Mini Book Excerpts (节选)
Biography（自传）
When Salinger learned that a car park was to be built on the land，the middleaged writer was shocked and quickly bought the neighboring area to protect it ... The towns people never forgot the rescue and came to help their most famous neighbor.
J. D. Salinger: A Life by Kenneth Slawenski (Random House，$27)
Mystery (疑案小说)
“You're a smart boy. Benny's death was no accident, and you're the only one who saw it happen. Do you think the murderer should get away with it? ”The boy was staring stubbornly at his lap again.
A thought suddenly occurred to Annika，“Did you ...You recognized the man in the car, didn't you？”
The boy hesitated, twisting his fingers，“Maybe，”he said quietly.
Red Wolf by Liza Marklund (Atria Books, $25.99)
Short Stories
She wants to say to him what she has learned，none of it in class: Some women are born stupid, and some women are too smart for their own good. Some women are born to give, and some women only know how to take. Some women learn who they want to be from their mothers, some who they don't want to be. Some mothers suffer so their daughters won't. Some mothers love so their daughters won't.
You Are Free by Danzy Senna (Riverhead Books，$15)
Humor
Do your kids like to have fun? Come to Fun Times! Do you like to watch your kids having fun? Bring them to Fun Times! Fun Times's “amusement cycling” is the most fun you can have, legally, in the United States right now. Why spend thousands of dollars flying to Disney World when you can spend less than half of that within a day's drive of most cities?
Happy And Other Bad Thoughts by Larry Doyle (Ecco，$14.99)If the readers want to know about the life of Salinger, they should buy the book published by ________.
| A．Ecco | B．Random House |
| C．Riverhead Books | D．Atria Books |
The book Happy And Other Bad Thoughts is intended for ________.
| A．young children | B．Disney World workers |
| C．middle school teachers | D．parents with young children |
Which book describes women with characters of their own?
A．You Are Free B．J. D. Salinger: A Life
C．Happy And Other Bad Thoughts D．Red Wolf
A young man once went to town and bought himself a pair of trousers. When he got home, he went to his room and put them on. He found that they were about two inches too long. He went into the kitchen, and his mother and two sisters were doing some washing there. He said to them, “The new trousers are too long. They need cutting by two inches. Would one of you mind doing this for me?” His mother and sisters were busy and none of them said anything.
But as soon as his mother had finished washing up, she went to her son’s room silently and cut the trousers by two inches. She came back without saying anything to her daughters. After supper, the elder sister remembered her brother’s trousers. She went to his room and cut the trousers by two inches without saying anything to anyone. The younger sister went to the cinema. But when she came back, she also remembered her brother’s trousers. So she went to his room and cut them by two inches, too.The trousers were ______.
| A．too long | B．new | C．for the young man | D．A, B and C |
Why didn’t the young man’s mother and sisters answer him?
| A．Because they didn’t hear him clearly. |
| B．Because they thought others would do it for him |
| C．Because they didn’t want to do it for him. |
| D．Because they were busy at that time. |
What can we infer from the story?
| A．Maybe the young man didn’t try on the trousers when he bought them |
| B．The trousers are just right for the young man now. |
| C．His mother and sisters didn’t hear what the young man said. |
| D．The young’s mother and sisters didn’t want to help him. |
If the trousers were 197 inches at first, how long were they at last?
| A．191 inches | B．193 inches | C．195 inches | D．199 inches. |
Which one is true from the story?
| A．The young man’s mother and sisters want others to know what they did. |
| B．They young man would be very happy to see his trousers were short. |
| C．The young man had to throw the trousers away at last. |
| D．The young man would be very thankful to his mother and sisters. |
Do you still get free plastic bags（塑料袋） from the supermarket（超市）? Things will change soon.
To protect(保护) the environment, supermarkets in China will stop providing (提供) free plastic bags after June 1st. If you don't want to pay money to buy them, you'll have to bring your own shopping bag.
What kind of bags will be the best to bring? Students in Kunming Xinying Middle School have some good ideas.
Recently 54 students of the school held an activity in which they made their own environmentally-friendly shopping bags.
Most students used old clothes to make their bags. They painted pictures like the Olympic rings on them.
But Wang Shuncheng, a Junior 2 boy, chose a different material (材料). He made his bag with old newspaper. Is a newspaper bag strong enough to hold shopping? Wang says it is, "No problem. I put six bottles of water in the bag," he said. "It's strong enough!"
Chen Lisi, a girl, had a more traditional way to make her bag – she weaved (编织) a bamboo basket. It was not an easy job. With her grandfather's help, Chen spent a whole afternoon making it. She also weaved wool (毛线) flowers on the basket.
Making bags was not all the students did. They had another job: to persuade their parents and relatives to use environmentally-friendly shopping bags instead of plastic ones. The school will show the bags so that shops and stores can get inspiration (灵感) from the students' work.On June 2nd, if you don’t bring a shopping bag, ________ in the market.
| A．you can get free plastic bags |
| B．you’ll have to pay for the plastic bags |
| C．you can’t buy anything |
| D．you can’t use plastic bags |
From the passage, we can infer(推测) that ___________.
| A．Plastic bags will not come into our life any more. |
| B．When you go shopping after June 2nd, you have to bring a shopping bag. |
| C．Plastic bags are bad for the environment. |
| D．No one will use plastic bags after June 2nd. |
What does “persuade” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．劝说 | B．阻止 | C．保证 | D．反对 |
Supermarkets in China stop providing plastic bags because _________.
| A．they want to save money |
| B．markets want to make more money |
| C．plastic bags are very expensive |
| D．they want to protect the environment |
Which of the following is not right from the passage?
| A．People may use other material to make shopping bags. |
| B．The students’ work may bring inspiration to the supermarkets. |
| C．You can’t use plastic bags in supermarkets any more after June 1st. |
| D．The newspaper bag made by Wang Shuncheng seems strong. |
Some people have very good memory（记忆力） and they can easily remember quite long texts. There are other people who can only remember things when they have said them again and again. The famous English writer Charles Dickens said that he could walk down any long street in London and then tell you the name of every shop he had passed. Many great men of the world have a wonderful memory.
A good memory is greatly helpful in learning a language. Everybody learns his own language by remembering what he hears when he is a small child, and some children, like the boys and girls who live abroad(国外) with their parents, seem to learn two languages almost as easily as one. In school it is not so easy to learn a second language because the students have so little time for it, and they are very busy with other subjects too.
A man’s mind is like a camera, but it takes photos not only of what we see but also of what we feel, hear, smell and taste. When we take a real photo with a camera, Some people have very good memory（记忆力） and they can easily remember quite long texts.In the same way, there is much work to be done before we can keep a picture forever(永远) in our minds.
Memory is a diary, and we all carry it about us. We keep things we have experienced (经历)in this diary.Which of the following is true?
| A．Charles Dickens had a good memory because he was a famous writer. |
| B．People without a good memory cannot be great men of the world. |
| C．People became great because they have a good memory. |
| D．Many people may never become great though they have a good memory. |
To learn a language well, one must ________.
| A．live abroad | B．write it every day |
| C．often hear it | D．go to school |
The writer thinks a camera in one’s mind can take photos of ______.
| A．what we see |
| B．what we feel and hear |
| C．what we smell and taste |
| D．what we see, feel, hear, smell and taste |
If you have a good memory, ________.
| A．you can learn a second language easily |
| B．you can remember things for ever easily |
| C．you can learn your own language easily |
| D．you can remember things better |
Which of the following is true?
| A．We all keep a diary in our mind. |
| B．One has to do a lot of work before he can keep a picture in his mind forever. |
| C．A person with a good memory can remember things forever. |
| D．A good memory helps to remember everything forever. |
Human beings are the most intelligent of all animals because we are gifted with the ability to think and reason logically. Scientists and even common people with special intelligence have made a lot of inventions and contributions to modern lifestyle in the past. “Houses” have been the most popular area for discoveries and inventions in the past and even now.
Many household items have been the result of inventions of people who desired better functioning of the existent products. Every individual has intelligence and if it is used properly for the right purpose it leads to invention of a new tool or device. Many new household inventions are made almost every day and there are specific companies, which particularly keep a record of all these inventions.
A lot of inventions have been made recently in the household field. These products are patented(专利的)and have trade mark licenses(许可). The patented sliding cinch is a very simple but effective method to prevent shoulder stress and injury for those who work before computers all day long. Vanity PC is a type of computer furniture that specifically hides all the computer wires and keeps a clean and good look. All the outdoor dust, mud and snow can be kept out of the house by installing(安装)the dirt drain(排水管)at the entrance of the door. Another important invention is the automatic toilet night-light, in which a small light starts when the lid of the toilet seat is opened and closes as soon as the lid is closed.
These are some of the new household inventions invented mostly by common people. Thus, a variety of new household items are invented every day, which helps in a better functioning of household chores and in a more useful manner.The first paragraph tells us the importance of _________.
| A．the particular changes in houses |
| B．human beings’ role in making inventions |
| C．the advantages of modern lifestyle |
| D．the difference between human beings and animals |
What plays the most important role in causing people to invent new things?
| A．To earn more money and gain awards. |
| B．To be recorded by some special companies. |
| C．To improve the present living conditions. |
| D．To meet the new demands of new science. |
It can be inferred that the sliding cinch is used to _________.
| A．prevent your shoulder from being over-pressured |
| B．keep your shoulder safe and sound when you are in an accident or an operation |
| C．help you practice your shoulder more often and reduce shoulder pains |
| D．cover your shoulder and make it stronger to resist the outside strike |
Common people can also make good inventions because __________.
| A．wisdom and inspiration sometimes come from everyday life |
| B．some inventions are easy to be made and can be mastered by common people |
| C．common people have a strong desire to do something for science research |
| D．success is often connected with hardship and bitter experience of common people |
The passage is mainly talking about _________.
| A．the correct use of household facilities |
| B．different ideas about household inventions |
| C．the history of household inventions |
| D．household inventions and their influence |
As we have seen, the focus of medical care in our society has been shifting from curing disease to preventing disease—especially in terms of changing our many unhealthy behaviors, such as poor eating habits, smoking, and failure to exercise. The line of thought involved in this shift can be pursued further. Imagine a person who is about the right weight, but does not eat very nutritious (有营养的) foods, who feels OK but exercises only occasionally, who goes to work every day, but is not an outstanding worker, who drinks a few beers at home most nights but does not drive while drunk, and who has no chest pains or abnormal blood counts, but sleeps a lot and often feels tired. This person is not ill. He may not even be at risk for any particular disease. But we can imagine that this person could be a lot healthier.
The field of medicine has not traditionally distinguished between someone who is merely “not ill” and someone who is in excellent health and pays attention to the body’s special needs. Both types have simply been called “well”. In recent years, however, some health specialists have begun to apply the terms “well” and “wellness” only to those who are actively striving to maintain and improve their health. People who are well are concerned with nutrition and exercise, and they make a point of monitoring their body’s condition. Most important, perhaps, people who are well take active responsibility for all matters related to their health. Even people who have a physical disease or handicap (缺陷) may be “well” in this new sense, if they make an effort to maintain the best possible health they can in the face of their physical limitations. “Wellness” may perhaps best be viewed not as a state that people can achieve, but as an ideal that people can strive for. People who are well are likely to be better able to resist disease and to fight disease when it strikes. And by focusing attention on healthy ways of living, the concept of wellness can have a beneficial impact on the ways in which people face the challenges of daily life.Today medical care is placing more stress on ________.
| A．keeping people in a healthy physical condition |
| B．monitoring patients’ body functions |
| C．removing people’s bad living habits |
| D．ensuring people’s psychological well-being |
In the first paragraph, people are reminded that ________.
| A．good health is more than not being ill |
| B．drinking, even if not to excess, could be harmful |
| C．regular health checks are essential to keeping fit |
| D．prevention is more difficult than cure |
Traditionally, a person is considered “well” if he ________.
| A．does not have any unhealthy living habits |
| B．does not have any physical handicaps |
| C．is able to handle his daily routines |
| D．is free from any kind of disease |
According to the author, the true meaning of “wellness” is for people ________.
| A．to best satisfy their body’s special needs |
| B．to strive to maintain the best possible health |
| C．to meet the strictest standards of bodily health |
| D．to keep a proper balance between work and leisure |
According to what the author advocates, which of the following groups of people would be considered healthy?
| A．People who have strong muscles as well as slim figures. |
| B．People who are not presently experiencing any symptoms of disease. |
| C．People who try to be as possible, regardless of their limitations. |
| D．People who can recover from illness even without seeking medical care. |