1 . Shared Reading is a unique experience and exposes us to great and varied literature.
Create a positive and supportive reading environment. When children and adults come together to read and explore a text, they develop a sense of community and a shared experience.
Develop a lifelong love for books. As children observe the pleasure and value their adult counterparts place on reading, they are more likely to develop a lifelong love for books themselves.
Promote social and emotional growth. During shared reading, children participate in discussions and share their thoughts and opinions. What’s more, they listen to others. As for them, it is of significance.
| A．Learn more about the world |
| B．This can enhance their motivations to read |
| C．Expand vocabulary and comprehension skills |
| D．It allows people to discover more about themselves and others |
| E．It’s important for them to finish reading as many books as they can |
| F．They learn to express themselves effectively and respect the ideas of others |
| G．The affection can have a significant impact on their academic achievements |
2 . To develop one’s taste in English, the most effective way is to read a wide variety of English books. Yet one may be at a loss to choose the right books, especially as a beginner. As a native Spanish, I would like to share some of my experience.
My first English novel was Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, recommended by many English teachers and professors as an ideal book for English learners. But my experience was somewhat disastrous. I had great difficulty in understanding the novel, let alone enjoying it. It’s not the vocabulary that troubled me, but rather the way Austen makes sentences, and her way of thinking, which seemed too hard for me at that time. My enthusiasm was much recovered after reading Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms. No long and complicated sentences. And I particularly liked his brief and straightforward (简洁的) style. So my first suggestion is, as a beginner, you’d better choose contemporary novels instead of classical ones.
However, if you limit yourself to novels you will miss a lot of treasures. English essays can at once inform you, entertain you, and improve your taste in English. The best example is Bertrand Russell’s work. His simple language enables his philosophy within the reach of ordinary people. Here comes my second suggestion — essays are necessary.
Never follow others’ suggestions and opinions blindly, however famous or influential (有很大影响的) the person might be. We should be open to various ideas, but always think and determine by ourselves. As a saying goes, “One man’s meat is another man’s poison”. With that in mind, we are bound to find out our favorite writers through reading and develop our fine taste in English.
1. What made the first English novel that the author read hard to understand?| A．Complicated conversations. | B．Sentences and Austen’s thinking style. |
| C．The old-fashioned vocabulary. | D．Not knowing the social background. |
| A．Enjoyable. | B．Unique. | C．Terrible. | D．Inspirational. |
| A．Don’t be affected by others’ ideas easily. | B．Read books that are instructive. |
| C．Choose books that challenge us most. | D．Compare books before buying. |
| A．Give comments on literature works. |
| B．Tell beginners how to choose English books. |
| C．Encourage people to read more English books. |
| D．Recommend first class books to English learners. |
3 . National Non-Fiction November is the perfect time to pick up a true life story. Here come a series of illustrated biographies (带插图的传记), which surely give you a good try.
The Fossil Hunter written and illustrated by Kate Winter
Discover pioneering fossil hunter Mary Anning, who once searched the cliffs and seashores for rocks and shells. Her work made the way for some of the most important discoveries about dinosaurs. Lots of illustrations bring Anning’s interesting story to life.
Walter Tull’s Scrapbook written and illustrated by Michaela Morgan
This award-winning book is presented as a scrapbook (剪贴簿) with photos, documents and records to tell the life story of Walter Tull-one of the first black British professional football players and one of the first black officers in the British Army. Follow Tull from his childhood, through his football years, to his death in the First World War.
Nina written by Traci N. Todd and illustrated by Christian Robinson
Meet Eunice, who sang before she could talk, and journey with her from the piano chair of her childhood to the huge concert halls where she performed as Nina Simone. This beautiful biography tells the story of a gifted musician and activist.
Counting on Katherine written by Helaine Becker and illustrated by Dow Phumiruk
As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count, including her steps along the street and the number of dishes she washed in the sink. She went on to work as a mathematician at NASA, helping to make impressive space missions possible.
1. Which book would be picked up by a sports-lover?| A．Nina | B．The Fossil Hunter |
| C．Counting on Katherine | D．Walter Tull’s Scrapbook |
| A．They describe scenes in the future. |
| B．They record a person’s real life story. |
| C．They introduce the author’s experience. |
| D．They are written and illustrated by the same person. |
| A．A novel. | B．A magazine. | C．A guide book. | D．A travel brochure. |
4 . Reading is often seen as an individual activity, but it definitely doesn’t have to be. If you join a book club, reading with others can be a positive social interaction.
In such a fast-paced world, sometimes it’s challenging to find the time and motivation to read. By joining a book club, you make a commitment to read the book of the month or the week and discuss your insights with others.
Reading is one of the most important things you can do for your brain, but reading with other people can make it even better.
Another plus is that at a book club you get together with your club members regularly, with whom you can share not only your thoughts about books but also other aspects of life.
| A．This can help you meet your reading goals. |
| B．Joining a book club can offer you many benefits. |
| C．Book clubs can boost your happiness and well-being. |
| D．Do you often have difficulty finishing reading a book? |
| E．This brings a sense of community, belonging, and friendship. |
| F．Have you found yourself always reading similar types of books? |
| G．Meeting with others and exchanging ideas about things is the key. |
5 . World Book Day falls on April 23rd every year, but do you know that it is also Shakespeare Day? Everybody may have heard of Shakespeare, but do you know how many plays he wrote?
Shakespeare’s plays have three kinds: tragedies, comedies and histories. His most famous play is the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, which deals with two young lovers who are not allowed to marry by their parents. It was best-known to people. Other tragedies include Hamlet, Othello, and Macbethd.
Shakespeare’s comedies include Much Ado About Nothing,A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is a play about unclear identities. Two twins are shipwrecked (遭海难) and the sister, Viola, dresses up as her brother, Sebastian, who she thinks is dead. It’s funny, because the brother reappears and there’s a big love problem going on: Viola is in love with the Duke, who is in love with Olivia, who falls in love with Sebastian except that she doesn’t realize that Sebastian is actually Viola dressed up! Everybody falls in love with the wrong person, but it is all made right in the end.
Some of his history plays, such as Antony and Cleopatra, Richard III and Henry V,are based on the lives of real historical people. In Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra becomes Antony’s girlfriend and Antony becomes so crazy about her that he loses control of the army. Cleopatra kills herself in the end and Antony kills himself too.
Shakespeare’s plays can be very difficult sometimes. Some of the themes they deal with are heavy, so they almost always include a lighter subplot with characters that are not so important. They are often used in tragedies to lighten the mood of the play and to keep the audience interested in the main plot.
1. Which of the following plays is best-known to people?| A．Twelfth Night. | B．Antony and Cleopatra. |
| C．Romeo and Juliet. | D．Much Ado About Nothing. |
| A．Othello. | B．Sebastian. | C．Antony. | D．Hamlet. |
| A．World Book Day falls on April 23rd every year. |
| B．There are three kinds of Shakespeare’s plays. |
| C．Shakespeare’s plays can be very difficult sometimes. |
| D．Real historical events can be found in every history play. |
| A．To lead the development of the main plot. |
| B．To help the audience understand the plays. |
| C．To make the difficult plot of the plays simple. |
| D．To relax the audience and make them follow the main theme. |
6 . When I was young, a friend and I came up with a “big” plan to make reading easy. The idea was to boil down great books to a sentence each. “Moby-Dick” by American writer Herman Melville, for instance, was reduced to: “A whale of a tale about the one that got away.” As it turned out, the joke was on us. How could a single sentence convey the essence (精髓) of a masterpiece with over five hundred pages?
Blinkist, a website and an app, now summarizes nonfiction titles in the form of quick takes labeled “bliks.” The end result is more than one sentence, but not by much. Sarah Bakewell’s “At the Existentialist Cafe” is broken into 11 screens of information; Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” fills 13.
Blinkist has been around since 2012.It calls its summaries “15-minute discoveries” to indicate how long it takes to read a Blinkist summary. “Almost none of us,” the editors assure us, “have the time to read everything we’d like to read.” Well, yes, of course. “So many books, so little time.” declares a poster I once bought at a book market. But I judge the quality of someone’s library by the books he or she has yet to read.
That’s because a book is something we ought to live with, rather than speed through and categorize. It offers an experience as real as any other. The point of reading a book is not accumulating information, or at least not that alone. The most essential aspect is the communication between writer and reader: The idea behind Blinkist, however, is the opposite:
Reading can be, should be, measured by the efficient uptake (吸收) of key ideas. No, no, no. What’s best about reading books is its inefficiency.
When reading a book, we need to dive in, let it take over us, demand something of us, teach us what it can. Blinkist is instead a service that changes books for people who don’t, in fact, want to read. A 15-minute summary misses the point of reading; speed-reading with the app isn’t reading at all.
1. What does the underlined part “the joke was on us” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．We were actually joking. | B．We were laughed at by others. |
| C．We were underestimating ourselves. | D．We were just embarrassing ourselves. |
| A．What Blinkist is. | B．Why Binkist is popular. |
| C．How to use Blinkist. | D．Where you can use Blinkist. |
| A．There are few new books of quality. | B．Many books are hard to understand. |
| C．People do not have enough time to read. | D．People do not like reading as much as before. |
| A．Obtaining key ideas efficiently. | B．Further confirming our beliefs. |
| C．Accumulating information quickly. | D．Deeply involving ourselves in books. |
7 . I have a special place in my heart for libraries. I have for as long as I can remember. I was always an enthusiastic reader, sometimes reading up to three books a day as a child. Stories were like air to me and while other kids played ball or went to parties, I lived out adventures through the books I checked out from the library.
My first job was working at the Ukiah Library when I was 16 years old. It was a dream job and I did everything from shelving books to reading to the children for story time.
As I grew older and became a mother, the library took on a new place and an added meaning in my life. I had several children and books were our main source(来源) of entertainment. It was a big deal for us to load up and go to the local library, where my kids could pick out books to read or books they wanted me to read to them.
I always read, using different voices, as though I were acting out the stories with my voice and they loved it! It was a special time to bond with my children and it filled them with the wonderment of books.
Now, I see my children taking their children to the library and I love that the excitement of going to the library lives on from generation to generation.
As a novelist, I’ve found a new relationship with libraries. I encourage readers to go to their local library when they can’t afford to purchase a book. I see libraries as a safe haven(避风港) for readers and writers, a bridge that helps put together a reader with a book. Libraries, in their own way, help fight book piracy(盗版行为) and I think all writers should support libraries in a significant way when they can. Encourage readers to use the library. Share library announcements on your social media. Frequent them and talk about them when you can.
1. Which word best describes the authorˈs relationship with books as a child?| A．Cooperative. | B．Uneasy. |
| C．Inseparable. | D．Casual. |
| A．Pleasure from working in the library. |
| B．Joy of reading passed on in the family. |
| C．Wonderment from acting out the stories. |
| D．A closer bond developed with the readers. |
| A．Sponsor book fairs. | B．Write for social media. |
| C．Support libraries. | D．Purchase her novels. |
8 . Here are some books that are suitable for English learners. Let’s have a look.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
One great thing about this book is that it gives you a deep understanding of a different culture. This book follows the life of Esperanza, a Mexican-American girl. Esperanza moves into a home on Mango Street, The house is old and small. In the new home, Esperanza feels like that she has no time to be alone. She promises herself that one days he will leave and have her own home.
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
We can almost guarantee that native English speakers have read this book at least once. A baby pig called Wilbur is almost killed because of his status—he is the smallest pig and he is considered to be useless. Charlotte, a spider, knows that the farmers are planning to kill Wilbur. She promises to make a plan to save him.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
It is a classic. So, if you find yourself in a conversation about literature, this is a good one to talk about. This is a story of a long fight between an old experienced fisherman and the best fish he ever caught. Santiago has returned to the village without any fish for 84 days. On the 85thday, his luck changes and so does his life.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
It’s based on history. If you have already known a lot of information about World WarⅡ,this might be an interesting book for you. The year is 1943 in Copenhagen, Denmark. There are soldiers everywhere. The life of 10-year-old Annemarie has been changed a lot because of the war. But this is a story of hope and courage.
1. What can the readers learn from The House on Mango Street?| A．Mango Street is in Mexico. |
| B．Mango Street is very beautiful. |
| C．Esperanza is an ambitious girl. |
| D．Esperanza loves the new house a lot. |
| A．Charlotte’s Web. |
| B．Number the Stars. |
| C．The Old Man and the Sea. |
| D．The House on Mango Street. |
| A．It was written in 1943. | B．It’s historical literature. |
| C．It’s suitable for children. | D．It’s about a different culture. |
9 . Classic literature (文学作品) includes older works that have experienced the test of time and that are still widely read today. Whether you’re a student or just an eager reader hoping to explore classic literature, you may be wondering where to begin.
Read summaries of what the work is about. You can find descriptions or summaries of classic works of literature online.
If you’re trying to gain a better understanding of a difficult text, underlining passages may not be enough. Instead, try making comments or notes in the margins (页边空白).
After you finish a chapter, write a brief summary of everything important that happened. Make sure you address the major plot points, how those points influence each character, and how that chapter fits into the context of the larger book.
After you finish reading a book, it may be useful to learn about what others have learned from the text.
| A．Start reading and keep reading. |
| B．Try reading and learning with a group. |
| C．Write your chapter summaries without consulting the text. |
| D．Go online and see if there is any valuable information on your book. |
| E．You can also read the back cover of the book to gain a basic idea of the story. |
| F．Your comments or notes can help improve your understanding of the material. |
| G．Skimming will help you gain a basic understanding of the plot, characters, setting, and concepts. |
10 . Authors Share Their Favorite Books
Kristan Higgins
“Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh was a book I read over and over as a kid. I loved Harriet’s independence and drive and her ability to get where she wanted. Most of all, Harriet reminded me that everyone has a story worth reading.”
Kristan Higgins is a New York Times-bestselling author of more than 20 novels.
Nisha Sharma
“I was crazy about Pride and Prejudice from the moment I read the very first sentence. Elizabeth Bennet is a strong-willed heroine who knows her mind and her heart. At a young age, Jane Austen made me believe that strong women like Elizabeth deserve love from men who respect their intelligence. I can confidently say Jane Austen’s story shaped the direction of my writing career.”
Nisha Sharma is the author of My So-Called Bollywood Life.
Elyssa Friedland
“I absolutely adore Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. What could be better than a story about a girl forced to obey every order because of a gift from a fairy (仙女)? Tired of being taken advantage of, the girl, with a talking book as her companion, leaves her home to find the fairy to return her unwanted gift. This is a story about taking matters into one’s own hands and using wisdom and determination to overcome what seems like an insurmountable obstacle (不可逾越的障碍).”
Elyssa Friedland is the author of the novel named The Intermission.
Vesper Stamper
“It’s hard to beat the Bronte sisters for their woman power. My favorite book of all time is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, which proves that a girl or woman can have inner strength and great power by being herself, even if that is ‘poor, plain and little’. Jane refuses to give in to moral convenience, at great cost to herself. As a result, she finds true love and changes the lives of those she comes across. A lesson for me: Sometimes it’s in the small acts that a real change is made.
Vesper Stamper is the author of What the Night Sings, an incredibly moving novel.
1. Whose book is Nisha Sharma’s favorite?| A．Louise Fitzhugh’s. | B．Jane Austen’s. |
| C．Gail Carson Levine’s. | D．Charlotte Bronte’s. |
| A．Harriet the Spy. | B．Pride and Prejudice. |
| C．Ella Enchanted. | D．Jane Eyre. |
| A．Their main characters are females. | B．Their authors were born very poor. |
| C．They focus on seeking for true love. | D．They describe the authors’ own lives. |
