1 . Books on the History of Ukraine
The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine
By Serhii Plokhy
Basic Books; 395 pages; $29.99. Allen Lane; £25
The author is the most distinguished historian of Ukraine (乌克兰) writing in English. This book covers the many centuries in which Ukraine was attacked by powers from all points of the compass. Mr Plokhy shows how Ukrainian language, culture and identity boomed through hardships — which helps explain why Ukrainians are fighting heroically to defend themselves.
Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine
By Anna Reid
Basic Books; 368 pages; $18.99. Weidenfeld & Nicolson; £10.99
The author first published this mixture of memoir (回忆录), travelogue and history in 1997, but updated it in 2015. She introduces appealing Ukrainians, bygone and contemporary, including Taras Shevchenko, the national poet, etc. Ms Reid does not avoid the horrors of the country’s past; but she also finds room for hope.
The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution
By Marci Shore
Yale University Press; 320 pages; $26 and £25
The title comes from a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky, and the book is an account of prodemocracy (支持民主) revolution in Ukraine in 2013-14. The author describes the feelings of people then — the sense of unity and the motivation of those who headed east to fight the Russian-backed enemies in the Donbas. She also describes the implications of Ukraine’s fate for the future of Europe.
Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine
By Anne Applebaum
Doubleday; 496 pages; $35. Allen Lane; £25
The starvation, known as the Holodomor, swept Ukraine in 1932-33, killing around 4 million people. Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer-prize winning author, convincingly argues that the starvation was awful, yet left psychological wealth for Ukrainians who bonded together to preserve their nationalism.
1. Where does the book The Ukrainian Night take its name from?| A．From a film. | B．From a poem. |
| C．From a magazine. | D．From a newspaper. |
| A．Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine. |
| B．The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine. |
| C．Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine. |
| D．The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution. |
| A．They predict the future of Ukraine. | B．They face up to historical challenges. |
| C．They pity Ukrainians for their misfortune. | D．They admit the weaknesses of humans. |
2 . There was comparative calm in the Wormwood household for about a week after the Superglue episode. The experience had clearly chastened Mr. Wormwood and he seemed temporarily to have lost his taste for boasting and bullying（霸凌）.
Then suddenly he struck again. Perhaps he had had a bad day at the garage and had not sold enough second-hand cars. There are many things that make a man irritable（易怒）when he arrives home from work in the evening and a sensible wife will usually notice the storm-signals and will leave him alone.
When Mr. Wormwood arrived back from the garage that evening his face was as dark as a thundercloud and somebody was clearly for the high-jump pretty soon. His wife recognized the signs immediately and made herself scarce. He then strode into the living-room. Matilda happened to be curled up in an arm-chair in the corner, totally absorbed in a book. Mr. Wormwood switched on the television. The screen lit up. The programme blared. Mr. Wormwood glared at Matilda. She hadn't moved. She had somehow trained herself by now to block her ears to the horrible sound of the dreaded box. She kept right on reading. and for some reason this infuriated（激怒）the father. Perhaps his anger was rising because he saw her getting pleasure from something that was beyond his reach.
“Don't you ever stop reading?” he snapped at her.
“Oh, hello daddy,” she said pleasantly. “Did you have a good day?”
“What is this trash?” he said, snatching the book from her hands.
“It isn't trash, daddy, it's lovely. It's called The Red Pony. It's by John Steinbeck, an American writer. Why don't you try it? You'll love it.”
“Filth,” Mr. Wormwood said. “If it's by an American it's certain to be filth. That's all they write about.”
“No daddy, it's beautiful, honestly it is. It's about...”
“I don't want to know what it's about,” Mr. Wormwood barked. “I'm fed up with your reading anyway. Go and find yourself something useful to do.” With frightening suddenness he now began ripping（撕）the pages out of the book in handfuls and throwing them in the waste-paper basket.
Matilda froze in horror. The father kept going. There seemed little doubt that the man felt some kind of jealousy. How dare she, he seemed to be saying with each rip of a page, how dare she enjoy reading books when he couldn't? How dare she?
1. Which one of the following sentences is similar to the meaning of the underlined part?| A．totally upset by the main characters of the book | B．deeply moved by the plot of the book |
| C．totally struck by the content of the book | D．deeply attracted by the content of the book |
| A．She warmly welcomed him. | B．She turned a blind eye to him. |
| C．She kept herself out of his sight. | D．She went watching TV with him. |
| A．Because Matilda was being naughty and lazy. |
| B．Because Matilda was reading a book that he couldn't understand. |
| C．Because Matilda was unable to finish her homework on time again. |
| D．Because there was too much noise coming from the television. |
3 . The below-mentioned books are first-rate bestsellers and would be perfect additions to your reading list.
 | Maybe the power of one's belief isn't the ultimate example of intelligence. Maybe, in a constantly changing world, the ability to make judgements and change one's mind accordingly is much more important. That's Adam Grant's theory, and Think Again is here to help you to look at the world around you, check your assumptions, and—you guessed it—think again. —Chris Schluep, Amazon Editor |
 | This book reads like fiction but tells the true story of murder and greed that troubled the Osage Nation in Oklahoma in the 1920s. When oil was discovered on their land, the Osage people became the wealthiest in the world and the targets (particularly the women) for the white men who had their sights set on marrying and murdering into their riches. I suggest you treat yourself to this exceptional read right now. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor |
 | The subject of Isaacson’s book is Jennifer Doudna, who won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work developing CRISPR. CRISPR is the innovation that will open the door to gene control, driving the life sciences revolution for decades to come. But it will also open the door to moral problem as we ask ourselves. How far should we go in editing humans—especially before birth—and who should control those decisions? —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor |
 | While the book unfolds during the course of a single day, flashbacks to when a group of kids were crowding around a desk and to when their rock star father abandoned them time and again reveal the complex dynamics still in force in their adulthood. After I finish this book, I would dream of these characters and their restaurant by the sea. Malibu Rising is a fun, unforgettable read. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor |
| A．The Code Breaker | B．Think Again |
| C．Killers of the Flower Moon | D．Malibu Rising |
| A．It solves the problem of gene control. |
| B．It is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novel. |
| C．It focuses on the 2020 Nobel Prize winners. |
| D．It covers Jennifer Doudna and her achievements. |
| A．The kids had high expectations of their father. |
| B．The kids ran away from their father frequently. |
| C．The kids' father destroyed their dream of being rock stars. |
| D．The kids' childhood experiences affected their adult life. |
