1 . Walk into any bookstore, and you can hardly avoid “bumping into” Charles Dickens. Many of Dickens’s works still sell well today. And they are ________ on outstanding shelves.

As someone who teaches Dickens, the question of why we still read him is often in my mind ________. One day nearly 10 years ago, however, when I was giving a(n) ________, I was telling the students that for Victorian readers, Dickens’ writing was a “tune-in-next-week” type of thing that generated crazes. Then a hand ________ “But why should we still read this ________ ?” the student asked. The answer I gave was only ________ “Because he teaches you how to think,” I said.

The question was on my ________ about something for years, and for years. I told myself answers, but never with complete ________. We read Dickens because he is not just a man of his own times, but also a man for our times. We read Dickens because we can learn from the experiences of his ________ almost as easily as we can learn from our own experiences.

These are all wonderful reasons to read Dickens. But these are not ________ the reasons why I read Dickens. My search for an answer ________ until one day a text message came from a student of mine. “We still read Dickens’ novels,” she wrote, “because they tell us why we are what we are.” ________ as it was, that’s the explanation I had ________ for years.

Dickens shines a ________ on who we are during the best of times and worst of times. That’s why we still need to read him today. If you have time, go to ________ one of his many novels, read it and enjoy what it has to tell you about yourself.

2 . You may already be familiar with recent findings that suggest children as young as six months who read books with their parents several times a week show stronger literacy skills four years later, score higher on intelligence tests, and land better jobs than nonreaders. But recent research argues that reading may be just as important in   _________ . When practiced over a lifetime, reading and language acquisition (习得) skills can support healthy brain functioning in big ways. Simply put: _________ power increases brain power.

To _________ why and what each of us can do to get the most out of our words, start by asking the same question the Yale team did: What is it about reading books in particular that increases our brain power while reading newspapers and magazines doesn’t?   For one, the researchers assume, chapter books encourage “deep reading.” Unlike skimming a page of headlines, reading a book forces your brain to think critically and make _________ from one chapter to another, and to the outside world. When you make associations, so does your brain, literally building new pathways between regions in all four lobes (脑叶) and both hemispheres. Over time, these neural networks can promote quicker thinking and may provide a greater _________ against the worst effects of cognitive decay (认知衰退) .

_________ , reading books, especially fiction, has been shown to increase empathy (共鸣) and emotional intelligence. One 2013 study found that participants who read just the first part or chapter of a story showed a noticeable increase in empathy one week later, while _________ readers showed a decrease. These findings may sound _________ , but they’re not; developing social tools such as empathy and emotional intelligence can lead to more (and more positive) human interaction, which _________ can lower stress levels—both of which are proved to help you live longer and healthier.

That’s not to say that magazines, newspapers, and Web articles are without __________ . Reading anything that fills your mind and exposes you to new words, phrases, and facts seems to carry __________ benefits. New research indicates that a large __________ may lead to a more flexible mind by fueling what scientists call cognitive reserve (认知储备). One way to think about this reserve is as your brain’s ability to adapt to __________ . Just as your blood cells will help to cover a cut on your knee, cognitive reserve helps your brain cells find new mental pathways around areas damaged by stroke, dementia, and other forms of decay. This could explain why, after death, many seemingly healthy elders turn out to harbor advanced signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brains despite showing few signs __________ . It’s their cognitive reserve, researchers suspect, that may allow some seniors to __________ hidden brain damage.

4 . My 7-year-old daughter always has her nose in a book. She even continued reading in the car on the long drive to summer camp, where she lost the book. This is the first lost _______book in my life. In my childhood, my family had always been expected to be _______, but we were poor, and I didn’t own books. I had to borrow books. My library books lived on a _______shelf while they were mine, and it _______me when I had to return them to the library on the due day.

However, my daughter has more books now than I owned during my whole childhood. So it’s probably my _______that she didn’t cherish the books. “Sorry. I can’t find it.” My daughter said with a shrug, “We just pay $ 20 for the book. What’s the big _______?” The missing library book just met with a cold _______from her, but it met with nail-biting _______from me. I walked into the library in a deep _______as if I had lost the book.

Feeling the need to make her feel responsible for the book, I asked her to do the chores. She agreed to clean up all the pets’ houses _______my paying the library book. I’d meant the chore to be _______!

Surprisingly, she was enjoying herself. I took a picture of her lovely back. So, was I winning or losing at _______? Did I teach her the _______of keeping a library book if the picture I took shows she is working _______?

To my _______, my little girl knew what matters in her life. She could devote herself to the chores as much as books.

7 . You can’t imagine how crazy I was about football when I was young. For years, my life follow a(n) ______: I slipped out the house and played football until dark. But I was ______ infected with malaria (感染疟疾) one day. Soon enough, my mother rushed me to the hospital. And the doctor said I needed to be ______ into the hospital.

My dad often spent the night with me in the hospital while my mother ______ my sister at home. Then came the happiest moments when my father told me wonderful ______.

My father was a(n) ______ storyteller. In the hospital; he would tell me a story or two, or, sometimes, if he was not too tired, many in response to my request. He ______ bicycle sounds and the howl (吼叫) of the wind so vividly that the pictures would never ______ away from my mind. So happy were these moments that sometimes I even wished to ______ my hospital stay.

Because of my mom’s strict and careful care later, it became ______ difficult to recover slowly. No longer sick, no more stories. ______, I went into my father’s room one evening.

“Dad, you tell me stories only when I’m sick.”

My father laughed, “You are already eight and can read by yourself.”

He ______ me a book and said “Go and read that. It’ll tell you stories.”

That night, I opened the book and read what turned out to be the most ______ story that I had ever read.

What I discovered that night ______ my life. I became thirsty for books and became a voracious (求知欲强的) ______. Through reading, I felt as though I were on the magical journey to the endless.

8 . 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.