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 Rebacca 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 CristelRussell 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.
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 |
The underlined expression “crack their spines” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.
| A．recite them |
| B．read them |
| C．recall them |
| D．retell them |
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 reading experience |
| D．writers inspire the same imaginations as film directors do |
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 rereading |
| D．introduce the effective ways of reading old books |
Life is difficult.
It is a great truth because once we truly understand and accept it, then life is no longer difficult.
Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that difficulties represent(代表) a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or else upon their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending on their nature, cause in us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as painful as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole process of solving problems that life has its meaning.
Problems are the serious test that tells us success from failure. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we encourage the human ability(能力) to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurt, instruct.” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.From the passage, it can be inferred that ______.
| A．everybody has problems |
| B．we become stronger by facing and solving the problems of life |
| C．life is difficult because our problems bring us pain |
| D．people like to complain about their problems |
The writer probably used just one short sentence in the first paragraph to ______.
| A．save space | B．persuade readers |
| C．make readers laugh | D．get reader's attention |
The main idea of paragraph 3 is that ______.
| A．most people feel life is easy |
| B．the writer feels life is easy |
| C．the writer likes to complain about his problems |
| D．most people complain about how hard their lives are |
According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to ______.
| A．encourage them to learn |
| B．teach them to fear the pain of solving problems |
| C．help them learn to deal with pain |
| D．teach them how to respect for problems |
If we say the four great inventions (Gunpowder,Compass,Paper and Art of Printing) reflected ancient China’s scientific achievements,then Zhaozhou Stone Bridge perfectly represented one of the greatest contributions to ancient China’s bridge building.Nobody was unfamiliar with the stone bridge full of legends and vivid folk stories.
The ancient Zhaozhou stone bridge started to be built in 590 during the Sui Dynasty (581～618) and established in 608.The pioneer for building the bridge was Li Chun who overcame unimaginable difficulties,undergoing all hardships.The location of the bridge is in Zhao County south,Hebei Province.It lay across the Xiaoshui River,far away from the mountains that provided rocky materials.In ancient times,it was such a busy,deep and wide river that could be used as an important carriage to transport heavy rocks and other materials.As we know,no train,no lifting machine could be used to move granite(花岗岩)blocks to the construction site.As an intelligent stonemason and engineer,Li Chun worked out his plan and design all from his own direct observation and investigation.It took his whole life-time in completing the great historical project inChina.Nowadays it is not only a historical remarkable model of architecture,but also a brilliant Chinese cultural crystallization(结晶) of wisdom.
The entire length of the bridge is 50.82 meters with 10 meters width.The whole stone bridge looks like a big bow,the span of which is 37.02 meters,and its height from the top to the surface of water at a regular position is 7.23 meters.The bridge arch seems to be moving smoothly and flatly.The whole arch consists of 28 big granite blocks connected each other tightly together.On both end sides of the general arch there are 4 smaller arches,2 of which on one side,the other 2 on the other side.The smaller arches could be used to decrease the weight of the bridge and save stone materials,and help flood get through easily,which seems to be much prettier.Such a hard-thinking and careful consideration of the engineering article is really a model of design and layout.The span was much wider than the other stone bridge in ancient times all over China.
Today Zhaozhou Stone Bridge is one of international cultural relics and perfectly protected and preserved by the concerned administration of China.The best title of this passage is _________.
| A．Great engineer in ancient China | B．Zhaozhou stone bridge |
| C．Four great inventions | D．How to build a bridge |
The third paragraph mainly tells us _________.
| A．the materials of Zhaozhou bridge | B．the structure of Zhaozhou bridge |
| C．the arches of Zhaozhou bridge | D．the importance of Zhaozhou bridge |
The underlined word “carriage” probably refers to _________.
| A．cart | B．transport | C．channel | D．resourse |
No one can believe that the over 6 300-kilometer long Great Wall might disappear some day.Believe it or not,the Great Wall is being destroyed by people.Less than 20 percent of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty is still perfect,but about 80 percent is in danger.The Great Wall can be called “great” mostly because of its amazing length.But we should realize that the length was made up of one brick at a time.If we do nothing to save the Great Wall,it will become a series of separate wasteland rather than a historic site.
The Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over the past 2 000 years.It began in the rule of China’s first emperor,Qin Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC～206 BC),and lasted into the Ming Dynasty.The parts built before the Ming Dynasty have nearly disappeared.People are familiar with sections such as Badaling in Beijing and Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu because they have been open to tourists for many years.But those sections far away from the public eyes have been almost forgotten.
Few local people knew the 3-meter-high walls made of earth and stones beside them are part of the Great Wall.The lack of knowledge is considered as one of the main reasons behind human.
The bricks on the Great Wall are carried off by countryside people to build their houses,sheep corral(畜栏) and pigsties(猪圈).Some were taken away to build roads.Bricks carved with people’s names are put away as remembrance.Rubbish is spread over the battlements(城垛).The bricks can be sold for 15 yuan per tractor load.Those who destroyed and are destroying the Great Wall know its name,but are not clear about its cultural meaning.It will take a long time to let them know this.The local farmers not only carried off the body of the Wall but dug out the entire base.
It is necessary to protect the Great Wall.First of all,the officials should be aware of theimportance of the Great Wall.Young Chinese should know more about the nation’s great civilization (文明)and learn to love it.The main reason for which the Great Wall can be called“great”is__________.
| A．it was made by brick | B．it was very wide |
| C．it was very long | D．it had a long history |
Why does the author say the Great Wall might disappear?
| A．It is useless from now on. | B．It will be replaced by a new one. |
| C．Some parts of it are being destroyed. | D．It’s too old to be used again. |
The underlined part “those sections far away from the public eyes” refers to the parts of the Great Wall__________.
| A．that are too difficult to understand | B．nobody can watch |
| C．that are too far to been seen | D．that are not well known to the public |
What’s the main reason of the Great Wall’s being destroyed?
| A．The local people are short of culture knowledge. |
| B．The local people need bricks and stones to build houses. |
| C．The local people think that the Great Wall is not important. |
| D．The local people are against the government. |
Chinese Ancient Science & Inventions
Chinese Inventions—Can You Name Them?
The Invention of Paper and find out everything about paper-making at The Rober C.Williams American Museum of Papermaking.
The Art of Printing(Matteo Ricci)
The Origin of Chinese Books and Printing
Chinese bookmaking an ancient craft
Paper,a contribution to human progress
The History of Chinese Ｍathematics
Chinese Ancient Science & Technology
Chinese Ancient Agriculture
The Coins of Ancient China
Chinese Agriculture
The Coins of Ancient China
Chinese Agriculture
Invented in China?
The History of Calculating(abacus)
Return of the Dragon:Hazards of Man-Made Magnetism(a discussion)
Chinese Ancient & Modern Think-tanks
Kong Fu Zi—Confucius(James A.A.Tucker)
The Philosopher Confucius (551～479 B.C.)
The Analects—Confucius (English text)
The Great Learning—Confucius (English text)
The Doctrine of the Mean—Confucius (English text)
Mencius—Meng Zi and some text (GB)
Mao Zedong—A Great Man in China History
Man of the Year—Teng Hsiao-ping (Times)
The Tao Te Ching—Lao Tzu (Translated by S.Mitchell)
XUN KUANG (Xunzi—25 B C)
Han Fei
Welcome to Taoist Resource Center A Complete Guide to Taoism and its many applications.
ASIAWEEK—MAO NOW—The Great Helmsman led China into some of the most monumental disasters of the modern era.Now,20 years after his death,Mao Zedong’s star is shining asbrightly as ever.How can it be so?
Chairman Mao’s Poems—In Chinese (GIF).
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen—The founding father of Republic of China.
Mao Zedong—An unofficial site which collects quotations of Mao and some articles on Mao.(CHINESE GB) (CHINESE PS)
Mao Zedong—A Great Man in China History—Internet resources on Mao & his era.
Sun Yat-Sen:Fundamentals of National Reconstruction—“This book is Sun Yat-sen’s most important political statement.It enunciates his famous three principles whereby he set China on the road to modernity.”
DENG Xiaoping—Deng Xiaoping leads a far-reaching,audacious but Risky Second Revolution.(Man of the Year 1985,Time Magazine)(in English)
...For more information Click the Underlined.This passage is probably take from _________.
| A．magazine | B．a webpage | C．text book | D．TV programme |
How many webpages offer the information about Confucius?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Two. |
The passage is designed mainly to _________.
| A．make us learn the great people and inventions of China |
| B．give some information about China |
| C．stress the importance of confuciusm |
| D．describe the printing in China |
Can you remember the first time you learned to ride a bike or drive a car？Learning these skills changed your life forever and opened up new horizons（视野）.Learning about computers can be like learning how to ride a bike or drive a car.Once you have invested the time to master the skills，you will never go back to the old days.The new technology is simply too convenient and too powerful.
Technological developments through the years have enabled us to do more with less effort.We have continuously looked for better ways of doing things.Each invention and new development has allowed us to extend our capabilities.Today we see one of the most dramatic technologies ever developed—the computer.It extends the capabilities of our minds.
Computers have saved organizations millions of dollars. Furthermore，these same computer systems have opened up new opportunities that would have gone undiscovered or neglected.The computer may multiply what we can do，and the return on investment is high.The growth of computer usage is surprising. On the other hand，the computer can do serious damage.Invasion of privacy（侵犯隐私），fraud（欺诈），and computer-related mistakes are just a few shocking examples.The computer is like a double-edged sword.It has the ability to cut us free from some activities，but it can also cut deep into profits，personal privacy，and our society in general.How it is used is not a function of technology.It is strictly a function of how people decide to use or misuse this new technology.The choice is yours，and only through a knowledge of computer systems will you be able to avoid the dangers while enjoying the many，many benefits of the computer age.The writer thinks learning about computers is like learning how to ride a bike or drive a car because ______.
| A．it is simple and practical | B．it needs a lot of practice |
| C．it leads people to new life experiences | D．it takes much time to master the skills |
According to the passage，computers bring people the following benefits except ______.
| A．avoiding mistakes | B．saving money |
| C．making money | D．opening up opportunities |
According to the writer，the bad effects of computers can be avoided if we ______.
| A．have some knowledge of computer systems |
| B．tell people not to misuse computers |
| C．have strict rules over the use of computers |
| D．make more investments in the technology |
This passage is probably written for ______.
| A．computers | B．computer producers |
| C．computer learners | D．computer programmers |