Does reading really matter?
     Some people say that today, reading is not as important as it was. These days we have photographs,
films, radio and television. Why read a description of something when you can look at a photograph? Why read a newspaper when the latest news is brought to us every hour on radio and TV?
     Photography was certainly a wonderful invention. Photographs can give a very clear idea of places and of people that we have never seen. An encyclopedia (百科全书) , for example, is always better when
it has good illustrations. But we also need words to explain the photographs and drawings. A photograph
of an elephant may give us a very good idea of what an elephant looks like, but it tells us nothing about the different sorts of elephants there are and where they are found, their exact size and weight, how they can
be useful to man and so on.
     In the same way, a good film has action, movement, color, and maybe music. These are things we do
not find on the printed page. But reading a novel has certain advantages over watching even an excellent
feature film. Reading a novel requires imagination. Each of us imagines a story differently.
     Watching news on television can certainly be exciting.But we need newspapers as well.Some important news stories happen when there are no cameras around. More importantly, a newspaper does not just
report the news. It explains why something has been happening. It also contains interesting articles on
different subjects. Newspapers are an important part of our lives, if we want to understand what is going
on in the places we live as well as in other parts of the world.
     Reading is very important for information and pleasure. We need to be good readers to enjoy a full life as human beings. Reading is a skill and like other skills, it needs practice. The more we read, the better
readers we become. And the better readers we become, the more we enjoy reading! The secret is to get
the reading habit. Read at least a little every day.

1. What does the author think photographs can give us?
A. Enough information about people and places.
B. No information about things.
C. Some information about things but not enough.
D. The wrong information about things.
2. What does the author think newspapers can give us?
A. More information than television.
B. Less information than television.
C. More news from other countries.
D. Less information about important events than TV.
3. What does the "illustrations" mean?
A. Inventions.
B. Pictures
C. Words.
D. Ideas
4. What are the advantages of novel over a feature film?
A. There are more interesting subjects in novels.
B. We do not hear any music in a novel.
C. Novels always explain what is happening.
D. Novels make us use our imagination.
5. What does the author think about reading?
A. It is a wonderful invention.
B. It is an important part of our lives.
C. It requires no practices.
D. It is not as important as television.

    The story happened during the Second Word War. A 70-year-old man lived in a small town of Germany.
His three sons all worked in the same factory where he (1)________ (work). After the war had begun, all
his sons (2)________ (make) to join the army and they all died the fights.
    The old man was very sad. In the days that (3) ________ (follow), he didn't have enough food and was
often hungry. And nobody helped him and he didn't know how to go on (4)________ (live). It was becoming
colder. (5)________ (find) a way out, he had to beg from door to door. He had been to a lot of places and
knew a lot. Once he came to a village, but the villagers were all poor and couldn't give him anything. He was
too hungry (6)________ (go) to another village. Suddenly he saw a policeman (7) ________ (stand) in the
street and an idea came to his mind. He then shouted out, "Hitler is a pig!"
    As he hoped, the old man was now enjoying some bread and a cup of hot tea (8) ________ (give) by the
policeman. "Don't say so in our village, sir!" the policeman said after a while, "I'm sorry, sir," said the old
man, "I (9) ________ (not say) that again, I didn't know it (10) ________ (be) Hitler's hometown." "No, no,
sir," the policeman said in a hurry, "It's a pig's hometown."

      The story happened during the Second World War. A 70- year-old man lived in a small town
of  Germany. His three sons all worked in the same factory where he _ 1_  (work). After the war
had begun, all his sons _ 2_  (make) to join the army and they all died in the fights.    
     The old man was very sad. In the days that  _3_  ( follow) ,he didn't have enough food and was
often hungry. And nobody helped him and he didn't know how to go on__4  (live),It was becoming
colder and colder, _ 5_  (find)a way out,he had to beg from door to door. He had been to a lot of
places and knew a lot.    
     Once he came to a village,but the villagers were all poor and couldn't give him anything. He was
too hungry  6  (go) to another village. Suddenly he saw a policeman__7_  (stand)in the street and an
idea came to his mind. He then shouted out," Hitler is a pig!"    
     As he hoped,the old man was now enjoying some bread and a cup of hot tea  _8_  (give) by the
policeman. "Don't say so in our village,sir!" the policeman said after a while,"I'm sorry,sir," said the
old man,"I_9_ot say) that again.I didn't know it  10_be) Hitler's hometown." "No,no,sir," the policeman
said in a hurry, "It's a pig's hometown."

      The story happened during the Second World War. A 70-year-old man lived in a small town of Germany.
His three sons all worked in the same factory where he   1   (work). After the war had begun, all his
sons   2   (make) to join the army and they all died in the fights.
      The old man was very sad. In the days that   3   (follow), he didn't have enough food and was often
hungry. And nobody helped him and he didn't know how to go on   4   (live). It was becoming colder
and colder.   5   (find) a way out, he had to beg from door to door. He had been to a lot of places and
knew a lot.
      Once he came to a village, but the villagers were all poor and couldn't give him anything. He was too hungry
  6   (go) to another village. Suddenly he saw a policeman   7   (stand) in the street and an idea came to his mind.
He then shouted out "Hitler is a pig!"
      As he hoped, the old man was now enjoying some bread and a cup of hot tea   8   (give) by the
policeman, "Don't say so in our village, sir!" the policeman said after a while. "I'm sorry, sir," said the old man,
"I   9   (not say) that again. I didn't know it   10   (be) Hitler's hometown" "No, no, sir," the policeman said in a
hurry, "It's a pig's hometown."
1.                    2.                   3.                     4.                   5.                   
6.                    7.                   8.                     9.                   10.