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 . Myrtle is a small sleepy town in Missouri. There’s no bank or restaurant here, but a small stone_______right next to the state highway. Half of it is a post office. The other half is a one-room_______.Rachel Luster took over this library four months ago with the_______of connecting the community to the outside world and creating a _______center for the kids.

Her first task was_______the books she felt every library must have: The Odyssey. “I looked and looked. But we didn’t have. No library in our system had one,” Luster said. So she started to use social media to_______money from people around the state and has already _______about 1, 000 new books to the library.

“While the Myrtle library_______taxpayer money, it gets only $200a month for books and supplies,” she explained. “But the library is a _______for the community because many people here do not have ________to the Internet at home and the library is the only place that people can connect to the outside world. I want to bring a sense of ________to the community.”

Luster’s library is open only three days a week. One of her ________visitors is 10-year-old Blake Brooks.

“Before________this library, my favorite activity was watching TV,” he said. “Now, as soon as I step off the school bus, I come here to________.I like to________.I’m in the books I read.”

1.

A．bridge

B．building

C．table

D．forest

2.

A．library

B．hotel

C．restaurant

D．school

3.

A．opportunity

B．loss

C．goal

D．benefit

4.

A．processing

B．data

C．health

D．learning

5.

A．searching for

B．cleaning up

C．bringing about

D．putting down

6.

A．donate

B．raise

C．beg

D．reject

7.

A．mailed

B．left

C．added

D．written

8.

A．borrows

B．steals

C．forgets

D．receives

9.

A．waste

B．lifeline

C．burden

D．bank

10.

A．room

B．desire

C．access

D．plan

11.

A．relief

B．humor

C．achievement

D．connectedness

12.

A．regular

B．wealthy

C．old

D．funny

13.

A．repairing

B．buying

C．discovering

D．recognizing

14.

A．play

B．read

C．sing

D．dance

15.

A．wish

B．admit

C．announce

D．imagine

4 . 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

6 . I grew up in libraries, or at least it feels that way. I was ________ in small town of Cleveland, just a few ________ from the public library. I went there several times a week with my mother. She and I would walk in together, but ________ we passed through the door, we each headed to our ________ section. The library might have been the first place I was ever given ________.

Even when I was maybe four or five years old, I was ________ to head off on my own. Then, after a while, my mother and I would reunite at the checkout counter with our ________. Together we’d ________ as the librarian pulled out the date card and stamped it with the checkout machine.

When I was older, I usually walked to the library by myself, ________ back as many books as I could. Sometimes, I did go with my mother, and the trip would be as happy as it had been when I was ________. When I ________ my mother these days, since she died two years ago, I like to ________ us in the car together, going for one more impressive trip to our library.

My parents valued books. They believed that you read a book for the ________ of reading it. You didn’t read it in order to have a(n) ________ that had to be housed and looked after forever. The reading of the book was a journey. There was no need for ________.

1.

A．handled

B．raised

C．passed

D．moved

2.

A．blocks

B．areas

C．countries

D．fields

3.

A．as soon as

B．as much as

C．as far as

D．as well as

4.

A．limited

B．favorite

C．appointed

D．energetic

5.

A．justice

B．pride

C．freedom

D．honesty

6.

A．forbidden

B．tolerated

C．expected

D．allowed

7.

A．presents

B．thoughts

C．finds

D．stories

8.

A．wait

B．walk

C．wonder

D．wave

9.

A．paying

B．earning

C．giving

D．carrying

10.

A．small

B．weak

C．useful

D．delighted

11.

A．follow

B．miss

C．cure

D．guard

12.

A．note

B．hold

C．picture

D．invite

13.

A．opinion

B．education

C．experiment

D．experience

14.

A．candle

B．instrument

C．object

D．paper

15.

A．vehicles

B．souvenirs

C．satisfaction

D．pleasure

8 . I was a high school senior. One day, I skipped classes and walked into the ________. I spotted a book called The Treasure of Pleasant Valley written by Frank Yerby. Its name really ________ me, but I didn’t want others to know I was reading books because I was a troubled boy then. So I just ________ the book. After I had finished reading it, I took it back. When I ________ it, I saw another book ________ written by Frank Yerby. So I thought, maybe I’d read that, too. So I put it under my jacket and later I took it back. That semester, I ________ a total of four books by Frank Yerby.

Years later, I met Mrs. Grady, the teacher who had been the ________ . She told me she had seen me taking the first book. She said her first ________ had been “to go and tell the boy, you don’t have to steal a book”. You can ________ borrow them from the library and pay nothing. They’re ________ .” Then she realized I didn’t want anybody to ________ I was reading. So she decided that if I liked the book, she would ________another one for me to read.

And every time I took a ________ book out, she began to look for another. This wasn’t ________ because books were hard to get in those days. I was ________ to Mrs. Grady for getting me into the habit of enjoying reading so that I could eventually go to law school.

1.

A．classroom

B．laboratory

C．library

D．playground

2.

A．surprised

B．inspired

C．confused

D．attracted

3.

A．hid

B．stole

C．marked

D．bought

4.

A．returned

B．paid

C．checked

D．counted

5.

A．also

B．ever

C．never

D．only

6.

A．borrowed

B．spotted

C．collected

D．read

7.

A．trainer

B．guard

C．cleaner

D．librarian

8.

A．thought

B．expectation

C．feeling

D．movement

9.

A．never

B．just

C．seldom

D．almost

10.

A．unique

B．classical

C．free

D．cheap

11.

A．doubt

B．wonder

C．know

D．complain

12.

A．lend

B．find

C．print

D．copy

13.

A．difficult

B．expensive

C．creative

D．good

14.

A．practical

B．different

C．easy

D．special

15.

A．generous

B．polite

C．friendly

D．grateful

9 . And that’s what she did. The next day, and the next.

Every day while Kate was ________ with her dad in hospital, she would read aloud to him while he ________ and listened. He would often have his eyes shut but he promised he wasn’t ________ and could hear every ________. Dad seemed as eager as she was to find out what happened in the next ________.

Now and again a nurse might make the rounds of the ________. But Kate’s dad just told her to ________ reading. Maybe he really was appreciating the book as much as he said. She had never felt so ________ to her father as she did when sitting reading to him. When she did at last come to the end of the book, she ________ her father she’d be back with another one the next day. But she never did get to read ________. Because that was the night he ________.

Days later Kate walked to a ________ with that book in her bag. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the world felt horribly lonely without her dad. Kate thought about the book. She knew books could bring us readers much. They could be exciting, or romantic, or scare us. They could either challenge us or help us. They could also take us all around the world, and ________. So much. So very much. Kate thought books should be ________. Then she stood up and walked away, ________ the book in the park. She hoped whoever read it next enjoyed it as much as her dad had.

1.

A．anxious

B．free

C．lonely

D．alone

2.

A．whispered

B．settled

C．stood

D．lay

3.

A．happy

B．disappointed

C．asleep

D．satisfied

4.

A．sound

B．word

C．paragraph

D．speech

5.

A．chapter

B．step

C．book

D．page

6.

A．watchroom

B．ward

C．hall

D．office

7.

A．practice

B．stop

C．finish

D．keep

8.

A．distant

B．similar

C．close

D．familiar

9.

A．advised

B．admitted

C．promised

D．required

10.

A．again

B．yet

C．still

D．too

11.

A．passed away

B．dropped by

C．went back

D．left away

12.

A．hospital

B．school

C．bookstore

D．park

13.

A．across

B．beyond

C．away

D．out

14.

A．deserted

B．memorized

C．shared

D．forgotten

15.

A．leaving

B．reading

C．quitting

D．showing

10 . For everyone, vacations are a great way to take a break and enjoy a good book. The Spring Festival is coming up so this is the _______ time to discuss some great English language literature to take on a long train journey or while you’re _______ with the family.

Before getting into the recommendations, we need to _______ your English reading comprehension level so you don’t pick a book which is so _______ that it’s stressful or so simple that it’s _______. If you’re at the beginner level, there are two _______: reading a children’s book or reading a book that you’ve read in the Chinese version. This will help you _______ any unfamiliar words or phrases, since you’re already _______ with the story. If you’re at the intermediate (中等的) level, _______ books like pop fiction, mysteries and thrillers are good options, as they’ll be ________ page turners and that will increase the ________ of your getting all the way through the book. For ________ readers, classic works of literature or modern prize winners are good options.

The most important thing is to pick a book that you’re really interested in. When I pick up a new book, the first few chapters are always really ________ to get through, as I have to get accustomed to the ________ the individual author uses the language. But after the first few chapters, things get a lot ________, especially if I get involved in the story.

1.

A．perfect

B．precious

C．reasonable

D．correct

2.

A．hanging out

B．hanging up

C．hanging together

D．hanging on

3.

A．choose

B．raise

C．determine

D．keep

4.

A．acceptable

B．interesting

C．wonderful

D．challenging

5.

A．tiring

B．boring

C．exciting

D．serious

6.

A．ways

B．courses

C．steps

D．options

7.

A．get over

B．go over

C．get through

D．go through

8.

A．familiar

B．similar

C．identical

D．confidential

9.

A．useful

B．popular

C．simple

D．famous

10.

A．guaranteed

B．encountered

C．confirmed

D．witnessed

11.

A．time

B．awareness

C．preference

D．possibility

12.

A．advanced

B．college

C．elderly

D．excellent

13.

A．dull

B．important

C．hard

D．necessary

14.

A．case

B．way

C．method

D．situation

15.

A．easier

B．tougher

C．longer

D．worse