should soon notice your accustomed(习 惯的) w.p.m.rate creeping up.
Obviously there is little point in increasing your w.p.m.rate if you do not understand what you are reading.When you are consciously trying to increase your reading speed, stop after every chapter(if you are reading a novel) or every section or group of ten or twelve pages(if it is a textbook) and ask yourself a few questions about what you have been reading.If you find you have lost the thread of the story, or you cannot remember clearly the details of what was said, reread the section or chapter.
You can also try “lightning speed” exercise from time to time.Take four or five pages of the general interest book you happen to be reading and read them as fast as you possibly can.Do not bother about whether you understand or not.Now go back and read them at what you feel to be your “ normal” w.p.m.rate, the rate at which you can comfortably understanD.After a “ lightning speed ” reading through(probably 600 w.p.m.) you will usually find that your “ normal ” speed has increased-perhaps by as much as 50-100 w.p.m.This is the technique sportsmen use when they usually run further in training than they will have to on the day of the big race. (A)1.According to the passage, a “ pacing ” device____.
A.is used to time students’ reading speed B.is not used in most speed reading courses
C.is used as an aid to vocabulary learning
D.should be used whenever we read alone
(C)2.In speed reading, looking at your watch every 5 or 10 minutes____.
A.avoids the need for reading faster
B.is not the same as pacing
C.may seem unworkable at first D.helps you to remember your page number
(A)3.When you are reading a novel, you should check your understanding of the content after _ _.
A.every chapter B.every section
C.every four or five pages D.every ten or twelve pages (A)4.The purpose of the “ lightning speed ” exercise is to____.
A.increase your speed by scanning the text first
B.test your maximum reading speed C.help you understand more of the content of the book
D.enable you to win reading races against your friends (B)5.The best title for this passage is ___.
A.Hints for Successful Reading B.Hints for Speed Reading C.Effective Reading
D.Lightning Speed Exercises
Passage 12
Most young people enjoy some form of physical activity.It may be walking, cycling or swimming, or in water, skating or skiing.It may be a game of some kind football, hockey(冰球)，golf, or tennis.It may be mountaineering.
Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment(惊讶).Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take risks on high mountains? This astonishment is caused probably by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give
their leisure.
Mountaineering is a sport and not a game.There are no man-made rules, as there are for such games as golf and football.There are, of course, rules of a different kind which it would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people.Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.
If we compare mountaineering and other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a “team game”.We should be mistaken in this.There are, it is true, no “matches” between “ teams ” of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously teamwork.
The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man.He has to fight the forces of nature.His sport requires high mental and physical qualities.
A mountain climber continues to improve in skill year after year.A skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty, and most international tennis champions are in their early twenties.But it is not unusual for a man of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps.They may take more time than younger men, but they probably climb with more skill and less waste of effort, and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.
(D)1.Mountaineering involves____. A.cold
B.hardship
C.physical risk
D.all of the above
(B)2.The difference between a sport and a game has to do with the kind of ___..
A.activity B.rules C.uniform
D.participants
(C)3.Mountaineering can be called a team sport because __C__. A.it is an Olympic event B.teams compete against each other C.mountaineers depend on each other while climbing D.there are 5 climbers on each team (A)4.Mountaineers compete against____. A.nature
B.other teams C.each other
D.international standards
(C)5.The best title for the passage is____.
A.Mountaineering Is Different from Golf and Football B.Mountaineering Is More Attractive than Other Sports C.Mountaineering D.Mountain Climbers
Passage 13
Nowadays more and more towns have public libraries.There are large collections of books that anyone living in the town may borrow if he joins the library.Sometimes you may have to pay a small sum of money to join.Sometimes it is free.
How to join a library : Go to the library and see the clerk at the desk.You will probably have to sign a form promising to take care of the books.Then you are usually given two or three ticks with your name and address on them.When you have chosen the books you wish to take home, you take them to the clerk with the tickets.The clerk keeps the tickets until you return the books.He stamps the books with a date.The books must be taken back to the library before this date.
How to find a book : Most libraries are divided into three sections : reference, fiction and non-fiction.In the reference section are kept books which may not be taken away from the library, such as encyclopedias(百科全书) and dictionaries.You may take these books from the shelves and read them at one of the tables, but you must not take them outside the library. The fiction section contains novels or story books.They are arranged in alphabetical order according to the author’s surname.Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens would be placed under D for Dickens.
The non-fiction section is not quite so simple.Here books are found dealing with all kinds of subjects.They are usually arranged in groups so that all the books on one subject are together.The books on this subject are then arranged in alphabetical order according to the author’s name.
Each book has a card with the author’s name, another with the title of the book, and usually another with the subject of the book.These cards are kept in drawers and are arranged in alphabetical order.If we know either the title, or the author, or the subject, we can find the carD.This tells us the number of the book and we can find it easily.
(A)1.A library is a room or building for ___.
A.a collection of books kept there for reading
B.a collection of goods shown publicly
C.a collection of objects on display D.a collection of things displayed for competition
(D)2.The word “ clerk ” in Paragraph 2 means “____”.
A.office
workerB.receptionistC.secretaryD.librarian (B)3.In the reference section, books are NOT ___.
A.to be read thereB.to be taken awayC.to be storedD.to be used (B)4.A book by someone called Daniels would come____a book by Dickens, and one by a writer named Donnell would go ___ it.
A.before, beforeB.before, after C.after, afterD.after, before (D)5.We can NOT find a book with____in the library. A.the title of the book B.the author’s name
C.the subject of the book D.the press of the book
Passage 14
People living on the part of the south coast of England face a serious problem.In 1993, the owners of a large hotel and of several houses discovered, to their horror, that their gardens had disappeared overnight.The sea had eaten into the soft limestone cliffs on which they had been built.While experts were studying the problem, the hotel and several houses disappeared altogether, sliding down the cliff and into the seA.Erosion of the white cliffs along the south coast of England has always been a problem but it has become more serious in recent years.Dozens of homes have had to be abandoned as the sea has crept farther and farther inlanD.Experts have studied the areas most affected and have drawn up a map for local people, forecasting the year in which their homes will be swallowed up by the hungry seA.Angry owners have called on the Government to erect sea defenses to protect their homes.Government surveyors have pointed out that in most cases, this
is impossible.New sea walls would endanger neighboring areas
cost hundreds of millions of pounds C.the government is too slow in and would merely make the waves and taking action currents go further along the coast, D.they will be easily knocked down shifting the problem from one area to by waves and currents
another.The danger is likely to (D)5.According to the author, when continue, they say, until the waves buying a house along the south reach an inland area of hard rock coast of England, people which will not be eaten as limestone should____.
is.Meanwhile, if you want to buy a A.take the quality of the house cheap house with an uncertain future, into consideration
apply to a house agent in one of the B.guard against being cheated by threatened areas on the south coast the house agent
of EnglanD.You can get a house for a C.examine the house carefully knockdown price but it may turn out before making a decision to be a knockdown home. D.be aware of the potential danger (C)1.What is the cause of the problem involved
that people living on parts of the
south coast of England face ? . Passage 15 A.The rising of the sea level. I found out once that doing a B.The experts’ lack of knowledge. favor for someone could get you into C.The washing-away of limestone a lot of trouble.I was in the eighth cliffs. grade at the time, and we were having D.The disappearance of hotels, a final test.During the test, the houses and gardens. girl sitting next to me whispered (B)2.The erosion of the white cliffs something, but I didn’t understand, in the south of England ___ . so I leaned over her way and found out A.will soon become a problem for that she was trying to ask me if I had people living in central England an extra pen.She showed me that hers B.has now become a threat to the was out of ink and would not write.I local residents happened to have an extra one, so I C.can be stopped if proper took it out of my pocket and put it measures are taken on her desk. D.is quickly changing the map of Later, after the test papers had England been turned in, the teacher asked me (A)3.The study on the problem of to stay in the room when all the other erosion can ___. students were dismisseD.As soon as A.warn people whose homes are in we were alone she began to talk to me danger about what it meant to grow up ; she B.provide an effective way to show talked about how important it was to it down stand on your own two feet and be C.help to solve it eventually responsible for your own acts.For a D.help people buy houses long time, she talked about honesty (B)4.It is not feasible to build sea and emphasized the fact that when defenses to protect against people do something dishonest, they erosion because____. are really cheating themselves.She A.house agents along the coast do made me promise that I would think not support the idea seriously about all the things she B.it is too costly and will had said, and then she told me I could
leave.I walked out of the room wondering why she had chosen to talk to me about all those things.
Later on, I found out that she thought I had cheated on the test.When she saw me lean over to talk to the girl next to me, it looked as if I was copying answer from the girl’s test paper.I tried to explain about the pen, but all she could say was it seemed very strange to her that I hadn’t talked of anything about the pen the day she talked to me right after the test.Even if I tried to explain that I was just doing the girl a favor by letting her use my pen.I am sure she continued to believe that I had cheated on the test.
(B)1.The story took place exactly ___.
A.in the teacher’s officeB.in an exam room
C.in the school libraryD.in the language lab (C)2.The girl wanted to borrow a pen, because____. A.she had not brought a pen with her B.she had lost her own on her way to school
C.there was something wrong with her own
D.her own had been taken away by someone (D)3.The teacher saw all this, so she asked the boy ___.
A.to go on writing his paper B.to stop whispering
C.to leave the room immediately D.to stay behind after the exam (A)4.The thing emphasized in her talk was____.
A.honestyB.sense of duty C.seriousnessD.bravery
(C)5.The boy knew everything____. A.the moment he was asked to stay behind B.when the teacher started talking about honesty
C.only some time later
D.when he was walking out of the room
Passage 16 Man has always had superstitions(迷信) about numbers and about days.Some were supposed to be lucky ; some, unlucky.Why the number 13 came to be considered unlucky no one really knows, though there are some theories about it.One explanation has to do with Scandinavian mythology(神话).There were 12 demigods(半神半人), according to this legend, and then Loki appeared, making the 13th.Since Loki was evil and cruel and caused human misfortunes, and since he was the 13th demigod, the number 13 came to be a sign of bad luck. Some people think the superstition goes back to the fact that there were 13 persons at the Last Supper, and that Judas was the 13th guest ! Whatever its origin, the superstition about the number 13 is found in practically every country in Europe and America.
Superstitions about lucky and unlucky days are just as common as those about numbers, and Friday probably has more than any of them centering about it.
In ancient Rome, the sixth day of the week was dedicated(献给)to Venus.When the northern nations adopted the Roman method of designating days, they named the sixth day after Frigg or Freya, which was their nearest equivalent(对等物) to Venus, and hence the name Friday.
The Norsemen actually considered Friday the luckiest day of the week, but the Christians regarded it as the unluckiest.One reason for this is that Christ was killed on a Friday.The Mohammedans say that Adam was created on a Friday, and
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