1 . The Four Best Astronomy Books
This list has been updated 24 times since it was first published in 2015. Our selection includes editions specifically written to attract youngsters, some of which are for more advanced students. Each of them contains breathtaking, full-color images.
●The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide
The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide (about $30) is a great resource suitable for beginners and experts. It offers in-depth guidance on everything from picking the perfect telescope to avoiding light pollution, with tips on how best to explore the deep sky.
Features:
Over 500 bright photographs
Detailed maps of the Milky Way
●Far out: A Space-Time Chronicle
Far out: A Space-Time Chronicle (about $25) takes you on a journey through time using the concept of light speed to introduce the vastness of the universe. It’s a real page-turner, with one impressive photo after another, and will let your imagination run wild.
Features:
Making connections to human history
Written in a poetic style
Informative and thoughtful
●NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe
This book (about $18) has sold upwards of 600,000 copies of its three previous editions. It comes with a variety of charts showing various events, such as when to expect a solar and lunar eclipse (日蚀和月蚀).
Features:
Great for those using telescopes
Helpful telescope shopping tips
●Astronomy: A Self-Teaching Guide
Perfect for ordinary people or those wanting to get a taste of the subject before devoting themselves to a formal class, this book (about $11) makes it easy for them to learn the main topics and basic rules of a college-level course on their own.
Features:
No math required
Self-tests to check progress
Explaining professional terms
1. What can we say about the book Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle?| A．It is funny and strange. | B．It is exciting and imaginative. |
| C．It is breathtaking and popular. | D．It is instructive and challenging. |
| A．Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle | B．The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide |
| C．Astronomy: A Self-Teaching Guide | D．NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe |
| A．They all have colorful pictures. | B．They are all updated regularly. |
| C．They are all aimed at young kids. | D．They all focus on the solar system. |
2 . Here are some of the best nonfiction books of 2021.
Somebody’s Daughter
$16 at Amazon
Ashley C. Ford talks about growing up as a black gird in Indiana, dealing with poverty, the complexities of adolescence, and a tense relationship with her mother. She often wished that she could express her feelings with her father, but failed for reasons she didn’t know. Until one day — after going through a heart-broken experience with a boy, which she kept from her family — her grandmother told her. And what she learned turned her entire world upside down.
Crazy Stories About Racism
$14 at Amazon
New York-based comedian Amber Ruffin, along with her sister Lacey Lamar, share their everyday experiences about their bad conditions. It gets especially bad for Lacey who still lives in their home state of Nebraska, and is a start for these ridiculous but all-too-real encounters (遭遇).
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
$25 at Amazon
If you want to get in touch with your creative side, this book might just be the trick. As the title suggests, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a literary master class that takes readers into the mind of Booker Prize-winning author George Saunders. He discusses what makes great stories, how they work, and what they say about ourselves and today’s world.
All In
$21 at Amazon
Sports legend Billie Jean King writes a self-portrait that talks about the highs and lows of her amazing tennis career, her work in activism, and the ongoing fight for social justice and equality.
1. What is special about Somebody’s Daughter?| A．It tells a girl’s success. | B．It tells a confused girl. |
| C．It tells a girl’s education. | D．It describes a girl’s good luck. |
| A．Something about Ashley C. Ford. | B．A boy’s heart-broken experience. |
| C．The situations of the present society. | D．Experiences about a man of casual racism. |
| A．All In | B．Somebody’s Daughter |
| C．A Swim in a Pond in the Rain | D．Crazy Stories About Racism |
3 . The Joy Luck Club explores the connection, or lack of, between immigrant Chinese mothers and their Chinese American daughters. The book is divided into four sections in which the tales of mothers and daughters connect.
The book begins with Jing-mei taking her mother's place playing mahjong at a weekly gathering. They call the group the Joy Luck Club. Jing-mei's mother had a similar club in China before Jing-mei was born. Her mother restarted the tradition in San Francisco when Jing-mei was just a little girl. The other members of the group, Lindo, Ying-ying and An-mei, were her mother's oldest friends. The women tell Jing-mei that before her mother, Suyuan, died, she had finally succeeded in locating Jing-mei's lost half-sisters in China. Suyuan had abandoned the girls when she fled during World War Ⅱ. The women offer to help Jing-mei travel to China, meet her sisters and tell them about their mother. Jing-mei is overcome with emotion and wonders if she is up to the task. Then each woman tells an emotional story from her own childhood. The women then wonder if their daughters can really understand them.
In the second section, the four daughters Waverly, Jing-mei, Lena and Rose share painful childhood stories about their relationships with their mothers. The stories contain misunderstandings of their mother's actions.
In the third section, the daughters share about their marriage and career troubles. They believe that their mothers' old-fashioned ideas do not apply to their American lives. But their quest for solutions to their troubles leads them back to their relationships with the older generation.
In the last section, the mothers tell current stories about their daughters and their attempts to help them solve their problems. In doing so, they learn more about themselves. Jing-mei travels to China, meets her half-sisters and help them to learn about a mother they cannot remember. In doing so, she fulfills her mother's wish to be reunited with her lost daughters. This helps Jing-mei understand and appreciate her mother better. Jing-mei's journey also helps the other members of the Joy Luck Club. They see the importance of the past and the present as they work to truly connect with their daughters.
1. Who told Jing-mei the story of her mother?| A．Her friends at work. | B．Her mother in person. |
| C．The mothers in the club. | D．The half-sisters in China. |
| A．To expand her career. | B．To mend her marriage. |
| C．To reunite with her half-sisters. | D．To have a vacation with her family. |
| A．They only care for playing mahjong. |
| B．They ended up bonding with their daughters. |
| C．They cruelly abandoned their children in the war. |
| D．They failed to help solve their daughters' troubles. |
| A．Heart-broken. | B．Rewarding. |
| C．Meaningless. | D．Classic. |
