As we grow old, we realize that we have so little time to read and there are so many great books that we’ve yet to get around to. Yet re-readers are everywhere around us. For certain fans, re-reading The Lord of the Rings is a conventional practice annually. One friend told me that Jane Austen’s Emma can still surprise him, despite his having read it over 50 times.
New sudden clear understandings can be gained from the process of re-reading. Journalist Rebecca Mead, a long-time Englishwoman in New York, first came across George Eliot’s Middlemarch at 17. Since then, she has read it again every five years. With each re-reading, it has opened up further; in each chapter of her life, it has resonated (引起共鸣) differently. Mead evidenced the large number of ways in which really good books not only stand the test of repeat reads, but also offer fresh gifts each time we crack their spines. These kinds of books grow with us.
Scientists have also recognized the mental health benefits of re-reading. Research conducted with readers in the US found that on our first reading, we are concerned with the “what” and the “why”. Second time round, we’re able to better appreciate the emotions that the plot continues to express. As researcher Cristel Russell of the American University explained, returning to a book “brings new or renewed appreciation of both the great book and its readers.”
It’s true that we often find former selves on the pages of old books (if we’re fond of making notes on the pages). These texts can carry us back to a time and place, and remind us of the kind of person that we were then. We’re changed not only by lived experience but also by read experience—by the books that we’ve discovered since last reading the one in our hand.
More so than the movie director or the musician, the writer calls upon our imaginations, using words to lead us to picture this declaration of love or that unfaithfulness in life. A book is a joint project between writers and readers, and we must pour so much of ourselves into reading that our own life story can become connected with the story in the book.
Perhaps what’s really strange is that we don’t re-read more often. After all, we watch our favourite films again and we wouldn’t think of listening to an album only once. We treasure messy old paintings as objects, yet of all art forms, literature alone is a largely one-time delight. A book, of course, takes up more time, but as Mead confirms, the rewards make it adequately worthwhile.
1.The two books are mentioned in Paragraph 1 mainly to ________.
A. attract the attention of readers
B. introduce the topic of the passage
C. provide some background information
D. show the similarity between re-readers
2.The underlined expression “crack their spines” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.
A. recite them B. re-read them C. recall them D. retell them
3.It can be learned from the passage that ________.
A. reading benefits people both mentally and physically
B. readers mainly focus on feelings on their first reading
C. we know ourselves better through re-reading experience
D. writers inspire the same imaginations as film directors do
4.The purpose of the passage is to ________.
A. call on different understandings of old books
B. focus on the mental health benefits of reading
C. bring awareness to the significance of re-reading
D. introduce the effective ways of re-reading old books
Sports are the base of my life, next to my mother who raised me when my dad left us. I have been into sports since I was six years old. I have known many coaches and heard hundreds of their tips, but they usually focused on drills to develop my skills and reach the next level of play.
When I was in Senior two, I met the new school basketball coach, Brian Pawloski. I thought I was certain to be selected for the school team since I had been in it the year before. I showed up to the tryouts and put out about 90% effort since I thought I’d make it with no problem. That was a big mistake.
Brian Pawloski is the hardest-working coach I have ever met. He didn’t expect 100% effort, he expected 200% effort. One example: he once made us do 40 suicide drills for the 40 lay-ups(投篮) we missed in a game. Some think this is crazy, but it isn’t. After this conditioning practice, as we were getting a cup of cold water to drink, I said, “Coach, that was the best practice I ever had.” I was completely sincere. This man was and is the person who influenced me most at my high school. He expects us to be excellent not just on the court but in the classroom. If I am not working on basketball, I am reading a book that he thinks will help us better understand life’s challenges, including Wooden, Coach, and The Screwtape Letters.
In the first two years I slacked off, not putting forth my full potential. Now, unlike the coaches of my youth, this man was interested in how we did off the court. He always made sure I kept up with my studies and was able to be trusted. I can honestly say that no other coach has given me so much advice on how to succeed in basketball, but more importantly, in life. My school is lucky to have such a great person to teach, coach and influence their students. I will always remember my high-school basketball days as one of the hardest times I have ever worked in my life not only in basketball but in my growth as an individual.
1.Different from other coaches, Coach Brian _____________.
A. concentrated on skill training
B. trained the team to the edge of death
C. expected the team to do well in their studies
D. asked the team to do more reading than training
2.The underlined phrase “slacked off” in the last paragraph probably means ______________.
A. paid no attention B. showed no interest
C. had less passion D. made less effort
3.In the author’s eyes, Coach Brian is ____________.
A. strict and helpful
B. hardworking and honest
C. skilled and cruel
D. professional and serious
Year of Giving
Yesterday I started the Year of Giving, my first day of a year-long journey into exploring the act of giving and the meaning of charity. I chose December 15 as the starting date, which marked three years since my mother died from heart disease. She was one of the most generous people that I have ever known. She always thought of others first and certainly serves as an inspiration to me.
I had a rather busy day yesterday, ironic (具有讽刺意义的) for someone who is unemployed right now. In the morning I went to the gym, and unsuccessfully got the phone call from the unemployment office for some job searching. Before I knew it, it was noon. I grabbed a quick lunch and rushed down to a meeting. On my way to Connecticut, I wondered if I would see someone that I would feel forced to give my first $ 10 to. I was running late and decided to do it afterwards.
After the meeting I had about half an hour to find the first person of my Year of Giving! I decided to check out DuPont Circle. I had met a guy there named Jerry once and thought he would willingly accept my $ 10. He wasn’t there, but I did see a man sitting by himself who looked really lonely, so I approached him. Now I had to figure out what I was going to say, I think I said something like, “Hi, can I sit down here?” “I would like to know if I could give you $ 10?” He asked me to repeat what I had said, I did, then he looked at me funny, got up and left.
I then started walking south where I spotted a man standing by the bus stop on Connecticut Ave. He appeared to be in his 60s. I don’t know what drew me to him, but I thought I would make my second attempt. I was a bit nervous and asked him which bus came by that stop. Then I explained that I was starting a year-long project to give $ 10 to someone every day and that I wanted to give my $ 10 for today to him. The gentleman, I later found out that his name was Ed, responded without hesitation that he could not accept my offer and that there were many people more deserving the money than him. This was exactly one of the things that I hoped would happen. People would think of others before themselves.
1.The author set the starting date on December 15 to ____.
A. help the charity B. remember his mother
C. make an explosion D. fulfill a wish of his mum
2.In the author’s first attempt to give away the money, ____.
A. he was considered ridiculous
B. he hesitated for a long time
C. he was forced to donate the money
D. he had no time to take action
3.In the author’s second attempt, the gentleman refused his offer because ____.
A. he didn’t need other’s help
B. he thought more for others
C. he didn’t care about money
D. he wanted to get more money
4.We can infer that the author was inspired by ____.
A. true friendship B. his own kindness
C. generous donations D. human’s good nature
书面表达
假设你是李华，你的英国笔友Chris刚刚转学，感到一切都很陌生。他在邮件中向你询问如何尽快融入新环境，请你根据以下信息回信。
1．多跟同学交流沟通；
2．积极参加学校活动；．
3．向老师寻求帮助。
注意：1．词数100左右；2．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；3．开头已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Chris，
I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble fitting in at your new school．
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Yours,
Li Hua
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
It was a sunny day today and I went to Xishan Park for a spring outing. The moment I entered in the park, a variety of beautiful flowers and green trees come into sight. Attracted by the beauty, I couldn’t stop taking photo. As I wandered along the path, enjoy the beautiful view, I noticed something unpleasantly. Two schoolgirls jumped the fence to pick flowers. Obviously they didn’t realize that their behavior had done great damage on the beauty of the park. Without hesitation, I went up and stopped them politely. Quite embarrassing, the two girls came out immediately. Then we took pictures outside the fence. Seeing that, I smiled and something looked nicer in my eyes.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Discoveries about the nature of DNA in the 1940s made1. ________ possible for cloning experiments to progress. In 1944 the discovery 2.________ genetic information for each cell was kept in the cell’s DNA gave scientists new ways to attempt 3.________ (clone) animals.
The first cloned animal was a tadpole4. ________ was cloned in 1952. Thomas J. King and Robert W. Briggs believed, based on their clones, that young cells were more viable (可生长发育的) for the cloning process than adult cells.
The next successful cloning experiments also resulted 5.________ cloned frogs. John Gurdon cloned South African frogs in 1962. His experiments proved that the previous theory that adult cells were 6.________ (able) to be used in the cloning process was wrong. From 1962 to 1965, more frog clones were created from adult frog cells.
While animal cloning had been the focus of cloning experiments, the 1960s also saw7. ________ types of cloning. In 1964 F. C. Steward 8.________ (undertake) an experiment in which he took an adult cell from a carrot plant and successfully cloned the plant.
So far more than 20 different animals, 9.________ (include) dogs, cats, and the famous Dolly, have been cloned, 10. ________ human cloning research has been forbidden in many countries.
