On the bus, on the subway, every head is lowered to a cell phone, iPad, or other digital device. But does this mean more and more people are getting into reading the digital way?

According to the National Reading Survey, before the 17^th World Reading Day on April 23, only 1.2 percent of Chinese people said they read a lot. But 38.6 percent said they read on digital devices like cell phone and e-books. This is a 17.7 percent increase from 2010.

Many experts are talking about a trend toward fragmented reading ––reading many short messages or items on a digital device like a cell phone instead of one long text in a book.

 Zhao jianmin, a professor at Shanghai University, said fragmented reading was part of modern life. “The fast pace of life leaves many people no time to sit and read a whole book,” he said. “So making use of fragmented time to read is sure to be a trend”

Fragmented reading has its advantages. People can enjoy large amounts of information, knowledge and entertainment in a short time. Digital reading is faster than traditional deep reading.

However, some experts fear the trend of digital reading will lead people to read in a simple way. Xu Guosheng, at a Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, says fragmented reading makes it harder for people to think more about what they read. He also warned fragmented reading could make people lazy about remembering facts because they know they can always just search for answers online.

“Fragmented reading is sometimes good, but don’t let it take all your time,” suggested Tian Zhilng, an editor. He said it was important to read quality books in a deeper way, and we should read for knowledge, for practical use and for pleasure. He suggested people choose easy books first, then move onto more difficult ones.

1. How many disadvantages of fragmented reading have been mentioned?

A. 1              B.2                   C. 3                       D.4

2. How does Tian Zhiling think about people should read?

A. They should spend more time reading on digital device.  

B. They should spend days reading whole novels at a time.

C. They should read both on digital devices and quality books.    

D. They should read a fun way instead of a traditional way.

3. The underlined word “pace” means _________ in Chinese.

A. 行走                       B.步骤                              C. 节奏                       D. 步测

4.What can we learn from the article?

A. Chinese people read in a simple way these days.

B. Students should read more to get high marks.

C. Reading on a digital device is harmful to health.               

D. People’s reading habits are changing.

5.What is the main idea of the article?

A. The results of a national reading survey.               

B. An explanation of a new trend in reading.    

C. The advice on how to read the digital way.            

D. A call to return to traditional deep reading.  

 

“Why does the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side!”

  That’s an old joke in the west, but it came to my mind again when I saw people crossing the road at the intersection of Shanxi Road and Huaihai Road in Shanghai.

  When the traffic light was red, a group of people were waiting for the light to change. Suddenly one man began rushing to the other side of the road. Soon others followed him at the crossing and more people did the same. Just like chickens, they didn’t mind the honking horns(喇叭声) and kept crossing the road in a mess.

  Every year several thousand people are either killed or hurt on the roads in Shanghai. And at least one third of them were jaywalking(乱穿马路). Jaywalking is very common in Shanghai. It seems that jaywalkers are not afraid of the danger to themselves.

  Traffic laws are to keep people safe. So we should obey them, and have good road-crossing habits. When someone starts to jaywalk, we should stop him, and never follow him. That way we can avoid the traffic accidents.

1.The underlined word “intersection” here probably means “        ”.

A. road       B. bridge              C. crossing      D. traffic

2.The writer saw people      in Shanghai that day.

A. crossing the road in a mess           B. waiting for the green light patiently

C. crossing the road with chickens       D. hurting each other in the street

3.How does the writer like what he saw in Shanghai that day?

A. He thinks it’s OK.                 B. He thinks it’s wrong.

C. He has no idea of it.                D. He doesn’t mention it

 

Saving water is an important part of going green. As water becomes less and polluted more, conservation (保护) becomes more and more important. The less water you use, the less wastewater will end up in our rivers and lakes. Wasting water means that more water needs to be treated and cleaned, a process that requires quite a lot of energy.

As it is said above, cutting down on water usage is one of the most important things you can do for your local environment and the planet as a whole. That is why more green households are going blue: cutting down their water footprint by conserving and harvesting (收获) water.

It may seem like a big concept, but going blue starts with small changes that everyone can make. Something as simple as turning off the tap while you brush your teeth can save a lot of water. Wash your fruits and vegetables in a bowl rather than under a tap to save even more. Make sure that the taps are fully turned off every time you step away from the sink or the shower — all those little drips can add up to a lot of water waste.

Another way of reducing your water footprint is reducing your dependence on the main water supply. Rainwater harvesting can meet a lot of your home’s water needs. Many of us already practice rainwater harvesting in a small way. Collecting water from your gutters (檐沟) is a great way to keep your garden green without running the sprinkler (洒水器).

1.The underlined word “green” means ______ in this passage.

A. 未成熟的                                 B. 环保                                 C.嫉妒                                   D. 健康的

2.According to the passage, which is NOT the reason that people should save water?

A. Treating wastewater needs much energy.

B. The water on the earth is becoming less and less.

C. The water on the earth is becoming polluted more.

D. Rainwater harvesting can meet a lot of your home’s water needs.

3.According to the passage, all of these can be used to save water except ______.

A. washing fruit and vegetables under a tap

B. using a bowl to wash your fruit and vegetables

C. making sure taps are fully turned off all the time

D. turning off the tap every time after brushing your teeth

4.Which of the following is the best title of this passage?

A. Save Water by Turning off the Tap     

B. How to Treat and Clean Wastewater

C. Keep Your Garden Green with Rainwater      

D. Save Water Starting with Small Changes

5.From the passage, we can know that_____.

A. we can get enough water by harvesting

B. most people pay no attention to saving water

C. we can practice rainwater harvesting in a small way

D. harvesting water is more necessary than conserving it

 

Carmen Arace Middle School is situated in the pastoral town of Bloomfield, Conn., but four years ago it faced many of the same problems as inner-city schools in nearby Hartford: low scores on standardized tests and dropping enrollment（入学注册）. Then the school’s hard-driving headmaster, Delores Bolton, persuaded her board to shake up the place by buying a laptop computer for each student and teacher to use, in school and at home. What’s more, the board provided wireless Internet access at school. Total cost: $2.5 million.

Now, an hour before classes start, every seat in the library is taken by students who cannot wait for getting online. Fifth-grade teacher Jen Friday talks about different kinds of birds as students view them at a colorful website. After school, students on buses pull laptops from backpacks to get started on homework. Since the computer arrived, enrollment is up 20%. Scores on state tests are up 35%.

Indeed, school systems in rural Maine and New York City also hope to follow Arace Middle School’s example. Governor Angus King had planned using $50 million to buy a laptop for all of Maine’s 17,000 seventh-graders – and for new seventh-graders each fall.

In the same spirit, the New York City board of education voted on April 12 to create a school Internet portal（入口）, which would make money by selling ads and licensing public school students. Profits（盈利）will also provide e-mail service for the city’s 1.1 million public school students. Profits will be used to buy laptops for each of the school system’s 87,000 fourth-graders. Within nine years, all students in grades 4 and higher will have their own computers.

Back in Bloomfield, in the meantime, most of the kinks have been worked out. Some students were using their computers to visit unauthorized（非法的）websites. But teachers have the ability to keep an eye on where students have been on the Web and to stop them. “That is the worst when they disable you,” says eighth-grade honors student Jamie Bassell. The habit is rubbing off on parents. “I taught my mom to use e-mail,” says another eighth-grader, Katherine Hypolite. “And now she’s taking computer classes. I’m so proud of her!”

1.The example of Carmen Arace Middle School in the passage is used to ______.

A. show the problems schools are faced with today

B. prove that a school without high enrollment can do well

C. express the importance of computers in modern education

D. tell that laptops can help improve students’ school performance

2.According to the writer, students in New York City’s public schools will ______.

A. enjoy e-mail service in the near future

B. make money by selling ads on websites

C. all have their own laptops within nine years

D. become more interested in their studies with laptops

3.The underlined word “kinks” in the last paragraph most probably means ______.

A. plans         B. projects       C. problems      D. products

4.From the passage we learn that ______.

A. a school Internet portal is the key to a laptop program

B. the laptop program also has a good influence on parents

C. students slowly accept the fact their online activities controlled

D. the laptop program in public school is mainly for the eighth-graders

 

A man came home from work late, tired and unhappy, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.

      The boy asked, "Daddy, how much do you make per hour?" The father was furious at his son's question.

   When he said $20 an hour, the little boy asked his father to lend $10 to him. The father was even angrier because he thought the boy just wanted some money to buy a toy. So he didn't answer his son.

      The little boy quietly went to his room. After about an hour or so, the man calmed down and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.

       "Maybe I was too hard on you just now," the man went into the room and said. "Here's the $10 you asked for." 

       "Oh, thank you, Daddy!" He said. Then, he reached under his pillow, pulled out some crumpled coins and said, "Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."

1.How much does the man make if he works 10 hours?

A. $10.   B. $20.   C. $30.  D. $40

2.In this passage, the underlined word "furious" means ______.

A. very angry   B. quite happy   C. too excited   D. a little nervous

3.At first, the father refused to lend the boy any money because ______.

A. he thought the boy wanted to keep the money for himself

B. he did not have enough money at that moment

C. he thought the boy would buy something of no use

D. the boy always borrowed money from him

4.The boy wanted to buy ______ with twenty dollars.

A. a new book for himself     B. a nice present for his father

C. a toy for his own birthday   D. an hour of his father's time

5.From the passage, we can infer (推断) that the boy's father ______.

A. often played with his son    B. spent little time with his son

C. didn’t love his son at all     D. often came back home early