Question

    We may be living in the digital age, but reading books is still a big part of growing up. When they’re in primary school, children read books that really challenge them. But once they reach secondary school, the level of difficulty doesn’t change much. Secondary school students tend to read books which are also read by upper primary students. They are not challenging themselves enough.

To discover these trends, I analyzed data collected by Accelerated Reader (AR) software, which asks pupils to check their understanding of the books they’ve chosen to read. The difficulty — which I call “readability”.

I also created two lists of books: one for the books that most secondary pupils had chosen to read, and another for the books they had voted as their favorites. According to the readability, these students’ favorite books tend to be much more advanced than the other books they chose, but they could still understand them. The rest of the books most often chosen by them are quite simple.

You might think that students who read harder books might make more mistakes and understand them less well. But students’ quality of comprehension does not depend on the difficulty of the book, no matter what year of secondary school they’re in. Having an interest is the most obvious factor here — if you like the book, you try hard to really understand it.

As children become teenagers, they listen less to advice from adults and more to advice from kids of their age. So, rather than trying to lecture young people on the benefits of Jane Austen, we should make the nature of the problem clear to them. Students should challenge each other to read more difficult books. Adults could help by setting up noticeboards or organizing social media networks for young people to share their recommendations. And teachers can lend a hand by setting aside time for reading in school. Young people will realize the problems that come when they don’t challenge themselves to read difficult books.

1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A.Children spend little time on after-class reading

B.Secondary school students seldom read tough books

C.Children’s reading interest tends to decrease as they grow up

D.Primary students have difficulty choosing good reading materials

2.The author made use of AR software to ________.

A.understand children’s different reading styles

B.show the average time children spend on reading

C.find out the causes of children’s reading difficulties

D.make clear the difficulty levels of books read by children

3.What can we infer about secondary school students from the readability scores?

A.They find some advanced books interesting

B.They often make mistakes during advanced reading

C.They prefer to read books recommended by their parents

D.They can hardly improve their scores on reading comprehension

4.According to Paragraph 4, what is vital for improving reading comprehension?

A.Basic knowledge

B.Reading skills

C.Motivation

D.Instruction

5.What does the author want to express in the last paragraph?

A.Designing relatively difficult textbooks is necessary

B.Improving students’ reading is a shared responsibility

C.Advanced technology should be used in reading reaching

D.Students should be encouraged to read more literary works

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.A

4.C

5.B

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。文章主要阐述了作者通过对初中生阅读能力的一项调查讨论了如何提高他们的阅读能力—兴趣动力。

1.细节理解题。根据文章第一段第3，4句内容：But once they reach secondary school, the level of difficulty doesn’t change much. Secondary school students tend to read books which are also read by upper primary students. They are not challenging themselves enough.（但是一旦他们进入中学，学习的难度并没有太大的变化。中学生喜欢读小学高年级学生也读的书。他们没有足够的挑战自己）可知，初中生在阅读难度方面没有提高。故选B项。

2.细节理解题。根据文章第二段内容: To discover these trends, I analyzed data collected by Accelerated Reader (AR) software, which asks pupils to check their understanding of the books they’ve chosen to read. The difficulty — which I call “readability”.（为了发现这些趋势，我分析了加速阅读(AR)软件收集的数据，该软件要求学生检查他们对所选书籍的理解。这个困难——我称之为“可读性”）可知，AR软件是用来评测学生阅读难度的。故选D项。

3.推理判断题。根据文章第三段第2句内容：According to the readability, these students’ favorite books tend to be much more advanced than the other books they chose, but they could still understand them. The rest of the books most often chosen by them are quite simple.（根据可读性，这些学生最喜欢的书往往比他们选择的其他书更高级/有难度，但他们仍然可以理解他们。他们最常选择的其他书都很简单）可知，A项They find some advanced books interesting（他们发现一些高级的书很有趣）属于合理推理。故选A项。

4.细节理解题。根据文章第四段末句：Having an interest is the most obvious factor here — if you like the book, you try hard to really understand it.（兴趣是最明显的因素——如果你喜欢这本书，你会努力去真正理解它）可知，兴趣或动力对于提高阅读理解能力来说很重要。故选C项。

5.推理判断题。根据文章末段末尾内容：Students should challenge each other to read more difficult books. Adults could help by setting up noticeboards or organizing social media networks for young people to share their recommendations. And teachers can lend a hand by setting aside time for reading in school. Young people will realize the problems that come when they don’t challenge themselves to read difficult books.（学生们应该互相挑战，多读些难懂的书。成年人可以通过设立公告栏或组织社交媒体网络来帮助年轻人分享他们的推荐。老师可以通过在学校留出阅读时间来帮助学生。年轻人会意识到，如果他们不挑战自己去读难懂的书，问题就会出现）可知，作者在建议提高学生阅读能力方面，将责任分别划分到了学生、老师、家长身上。故选B项。