Do you v her as a friend?——青夏教育精英家教网—

August has always been difficult for me. It is the time when I realize that the books my English teacher assigned to me are not going to read themselves and that I have a difficult month in front of me.

You might think that I don’t want to spend my summer reading, but that’s not the problem: I love reading. On the first day of my summer holiday this year, I went to the library and got A Gathering of Old Men by African-American writer Ernest Gaines. I enjoyed it very much. I read all the magazines that my parents subscribe to(订阅) and spend about 30 minutes every day with the morning paper.

So why do I hate summer reading for school? Because the books on summer reading lists are often slow-going and just uninviting(不吸引人的) .Teachers and librarians don’t understand that summer reading can be entertaining as well as educational.

They choose books that a friend of my mother’s calls “spinach books”: good for you, but not much fun to take in. Every summer, I read them, hate them and get bitter about the experience.

This bitterness started three years ago when I was about to begin high school. As preparation, my English teacher told me to read The Age of Innocence(《纯真年代》) by American author Edith Wharton. I’m sure there are many people who enjoyed The Age of Innocence —some might even say it’s their favorite book.

But I don’t think any of these people read it as 14-year-old boy on his summer vacation.

The Age of Innocence is the story of a forbidden romance in New York 100 years ago. At 14,my only experience with romance was my love for baseball. I couldn’t imagine being in love, much less being in love in 1900.The Age of Innocence was totally different to my life.

Most of my required summer reading has been like that—books written in a style that plays up the adjectives and plays down the verbs. I guess teachers don’t think exciting plots make for “good literature”. To me, though, a good writer describes events and characters in a way that makes the reader want to know what happens next.

If I were making up a summer reading list, it would include The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V.Higgins, The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe, and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. These are all books that have literary value but, just as important, can also entertain kids on vacation. If the teachers could stand a little fun in the books they assign, my Augusts would be a lot more enjoyable.

1. The author thinks he/she will have a difficult August because __________.

A. he/she doesn’t like reading in summer vacation

B. he/she is to read the books, boring and not right for kids

C. he/she hates the English teacher assigning homework

D. he/she hates August

2. What can make student interested in August reading ought to be __________.

A. romantic

B. out of date

C. entertaining and educational

D. pure

3. The author listed such books as The Friends of Eddie Coyle because he/she thinks __________.

A. they can change his/her opinion

B. he/she can learn a lot more from them

C. they are of literary value and enjoyable

D. he/she has to do as teachers tell

4. In the opinion of the author of this passage, a good writer should be__________.

A. one who describes events and characters in different ways

B. one who uses a way of describing that makes the reader wish to know what to happen next

C. one who is learned

D. one who is full of imagination

5. The best title of this passage should be__________.

A. Why Can’t Teacher Set Us Books that Are Fun?

B. I Don’t Like Reading on the Vacation

C. Teachers, don’t Set Us Any Reading Assignments

D. Teachers, Set Us Free

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