarian, Mrs. Tonne, was a warm person. Every time I went into the library, she greeted me, _________. When learning about my trouble, she often _________ some better books. Thanks to her help, I _________ a lot from these books.

Gradually, I developed an interest in writing, _________ poems. When I was in fourth grade, our school librarian, Mrs. Ketelsen, encouraged me to write more. When my poem was not accepted, she __________ me with comfortable words. Once she helped __________ some poems I’d written about dinosaurs to Highlights magazine. It was my first published writing!

Later, at the University of Iowa, __________ I majored in journalism, my dream was different. I realized that I was shy about interviewing people, which made me __________. When I recalled Mrs. Tonne and Mrs. Ketelsen, I made a decision without __________ to be devoted to writing. And now I am an editor at Reader’s Digest.

Whenever I think of the help from them, how __________ I am. It is their kindness that makes me what I am.

2 . When I was young, I was a terrible student. I didn’t ________ talking with my grandmother on the phone, because she would ask me about school and about what I was reading.

Each Christmas, I would get a package from Grandmother. “Another ________. Just like every year!” I would think and then put it aside. I would ________all my latest toys on Christmas morning and for days and even weeks after.________, I would open Grandmother’s gift. I would read the book and sometimes ________ the text, but I didn’t find this interesting.

Although I was not interested in ________, I had great patience with younger children. Seeing how I ________her kid with homework, my neighbor said I should become a teacher when I grew up.

During my second term in college, I ________ in my Children’s Literature class. Our teacher________ a list of classic children’s books. It was then that I wanted to ________. I raced home and ran to the basement (地下室). There on the dusty shelf sat the most amazing collection of children’s books any teacher could ________ to have. My grandmother didn’t ________ me what my little girl mind wanted, but what she knew I ________ — a gift for the soul that would last a lifetime.

I ________ to water the seed my grandmother planted so long ago. I graduated from college, received my master’s degree and became a ________ , trying my best to plant those tiny seeds in all my students.

3 . For many people today, reading is no longer relaxation. To keep up their work they must read letters, reports, trade publications, interoffice communications, not to mention newspapers and magazines; a never-ending flood of words. In getting a job advancing, the ability to read and comprehend ____ can mean the difference between success and failure. Yet the unfortunate fact is that most of us are ____ readers. Most of us develop poor reading habits at an early age, and never ____ them. The main shortage lies in the actual stuff of language itself – words. Taken individually, words have little____ until they are combined together into phrases, sentences and paragraphs. Unfortunately, ____, the untrained reader does not read groups of words. He read one word at a time with difficulty, often regressing to ____ words or passages. Regression, namely, the tendency to look back over what you have just read, is a common ____ habit in reading. Another bad habit which ____ the speed of reading is vocalization –sounding each word either ____ or mentally as one reads.

To overcome these bad habits, some reading clinics use a device called an accelerator, which moves a bar (or curtain) down the page at a predetermined speed. The bar is set a slightly ____ rate than the reader finds comfortable, in order to “____” him. The accelerator forces the reader to read fast, making word-by-word reading, regression and sub-vocalization, practically ____. At first comprehension is ____ speed. But when you learn to read ideas and concepts, you will not only read faster, but your comprehension will improve. Many people have found their reading skill ____ improved after some training. Take Charles Au, a business manager, for instance, his reading rate was a reasonably good 172 words a minute before the training, now it is an excellent 1,378 words a minute. He is delighted that now he can go through a lot more reading material in a(n) ____ period of time.

7 . Do you love libraries? If you love books as much as I do, then I’m certain you must.

My library card has a(n)_______ place in my wallet, and some of my favorite_______ of childhood come from_______ the public library in my hometown. It is a(n)_______ house, much like the one introduced in Secrets of the Blue Hill Library, coming this summer.

The children’s section (区) of our library is on the lower level, and I felt_______ when I walked down the steps, opened the small door (just right for a child) and entered the room with many rows of shelves. It was_______ a wonderland where new adventures (奇遇) and friends awaited (等待).

I clearly_______ the pleasant smell of books — a mix of new and_______ smell — that attracted me deeply, and, like a bee moving from flower to flower, I _______ book after book as I took in varieties of ________ on those shelves and tried to choose the next ones I would take home. I preferred to read books about real-life heroes, whose lives ________ me a lot. From the books on our library shelves, the world was opened to me in an attractive way.

________, of course, my reading took me up the steps and into the ________ library on the first and second floors, where I continued reading every book with much ________. To be honest, I can’t ________ how different my life would have been if it had not been for the variety of reading I ________ at the library. ________ I can say for certain that,________its strong and comforting presence in my ________ life, I would not be the person I am today — a successful writer.

In the book Secrets of the Blue Hill Library, the people of this small town have no________ But two wonderful women come together to provide both a nice library for the town and a home for Anne, the leading character. But that is only the beginning of the adventures that await Anne—and you as my fellow library lover.

8 . Lainey finished third grade. She had good grades and could read ______       grade level, but she did not like to read. On a family car trip, her Aunt Dede pulled out a copy of Harry Potter, as a surprise for her     ______. But Lainey took one look at it,       ______   her eyes, and said, “Borrrring！”

Aunt Dede, a teacher, had read the book to her students, and they loved it.     ______     the youngest children in the class were       ______   by the story. They     ______     with great interest, and then     ______     joined in grand conversations about Harry's adventures.

“How can you say it's     ______？Have you read it？” asked Aunt Dede.

“No, it's too long and it doesn't have any     ______，” complained Lainey.

“Oh, that's where you are       ______； there are lots of pictures. Every page is full of pictures; you just have to read the words to       ______     them. It's like magic.”

“Nice try, Aunt Dede，” Lainey replied     ______     from the back seat.

Another ______ was in order. “Well, if you don't want to read it, give it ______. Maybe your mum would ______ hearing the story.” The book sailed through the air to Aunt Dede and she began to read it aloud. By the end of the first chapter，______ were coming from the back seat: “Please read a little ______．”

Lainey is an example of an   ______ reader. As shown here, Lainey can become ______ about reading when ______ with literature on topics that interest her, and when the people around her model involvement in the reading process.