Some people think as more and more people have televisions in their homes, fewer and fewer people will buy books and newspapers. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read the life story of a famous man, when a short television program can tell you all that you want to know?

Television has not killed reading, however. Today, newspapers sell in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. Books are still a cheap way to get information and enjoyment. Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are printed today as paperbacks (平装本), which are quite cheap. A paperback collection of short stories, for example, is always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or the theater, and you can keep a book for ever and read it many times.

Books are a wonderful provider of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home. Every home should have a good dictionary. A good encyclopedia (百科全书), though expensive, is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. Besides, you can have such books as history books, science textbooks, cookbooks, and collections of stories and poems. Then from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favorite poets.

63. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A. TV programs are a chief provider of knowledge

B. cinemas are the best choice in getting information

 reading is a cheap way of learning and having fun

D. newspapers are an expensive way to enjoy oneself

64. What does the sentence “Television has not killed reading, however” underlined in the second paragraph suggest?

A. People only need reading, though.   B. Reading is still necessary today.

 Reading is more fun than television.        D. Watching television doesn’t help reading.

65. Which of the following is mainly discussed in the last paragraph?

A. Types of books                      B. Kinds of dictionaries

 Lists of history books.            D. Collections of stories and poems.

66. What can we learn from the passage?

A. Fewer and fewer people will buy books.

B. A good dictionary should be kept in every home.

 Books with hard covers sell better than paperbacks.

D. More people like TV programs about famous men.

 

For some kids, old photos and baby pictures are embarrassing. For others, they are cherished keepsakes (纪念品). But for thousands of children living in orphanages (孤儿院) worldwide, these records of the past simply don't exist. Either the kids' parents weren't around to snap photos, or the pictures have been lost. Whatever the reason is, the Memory Project is giving orphans a lasting document of their youth.

Over the last two years, the Memory Project has provided hand-painted portraits to more than 4,000 children living in orphanages in poor countries. Ben Schumaker, 24, got the idea when he was visiting an orphanage in Guatemala in Central America. But he's not creating the portraits(肖像) alone. Students in hundreds of high school art classes across the U.S. paint them using photos sent from the orphanages.

Schumaker believes that the artists benefit from the project as much as the orphans do. “There are two purposes of the Memory Project,” he said. “One is to offer a special gift to the child abroad. The other is to help open the eyes of the student who is painting.” Staring into the eyes of another person, Schumaker believes, it creates a real connection. This connection raises awareness in U.S. schools about the needs of the world's poor children. “It's about planting a seed,” he said.

Schumaker is also working on Books of Hope, a project in which students of all ages put together homemade books for children in Uganda and India. He hopes that one day children in Uganda and India will send books to the U.S. “It's important to me to have it be a two-way exchange,” Schmnaker says.

1.

Old photos and baby pictures are clearly unavailable to             .

A．the kids in rich families	B．the kids in common families
C．the kids in expanded families	D．the kids without parents

2.

How can the orphans in Guatemala get a continuing record of their youth?

A．By hand-painted portraits that Ben Schumaker painted.

B．By the photos the orphanage taken for them.

C．By the photos taken by the U.S. students in high schools.

D．By the Memory Project started by Ben Schumaker.

3.

What does the third paragraph mainly tell us?

A．The special gifts that the world's poor children received.

B．The benefits that the Memory Project brings.

C．The need of the US schools.

D．How to help the orphans.

4.

According to the passage, Schumaker helps the kids in poor countries.

A．two

B．three

C．four

D．five

 

I entered high school having read hundreds of books. But I was not a good reader. Merely bookish, I lacked a point of view when I read. Rather, I read in order to get a point of view. I searched books for good expressions and sayings, pieces of information, ideas, themes—anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated. When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a "complicated idea" until he had read at least two thousand books, I heard the words without recognizing either its irony (嘲讽) or its very complicated truth. I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read. Strict with myself, I included only once a title I might have read several times. (How, after all, could one read a book more than once?) And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length. (Could anything shorter be a book?)

There was yet another high school list I made. One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college. The article had a list of the "hundred most important books of Western Civilization." "More than anything else in my life," the professor told the reporter with finality , " these books have made me all that I am ." That was the kind of words I couldn’t ignore. I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles. Most books, of course, I hardly understood. While reading Plato's The Republic, for example, I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about. However, with the special patience and superstition (迷信) of a schoolboy, I looked at every word of the text. And by the time I reached the last word, pleased, I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic, and seriously crossed Plato off my list.

1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The writer thought it was impossible for one to read two thousand books.

B. While at high school, the writer had plans for reading.

C. The writer only read books no more than 100 pages.

D. The writer thought the teacher was not being serious about the suggestion of reading.

2.The underlined phrase "with finality" most probably means ____________.

A. firmly        B. immediately                    C. simply       D. pleasantly

3.The writer's purpose in mentioning The Republic is to________.

A. explain why it was included in the list

B. describe why he seriously crossed it off the list

C. show that he read the books blindly though they were hard to understand

D. prove that he understood most of it because he had looked at every word

4.The writer provides two book lists to ________.

A. show how he developed his point of view

B. tell his reading experience at high school

C. introduce the two persons' reading methods

D. explain that he read many books at high school

 

Jack London had endured more hardships by the age of twenty-one than most people experience in a lifetime. His struggles developed in him sympathy for the working class and a lasting dislike of hard work and provided inspiration for his career as a writer.

London grew up in San Francisco in extreme poverty. At an early age, he left school and supported himself through a succession of un skilled jobs ----working as a paper boy, in bowling alleys, on ice wagons, and in canneries（罐头食品厂） and mills. Despite working long hours at these jobs, London was able to read constantly, borrowing travel and adventure books from the library.

The books London read inspired him to travel, and his job experiences led him to become active in fighting for the fights of workers. He sailed to Japan on a journey aiming at catching seals and joined a cross-country protest march with a group of unemployed workers. After being arrested for vagrancy near Buffalo, New York, London decided to educate himself and reshape his life. He quickly completed high school and entered the University of California.

After only one term, however, the appeal of fortune and adventure proved uncontrollable. London gave up his studies and traveled to the Alaskan Yukon in 1897 in search of gold. Jack London was among the first of these miners. He may have searched for more than gold, however. London once commented, “ True, the new region was mostly poor; but its several hundred thousand square miles of coldness at least gave breathing space to those who else would have choked at home.” Although he was unsuccessful as a miner, London’s experiences in Alaska taught him about the human desire for wealth and power and about humankind’s inability to control the forces of nature. While in Alaska, London also absorbed memories and stories that would make him known one hundred years later.

Once back in California, London became determined to earn a living as a writer. He rented a typewriter and worked up to fifteen hours a day, spinning his Alaskan adventures into short stories and novels.

According to legend, London’s piles of rejection slips from publishers grew to five feet in height!

    Even so, London preserved. In 1903, he earned national fame when he published the popular novel The Call of the Wild. He soon became the highest paid and most industrious writer in the country. During his career, he produced more than fifty books and earned more than a million dollars. Several of his novels, including The Call of the Wild(1903),the Sea-Wolf(1904),the White Fang(1906),have become American classics. In fact, he was a creative writer whose fiction explored several regions and their cultures: the Yukon, California, Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. He experimented with many literary forms, from traditional love stories and dystopias（反面乌托邦小说）to science fantasy. His noted journalism included war communication, boxing stories, and the life of Molokai lepers（麻风病患者）. He was among the most influential figures of his day, who understood how to create a public persona and use the media to market his self-created image of poor-boy-turned-success. London's great passion was agriculture, and he was well on the way of creating a new model for spreading through his Beauty Ranch when he died of kidney disease at age 40. He left over fifty books of novels, stories, journalism, and essays, many of which have been translated and continue to be read around the world. His best works describe a person’s struggle for survival against the powerful forces of nature. “To Build a Fire”, for example, tells the story of a man’s fight to survive the harsh cold of the Alaskan winter.

1._________made Jack London reconsider his life in the future.

    A. His job experience                       B. The books he read

    C. Being arrested                           D. Long-hour work

2.What is TRUE about Jack London?

    A. Jack London was poor all his life.

    B. Jack London got enough money while in the search of gold.

    C. The books Jack London read inspired him to travel and become active.

    D. The experience of gold searching made Jack London determined to write novels about Alaska adventures.

3.After the experience in Alaska, Jack London ________________.

    A. realized the nature of human beings.

    B. knew people could control the nature finally.

    C. regretted being there.

    D.thought highly of himself.

4.In paragraph 4, the sentence “True, the new region was mostly poor; but its several hundred thousand square miles of coldness at least gave breathing space to those who else would have choked at home.”  implies_______________________________.

    A. Jack London regarded Alaska a poor place as he never got any gold there.

    B. people would have been ill at home if they had never been Alaska.

    C. People searching for gold there still have chance to win.

    D. Alaska was a poor but large region.

5.Which one of following works doesn’t belong to Jack London according to the passage?

    A. love stories     B. poetry       C. journalism       D. essays

6.What can we learn from Jack London’s final success?

    A. Failure is the mother of success.

    B. Practice makes perfect.

    C. Knowledge is powerful.

    D. All of above.

 

Funny English Errors and Insights

Laugh..．And Learn!

Welcome to the website for Funny English Errors and Insights (2010), a new book of unconscious humour published by the National Library of Australia．

Funny English Errors and Insights will be launched at the National Library in Canberra on 29^th, October 2010.

In the meantime, explore this website for other collections of real-life English language mistakes, including funny answers to exam questions, media misprints, and silly signs.

See Funny English Errors: The B List for more than a hundred examples of funny English gaffes（失言）．For more funny English errors, read author Troy Simpson's blog．For still more examples, join this website to download a free PDF version of English As She Is Taught, which lists our top 250 funny English language mistakes from that classic howlers book.

Join this website FREE, and you can also:

Enter member-only competitions

Contribute your comments

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Be the first to know about our much-anticipated book, Funny English Errors and Insights (2010)．.．

Features

   Follows in the tradition of the runaway best-seller Howlers books of the 1920s and 1930s

Includes quotes(引文) that have never been published before in this way

Includes more than 30 carefully selected funny photos

Topics include English, science, history, geography, religion, mathematics, and more

A perfect gift for students, teachers, parents, grandparents, public speakers, doctors, lawyers, journalists, clergy and religious, and anyone with a sense of humour!

1.The word launched in the second paragraph is closest to the meaning:

A．sent up for the first time．          B．written for the first time．

C．for sale for the first time．         D．printed for the first time．

2.On the website, you can do the following things except      ．       

         A．read some funny news

         B．know something about this book previously

         C．find a lot of examples about English errors

         D．express your opinions freely

3.About this book, you know that      ．

         A．it only includes English, science, history

         B．it is quite different from Howlers books

         C．all the quotes in it are familiar with us

         D．it is intended for people all walks of life

4.The text is aimed at introducing   

         A．a popular website           B．some selected funny photos

         C．a new book                 D．some funny English errors