I used to think of myself as a fairly open person, but my bookshelves told a different story. Apart from a few Indian novels and the Australian and South African book, my literature collection consisted of British and American titles. Worse still, I hardly ever read anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors.

So, at the start of 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country in a year to find out what I was missing. As I was unlikely to find publications from nearly 200 nations on the shelves of my local bookshop, I decided to ask the planet’s readers for help. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.

The response was amazing. Before I knew it, people all over the planet were getting in touch with ideas and offers of help. Some posted me books from their home countries. Others did hours of research on my behalf. In addition, several writers sent me unpublished translations of their novels, giving me a rare opportunity to read works otherwise unavailable to the 62% of the British who only speak English. Even so, selecting books was no easy task. With translations making up only around 4.5 percent of literary works published in the UK and Ireland, getting English versions (版本)of stories was difficult.

But the effort was worth it. I found I was visiting the mental space of the storytellers. These stories not only opened my mind to the real life in other places, but opened my heart to the way people there might feel.

And that in turn changed my thinking. Through reading the stories shared with me by bookish strangers around the globe, I realised I was not alone, but part of a network that spread all over the planet.?

1.Which of the following might be found on the blog A Year of Reading the World?

A. Lists of English version books.????????????? ????????????? ?? ?????????????

B. Research on English literature.

C. Unfinished novels by British writers.????????????? ?????????????

D. Comments on English literature.

2.Why was it hard for the author to select the right books to read?

A. The author had a busy schedule.?????????????

B. The author was only interested in a few topics.

C. The author could only read books written in English.

D. Most books recommended are not available in local bookshops.

3.The author is probably from_________.

A. America????????????? ????????????? B. the UK????????????? ????????????? C. Australia????????????? ????????????? D. Canada

4.Which of the following words can best describe the author’s experience?

A. fast and effortless????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ??? B. challenging but rewarding

C. hopeless but beneficial????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. meaningful but fruitless

 

 

第三部分 阅读(共两节,满分40分)

第一节 阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)

阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中,选出最佳答案。

We’ve talked about snails (蜗牛) and their slow move. But much of the time snails don’t move at all. They are in their shells (壳) —sleeping.

Hot sun will dry out a snail’s body. So at the least sign of hot sun, a snail draws its body into his shell. A snail will die in a heavy rain. So when it rains, a snail does the same thing, too. A snail can sleep for as long as it needs to. It spends all  the winter months in its shell, asleep.

In the spring the snail wakes up. Its body, about three inches long, comes out from the shell. When hungry, the snail  looks for food. Its eyes, at the end of the top feelers (触角), are very weak. But its sense (感觉) of smell is very strong. It helps the snail to find food and the new greens.

A snail’s mouth is no bigger than the point of a pin (大头针). Yet it has 256,000 teeth! The teeth are very small, and you can’t see them. If you put a snail in a hard paper box, it will eat its way out! And if a snail wears out its teeth, it will grow new ones.

51. A snail _________.

A. moves more slowly at night        B. has thousands of  feet

C. doesn’t move at all                     D. sleeps much of the time

52. In the sentence “A snail draws its body into its shell”,  the word “draw” means _____.

A. to make with a pencil    B. to push      C. to pul     D. to move away

53. From the story, we know _________.

A. a snail’s shell is very thin               B. a snail can’t see well

C. a snail’s nose is quite short             D. a snail’s body changes                                     in different seasons

54. A snail goes to sleep when _____.

A. it feels hungry      B. it is put into a paper box  C. spring is coming   D. it rains heavily

55. Which of the following is wrong?

A. In winter the snail doesn’t eat or move. 

B. A snail doesn’t like living under the sun.

C. The snail’s teeth can’t be worn out.      

D. The snail’s nose helps to find food.

 

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