Reading is the key to school success and, like any skill, it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practising until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. A great athlete practises until he can play quickly, accurately, without thinking. Tennis players call that ”being in the zone.” Educators call it “automaticity”.

   A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and decoding the words. With practice, he stumbles less and less, reading by the phrase. With automaticity, he doesn’t have to think about decoding the words, so he can concentrate on the meaning of the text.

   It can begin as early as first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois Schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found automatic readers in the first grade who were reading almost three times as fast as the other children and scoring twice as high on comprehension tests. At fifth grade, the automatic readers were reading twice as fast as the others, and still outscoring them on accuracy, comprehension and vocabulary.

   “It’s not I.Q. but the amount of time a child spends reading that is the key to automaticity,” according to Rossman. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will in all likelihood reach automaticity. At home, where the average child spends 25 hours a week watching television, it can happen by turning off the set just one night in favor of reading.

   You can test your child by giving him a paragraph or two to read aloud—something unfamiliar but appropriate to his age. If he reads aloud with expressions, with a sense of the meaning of the sentences, he probably is an automatic reader. If he reads haltingly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, he needs more practice.

13．The first paragraph tells us            .

A．what automaticity is                    B．how accuracy is acquired

C．how a child learns to walk               D．how an athlete is trained

14．The Illinois study shows that the automatic reader’s high speed         .

A．costs him a lot of work            B．affects his comprehension

C．leads to his future success         D．doesn’t affect his comprehension

15．A bright child          .

A．also needs practice to be an automatic reader

B．always achieves great success in comprehension tests

C．becomes an automatic reader after learning how to read

D．is a born automatic reader

16．The main idea of the passage is           .

A．how to score high on comprehension tests

B．reading is the key to school success

C．how to test your child’s reading ability

D．automaticity is important for efficient reading

When I was twelve years old, my family were the first black people to move into an all white part of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Many of our new neighbors weren’t very welcoming. Some of them said angrily that we should return to where we came from. The children sometimes threw stones at me .
Most of my teachers simply took no notice of me, but not Dorothy Bean, my history teacher. Miss Bean was angry at how badly I was being treated, but she didn’t say this to me. Miss Bean showed her respect for me by teaching me just like anyone else. Instead of being unnoticed, I was given a chance to show that I was clever. Miss Bean was the first teacher who ever made me think for myself. She always wanted to know what I thought about different questions. She expected me to have my own idea. Miss Bean was teaching me that thinking for oneself was the real key to education.
One day, when I was not paying attention in class, Miss Bean suddenly threw an eraser(黑板擦) at me. The eraser hit me right on the hand and sent my pencil flying. The whole class were very surprised at first, then started laughing. This event became famous in the school and, because it happened to me, the students wanted to get to know me. So that’s the story of how Dorothy Bean made me her target(靶子). However, what I want to do is express my thanks to her.
56. The author and his family were not welcomed by the local people because ____________.
A. they returned from another country     B. they have different skin color
C. they spoke a different language         D. they moved to a wrong place
57. From the end of the first paragraph we know that _____________.
A. children were more friendly to strangers
B. American schools were not safe for kids
C. children often follow their parents’ behavior
D. fighting each other is part of children’s nature
58. Miss Bean respected the author by ____________.
A. giving him special attention.
B. hitting him with an eraser.
C. giving him extra lessons.
D. treating him as one of her students.
59. To Miss Bean the most important thing for a student is to _________.
A. pay close attention to what the teacher says.
B. learn to think and have one’s own idea.
C. keep silent and unnoticed in class.
D. get special attention from the teacher.
60. Which is the writer’s attitude to Miss Bean?
A. Grateful.      B. Hateful.      C. Negative.       D. Supportive.

When I was twelve years old, my family were the first black people to move into an all white part of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Many of our new neighbors weren’t very welcoming. Some of them said angrily that we should return to where we came from. The children sometimes threw stones at me .

Most of my teachers simply took no notice of me, but not Dorothy Bean, my history teacher. Miss Bean was angry at how badly I was being treated, but she didn’t say this to me. Miss Bean showed her respect for me by teaching me just like anyone else. Instead of being unnoticed, I was given a chance to show that I was clever. Miss Bean was the first teacher who ever made me think for myself. She always wanted to know what I thought about different questions. She expected me to have my own idea. Miss Bean was teaching me that thinking for oneself was the real key to education.

One day, when I was not paying attention in class, Miss Bean suddenly threw an eraser(黑板擦) at me. The eraser hit me right on the hand and sent my pencil flying. The whole class were very surprised at first, then started laughing. This event became famous in the school and, because it happened to me, the students wanted to get to know me. So that’s the story of how Dorothy Bean made me her target(靶子). However, what I want to do is express my thanks to her.

56. The author and his family were not welcomed by the local people because ____________.

A. they returned from another country     B. they have different skin color

C. they spoke a different language         D. they moved to a wrong place

57. From the end of the first paragraph we know that _____________.

A. children were more friendly to strangers

B. American schools were not safe for kids

C. children often follow their parents’ behavior

D. fighting each other is part of children’s nature

58. Miss Bean respected the author by ____________.

A. giving him special attention.

B. hitting him with an eraser.

C. giving him extra lessons.

D. treating him as one of her students.

59. To Miss Bean the most important thing for a student is to _________.

A. pay close attention to what the teacher says.

B. learn to think and have one’s own idea.

C. keep silent and unnoticed in class.

D. get special attention from the teacher.

60. Which is the writer’s attitude to Miss Bean?

A. Grateful.      B. Hateful.      C. Negative.       D. Supportive.

   When I was twelve years old, my family were the first black people to move into an all white part of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Many of our new neighbors weren’t very welcoming. Some of them said angrily that we should return to where we came from. The children sometimes threw stones at me .

   Most of my teachers simply took no notice of me, but not Dorothy Bean, my history teacher. Miss Bean was angry at how badly I was being treated, but she didn’t say this to me. Miss Bean showed her respect for me by teaching me just like anyone else. Instead of being unnoticed, I was given a chance to show that I was clever. Miss Bean was the first teacher who ever made me think for myself. She always wanted to know what I thought about different questions. She expected me to have my own idea. Miss Bean was teaching me that thinking for oneself was the real key to education.

   One day, when I was not paying attention in class, Miss Bean suddenly threw an eraser(黑板擦) at me. The eraser hit me right on the hand and sent my pencil flying. The whole class were very surprised at first, then started laughing. This event became famous in the school and, because it happened to me, the students wanted to get to know me. So that’s the story of how Dorothy Bean made me her target(靶子). However, what I want to do is express my thanks to her.

56. The author and his family were not welcomed by the local people because ____________.

A. they returned from another country      B. they have different skin color

C. they spoke a different language         D. they moved to a wrong place

57. From the end of the first paragraph we know that _____________.

A. children were more friendly to strangers

B. American schools were not safe for kids

C. children often follow their parents’ behavior

D. fighting each other is part of children’s nature

58. Miss Bean respected the author by ____________.

A. giving him special attention.

B. hitting him with an eraser.

C. giving him extra lessons.

D. treating him as one of her students.

59. To Miss Bean the most important thing for a student is to _________.

A. pay close attention to what the teacher says.

B. learn to think and have one’s own idea.

C. keep silent and unnoticed in class.

D. get special attention from the teacher.

60. Which is the writer’s attitude to Miss Bean?

   A. Grateful.      B. Hateful.      C. Negative.       D. Supportive.

 If you are in charge of a project, the key to success is getting everyone to want to help you. As a director, I point, I suggest. I gently push the actors in the direction I want them to go. In the 1986 movie“Nothing in Common”, Jackie Gleason’s character, Max Basner, gets fired from his job as a clothing salesman. The scene, shot on a boat, shows Max’s despair about being out of work. I was looking for some gesture that would allow Max to show his feelings.

Jackie had far more experience at everything than I did, and at first I was frightened. What could I possibly tell “The Great One” about acting? Finally I decided to direct by suggestion, and sat down with Gleason to talk about the scene. “So Max is sad, right?” I said.Gleason nodded.“And he’s probably still carrying his pens with name on them—the ones he used to hand out to his customers, right?”Gleason nodded.“So what would you want to do with the pens after you were fired?”He was silent for a moment. “Why don’t I throw them overboard?”I stood up and turned up and turned toward the crew. “Hey, everybody, Jackie has a wonderful idea. Let’s shoot it.”

After filming the scene, Gleason called me over and said with a smile. “Garry, what kind of wonderful idea am I going to have tomorrow?”

You and your team can discover the answers to problems together. When there are no prizes or gold stars for who gets the solution first, you’ll all benefit when everything turns out right.

According to the writer, to succeed in a project you are in charge of , you     should______.

    A. make everyone work for you           B. get everyone willing to help 

   C. let people know you have the idea        D. keep talking to them

“The Great One” in Paragraph 2 refers to______.

   A. Gleason     B. the director himself    C. Max    D. Max’s boss

After filming the scene, Gleason called the director over and smiled at him. That’s  because Gleason________.

   A. thought the director gave him a good idea 

   B. formed the habit of thinking of ideas while talking

   C. was not confident about his acting

   D. appreciated the director’s directing skill

The most suitable title for the passage is “_______”.

   A. Directing a Film                  B. The Key to Success

   C. A Wonderful Experience            D. Working with Film