Reading is the key to school success and，like any skill，it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. An excellent sportsman practices until he can play quickly， correctly and without thinking. Educators call it “automaticity(自动性)”.
A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and finding the meaning of the words. With practice， he stumbles less and less， reading by the phrase. With automaticity， he doesn’t have to think about the meaning of words， so he can give all his attention to the meaning of the text.
It can begin as early as first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois schools， Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found that automatic readers in the first grade not only read almost three times as fast as the others， but also got better results in exams.
According to Rossman， the key to automaticity is the amount(数量)of time a child spends reading， not his IQ. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books， magazines or newspapers will probably reach automaticity. It can happen if a child turns off TV just one night for reading at home.
You can test yourself by reading something new which is suitable for your level. If you read aloud with expression， with a sense of the meaning of the sentences， you probably are an automatic reader. If you read brokenly， one word at a time， without expression or meaning， you need more practice.
1.“ Reading is the key to school success” means that reading______.
A. helps school develop faster
B. is a key to a successful school
C. helps students go to a key school
D. can improve students’ learning results
2.Children with “automaticity” can read faster because they______.
A. know how to read the words
B. do not have to think while reading
C. read by themselves without any help
D. pay attention to the meaning of the text
3.The underlined word “stumble” in the passage means “______” in Chinese.
A. 结结巴巴地读 B. 全神贯注地读
C. 心不在焉地读 D. 声情并茂地读
4.The best title for the passage is “______”.
A . IQ is the Key to the Automaticity
B.TV is Bad for Children’s Reading
C. Automaticity Depends on Practice
D. Automatic Readers Will Be Successful
During all this time， I never stopped thinking about escape(逃跑). When I travelled across to the other side of the island， I could see the other islands， and I said to myself， “Perhaps I can get there with a boat. Perhaps I can get back to England one day.”
So I decided to make myself a boat. I cut down a big tree， and then began to make a long hole in it. It was hard work， but about six months later， I had a very fine canoe(独木舟). Next， I had to get it down to the sea. How silly I was! Why didn’t I think carefully before I began to work? Of course， the canoe was too heavy. I couldn’t move it! I pulled and pushed and tried everything， but it didn’t move. I was very unhappy for a long time after that.
In my sixth year on the island， I did make myself a smaller canoe， but I did not try to escape in it. The boat was too small for a long journey， and I did not want to die at sea. The island was my home now， and I was just happy to be alive. A year or two later， I made myself a second canoe on the other side of the island. I also built myself a second house there， and so I had two homes.
I kept food and tools at both of my houses， and also wild goats. There were many goats on the island， and I made fields with high fences to keep them in. They learnt to take food from me， and soon I had goats’ milk to drink every day. I also worked hard in my corn fields. And so， many years went by.
1.We can infer(推断) from the first paragraph that the writer .
A. was probably from England
B. lived happily on the island
C. lost his way on the island
D. was born on the island
2.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The writer made himself a smaller canoe in his sixth year on the island.
B. The writer made fields with high fences to keep many wild goats in.
C. The writer didn’t try to escape because he had two homes on the island.
D. The writer knew the canoe was too small for a long journey across the sea.
3.This story is mainly about how the writer .
A. kept goats in the fields
B. escaped from the island
C. built houses by himself
D. survived on the island
If you have no special plans for your holiday， why not spend your time helping others?
Don’t listen to people who say that young people today often think of only themselves. It’s not true at all. More and more young people in the U.S.A. volunteer to spend their school holidays working for others. And they don’t do it for money. Here are some of their stories.
Alice Hamilton， 17
I’m going to help the Forest Centre build new hiking paths in the mountains. It’s going to be wonderful. I’ll spend the whole summer living in a tent and breathing the clean mountain air. I’m going to sleep under the stars. It will be a nice sport， and I’ll be able to do something good at the same time!
Jason Moore， 18
This summer I’m going to volunteer with Special House Program. They build good， low-cost houses and sell them to families that are not very rich. They’ll teach me what to do， so I’ll help people and also have a chance to learn how to build houses.
Trish Anderson， 16
I’m going to teach kids who have trouble in reading. I’ll work for a program called Reading for Life. Every day， I’m going to help kids choose and read books that they like. I want to be a teacher and I love children and reading， so this is going to be a great experience for me.
1.More and more young people in the U.S.A. _____________.
A. like to help others on school holidays.
B. want to make money by helping others
C. only think of themselves
D. spend holidays travelling in the mountains
2.Which of the following statement about Jason Moore is RIGHT?
A. He likes reading very much.
B. His family isn’t very rich.
C. He is the oldest of the three.
D. He is good at sports.
3.Which is the most possible title for this passage?
A. Reading B. A Special House Program
C. The Forest Centre D. Young American Volunteers
完形填空
Do you have the ability to live cheaply? Now here's a true story of an American girl， Sarah.
Sarah left university， she began to live in New York on her own. She found a job in a publishing house， but the salary(薪水)was $30，000 a year. Her parents thought her life would be hard， but Sarah could live on her salary and still saved $5，000 in a year. How was that ______ in one of the most expensive cities in the world?
Cheap living always starts with keeping the big cost small. For most people， that housing. So Sarah chose to share a flat with three other friends. Her next biggest cost was . When she ate out， she went to cheap restaurants. Once she bought a $9.99 whole chicken at a local restaurant. She then the chicken bones home and made soup out of them. Nowadays young people often a lot of money on entertainment（娱乐）.But Sarah said ，“I enjoy walking in New York City. I love going to museums and parks." Did Sarah feel poor by cheap living? Not really. She even managed to take two trips， one to the Netherlands， to Portland.
“Don't think of saving money as something . It's a kind of game，" said Sarah.
1.A. Until B. Because C. After D. Before
2.A. more than B. less than C. at least D. higher than
3.A. difficult B. possible C. useful D. different
4.A. helps B. becomes C. makes D. means
5.A. food B. rest C. study D. hobby
6.A. prepared B. took C. caught D. picked
7.A. pay B. cost C. spend D. save
8.A. along B. up C. down D. around
9.A. the other B. another C. other D. the others
10.A. hard B. interesting C. easy D. tiny
---I’m always afraid of giving a speech in front of the class.
--- You can do it well.
A. I’m sorry to hear that. B. Take it easy.
C. You are too nervous. D. Good luck.
K. Rowling finished the first Harry Potter book in 1995 but it wasn’t ___________ in the very beginning.
A. great successful B. a great success
C. a great successful D. great success
