Welcome to my Message Board!
Subject Slimming down classics?
Mr. Handsome 2007-5-12&24 AM	Orion Books,which decides there is a market in creating cut-down classics(经典著作)，is slimming down some novels by such great writers as L.Tolstoy,M.Mitchell and C.Bronte.Now,each of them has been whittled down to about 400 pages by cutting 30 to   40   per cent of the original,with words,sentences,paragraphs and,in a few cases,chapters removed.The first six shortened editions,all priced at ￡6.99 and advertised as great reads “in half the time”,will go on sale next month,with plans for 50 to 100 more to follow.The publishing house believes that modern readers will welcome the shorter versions.
Mr. Edwards 2007-5-12 9:40 AM	Well,I’m publisher of Orion Group.Thanks for your attention,Mr.Handsome. I must say,the idea developed from a game of “shame”in my office.Each of us was required to confess(承认)to the most embarrassing blanks in his or her reading.I admitted that I had never read Anna Karenina and tried but failed to get through Gone with the Wind several times.One of my colleagues acknowledged skipping(跳读)Jane Eyre.We realised that life is too short to read all the books you want to and we never were going to read these ones. As a leading publishing house,we are trying to make classics convenient for readers but it’s not as if we’re withdrawing the original versions.They are still there if you want to read them.
Ms.Weir 2007-5-12 11:35 AM	I’m director of the online bookclub www.lovereading.co.uk. Mr.Edwards,I think your shortened editions is a breath of fresh air.I’m guilty of never having read Anna Karenina,because it’s just so long.I’d much rather read two 300-page books than one 600-page book.I am looking forward to more shortened classics!
Mr. Crockatt 2007-5-124:38 PM	I’m from the London independent bookshop Crockatt & Powell. In my opinion,the practice is completely ridiculous.How can you edit the classics?I’m afraid reading some of these books is hard work,and that is why you have to develop as a reader.If people don’t have time to read Anna Karenina,then fine.But don’t read a shortened version and kid yourself it’s the real thing.

According to the message board,Orinon Books_______.

A.opposes the reading of original classics

B.is embarrassed for cutting down classics

C.thinks cut-down classics have a bright future

D.is cautious in its decision to cut down classics

In Mr.Edwards’ opinion,Orion Group is shortening classics to_______.

A.make them easier to read

B.meet a large demand in the market

C.increase the sales of literary books

D.compete with their original versions

By describing the shortened classics as “a breath of fresh air”,Ms.Weir_______.

A.speaks highly of the cut-down classics

B.shows gailty of the original classics

C.feels guilty of not reading the classics

D.disapproves of shortening the classics

Mr.Crockatt seems to imply that_______.

A.reading the classic works is a confusing attempt

B.shortening the classics does harm to the original

C.publishing the cub-down classics is a difficult job

D.editing the classic works satisfies children’s needs

E

To: manger @ tastytreat.com

Date: Monday, 7 October, 3:34 p.m.

From: raymondyuen@ canada.net

Subject: Complaint

Dear Mr. Price,

I have eaten in your restaurant many times and have always been happy with the food and service. This makes what happened last Saturday even more disappointing.

It was my son’s birthday so we booked a non-smoking table at your restaurant for 7:30 p.m. We arrived on time but were told that our table was not yet ready. At 8:00 p.m., we were given a table in the smoking section. I asked to move but I was told that there were no other tables. A lot of people were smoking so it was uncomfortable and unhealthy.

Our first waitress, Janet, was very polite and helpful. She gave us free drinks for waiting so long. Our food also came quickly and looked fresh and tasty. When my wife had eaten most of her meal, she found a dead cockroach (蟑螂) in her vegetables. She was shocked and wanted to leave. At first, the waitress told us it was a piece of garlic. When we told her that garlic does not have legs, she apologized and took the food away.

We asked for the bill, expecting not to pay for my wife’s meal. Nobody came. After 15 minutes, I asked to see the manager. The head waiter told us that you were on holiday I complained again about the horrible cockroach. He told me Janet had finished work. He didn’t believe my story and gave me a bill for three meals. I argued with him but was forced to pay.

The waitress, Janet, was always friendly, but I would like an apology from your impolite head waiter and a full repayment for our meal. It cost $68. Until then, I will not be eating at your restaurant or recommending it to anyone.

You can contact me at 742-3254 or through e-mail if you want more information.

Thank you for your attention.

Yours Sincerely,

Raymond Yuen

72．We learn from the text that, before Saturday, Mr. Yuen _________            .

A. was satisfied with the restaurant B .was disappointed with the restaurant

C .had to wait for his table   D .rarely ate at the restaurant

73．The head waiter didn’t believe Mr. Yuen because _________            .

A．the waitress stopped working and hadn’t told him about it

B．he believed that the cockroach was garlic

C．he didn’t want to pay Mr. Yuen back

D．the manager was on holiday

74．Mr. Yuen demanded that Mr. Price _________            .

A．say sorry to his family   

B．let the head waiter stop working in the restaurant

C．get the head waiter to say sorry

D．get the head waiter and Janet to say sorry

75．What does Mr. Yuen want to pay for now?

A．Two meals.      B．Their meals.     C．Nothing.   D．Only the drinks.

 

How can you make a million dollars in one month? I’m sure I am going to get the ____41____ of many readers with the question. The ____42____ news is that you are not going to make a million dollars in one month ____43____ you win the lottery (彩票) or some other prize.

We all want to be millionaires. However, if you try to ____44____ how they became that rich, you will learn that they worked very ____45____ for the money. That is what most ____46____ have had to do, including Bill Gates and Andrew Carnegie, and they often went ____47____ hardships before they succeeded ____48____.

There are many reasons why the millionaires have made it ____49____ for themselves. In this article, I am going to ____50____ passion (热情) which I think is the most ____51____ quality to have in order to succeed. I am sure that if one were to ____52____ the people who made millions in their lifetime, this would be found in all of them.

Take J.K. Rowling for ____53____. Her first Harry Potter book was sent to twelve publishing houses, all of which ____54____ to publish it. A year later, she was finally given the chance by a small ____55____, which paid ￡1,500. And the ____56____ from that company was that she should get herself a job since she had little ____57____ of making a living by writing children’s books.

If you want to make a million dollars, find something that ____58____ you really passionate and work hard at it. It doesn’t ____59____ what it is. Let me know how you ____60____.

1.                A．attention       B．discussion       C．consideration  D．excitement

 

2.                A．common        B．funny          C．disappointing  D．surprising

 

3.                A．if             B．unless          C．since D．though

 

4.                A．find out        B．think up        C．bring up  D．care about

 

5.                A．long           B．wisely          C．hard D．happily

 

6.                A．millionaires      B．people         C．leaders   D．businessmen

 

7.                A．around         B．under          C．through  D．near

 

8.                A．as well         B．at last          C．on purpose    D．by chance

 

9.                A．appear         B．complete       C．change   D．happen

 

10.               A．talk about       B．show off        C．pick out   D．carry out

 

11.               A．interesting      B．important       C．unforgettable   D．beautiful

 

12.               A．serve          B．visit           C．marry D．study

 

13.               A．agreement      B．experience      C．example   D．experiment

 

14.               A．promised       B．struggled       C．refused   D．tried

 

15.               A．office          B．publisher       C．factory    D．school

 

16.               A．advice         B．praise          C．comment  D．celebration

 

17.               A．interest        B．energy         C．time  D．chance

 

18.               A．reminds        B．drives          C．forces D．makes

 

19.               A．matter         B．say            C．mean D．care

 

20.               A．understand     B．plan           C．go   D．behave

 

 

 

第二节：信息匹配 （共5小题，满分10分）

Here are five letters from readers listed in 1-5. All the greetings and signatures are left out. Suppose you are a secretary of the magazine CR (Crazy English Reader), for each one find a suitable reply from A-F. Mark the correct letter (A-F) on your answer sheet. There is one extra reply which you don’t need to use.

51. I am a reader of CR. Recently I found students translate some articles of CR. I appreciate your offering an opportunity to us beginners to practice using English. So I want to ask how they can obtain these articles and translated them for you, and what qualities you require. Thank you.

52. I love your Crazy English Reader magazine! It provides valuable data for work in our English teaching. My wife and I are teaching Conversational English so I’ve been giving you a bit of a plug at our middle school. I told the students to “get a copy!” It’s good stuff! Fantastic!

53. I’m one of Yao’s fans from Guangzhou. I have read the Yao Ming articles in No.7 Crazy English Reader. I want to know his correspondence address and the official website. Could you please tell me? Thank you very much indeed.

54. First of all, I must say thank you very much to all the CE Reader editors who gave us a really good English magazine. Secondly, I want to give you a piece of advice. In each passage, you gave us some new words with their Chinese translation. However, as far as my knowledge, I think you should give us not only the Chinese meaning but also the English meaning so as to know the words more accurately. Thank you!

55. I am an editor of the English Monthly of our school. I have a question that is how to say the position of the paper e.g. and so on. I hope you can help me to tell me the word in English. The more the better. Thank you so much! I love the book very much. Now, I do this work, I need study more information about this work, if you have time, please email me. Thank you.

A．  Thank you for your suggestion. We may try that in some future issues of CR. I think the best way to improve your reading vocabulary is to be able to guess the meaning of the word from the other words around it. Also, if you have an English dictionary, it’s good to look up the words and then mark them down in a notebook and review them later on. Then if you really want to learn how to use the words, try using them in conversation or in writing. Hope this helps.

B．  The best way for you to learn the different positions in a newspaper or magazine is to get a copy of an all-English magazine or newspaper and then copy down the different positions. There are also titles such as Managing Editor, reporter, Copy Editor, Photo Editor and Layout Editor. I hope this helps. If you have some more specific questions, you can send them to me and I’ll try to answer.

C．The best way to reach Yao directly is through his home team, the Shanghai Sharks. You can write him at 2570 Xietu Road, Shanghai. For more information on Yao, you can look at the sports section in sina. com. I hope this helps. Another idea is that you can try to write Yao while he’s living and playing in Houston. You can try to reach Yao in the US at:   Yao Ming   Compaq Centre 10  Houston, TX 77046

D．  Thank you for being such a careful reader of CR. Yes, you’re right we made a mistake in the writing of that Chinese word. Each issue we try to read very carefully each article and its translation to make sure there are no mistakes, but unfortunately a few mistakes always get by. But you encourage us to keep improving, so thank you.

E．  Yes, we do have several students who help us translate some of the articles in our magazine. We contact these translators directly after interviewing their translation work. Afterwards we assign the articles to them for translation. If you are interested in being one of our translators you can send us some information about yourself and a sample of your translation work.

F．   Thank you for helping us to promote CR. We’re glad it’s helpful to your students. We always try to include articles that reflect real life. It’s our hope that CR will not only improve student’s English but also open up a different worldview.

 

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Crossing the US-Canada border (边界) to go to church on a Sunday cost a US citizen $ 10,000 for breaking Washington’s strict new security (安全) rules.

     The expensive trip to church was a surprise for Richard Albert, who lives right on the Canadian border. Like the other half-dozen people of Township 15, crossing the border is a daily occurrence for Albert. The nearby Quebec village of St. Pamphile is where they shop, eat and go to church.

There are many such situations in these areas along the largely unguarded 5,530-mile border between Canada and the US – which in some cases actually runs down the middle of streets or through buildings.

     As a result, Albert says he did not expect any p0roblems three weeks ago when he returned home to the US after attending church in Canada, as usual, The US customs (海关) station in this area is closed on Sundays, so he just drove around the locked gate, as he had done every weekend since the pate appeared last May, following a tightening of border security. Two days later, Albert was told to go to the customs office, where an officer told him he had been caught on camera crossing the border illegally (非法).

     Ottawa has given out sp0ecial passes to some 300 US citizens in that area so they can enter the country when Canadian customs stations are closed, but the US stopped a similar program last May. That forces the people to a 200-mile detour along hilly roads to get home through another border checkpoint.

     Albert has requested that the customs office change their decisions on the fine, but he has not attended a Sunday church since. “I feel like I’m living in a p0rison,”he said.

4．We learn from the text that Richard Albert is _______.

    A．an American living in Township 15  

       B．a Canadian living in a Quebec village

    C．a Canadian working in a customs station

    D．an American working in a Canadian church

5.．Albert was fined because he ________.

    A．failed to obey traffic rules

       B．broke the American security rules

    C．worked in St. Pamphile without a pass

    D．damaged the gate of the customs office.

6．The underlined word “detour” in Paragraph 5 means _________.

       A．a drive through the town B．a race across the fields    

    C．a roundabout way of traveling D．a journey in the mountain area

7.．What would be the best title for the text?     

    A．A Cross-country Trip            B．A Special Border Pass   

    C．An Unguarded Border           D．An Expensive Church Visit