2 . Book Recommendafion

Second Harvest

Author: Don Agey

Like the first installment, Eclectic Harves, this book includes rhymed poems which employ different poetic techniques. If you are interested in it, buy it at a discount.

Of Human Nature and Good Habits

Author: Prabhash Karar

Research claims that maintaining only 5 good habits—eating healthily, exercising, drinking properly, not smoking and maintaining a healthy body weight—can not only keep the life in golden years healthy but also extend the lifetime of the old men and women by 12 years and 14 years respectively. The book illustrates some aspects of lifestyles. As you can see, this book is especially suitable for people after retirement.

The Duelling Wizards of Simpletown

Author: Whitney Lee Preston

The Duelling Wizards of Simpletown is a tale of fantasy involving two silly magicians, and a tricky plan by their two-faced servant. There is no doubt that kids will like it.

Marvlt and Goreg Get in Big Trouble with a Dinosaur

Author: Connor Anstiss

Marvlt and Goreg live next door to each other, and are best friends. These two naughty 8-year-olds seem to get into all sorts of troubles. At the zoo, they have a much different encounter. Will they be okay? Read it and find the answer yourself.

1. Which book will interest poetry lovers most?

A．Second Harvest.	B．Of Human Nature and Good Habits.
C．The Dueling Wizards of Simpletown.	D．Marvlt and Goreg Get in Big Trouble with a Dinosaur.

2. What does Prabhash Karan think enables the aged to live longer?

A．Eating more.	B．Gaining weight.
C．Keeping a healthy diet.	D．Drinking much wine.

3. What’s Marvlt and Goreg Get in Big Trouble with a Dinosaur about?

A．A story of 200 keepers.	B．A tale of the animal and children.
C．The experience of two silly magicians.	D．The way to deal with naughty children.

4 . Stories are shared in many ways. They are described in books and magazines. They are read around the campfire at night. They are randomly distributed from stand-alone booths. But what else?

To revive literature in the era of fast news and smartphone addiction, Short Edition, a French publisher of short-form literature, has set up more than 30 story dispensers (分发机) in the USA in the past years to deliver fiction at the push of a button at restaurants, universities and government offices.

Francis Ford Coppola, the film director and winemaker, liked the idea so much that he invested in the company and placed a dispenser at his Cafe Zoetrope in San Francisco. Last month, public libraries in some other cities announced they would be setting them up, too. There is one on the campus at Penn State. A few can be found in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla. And Short Edition plans to announce more, including at the Los Angeles International Airport.

“Everything old is new again,” said Andrew Nurkin, director of the Free Library of Philadelphia, which is one of the libraries that set up the dispensers. “We want people to be easily exposed to literature. We want to advance literacy among children and inspire their creativity.”

Here’s how a dispenser works. It has three buttons on top indicating choices for stories that can be read in one minute, three minutes or five minutes. When a button is pushed, a short story is printed.

The stories are free. They are chosen from a computer category of more than 100,000 original submissions by writers whose works have been evaluated by Short Edition’s judges, and transmitted over a mobile network. Offerings can be tailored to specific interests, like children’s fiction or romance. Short Edition gets stories for its category by holding writing contests.

Short Edition set up its first booth in 2016 and has 150 machines worldwide. “The idea is to make people happy,” said Kristan Leroy, director of Short Edition. “There is too much unhappiness today.”

1. What do we know about the stories sent by dispensers?

A．They are easily read.

B．They are short in form.

C．They can be bought from booths.

D．They can be found in magazines.

2. Which paragraph shows the popularity of story dispensers in America?

A．Paragraph 3.	B．Paragraph 5.
C．Paragraph 6.	D．Paragraph 7.

3. Why were the story dispensers set up according to Andrew Nurkin?

A．To introduce French literature.

B．To get rid of smartphone addiction.

C．To make people have access to literature.

D．To reduce the financial stress of libraries.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Everything Old Is New

B．Online Reading: a Virtual Tour

C．Short Edition Is Getting Popular

D．Taste of Literature, at the Push of a Button

5 . On a rainy afternoon, maybe one of the following books will keep you company leisurely, allowing you to spend your time alone as well as stepping into a different world.

Don’t Shed Your Tears for Anyone Who Lives on These Streets, by Patricio Pron

In April 1945, Italy, a writer disappeared at a conference and was found dead at another place. Thirty years later, a young man interviewed survivors from the conference, trying to uncover the truth about what happened and its consequences. This novel, by a well-known Argentine writer, explores art, crime and politics.

When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi

At thirty-six, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed (诊断) with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient. This autobiography finds hope and beauty in the face of death as Kalanithi attempts to answer the question “What makes a life worth living?”.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Set in a small Alabama town in the 1930s, the story focuses on honest, highly respected lawyer Atticus Finch who puts his career on the line when he agrees to represent Tom Robinson, a black man accused of committing a crime.

Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story by Bess Kalb

Bess Kalb saved every voicemail from her grandmother Bobby Bell who died at ninety. In this book, Bobby is speaking to Bess once more, in a voice as loving as it ever was in life and brings us several generations of brave women. They include Bobby’s mother, who traveled alone from Belarus to America to survive, and Bess’s mother, who always fought against convention.

1. What type of book is the first novel?

A．Sci-fi.

B．Biography.

C．Detective books.

D．History books.

2. Which book explores life and death?

A．To Kill a Mockingbird.

B．When Breath Becomes Air.

C．Don’t Shed Your Tears for Anyone Who Lives on These Streets.

D．Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story.

3. Who is the main character in the last novel?

A．Bobby Bell.

B．Bess Kalb.

C．Bess’s mother.

D．Bobby’s mother.

6 . Treasure hunts have excited people's imagination for hundreds of years both in real life and in books such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Kit Williams，a modern writer， had the idea of combining the real excitement of a treasure hunt with clues found in a book when he wrote a children's story，Masquerade，in 1979. The book was about a hare，and a month before it came out Williams buried a gold hare in a park in Bedfordshire. The book contained a large number of clues to help readers find the hare，but Williams put in a lot of "red herrings"， or false clues，to mislead them.

Ken Roberts，the man who found the hare，had been looking for it for nearly two years. Although he had been searching in the wrong area most of the time，he found it by logic （逻辑），not by luck. His success came from the fact that he had gained an important clue at the start. He had realized that the words："One of Six to Eight" under the first picture in the book connected the hare in some way to Katherine of Aragon，the first of Henry VIII's six wives. Even here，however，Williams had succeeded in misleading him. Ken knew that Katherine of Aragon had died at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire in 1536 and thought that Williams had buried the hare there. He had been digging there for over a year before a new idea occurred to him. He found out that Kit Williams had spent his childhood near Ampthill，in Bedfordshire，and thought that he must have buried the hare in a place he knew well，but he still could not see the connection with Katherine of Aragon，until one day he came across two stone crosses in Ampthill Park and learnt that they had been built in her honor in 1773.

Even then his search had not come to an end. It was only after he had spent several nights digging around the cross that he decided to write to Kit Williams to find out if he was wasting his time there. Williams encouraged him to continue，and on February 24th 1982，he found the treasure. It was worth ￡3000 in the beginning，but the excitement it had caused since its burial made it much more valuable.

1. The underlined word "them"（paragraph1）refers to _______.

A．red herrings

B．treasure hunts

C．Henry VIII's six wives

D．readers of Masquerade

2. What is the most important clue in the story to help Ken Roberts find the hare？

A．Two stone crosses in Ampthill.

B．Stevenson's Treasure Island.

C．Katherine of Aragon.

D．Williams' hometown

3. Which of the following describes Roberts' logic in searching for the hare？
a. Henry VIII's six wives
b. Katherines' burial place at Kimbolton
c. Williams' childhood in Ampthill
d. Katherine of Aragon
e. stone crosses in Ampthill Park

A．a﹣b﹣c﹣e﹣d	B．d﹣b﹣c﹣e﹣a
C．a﹣d﹣b﹣c﹣e	D．b﹣a﹣e﹣c﹣d

4. What is the subject discussed in the text？

A．An exciting historical event.

B．A modern treasure hunt.

C．The attraction of Masquerade.

D．The importance of logical thinking.

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 form 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 1 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 author’s relationship with books as a child?

A．Cooperative.

B．Uneasy.

C．Inseparable.

D．Casual.

2. What does the underlined phrase “an added meaning” in paragraph 3 refer to?

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.

3. What does the author call on other writers to do?

A．Sponsor book fairs.	B．Write for social media.
C．Support libraries.	D．Purchase her novels.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Reading: A Source of Knowledge

B．My Idea about writing

C．Library: A Haven for the Young

D．My Love of the Library

8 . Stories play a vital role in the growth and development of children. The books they read and the characters they get to know can become like friends. It's also good for children to understand that books are   a useful source of information and that good reading skills are important for success in their future lives.

Children who can read well are more likely to have higher confidence levels. This will benefit them in school as they’ll feel able to participate fully in activities. Another part of building confidence is to know where you fit into the world. Stories can help with this process by showing children what people's lives are like where they live and in other parts of the world.

Stories are a great way to introduce new words and ideas into a child's language--starting with picture books for the very young, working up to more complex novels for teenagers. Fiction based on real life can also help children with their own life experience--it shows them how diverse the world is and that some people's lives are vastly different from theirs. And the process is done in a natural way. There's no actual teaching involved at all, but they learn from simply reading the story.

Reading helps children understand that there are other children who feel the same way and they are not alone. This helps children understand that feelings are normal and should be expressed. Watching their responses to the feelings of the characters in the stories will give you some idea of how a child feels about certain situations and emotions. For example, how the child responds to the character in the story feeling sad or scared will give you some idea of how the child thinks.

As you can see, children's stories are important for a number of reasons and form a vital part of the growing process. Being part of that process can bring children a sense of satisfaction as well as being great fun. So, go and get your children some wonderful books to allow them to enjoy a relaxing bedtime story.

1. What can we know from Paragraph 1?

A．Reading stories benefits children a lot.

B．Reading is the best way to gain information.

C．Reading stories helps children make more friends.

D．Reading skills should be developed at a young age.

2. How could reading stories raise children's confidence?

A．Inspiring children to get good grades.

B．Supporting children's language development.

C．Aiding children with living in a better family environment.

D．Allowing children to explore their suitable positions in society.

3. What does the author think about learning through reading?

A．Unrealistic.

B．Effective.

C．Time-saving

D．Expensive.

4. What can be inferred from the text?

A．Most teenagers are fond of complex novels.

B．Picture books are lacking in real life situations.

C．Most children have difficulty in expressing themselves.

D．Parents can know kids better from kids' reading responses.

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

It’s one of the     1     (great) novels in world literature. First published in 1791, A Dream of Red Mansions, also     2     (know) as The Story of the Stone, is to Chinese people as William Shakespeare’s famous plays are to westerners.

The novel,     3     reflects the history of the Qing Dynasty, follows the rise and fall of the noble Jia family. Originally, the family seems     4     (be) wealthy and powerful, thanks in part to its close relationships with the royal family. Yet, the heir to the family, Jia Baoyu, enjoys     5     (live) a pure, carefree life, having no interest     6     politics at all.

Expected to pair with Xue Baochai, Jia     7     (stay) glued to his delicately brilliant cousin, Lin Daiyu. As the lovers head toward a tragic end, the family falls on hard times, fading away eventually.

The     8     (appreciate) of the classic novel is surely both a pleasant treat and a bittersome challenge. As always, the novel has experienced various adaptations. Making the detailed 120-chapter novel into just several hours is     9     (absolute) no piece of cake. “Still, choices have to be made,” the opera’s stage director Stan Lai concluded. “For everyone else, the challenge is to make it     10     excellent opera.”

10 . I start every summer with the best of intentions:to attack one big book from the past, a classic that I was supposed to have read when young and ambitious. Often the pairings of books and settings have been purely accidental: "Moby Dick" on a three-day cross-country train trip: “The Magic Mountain” in a New England beachside cottage with no locks on the doors, no telephones or televisions in the rooms, and little to do beyond row on the salt pond. Attempting "The Man Without Qualities" on a return to Hawaii, my native state, however, was less fruitful: I made it through one and a quarter volumes (册), then decided that I'd got the point and went swimming instead.

But this summer I find myself at a loss. I’m not quite interested in Balzac, say, or “Tristram Shandy.” There’s always War and Peace, which I've covered some distance several times, only to get bogged down in the "War" part, set it aside for a while, and realize that I have to start over from the beginning again, having forgotten everyone’s name and social rank. How appealing to simply fall back on a favorite-once more into “The Waves” or “Justine,” which feels almost like cheating, too exciting and too much fun to properly belong in serious literature.

And then there’s Stendhal’s “The Red and the Black,” which happens to be the name of my favorite cocktail (鸡尾酒) of the summer, created by Michael Cecconi at Savoy and BackForty. It is easy to drink, and knocking back three or four seems like such a delightful idea. Cecconi's theory: "I take whatever’s fresh at the green market and turn it into liquid." The result is a pure shot of afternoon in the park, making one feel cheerful and peaceful all at once, lying on uncut grass with eyes shut, sun beating through the lids...

1. What can we infer about the author from the first paragraph?

A．He has a cottage in New England.	B．He shows talents for literature.
C．He enjoys reading when traveling.	D．He admires a lot of great writers.

2. What do the underlined words "get bogged down" in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Get confused.	B．Be carried away.
C．Be interrupted.	D．Make no progress.

3. Why does the author say reading his favorite books feels like cheating?

A．He finishes them quickly.	B．He should read something serious.
C．He barely understands them.	D．He has read them many times before.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Books of Summer	B．My Summer Holidays
C．To Read or Not to Read	D．It’s Never Too Late to Read