All the wisdom of the ages and all the stories that have delighted mankind for centuries are easily and cheaply available to all of us within the covers of books. The most unfortunate people in the world are those who have never discovered how satisfying it is to read good books.
Reading is the pleasure of the mind, which means that it is a little like a sport: your eagerness and knowledge and quickness make you a good reader. Reading is fun, not because the writer is telling you something, but because it makes your mind work. Your own imagination works along with the author's or even goes beyond his. Your experience, compared with his, brings you to the same or different conclusions, and your ideas develop as you understand his.
Every book stands by itself, like a one--family house, but books in a library are like houses in a city. Although they are separate, together they all add up to something. They are connected with each other and with other cities. Books influence each other; they link the past, the present and the future and have their own generations, like families. Wherever you start reading, you connect yourself with one of the families or ideas, and in the long run, you not only find out about the world and the people in it but also you find out about yourself, too.
Reading can only be fun if you expect it to be. If you concentrate on books somebody tells you "you ought" to read, you probably won't have fun. But if you put down a book you don’t like and try another till you find one that means something to you, and then relax yourself with it, you will almost certainly have a good time and if you become, as a result of reading, better, wiser, kinder, or more gentle, you won't have suffered during the process.
72. In the writer's opinion, in fact reading is a process of ________.
A. listening to the author B. accepting the author's ideas
C. communicating with the author and yourself D. judging the author's work
73. The writer thinks that the most unfortunate people are those _______.
A. who don't have any books B. who can't enjoy reading books
C. who don’t like books D. who read too many books
74. To find pleasure in reading, you should read the books _______.
A. written by famous writers B. written in humor style
C. which you like to read D. which are recommended by your friends
75. The author's purpose in writing the passage is to _______.
A. show the importance of reading B. tell us how to make reading more effective
C. tell us how to read D. show the pleasure of reading
Last year, on report card day, my son and a group of his 13-year-old friends piled into the back seat of my car, ready for the last-day-of-school party at McDonald's. “Jack got a laptop for getting straight A's, and Laurie got a cell-phone,” one boy said. “Oh, yeah, and Sarah got an iPod Nano, and she's only in third grade,” said another. “And how about Brian? He got $10 for each A.”
I suddenly became concerned. These payoffs might get parents through grammar school, but what about high school and beyond? What would be left after the electric guitar, the cell-phone, and the DVD player?
I saw the road ahead: As the homework load increased, my income would decrease. I saw my comfortable lifestyle disappear before my eyes---no more of those $5 bags of already-peeled organic（施有机肥料的）carrots. No more organic anything!
I started to feel surprised and nervous. Would every goal achieved by my two children fetch a reward? A high grade point average? A good class ranking? Would sports achievements be included in this reward system: soccer goals, touchdowns（橄榄球底线得分）? What about the orchestra（管弦乐队）? Would first chair pay more than second? I'd be penniless by eighth-grade graduation.
“We never paid anything for good grades,” said my neighbor across the street, whose son was recently accepted at MIT. “He just did it on his own. Maybe once in a while we went out for pizza, but that's about it.”
Don't you just hate that? We're all running around looking for the MP3 player with the most updates, and she’s spending a few dollars on pizza. She gets motivation; we get negotiation. And what about the primary grades? What do these students get? “When the teacher asked if anyone got rewards for good grades, everyone in my class raised their hands and said they got ice cream cones (蛋卷),” said one third-grader.What's the best title for the passage?
| A．Tips on Paying Kids for Good Grades |
| B．New Trends in Paying Kids for Good Grades |
| C．Good Grades Mean Good Rewards |
| D．Don't Pay Kids for Good Grades |
What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably mean?
| A．Taking care of my children would influence my work. |
| B．I would spend less money on my children's good grades. |
| C．More rewards would be needed as my children grow up. |
| D．Reducing my children's homework load would cost me a lot. |
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．if you buy children pizza as a reward, they will work harder |
| B．if you pay kids for good grades, they will take it for granted |
| C．children will not ask for rewards when they enter high school |
| D．good grades won't help kids make great progress in the future |
The author takes her neighbor as an example to show _______.
| A．pizza is the best way to motivate children |
| B．it is necessary to reward children for their good grades. |
| C．getting rewards for good grades is common nowadays |
| D．rewards are not the only way to motivate children |
As computers become more and more popular in China, Chinese are increasingly relying on computer keyboards to input Chinese characters. But if they use the computer too much, they may end up forgetting the exact strokes(笔画) of each Chinese character when writing on paper. Experts suggest people, especially students, write by hand more.
Do you write by hand more or type more? In Beijing, students start using a computer as early as primary school. And computer dependence is more widespread among university students. Almost all their assignments and essays are typed on a computer. All the students interviewed say they usually use computers.
It's faster and easier to correct the mistakes if using a computer. And that’s why computers are being used more and more often in modern education. But when people are taking stock in computers increasingly, problems appear.
“When I'm writing with a pen, I find I often can’t remember how to write a character, though I feel I'm familiar with it.”
“I'm not in the mood to write when faced with a pen and paper.”
Many students don’t feel this is something to worry about. Now that it's more convenient and efficient to type on a computer, why bother to write by hand?
Many educators think differently. Shi Liwei , the headmaster of a famous primary school in the capital said, “Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic (审美的) value. But those characters typed with computer keyboards only maintain their practical value. All the artistic beauty of the characters is lost. Besides, handwriting contains the writer's emotion. Through one's handwriting, people can learn one's thinking and personality. Beautiful writing will give people a better first impression.”
To encourage students to write more, many primary schools in Beijing have made writing classes compulsory and in universities, some professors are asking students to turn in their homework and essays written by hand. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．The Importance of Typing |
| B．Practical and Aesthetic Value of Chinese Characters |
| C．Writing by Computer Will Replace Writing by Hand |
| D．To Type or to Write by Hand |
The students interviewed prefer to type on a computer mainly because_______.
| A．they can correct the mistakes quickly and conveniently |
| B．they are usually asked to e-mail their homework and essays |
| C．they find it hard to remember how to write a character |
| D．computers have become a trend and fashion in China |
Which of the following statements is NOT true about advantages of handwriting?
| A．Handwriting contains the writer's emotion. |
| B．Handwriting can impress people well and build their self-confidence. |
| C．The writer's thinking and personality are shown in his or her handwriting. |
| D．Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic value. |
The underlined phrase in Paragraph 3 probably means________.
| A．getting bored with | B．becoming crazy about |
| C．becoming dependent on | D．getting curious about |
根据短文内容，从下框的A—F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项．
A．Join learning communities and help each other.
B．Expect problems, never be disappointed, and gradually you’ll make it.
C．Anytime is learning time.
D．Get interested and arouse（唤起） your desire for knowledge.
E．Cover the same ground from different angles(角度).
F．Try to be a good and effective learner.
As a student, how we can learn our lessons effectively is a common problem which is always puzzling us．If you follow suggestions below, I'm sure you'll find the solution easily.Your interest in the subject is the essential driver of success. You can' t learn what you do not want to learn. Emotion is an important part of the learning process. If you are even moderately interested in a subject, give yourself a chance. The key is to get started. If you can create some pleasurable routines, you may find that the subject grows on you. You must always remember learning is just like eating. You don' t expect to enjoy your food without appetite（食欲）.Therefore, you should always try to arouse your interest and desire for knowledge if you want to learn well.
Don't expect to understand things, or remember too much, the first time you study them．Think about what problem you will meet with in your study, so that you are well-prepared for it. Never be disappointed no matter what happens. Trust that things will get clearer as your brain comes to get new information. It is like a jig-saw puzzle or a cross-word puzzle（纵横填字游戏）. As you start to put the pieces together, or string the words together, the full picture becomes clearer. The brain learns all the time, but on its own schedule．Learning does not take place according to a schedule laid down by a curriculum or teacher. Keep at it, and you will gradually find that things that seem difficult at first, will become second nature with time.
Your brain is struggling to form patterns to cope with new input from your learning activities．Sometimes, no matter how long you focus on one subject, your brain is not going to pick it up．If you are stuck, move on．Then cover the same general information from a different source, a different book, or a blog, or an online lecture or a video．Try to become a grazing learner, wandering about the countryside, rather than a feed-lot learner, just standing there in one spot, chewing the same bale of hay．The broader your base, the easier it is to learn．Just as the "rich get richer" , the more you know, the more you can learn．
Take full advantage of the Internet, blogs, and various mobile devices, not to mention good old-fashioned books and magazines．Learn during "dead time". Listen in your car, on the train, or while jogging. Have your learning with you while waiting in the doctor's office, or listen while checking out at the supermarket. Anytime is learning time．Remember, you are learning through exposure, not by nailing things down. It is more like moisture accumulation in a cloud, rather than building a brick wall．
The "loneliness of the distance learner" is a thing of the past．Join a learning community on the web, where members share their knowledge and experience. Search for the communities that suit your interests and learning styles. You will find encouragement, advice and stimulus from fellow learners, as well as from tutors, teachers and coaches．In these communities, you can measure your progress against your own goals, or compare your experience with that of other learners．You can even teach and help others, which is a great way to learn.
If there is one thing I’m quite sure about, it is that in a hundred years from now we still be reading newspapers. Not those newspapers are a necessity. Even now some people get most of the news from the television or have the radio switched on in the background or in the car. Many buy a paper only on Saturday or Sunday. But for most people a newspaper has become a habit passed down from generation to generation.
The basic British character won’t change, and one of the characteristics of the British is that we don’t much like talking to each other when we get up. So what better way is there to keep yourself thinking in the morning than to wrap yourself in a newspaper?
Over the past couple of centuries, human beings have developed a close relationship with the newspaper. It has become as natural as breathing or enjoying the sun. And it is not just the British who love newspapers. On suburban trains in Calcutta, for instance, just one person in the whole car will buy a newspaper and read aloud the best bits to his fellow passengers, much to everybody’s enjoyment.
The nature of what is news may change. What essentially makes news is what affects our lives and the big political stories, the coverage of the wars, earthquakes and other disasters, will continue much the same. I think there will be more coverage of scientific research, though. It’s already happening in areas that may directly affect our lives, like genetic engineering. In the future I think there will be more coverage of scientific explanations of why we feel as we do, whether it’s love or depression. We develop a better understanding of how the brain operates and what our feelings really are.
It’s quite possible that in the next century newspaper will be transmitted(传送) electronically from the national equivalents of Fleet Street (伦敦的舰队街，以报馆集中而著称) and printed out in our own homes. In fact, I’m pretty sure that that is how it will happen in future. You’ll be probably selecting from a menu, making up your own bespoke newspaper by picking out the things you want to read and say. You might even have an intelligent screening device (装置) to do the job for you.
I think people have got it wrong when they talk about the competition between the different media. They actually have a relationship, feeding off each other. It was once predicted that television would kill off newspapers, which hasn’t happened. What is read on the printed page is more enduring (持久的) than pictures on a flickering screen or sound lost in the sky. And as for the Internet, it’s never really satisfying to read something just on a screen. The author of the passage is most probably from _______________.
| A．Russia | B．India | C．Britain | D．America |
According to the passage, the future of newspapers ____________.
| A．will be mainly connected with scientific research |
| B．will report more important political activities |
| C．will directly cover more on scientific research |
| D．will build a bridge between different people |
The underlined part “bespoke newspaper” of the passage probably refers to _____________.
| A．a newspaper which dares to report the truth |
| B．a newspaper edited to one’s own interest |
| C．a newspaper edited and published for the public |
| D．a newspaper which only covers the life of family members |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．It was centuries ago that newspapers came into being . |
| B．Televisions have taken the place of newspapers . |
| C．The Internet will gradually take the place of newspapers. |
| D．The nature of news may remain the same over generations. |
What will city life be like in the future? Some people think that life in the cities is going to be horrible. They say that cities will become more and more crowded. As the number of people increases, there will be less space for each person. This overcrowding will cause other problems — more crime, dirtier streets , and worse problems with traffic than we have now. How will people find enough drinking water, energy (such as gas and electricity ), and housing? Because life will be hard, people who live in cities will worry more, and they may become sick. For these reasons, some say that nobody will want to live in city areas.
How can we deal with such problems as overcrowding, crime, and traffic? In some cities, thousands of people are already sleeping in the streets because there is little suitable housing — and because houses are too expensive. The crime rate isn’t going down. Instead, it is increasing so fast that many people are afraid to go out at night. Traffic is also getting worse. More and more often, traffic jams are so bad that cars don’t move at all for several streets. These problems have been getting worse, not better, so many people see no hope for the future of the city.
Los Angeles, California, for example, has no subway system and buses are slow. Instead, many commuters (乘、开车上班族) drive many miles from their homes to work. Many of these drivers spend several hours each day on busy freeways. New York, however, has a big transport system — buses, commuter trains, and subways. Because the public transportation is crowded and dirty, many people drive private cars, and the traffic jams are worse than that in Los Angeles. A taxi driver complains, “I was driving home, but in forty-five minutes I moved only two miles! Finally, I turned off the engine and just sat there. A lot of people left their cars where they were in the middle of the street and went into a bar for a few beers!”
On the other hand, some cities have clean, fast and pleasant public transportation systems. In Paris, France, and Toronto, Canada, for example, anyone can use buses or subways to move quickly from one part of the city to another.What do some people think is the main problem of the future city like?
| A．Poor housing. | B．Overcrowding. |
| C．Environmental pollution. | D．Traffic jams. |
The best way to work out the traffic problem in Los Angels might be _________.
| A．cutting down the number of private cars |
| B．providing more buses in the freeway |
| C．building a subway system |
| D．persuading people to live nearer to their workplaces |
Which of the following sentences is NOT TRUE?
| A．Thousands of people are already sleeping in the streets. |
| B．The crime rate isn’t going down. |
| C．The traffic jams are so bad that cars don’t move at all for several streets. |
| D．Many people have a positive attitude towards the future of the city. |
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