1 . Digital reading (数字阅读) appears to be destroying habits of “deep reading”. Astonishing numbers of people with years of schooling are in fact illiterate (文盲). This month’s Ljubljana Manifesto (宣言) explains: “The digital field may promote more reading than ever in history, but it also offers many attractions to read in a casual and scattered (零散的) manner— or even not to read at all. This increasingly endangers higher-level reading.”
That’s frightening, because “higher-level reading” has been necessary to civilization. It made the understanding and an international increase in empathy (共鸣). Without it, we would suffer a lot. As the Ljubljana Manifesto notes, “as much as one-third of Europeans struggle even with lower-level reading skills.” More than one-fifth of adults in the US “fall into the illiterate/functionally illiterate category”. Separately, post-pandemic (后疫情时期) reading scores for American13-year-olds are the lowest in decades. And the Washington-based Center for Global Development recently estimated that literacy (读写能力) in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa among those with five years of schooling has decreased by 10% this past half century.
Experts in the Ljubljana Manifesto record the demerits of digital reading: “Recent studies of various kinds indicate a decline of thoughtful reading, slow reading and long-form reading.” When you read a book on paper, you can be entirely inside the experience, absorb hundreds of pages of details thoroughly and begin to catch the world’s complexity. Online, says Maryanne Wolf of UCLA, we are “skimming, scanning and scrolling”. The medium is the message: doing deep reading on your phone is as hard as playing tennis with your phone. Recently, a bright 11-year-old boy told me I was wasting time on books: he absorbed more information faster from websites. He had a point. But digital readers also absorb more misinformation and seldom absorb fine opinions.
In short, as professors from Northwestern University predicted in 2005, we are returning to the days when only an elite (精英) “reading class” reads long texts, which is worrying.
1. What can we learn about digital reading from paragraph 1?| A．Digital reading has weakened the practice of deep reading. |
| B．Digital reading has solved the problem of illiteracy. |
| C．Digital reading has made deep reading accessible to wider readers. |
| D．Digital reading has caused a greater appreciation for deep reading. |
| A．Digital reading’s great popularity. | B．The importance of deep reading. |
| C．American students’ reading skills. | D．The lowering of the level of literacy. |
| A．Functions. | B．Depths. | C．Shortcomings. | D．Features. |
| A．Advantages of digital reading. | B．Measures to practice deep reading. |
| C．Ways to encourage digital reading. | D．Benefits of lower-level reading. |
2 . Technology seems to discourage slow, careful reading. Reading on a screen tires your eyes and makes it harder for you to keep your place. Online writing tends to be more skimmable (易略读的) and list-like than print. The neuroscientist Mary Walt argued recently that this new standard of skim reading is producing“an invisible, game-changing transformation”in how readers process words. The neuronal circuit (神经回路) that maintains and supports the brain’s ability to read now prefers the rapid absorption of information.
We shouldn’t overplay this danger. All readers skim. From about the age of nine, our eyes start to skim quickly across the page, reading only about a quarter of the words properly, and filling in the gap s by inference. Nor is there anything new in these fears about declining attention spans (持续时间). So far, the anxieties have proved to be false alarms. “Quite a few critics have been worried about attention spans lately and see very short stories as signs of cultural decline,” the American author Selvin Brown wrote. “No one ever said that poems were evidence of short attention spans.”
And yet the Internet has certainly changed the way we read. For a start, it means that there is more to read, because more people than ever are writing. And digital writing is meant for rapid release and response. This mode of writing and reading can be interactive and fun. But often it treats other people’s words as something to be quickly taken as materials to say something else. Everyone talks over the top of everyone else, eager to be heard.
Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a source of personal achievement. But this argument often emphasizes “enthusiastic” “passionate” or “eager” reading, non e of which words suggest slow, quiet absorption. To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in the words and their slow understanding of a line of thought.
The human need for this kind of deep reading is too tenacious for any new technology to destroy. We often assume that technological change can’t be stopped and happens in one direction, so that older media like “dead-tree” books are kicked out by newer, more virtual forms. In practice, older technologies can coexist with new ones. The Kindle has not killed off the printed book any more than the car killed off the bicycle. We still want to enjoy slowly-formed ideas and carefully-chosen words. Even in a fast-moving age, there is time for slow reading.
1. Which statement would Selvin Brown probably agree?| A．Online writing harms careful reading. | B．Fears of attention spans are unnecessary. |
| C．The situation of cultural decline is serious. | D．Poetry reading helps lengthen attention spans. |
| A．It demands writers to abandon traditional writing modes. |
| B．It depends heavily on frequent interaction with the readers. |
| C．It leads to too much talking and not enough deep reflection. |
| D．It prepares readers for enthusiastic, passionate or eager reading. |
| A．Deep-rooted. | B．Widely-acknowledged. | C．Slowly-changed. | D．Rarely-noticed. |
| A．Slow Reading is Here to Stay | B．The Wonder of Deep Reading |
| C．The Internet is Changing the Way We Read | D．Digital vs Print: A Life-and-Death Struggle |
3 . Three grade 11 students from Harbour View High School, Canada, wanted to convey their message of fighting climate change to a younger audience. So, they wrote a children’s book named Keeping It Cool as part of a project.
Upon receiving their first order of 12 copies, Claire Malco, the illustrator of the book, vividly recalls the moment when the realization struck. “I just sat there with my mouth open and was like, wow, this is actually happening,” Malco told CBC News.
Coauthored by Joanna Jackson and Olivia Jordan, the book employs age-appropriate analogies (类比), coupled with vibrant illustrations, to promote actions kids can take against climate change. To explain the concept of the atmosphere, for example, the young authors drew a bubble(气泡) around Earth throughout the story. They also call for actions, such as planting trees and vegetable gardens – explaining how plants absorb CO2 from the “bubble” atmosphere just like a vacuum cleaner (真空吸尘器). The book also tells kids how they can avoid polluting the bubble by trying to walk, bike or scoot instead of taking a car or bus.
“The entire second half of the book is just things kids can do without needing their parents’ support … We wanted it to be something that every kid could finish,” Jordan explained to CBC News.
On Earth Day, the students visited a local elementary school where they read their stories and facilitated discussions about the text with every grade 5 class. They spread awareness that, regardless of age, anybody can help make a positive impact on Earth’s climate.“Educating students was the intention when writing this book. Having the opportunity to present to 10 different classes helped us gain insight on how to better our presentation and content, as well as see the impact this book will have on students,” the students told Our Canada Project.
1. Why did the three students write Keeping It Cool ?| A．To change a younger audience. | B．To show their talent for illustrating. |
| C．To describe environmental problems. | D．To inform kids of handling climate change. |
| A．Vivid. | B．Ordinary. | C．Complex. | D．Abstract. |
| A．They discussed the text with 5 classes. | B．They wrote the book with the students. |
| C．They did a presentation in every class. | D．They inspired discussions about the text. |
| A．A news report. | B．A book review. | C．A children’s book. | D．A diary. |
1. What do the speakers agree on heroes?
| A．They are like Superman in films. |
| B．They achieve great success in their work. |
| C．They are common people making important contributions. |
| A．His grandfather. | B．Great writers. | C．Superman. |
| A．Unusual. | B．Realistic. | C．Dull. |
| A．It’s hard to find great books. |
| B．It’s great to do some reading. |
| C．It’s good to help some people. |
5 . Searching for the perfect gift can be difficult, especially age-appropriate material for teenagers. Look no further. We have a list of the best teen magazines. Give the gift of reading to your teens today!
| Muse For teens up to age 14, Muse teaches, challenges, and excites readers of both genders. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute, this magazine features award-winning authors and focuses on science, history, and the arts. Whether your teen is interested in genetics, video games, outer space, beekeeping, robots, or mythology, this magazine has it all! |
| Sports Illustrated Kids Perfect for sports fans aged 8 to 14, SI Kids supplies readers with interesting sports news they won’t want to miss. Articles on favorite athletes feature incredible photography and illustrations. Girls and boys alike will enjoy the advice from athletes, coaches, and experts in the field: they’ll find tips on nutrition, performance, morale, and more. |
| Girls’ Life Magazine Designed for 10 to 15-year-olds, Girls’ Life provides inspiration and entertainment for every reader. She’ll find tips for dealing with stress, navigating high school, achieving academic success, and beauty and fashion advice. This print magazine delivers fun—quizzes, reader submissions, and more—helping guide young women through their teen years while still allowing them to be young. |
| National Geographic Kids While designed for kids aged six and up, this magazine features a lot of important, fun information about the world around us. Discover great stories about wildlife, current events, pop culture, science, technology, other kids’ adventures, and more! They’ll feel like they’re exploring the places themselves, with stunning photography, lively stories, and exciting facts. |
1. Which of the following can you learn from Girls’ Life?
| A．News about award-winning authors. | B．Information about interesting events. |
| C．Suggestions from coaches about nutrition. | D．Advice on dealing with pressure. |
| A．Girls’ Life. | B．Muse. |
| C．Sports Illustrated Kids. | D．National Geographic Kids. |
| A．Parents. | B．Teenage boys. |
| C．Kids. | D．Teenage girls. |
| A．In a classroom. | B．In a bookstore. | C．In a library. |
7 . Hannah, an adventurous girl, lived in a small village on a land far away. All of the villagers were used to their
One afternoon, she
From that day on, Hannah
With the good in heart, Hannah started to
Hannah’s passion and
| A．robotic | B．challenging | C．fruitless | D．urgent |
| A．camp | B．detect | C．explore | D．relax |
| A．came across | B．cycled around | C．dropped by | D．stepped into |
| A．confused | B．amazed | C．disappointed | D．relieved |
| A．claimed | B．clarified | C．predicted | D．realized |
| A．bought | B．brought | C．picked | D．searched |
| A．eagerly | B．cautiously | C．patiently | D．roughly |
| A．accidents | B．perseverance | C．patience | D．adversity |
| A．called | B．prepared | C．struggled | D．waited |
| A．body | B．brain | C．head | D．heart |
| A．adapt | B．share | C．read | D．tell |
| A．ambition | B．benefit | C．evidence | D．word |
| A．Convinced | B．Entertained | C．Inspired | D．Shocked |
| A．pride | B．dedication | C．integrity | D．patience |
| A．hope | B．misery | C．sympathy | D．tolerance |
1.阅读的重要性；
2.你的阅读习惯；
3.你的阅读建议。
注意：
1.词数80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，使行文连贯。
Good morning, boys and girls!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________There are two important teachers in this world. One is the nature. It was considered to be the best teacher in the old days, because man learned a lot from nature like lighting the fire and growing rice. It also provides man with many necessary things for life, such as water, food and so on.
Hu, 31, is a pioneer in nature education. He set up an organization five years ago. It offers nature-based programs to children under 12 years old, including many outdoor activities, such as planting trees and watching birds.
“Nature is friendly to us if we protect her. And don’t forget that we all are part of nature,” He said. The purpose of nature education is to teach people how to understand, respect (尊重) and get on well with nature.
Here comes the other important teacher — a book. The experiences people learned from nature were written down in the form of a book. This was a step forward because man could record their experiences and thoughts.
Books play an important role in our lives. Su Mingjuan, a girl from a poor family in a small village, has finished college and become a good bank clerk. She volunteers to encourage people to read more. She said, “Without reading books, I can’t have such a wonderful life.” Besides Su, millions of people learn from books and have better lives. Some people ever said, “A book is like a garden carried in the pocket (口袋).”
1. The passage mainly talks about2. According to Paragraph 1, nature teaches us some skills like
3. Hu works on nature education to help people
4. How did people record their experiences and thoughts in Paragraph 4? (10个词以内)
5. What can you learn from Su Mingjuan’s story? (20个词以内)
10 . Once upon a time, the villagers in a small village lived their poor lives. Very few people could read
One afternoon, when Hannah was on one of her adventurous
She
Making this her mission, Hannah started telling stories every day at the
She later
Hannah continued her
| A．along with | B．except for | C．as long as | D．instead of |
| A．tasks | B．attempts | C．explorations | D．experiments |
| A．lost | B．shiny | C．splendid | D．abandoned |
| A．curiously | B．anxiously | C．hurriedly | D．carelessly |
| A．books | B．weapons | C．money | D．gold |
| A．puzzle | B．treasure | C．measure | D．condition |
| A．owned | B．brought | C．enjoyed | D．borrowed |
| A．strange | B．common | C．boring | D．interesting |
| A．confused | B．inspired | C．thrilled | D．misguided |
| A．fuel | B．face | C．power | D．encouragement |
| A．good | B．glory | C．knowledge | D．responsibility |
| A．town | B．room | C．shelter | D．cottage |
| A．give up | B．take off | C．calm down | D．move on |
| A．writers | B．kids | C．students | D．villagers |
| A．tale | B．storytelling | C．reading | D．legend |
| A．forcing | B．seating | C．providing | D．begging |
| A．conducted | B．attended | C．repaired | D．established |
| A．knew | B．invited | C．admired | D．accepted |
| A．plan | B．hobby | C．career | D．mission |
| A．replaced | B．renewed | C．remembered | D．reconsidered |
