Guo Liqin, 24, works as a primary school teacher in a distant area in Yunnan Province. The Internet offers him the latest news and entertainment from the outside world. And many people like him also depends on the online libraries for the free literature(文学) reading.

A survey in China last year found the online literature is the biggest growth area of Internet entertainment.

Reading for free is also popular in other countries. See what solutions other countries are taking.

Public Libraries

In countries such as Germany, Canada, and the UK, governments pay the authors to have their books in public libraries.

The pay is different from country to country. Some pay according to how many times a book has been borrowed; others pay according to whether the library has bought the book or not.

Google Books

Google Books allow users to see some free parts before buying them.

The author can choose to make from 20% to 100% of the book’s content(内容) for free reading . But you can see a full view of books that are out of copyright(版权).

E-magazines

E-magazines are usually about pop culture, and make money through advertisements. The writers are usually paid by the numbers of words they write.

Digital Library

There are many free online libraries of books which are no longer in copyright.

American and European websites offer classic(古典的) literature and non-fiction texts like dictionaries for download in different languages.

1.Guo Liqin depends on          for free reading.

A. online libraries    B. city bookstores     C. school libraries   D. borrowing books

2.From the passage we know other countries are taking           solutions for reading for free.

   A. 3              B. 4                C. 5                D. 6

3. In some countries, the authors are paid by            to have their books in public libraries.

   A. advertisements B. readers          C. governments      D. the word numbers

4. Google Books and Digital Library allow users to read the full books           .

   A. which are out of copyright         B. which are in copyright

   C. which are about pop culture        D. which have some free parts

5.The best title of the passage is          .

A. Enjoy Reading                        B. Learn How to Read

C. The Importance of Reading            D. How to Read for Free

 

Hotels can make a person’s stay away from home as restful as possible. Hotels provide warm beds to allow guests a peaceful night’s rest. Besides, some hotels offer guests special services such as newspapers to read in the morning, fresh coffee, and even breakfast. Hotel workers want their guests to feel warm and welcome when they stay in their hotel.

One hotel near the Arctic Circle, however, is different. This hotel gives its guests a cold welcome. The Ice Hotel, in Sweden, is all made of ice. The Ice Hotel might sound strange, but in some ways it is a special hotel. It has a front lobby where guests check into the hotel, plenty of rooms to sleep in, and even room service, which guests can use to have food delivered to their rooms. The Ice Hotel is different, though, because most of the items are made from ice.

It takes more than 30 tons of ice and snow to build the Ice Hotel. It melts(融化) in the summer and is rebuilt each winter. Different builders and artists create the Ice Hotel, so each winter this famous hotel has a new shape and design.

The effort of building the Ice Hotel is worth it, however. Walking into the Ice Hotel is like walking into a diamond. The walls reflect even the smallest bits of light. Ice pillars（柱子）support the roof. The floor below shines like glass. Almost every inch of this hotel sparkles inside. Visiting the Ice Hotel is truly an unusual experience.

Temperatures inside the Ice Hotel are usually below freezing. Guests wear warm jackets, hats, gloves, and thick boots. Even the owners of the Ice Hotel know that staying in a building with walls of ice four feet thick can be a bit cold. They have a solution though. The Ice Hotel has a sauna for its guests. A sauna is a room filled with steam, where guests can warm themselves. In a way, then, one could say that the Ice Hotel does give their guests a warm welcome after all.

1.Why must the Ice Hotel be rebuilt each year ?

A．Because the hotel melts during the summer.

B．Because guests suggest changes to the hotel.

C．Because the hotel is damaged by the sauna.

D．Because more rooms are needed at the hotel.

2. From paragraph2 we can infer that ______.

A．the Ice Hotel has temperatures below freezing but is warm inside

B．guests of the Ice Hotel check in at the front lobby

C．the Ice Hotel is like other hotels except that it is made of ice

D．guests of the Ice Hotel may order food that is delivered to their rooms

3.What is the purpose of the writer writing the article?

A．To describe the temperature inside a hotel.

B．To give information about an uncommon hotel.

C．To compare different kinds of hotels.

D．To encourage people to visit hotels.

 

Reading Oliver James'Affluenza, I thought about what often happens at home. My 12-year-old daughter is in tears."I have so take a test tomorrow. I don't understand any of it," she cries out. After shouting and shutting her door, she calms down enough to go through her notes. The following dry I ask her how the test went and the just says "OK,I got a nine".
"Wow. well done!" I say, before she finishes with "But I never get a ten!"
According to James, this obsession with getting top marks has been a bad development, which encourages people to think of education in terms of work and money. To test this, I asked my daughter why she was so worried about her tests. She looked at me as if I was thick. "Well, if I don't get good grades, I won't be able to afford nice things like a car and stuff."
I was quite surprised, because I don't consider myself a pushy parent. But James suggests and it leaves students feeling failures even if they are very bright. He points to the Danish system（体制）of education as a better model. Creating happy citizens who have good social skills is seen as more important than high achievements at school or the needs of business.
For me, I cannot remember the last time I had to work out the area of a circle, recite a Shakespeare poem or grammar rules, yet I have lived a happy life. What I really needed to learn at school was how to make polite conversations, or how to avoid getting into debt or how to develop good personality.
This is in fact similar to what Oliver James really has in mind. And he is looking for schools where students are encouraged to find and follow their own interests, something more like Tongjon. Tongjon has been developed in some Korean private schools. It is quite different from the more rigid system of learning things by heart that is used in Korea, and indeed in many other school systems around the world.
As the Russian poet Pushkin said," Inspiration(灵感）is needed in geometry(几何学）just as much as in poetry ",and inspiration does not come from endlessly revising for tests or getting worried about them .
【小题1】What does the writer probably think of his/her daughter?

A．She sets herself a goal too high to reach.

B．She should be more polite to her parents.

C．She is hard-working but not very bright.

D．She takes her grades much too seriously.

【小题2】What does the word "obsession"in paragraph 3 mean?

A．A plain and unavoidable fact.

B．A satisfied and very proud state.

C．A practical and widely-used way.

D．A fixed and often unreasonable idea.

【小题3】What can we infer from the passage?

A．Social skills are as important as high grades.

B．Interest in grades can shake self-confidence.

C．The writer regrets not having studied hard at school.

D．Danish educational system is for very smart students.

【小题4】The writer wants to tell us that____.

A．learning happily is the key to self-development.

B．top marks may be helpful to increase one's interest.

C．tests should be improved to give children inspiration.

D．education should meet one's needs for word and money.

These days students in some schools ______ not to use mobile phones.

A．ask

B．asked

C．are asked

D．were asked

根据句意或句子的语法要求，用括号中所给单词的适当形式填空。

1.The Internet is _______ (wide) used in most families in our country today.

2.This e-dictionary doesn’t belong to ________ (I). It’s Sandy’s.

3._______ (child) Day is my favourite festival in the year.

4.I think this problem is much ________ (easy) than that one.

5.I’m looking forward to ________ (meet) my old friend, Jim, this Sunday.

6.We won’t go for a picnic if it ________ (rain) this weekend.

7.It’s necessary for us ________ (understand) the importance of health care.

8.A year ________ (divide) into twelve different star signs in some Western countries.