Some people have the ideas that nothing can be done about their poor reading ability．They feel hopeless about it．Can you learn to read better, or must you agree that nothing can be done about it?

       To be sure, people’s abilities are different．You cannot expect to do everything as well as certain other people do．If all the students in a class tried out for basketball, some would be very good players; others would be very poor; and many would be in between．But even the very poor players can become much better players if they are guided in the right way, and with plenty of practice．It is the same with reading．Some seem to enjoy reading and to read well without any special help．Others find reading a slow and tiring job．In between, there are all degrees of reading ability．

       Many experiments have shown that just about every poor reader can improve his reading ability．Firstly, the poor readers were given tests of reading ability．Secondly, some of the causes of their poor reading were discovered, and then they were given special instruction and practice in reading．After a few months, another test of the same kind was given．In nearly all cases, these people had raised their reading scores．

Other girls in the office ____________ Mary’s looks, so they were not very nice to her.

____________ the farmers were pleased with the good harvest of this year.

A. A great deal of                    B. A great many  

C. A great many of                   D, A large amount of

Mr. White asked his students________ to meet some Chinese friends from Shanghai.