We’re always looking for well-written reviews of books, music, movies, television shows, websites, video games and other products. When writing a review, concentrate on exactly what you liked or didn’t like. Give examples of strengths and weaknesses, be descriptive and provide background information on an author, director, actor or musician, if possible. Find professional reviews in magazines or newspapers and see how reviewers deal with their topic, but be sure to express your own voice in your review.
Grammar Hint for Reviews: When describing a book, movie, album or anything else, use the present tense.
Book Reviews
Discuss an author’s technique, strengths and weaknesses instead of focusing on the plot. Does the story flow? Is there a strong sense of character and place? Did you stay up until dawn to finish it? Is it good reading for teenagers? What influence did it have on you and why? If you’ve read other books by the same author, discuss how this book compares.
Movie Reviews
Think of the major Oscar categories and consider the performances, music, lighting and setting, etc. Do these work together? Did some hold up while others didn’t? If the movie is based on a book, discuss whether one is better than the other and why. If the movie is a remake, compare the film to its original.
Remember that a well-written movie review should discuss strengths and weaknesses. Some readers may not have seen a movie yet, so don’t give away an exciting scene or the ending!
College Reviews
Begin by providing an overview of the college, including location, size and a description of the campus and/or dorm life. Think about all aspects of your college visit. What academic, athletic and after-class programs are available? What are the students like? What makes the college different from others? Every school has strengths and weaknesses. Be objective. Consider what the school has to offer and who might enjoy or benefit the most from attending there. When writing a review, you ________.
| A．cannot refer to any previous review |
| B．must express your own views and opinions |
| C．must provide some information about the author |
| D．needn’t give any examples to support your views |
Which aspects should be included in all three reviews?
| A．Strengths and weaknesses. |
| B．Plot and character. |
| C．Programs and scenes. |
| D．Location and description. |
Where can you probably find the passage?
| A．In a personal diary. |
| B．In an official report. |
| C．In a tourist guidebook. |
| D．In a popular magazine. |
It must be something that many American companies hold a baby contest．Of course, babies are wonderful, and many parents would be the first to agree．Companies really bring in much money．
Walgreens Baby contest
If you play the new Baby Milestones Challenge Contest by BabyCenter & Walgreens, you could win $1,000 in Walgreens & Beauty．com Gift Cards and Certificates．You can play the instant winner if you get a $25 Walgreen’s gift card, but you also have to write down your email address and receive all their sales and other information for the contest．
Kids and Babies
Kids and Babies are accepting entries for May 2014 Free Photo Contest．Baby Photo Galley with theme albums and age group albums is moved to the new website Cute Baby Gallery．Check KidsandBibs．com for their Baby Photo Contest blog’s latest update．The grand prize is $25,000．The catch: Winners are decided by the visitors coming to the site and voting for their favorite babies, so you have to advertise their site for them．
Parents．com
Parents．com has a website only for their members, but if you are into baby photos, it is well worth surfing．You could receive offers on free samples, money-saving coupons （优惠券）, and chances to win the latest contests．
Avon
Avon is another company that has a baby photo contest this spring．Avon is advertising their newest collection．It is Avon’s only collection for the photos of babies．Babies’ age: newborn to 2 years．Just go to TinyTillia．com and upload your recent baby’s photos．The first place baby will be featured in a Tiny Tillia Storybooks and win a $5,000 U．S．Savings Bond．Ten beautiful girls will win $300 worth of Tiny Tillia products．
The tip is to run a search engine for all the latest contests going on and start entering them today．You could be lucky and win enough to put your baby through college! Have fun!What is the basic condition for you to play the instant winner in Walgreens & Beauty．com?
| A．Getting a gift card． |
| B．Getting a certificate． |
| C．Winning 1,000 dollars． |
| D．Receiving information for the contest |
If you want your baby to win the 2014 Free Photo Contest, you will _______．
| A．have to spend $ 25,000 |
| B．take your baby to the gallery in May |
| C．upload more photos of your baby |
| D．have to help to advertise their site |
What can we learn from this passage?
| A．Free Photo Contest will be held in March, 2014． |
| B．Avon is a website that will hold a baby photo contest． |
| C．Parents．com accepts the photos of all kinds of people’ babies． |
| D．Parents can upload their one-year-old baby’s photos to TinyTillia．com． |
In the last paragraph, the author advises parents to _________ ．
| A．try their best to take good care of their baby |
| B．enter the contests as soon as possible |
| C．encourage their kids to go to college when they grow up |
| D．find more tips for winning the contests |
After a terrible electrical accident, which caused him to become both blind and deaf, the whole world became completely dark and quiet for Robert Edwards for almost ten years．The loss of sight and hearing threw him into such sorrow that he tried a few times to put an end to his life．His family, especially his wife, did their best to tend and comfort him and finally he regained the will to live．
One hot summer afternoon, he was taking a walk with a stick near his house when a thunderstorm started all at once．He stood under a large tree to avoid getting wet, but he was struck by the lightning．Witnesses thought he was dead but he woke up some 20 minutes later lying face down in muddy water at the base of the tree．He was trembling badly, but when he opened his eyes, he could hardly believe what he saw: a plough and a wall．When Mrs. Edwards came running up to him, shouting to their neighbors to call for help, he could see her and hear her voice for the first time in nearly ten years．
The news of Robert regaining his sight and hearing quickly spread, and many doctors came to examine him．Most of them said that he regained his sight and hearing from the shock he got from the lightning．However, none of them could give a convincing answer as to why this should have happened．The only reasonable explanation given by one doctor was that, since Robert lost his sight and hearing as a result of a sudden shock, perhaps, the only way for him to regain them was by another sudden shock．The reason for Robert’s attempts to kill himself was that _________．
| A．a terrible traffic accident happened to him |
| B．he had to live in a dark and silent world |
| C．he was struck by the lightning once more |
| D．nobody in the world cared about him |
What was Robert doing when he was struck by the lightning?
| A．Sheltering from the rain under a tree． |
| B．Driving a car． |
| C．Taking a walk with a stick． |
| D．Lying on the ground． |
We can infer from the text that ________．
| A．there was no accurate explanation for Robert’s recovery |
| B．many doctors came because Robert was badly injured |
| C．Robert’s wife sent for doctors immediately after the shock |
| D．a sudden injury in the head led to Robert’s recovery |
What’s the best title of the whole passage?
| A．A Terrible Electrical Accident |
| B．Robert Edwards and His Wife |
| C．What a Sudden Shock |
| D．An Unforgettable Experience |
What would it be like to take a walk on the surface of Mars? If you could design the tallest building in the world, what would it look like? Do you dream of being the next J．K．Rowling? This summer, you can experience all of these things, and more．All you need is an Internet connection and your imagination．
A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that kids spend an average of 1 hour and 29 minutes online each day．Many kids like to use that time to chat with friends, play games or check e-mails．But next time you get on the Web, try exploring the world instead．“With the Internet, you can go back 11,000 years in time, or go 11,000 kilometers across the planet,” said Russell, Web search expert of Google．“The whole scope of history and the world is open to you．”
There is a wealth of information to be found online．For example, if your family is going on vacation somewhere, do a quick online search on the area before you even get in the car．“What’s the background of the place; what’s the history?” says Russell．“I like to tell my kids, ‘Whenever you have a question, whenever you have a doubt, search it out．’”
Ready to launch a virtual journey of your own? Here are a few starting points to get you thinking and to help you on your way．You can invite your parents along for the ride, too．Always ask for permission before downloading programs and software into your computer．And, check with a parent or adult before visiting any new website．
Navigate the world in 3-D with Google Earth．Begin in outer space and zoom into the streets of any city, from Hong Kong to San Francisco．Or, visit ancient monuments and watch the changing rainforests over time．With the moon in Google Earth tool, you can walk in Neil Armstrong’s famous footsteps．Take a guided tour of the moon’s surface with Armstrong’s fellow shuttle mate astronaut Buzz Aldrin．According to Russell, the kids _________．
| A．spend too much time on the Internet |
| B．should never chat and play games online |
| C．can solve their problems through the Internet |
| D．should study hard instead of chatting online |
From the passage we know that _________．
| A．we can find much information we need online |
| B．Neil Armstrong traveled to the moon alone |
| C．the kids can download programs onto the computer freely |
| D．the kids can visit the new website freely without parents’ guidance |
According to the passage, if you want to go to Tropical Rainforests, you can _________．
| A．take the time shuttle |
| B．go to the cinema to watch 3-D films |
| C．find a travel agency in Google |
| D．use Google Earth |
The passage is mainly intended for _________．
| A．parents | B．kids |
| C．teachers | D．adults |
In which section of a website can we probably read this passage?
| A．Culture． | B．Health． |
| C．Internet World． | D．Tourism． |
Historians usually just study great things that happened in the past time, but Drew Faust has made history! On February 11, 2007, Faust was named president of Harvard University．She is the first woman to hold the position in the school’s 371-year history．
“I am a historian,” she said．“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the past, and about how it shapes the future．No university in the country, perhaps the world, has as remarkable a past as Harvard’s．”
“And our common enterprise is to make Harvard’s future even more remarkable than its past．That will mean recognizing and building on what we already do well．It will also mean recognizing what we don’t do as well as we should, and not being satisfied until we find ways to do better．”
It is her great desire for improvement and willingness to try out new ideas that have given Drew success in a world controlled by men．“This is a man’s world, my girl, and the sooner you learn that, the better off you’ll be．” Drew Faust recalls her mother telling her this when she was young, but she didn’t buy it．
Faust grew up in a well-off family in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in the 1950s．Even then, she was a trailblazer（先驱）．A conversation with her family’s black handyman （零工） and driver inspired her to write a letter, on school notebook paper, to President Dwight Eisenhower．
She asked that he help bring US citizens together in the south, a much divided part of the country at the time．
“Drew Faust is a historian with her eyes on the future,” said Susan Graham, a professor of Harvard．Many of the university’s schools said that they believe Harvard will have a brighter future under the leadership of Drew Faust．Why does the writer say Drew Faust has made history?
| A．Because she is a historian． |
| B．Because she was president of Harvard University． |
| C．Because she was the first woman to be president of Harvard University． |
| D．Because Harvard has a remarkable past |
What do we know about historians?
| A．They usually study great things that happened in the past． |
| B．They are usually presidents of universities． |
| C．They are usually born in well-off families． |
| D．They are usually women． |
What does the underlined word “buy” in the fourth paragraph mean?
| A．accept | B．expect | C．purchase | D．afford |
What did her mother mean by saying “This is a man’s world, my girl．．．”?
| A．To encourage her to do man’s work． |
| B．To tell her to do things as a girl should do． |
| C．To ask her to be well-off． |
| D．To expect her to be a historian． |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Faust was born in the north of the US． |
| B．She wrote a letter to President Eisenhower when she became president of Harvard． |
| C．Faust’s desire for improvement and willingness to try out new ideas has given her success． |
| D．Historians just care about great things that happened in the past． |
Few of us haven’t read Cinderella, the story of a young woman living in poverty who meets the prince of her dreams．Some might not want to admit it, but there is a hidden Cinderella in everyone’s heart—we all wish we could achieve recognition or success after a period of obscurity （默默无闻）．
Mary Santiago has that secret dream, too．Her story is featured in Another Cinderella Story, a film set in a US high school．
Mary is shy but loves to dance．Compared with other girls, she is invisible．However, her world changes completely when a famous teenager pop singer, Joey Parker, appears．
Joey is everything the rest of the boys in her class are not—kind, handsome and desirable．Mary and Joey’s paths cross at a ball．They meet and fall in love with each other．But when Mary has to rush back home, she leaves behind her MP3 player, which becomes the only clue Joey has to find the girl of his dreams．Of course, there is a wicked stepmother, who turns out to be Dominique Blatt and she takes in Mary after her dancer mother dies．Dominique treats Mary like a maid and does everything she can to make sure Mary doesn’t get into the top dance school．Her two daughters are equally determined to stop Joey falling for Mary, even if that means embarrassing her．
The story, though it mostly follows Cinderella, does add a few modern day twists to the classic fairy tale．Refreshingly, the film, unlike many high school films, does not focus on looks, although the actors are all beautiful．There is also a lot less materialism in Another Cinderella Story than in many similar movies．
“The movie takes the Cinderella fairytale as its jumping off point,” writes movie critic Amber Wilkinson．“Yet the focus is firmly on following your dream．”The first paragraph is mainly to _________．
| A．inform us of the importance to marry a prince |
| B．remind us why Cinderella is popular all the years |
| C．build interest and lead us to Mary’s secret dream |
| D．tell us how interesting the fairy tale Cinderella is |
In the movie, Mary Santiago is the main character who _________．
| A．is badly treated by the stepmother |
| B．is brave in expressing her love |
| C．has a dream of meeting a prince |
| D．is embarrassed by the pop singer |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Joey is just like other boys in Mary’s class． |
| B．The MP3 player helps Joey in finding Mary． |
| C．Not many people have a dream to be realized． |
| D．Mary’s mother influences her a lot in singing． |
What does movie critic Amber Wilkinson mean by his words about Another Cinderella Story?
| A．The movie is exactly another copy of the Cinderella fairytale． |
| B．The movie is as good as the story Cinderella． |
| C．The movie and Cinderella both focus on following your dream． |
| D．The movie is based on the story Cinderella while a little different from it． |
The passage is mainly about _________．
| A．an introduction to Mary Santiago |
| B．a review about a film |
| C．an essay about dreams |
| D．an advertisement of Cinderella |
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