1 . Now that we have briefly explored the history of the short story and heard from a few of its creators, let us consider the role of the reader. Readers are not empty vessels that wait, _______ raised, to receive a teacher’s or a critic’s interpretation. They bring their unique life experiences to the story. With these_______ , the best readers also bring their attention, their reading skills, and most importantly, their_______ to a reading of a story.

My students always_______ me to discuss, analyze, interpret, and evaluate the stories we read without destroying the excitement of being beamed up into another world. For years I _______with one response after the other to this challenge. Then one day I read an article by a botanist who had explored the beauty of flowers by x-raying them. His illustrations showed the rose and the lily in their_______ beauty, and his x-rays_______the wonders of their construction. I brought the article to class, where we discussed the benefits of examining the internal structure of flowers, relationships, current events, and short stories.

A short story, _______ , is not a fossil to admire. Readers must ask questions, guess at the answers,_______what will happen next, then read to discover. They and the author form a partnership that brings the story to life. Awareness of this partnership keeps the original excitement alive through discussion, analysis, interpretation, and ________. Literary explorations allow the reader to admire the authors’________ as well as their artistry. In fact, original appreciation may be enhanced by this x-ray vision. The final step is to appreciate once again the story________— to put the pieces back together.

Now it is your turn. Form a partnership with your author. During your________in reading, enter into a dialogue with the published scholars featured in Short Stories for Students. Through this________with experts you will revise, enrich, or________your original observations and interpretations.

During this adventure, I hope you will feel the same as the listeners that surround the neck of my Pueblo storyteller.

1.

A．hands

B．sails

C．flags

D．lids

2.

A．considerations

B．explorations

C．associations

D．interpretations

3.

A．imagination

B．eagerness

C．determination

D．affection

4.

A．begged

B．supported

C．encouraged

D．challenged

5.

A．dealt

B．struggled

C．fought

D．engaged

6.

A．external

B．artificial

C．classical

D．traditional

7.

A．ensured

B．analyzed

C．revealed

D．delivered

8.

A．however

B．furthermore

C．therefore

D．besides

9.

A．interpret

B．anticipate

C．predict

D．tell

10.

A．conclusion

B．evaluation

C．summary

D．appreciation

11.

A．craftsmanship

B．intentions

C．depth

D．character

12.

A．by itself

B．in vain

C．in question

D．as a whole

13.

A．observation

B．involvement

C．experiment

D．adventure

14.

A．journey

B．process

C．dialogue

D．contact

15.

A．recall

B．confirm

C．identify

D．cancel

2 . Background noise—like the chatter in a coffee shop or the drone of passing traffic—might slow our reading speed, but according to a study of Russian readers, it doesn’t _________ how our brain understands written text.

_________, if you’re wondering whether you should be listening to podcasts or music while working, the study has some interesting points to make. In particular, it examined how we might change our reading style to compensate for auditory noise and visual distractions such as typos or poor formatting.

“Overall, previous studies reported a harmful effect of both auditory and visual noise on reading fluency and _________, though their results varied,” write linguistics researcher Nina Zdorova and colleagues. “So far, none of the studies exploring the influence of noise _________ it in the framework of the language processing theories.”

One of the language processing theories examined was the noisy channel model, which proposes that our brain deals with noise by looking at the meaning of _________ words more and at entire sentences less. We then use a bit of smart guesswork to _________ the overall meaning and relationships between words.

The second theory is the good enough model; that’s when our brains aren’t analyzing every single detail of a text but instead only grabbing enough words for a ‘good enough’ understanding. By focusing less on the precise words, our brains can _________ some cognitive resources to deal with noise.

To see how reading was affected by noise _________ these models, the researchers ran two experiments: one on auditory noise (71 participants) and one on visual noise (70 participants). When it came to the auditory noise test, background chatter from overlapping podcasts caused people to spend longer looking at the key section of sentences before completing their reading. This extra time could _________ the noise, meaning sentence comprehension isn’t affected by it. In the visual noise test, comprehension remained the same while reading speed __________. That’s a bit __________ considering previous studies, but the researchers think people just wanted to finish the task, with the visual noise an uncomfortable distraction.

“In both experiments, we observed that longer total reading time was __________ with an accuracy increase for incorrect sentences,” write the researchers.

There’s a lot going on in this study, but overall it’s a bigger win for the good-enough language processing theory and an indication that auditory and visual noise doesn’t make us __________ any more or less on any particular comprehension method while we’re reading.

With so many variables to measure in terms of what’s being read and what the __________ noise is, further study is required to learn more. __________ potential distractions may not interrupt your reading as much as you think.

1.

A．reinforce

B．estimate

C．affect

D．interpret

2.

A．First of all

B．For example

C．Above all

D．To start with

3.

A．context

B．efficiency

C．comprehension

D．device

4.

A．evaluated

B．identified

C．established

D．employed

5.

A．individual

B．different

C．new

D．unfamiliar

6.

A．confirm

B．imply

C．refer

D．infer

7.

A．exploit

B．spare

C．commit

D．consume

8.

A．on account of

B．regardless of

C．in regard to

D．in contrast to

9.

A．make up for

B．live up to

C．catch up with

D．put up with

10.

A．declined

B．shrank

C．expanded

D．increased

11.

A．embarrassing

B．depressing

C．puzzling

D．annoying

12.

A．associated

B．compared

C．replaced

D．mixed

13.

A．take

B．set

C．rely

D．base

14.

A．accompanying

B．strange

C．deafening

D．distant

15.

A．Therefore

B．However

C．Instead

D．Otherwise

3 . I grew up on a university campus in eastern Nigeria.I was a(n) _________reader, and what I read were British and American children’s books.I began to write when I was seven.I wrote exactly the kinds of stories I was reading: All my _________ were white and blue-eyed. They played in the snow. They ate apples, and they talked a lot about the _________，how lovely it was that the sun had _________.

What this demonstrates is how _________we can be influenced by what we read, particularly as children. Because all I had read were foreign books, I had become _________ that books had to have _________ in them and had to be about things with which I could not personally identify.

Things _________ when I discovered African books. There weren’t many of them available, and they weren’t quite as easy to _________ as the foreign books.

But __________ writers like Chinua Achebe and Camara Laye I went through a mental __________in my view of literature.I __________ that people like me, girls with skin the color of chocolate,could also __________ in literature. I started to write about things I recognized. What the __________ of African writers did for me was this: It saved me from having a __________ story of what books are.

1.

A．early

B．aimless

C．careful

D．poor

2.

A．instructors

B．neighbors

C．friends

D．characters

3.

A．snow

B．fruits

C．cuisine

D．weather

4.

A．disappeared

B．set

C．come out

D．gone down

5.

A．briefly

B．regularly

C．scarcely

D．easily

6.

A．convinced

B．puzzled

C．concerned

D．satisfied

7.

A．heroes

B．foreigners

C．Africans

D．children

8.

A．remained

B．changed

C．worsened

D．worked

9.

A．read

B．understand

C．find

D．keep

10.

A．in spite of

B．on behalf of

C．because of

D．instead of

11.

A．confusion

B．shift

C．block

D．activity

12.

A．realized

B．suspected

C．claimed

D．forgot

13.

A．take

B．exist

C．believe

D．major

14.

A．discovery

B．popularity

C．imagination

D．analysis

15.

A．classic

B．remarkable

C．whole

D．single

5 . I have to admit I’m an old-school reader. Put simply, I   _______old books.

Alone in a new city to _______my first daily newspaper job, I was feeling vaguely anxious as I dipped into a used   bookstore to_______my   mind. The   shelves, full of the smell of the past, quickly_______me. One of the occupational hazards (职业病) of journalism, my chosen_______, is a desire to stay on top of the Next Big Thing. With their cracked spines (书脊) and yellowed_______, the titles in the shop usefully pointed me toward the longer view. “No_______to get too worked up over today’s headline,” they seemed to say. “ There is not much _______ under the sun.”

Francis Bacon’s essays are always a ready antidote (解药). “Prosperity (繁荣) is not without many___ and dislikes,” Bacon wrote, and“___ is not without comforts and hopes.” For me, that comfort and hope often come from a second-hand____.

Reading deeply from the   past can be   at   least as______ as   following the day’s   news. Don’t _____     missing out on the___ gossip. All matters of fact, which a man did not___ before, are news to him.

1.

A．buy

B．love

C．recommend

D．hate

2.

A．stop

B．lose

C．keep

D．take

3.

A．relieve

B．change

C．train

D．feed

4.

A．disappointed

B．surprised

C．calmed

D．stressed

5.

A．freedom

B．profession

C．company

D．action

6.

A．books

B．words

C．lines

D．pages

7.

A．need

B．wonder

C．doubt

D．question

8.

A．amazing

B．interesting

C．new

D．dull

9.

A．inspirations

B．fears

C．amusements

D．strengths

10.

A．ownership

B．relationship

C．friendship

D．hardship

11.

A．book

B．computer

C．chair

D．shop

12.

A．mind-blowing

B．doubtful

C．instructive

D．breathtaking

13.

A．reflect on

B．worry about

C．take up

D．dream of

14.

A．silly

B．common

C．best

D．latest

15.

A．know

B．hear

C．research

D．confirm

6 . Near my house is a library. As an enthusiastic reader, the idea to be surrounded by books itself is ______. So I volunteered to ______ it, managing books. But never had I realized reading had such ______ until I met an old lady.

One day I was arranging books when I heard a lady ______ something at the information desk, where I went to give ______. She was in her 70s with a beautiful smile.

After communication, I was ______ that she came to take the membership. Without family, she had ______ her house and settled in a nursing home, living off ______ the interest from her savings account. Her love of reading, even at such an age, never ______. Her confidence, whenever she ______ reading, livened her up.

The membership was ______ for her, so I explained the fee. She didn’t hesitate to open her purse and ______ for the amount. Noticing her ______ look, I offered to pay for her but she insisted, “I’ll come and pay tomorrow.” I failed to ______ her. The next day she returned, paid up and got her membership card. When I took her into the world of books, her eyes shone with excitement. She became a regular visitor, one I’d ______ every few days.

Now her cute smile in my mind still reminds me of the magic of reading.

1.

A．appealing

B．creative

C．accurate

D．unbelievable

2.

A．reward

B．join

C．sponsor

D．visit

3.

A．possibility

B．power

C．hardship

D．value

4.

A．approving of

B．giving away

C．inquiring about

D．showing off

5.

A．assistance

B．attention

C．results

D．regards

6.

A．amused

B．concerned

C．relieved

D．surprised

7.

A．donated

B．mended

C．purchased

D．sold

8.

A．barely

B．purposefully

C．merely

D．secretly

9.

A．began

B．continued

C．deepened

D．lessened

10.

A．considered

B．practiced

C．mentioned

D．recommended

11.

A．costly

B．informal

C．unreasonable

D．risky

12.

A．arrange

B．check

C．ask

D．pray

13.

A．confused

B．grateful

C．uneasy

D．considerate

14.

A．decline

B．convince

C．impress

D．satisfy

15.

A．expect

B．interview

C．question

D．recognize

8 . Reading involves looking at illustrative symbols and expressing mentally the sounds and ideas they represent. Concepts of reading have changed _______ over the centuries. During the 1950’s and 1960’s especially, increased attention has been devoted to _______ the reading process. Although experts agree that reading _______ a complex organization of higher mental _______, they disagree about the exact nature of the process. Some experts, who regard language primarily as a code using symbols to represent sounds, _______ reading as simply the decoding (解码) of symbols into the sounds they stand for.

These authorities _______ that meaning, being concerned with thinking, must be taught independently of the decoding process. Others maintain that reading is inexplainably related to thinking, and that a child who pronounces sounds without _______ their meaning is not truly reading. The reader, _______ some, is not just a person with a theoretical ability to read but one who _______ reads.

Many adults, although they have the ability to read, have never read a book in its ________. By some experts they would not be ________ as readers. Clearly, the philosophy, objectives, methods and materials of reading will depend on the definition one uses. By the most ________ and satisfactory definition, reading is the ability to ________ the sound-symbols code of the language, to interpret meaning for various ________, at various rates, and at various levels of difficulty, and to do so widely and enthusiastically. ________, reading is the interpretation of ideas through the use of symbols representing sounds and ideas.

1.

A．specifically

B．dramatically

C．abstractly

D．ridiculously

2.

A．understanding

B．translating

C．defining

D．substituting

3.

A．involves

B．concentrates

C．specializes

D．analyzes

4.

A．opinions

B．effects

C．manners

D．functions

5.

A．view

B．look

C．reassure

D．agree

6.

A．support

B．argue

C．attempt

D．compete

7.

A．interpreting

B．saying

C．reciting

D．reading

8.

A．in addition to

B．for example

C．according to

D．such as

9.

A．completely

B．carefully

C．publicly

D．actually

10.

A．part

B．whole

C．standard

D．straight

11.

A．applied

B．granted

C．classified

D．graded

12.

A．instructive

B．doubtful

C．certain

D．complicated

13.

A．strike

B．illustrate

C．define

D．unlock

14.

A．purposes

B．degrees

C．stages

D．steps

15.

A．On the other hand

B．In short

C．By the way

D．So far

9 . Time for girls to shine

Most of us grew up reading fairy tales that start with “Once upon a time” and end with “the princess and prince lived happily ever after”. They seem to be harmless- even _________, perhaps. But in the eyes of two Italian writers, Favilli and Cavallo, this is what’s been _________ with children’s stories for years.

“Children’s books have always _________ the same since we were children,” Cavallo said. And a study also found while 80 percent of male characters in most popular children’s books have a(n) _________, only 18 percent of female characters do.

So they together wrote a book _________ only female protagonists (主角). Good Night Stories for Rebel (叛逆) Girls is an “anti- princess” book, which gives young girls role models of their own to _________.

The original book was published in December 2019, and the second volume _________ on Feb 28, 2021. Both books contain the stories of 100 extraordinary women from all over the world, and much to the_________ of children’s book writers, every one of them has a job or professional ambition. The “characters”_________ pop singer Beyonce and tennis star Serena Williams.

However, the word “rebel” may make some people feel uncomfortable, since it’s not really seen as __________. But being rebellious is__________ being independent, which many of today’s girls need to develop.

“It is important to __________ — especially if you are a woman or a girl- a rebel attitude, a rebel character, because you have to __________ harder to reach your dream and to get what you want.

And this __________ is made clear, with the book’s first page reading “To all the girls of the world, dream __________, aim higher, fight harder”.

1.

A．crazy

B．complex

C．sweet

D．puzzling

2.

A．wrong

B．typical

C．common

D．familiar

3.

A．claimed

B．reflected

C．preferred

D．remained

4.

A．offer

B．fortune

C．company

D．job

5.

A．recommending

B．featuring

C．displaying

D．serving

6.

A．approach

B．admire

C．practice

D．challenge

7.

A．came out

B．turned out

C．made up

D．ended up

8.

A．surprise

B．relief

C．excitement

D．satisfaction

9.

A．highlight

B．memorize

C．include

D．describe

10.

A．reasonable

B．worthwhile

C．energetic

D．positive

11.

A．actually

B．originally

C．casually

D．officially

12.

A．risk

B．build

C．change

D．follow

13.

A．perform

B．think

C．fight

D．breathe

14.

A．announcement

B．conclusion

C．sentence

D．message

15.

A．smarter

B．bigger

C．deeper

D．faster