As I write this, I have half an eye on an old James Bond film that is showing on my computer. But this is a story about how I stopped watching TV and began reading again for pleasure, after ten years in which I hardly turned a page.
I suppose I was an enthusiastic reader of "literature" between the ages of nine and fourteen. I had enough time to be White Fang, Robinson Crusoe, and Bilbo Baggins and Jeeves. Of course there was room in the schoolboy's imagination for some real historical figures: Scott of the Antarctic, all of the Vikings, and Benjamin Franklin were good friends of mine.
Then, in adolescence, I began a long search for strange and radical (激进的) ideas. I wanted to challenge my elders and betters, and shock my fellow students with amazing points of view. Of course, the only place to look was in books. I hunted out the longest titles and the authors with the funniest names; I searched the library for completely unread books. Then I found one which became my bible for the whole of 1982, it had a title composed of eleven long words and an author whose name I didn't know how to pronounce. It was really thick and looked dead serious. Even better, it put forward a whole world-view that would take days to explain. Perfect. I took it out of the library three times, proud to see the date-stamps lined up on the empty library insert.
Later, I went to university. Expecting to spend long evenings in learned discussion with clever people, I started reading philosophy. For some reason I never found the deep-thinking intellectuals I hoped to meet. Anyway, I was ready to impress with my profound (深奥的) knowledge of post-structuralism, existentialism and situationism. These things are usually explained in rather short books, but they take a long time to get through. They were the end of my youthful reading.
Working life was hard to get used to after so much theory. It was the end of books for me. There didn't seem to be much in books that would actually get things done. To do things you had to answer the telephone and work a computer. You had to travel about and speak to people who weren't at all interested in philosophy. I didn't stop reading, you can't avoid that. I read all day. But no books came my way, only manuals (操作手册) and contracts and documents. Maybe most people satisfy their need for stories and ideas with TV and, to tell the truth, it was all I needed for ten years. In those days I only had a book "on the go" for the duration of aeroplane flights. At first I would come home and watch TV over dinner. Then, I moved the TV so I could watch it from bed. I even got a switch so I could turn it off without getting out of bed. Then, one fateful day, my TV broke and my landlady took it away.
My new TV is an extra circuit board (电路板) inside my computer. It's on a desk in front of a working chair and I can't see it from the bed. I still use it for the weather forecasts and it's nice to have it on while I'm typing this… but what to do last thing at night? Well, have another go with books.
Now, I just like books. I have a pile of nice ones by my bed and I'm reading about six at the same time. I don't want to be any of the characters. I don't care if a thousand people have already read them. I don't have to search through libraries. There are books everywhere and all of them have something to read in them. I have the strange feeling that they've been there all along, waiting for me to pick them up.
【小题1】The writer enjoyed reading “literature” between the ages of nine and fourteen because ________.

完形填空（共12小题；每小题1分，满分12分）
(1)阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从第31至第40小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I know my brother better than anyone else in the world. Since the moment of his birth, I’ve been part of his life. I had spent seven  29    years in the world with the attention of those around me. But when Rohan was born, life   30     . Suddenly I had to share my toys and there were no more bedtime stories or my own choice of food.
Finally, I felt my     31      at my brother. The poor baby had no idea what    32      me so unhappy. Maybe he found me strange, the only person in this house    33      did not like him. Whatever the reason was, he loved following me around. However, I seldom talked to him and   34      asked him to leave me alone.
Then all that changed. I hardly remember everything of that day six years ago,   35    I do remember that I was feeling very angry. Somehow my feet led me to my brother’s bed. My hand, completely    36     from my mind, reached through the bars (护栏). At once, he reached out his small hand and softly touched   37      . And that was all I needed. Through all the unhappiness of the day, that one moment changed everything. How could I hate someone who made me     38     so important? For the   39      time, I saw my brother, not through the eyes of a child who was no longer favored (宠爱), but through the eyes of a   40    .
29. A. happy              B. hard          C. lonely              D. busy
30. A. began               B. continued C. changed            D. saved
31. A. fun                  B. anger               C. fear                  D. worry
32  A. makes        B. has made     C. is making          D. had made
33. A. which               B. where        C. who                 D. what
34. A. always             B. already       C. hardly              D. almost
35. A. but                  B. so             C. or                    D. for
36   A. far                   B. sick           C. different           D. free
37    A. one                  B. both          C. mine                D. them
38. A. feel                    B. feeling              C. feels                 D. felt    
39   A. first                 B. second       C. last                  D. next
40. A. student             B. parent       C. teacher             D. sister

完形填空（共12小题；每小题1分，满分12分）

(1)阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从第31至第40小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I know my brother better than anyone else in the world. Since the moment of his birth, I’ve been part of his life. I had spent seven  29    years in the world with the attention of those around me. But when Rohan was born, life   30     . Suddenly I had to share my toys and there were no more bedtime stories or my own choice of food.

Finally, I felt my     31      at my brother. The poor baby had no idea what    32      me so unhappy. Maybe he found me strange, the only person in this house    33      did not like him. Whatever the reason was, he loved following me around. However, I seldom talked to him and   34      asked him to leave me alone.

Then all that changed. I hardly remember everything of that day six years ago,   35    I do remember that I was feeling very angry. Somehow my feet led me to my brother’s bed. My hand, completely    36     from my mind, reached through the bars (护栏). At once, he reached out his small hand and softly touched   37      . And that was all I needed. Through all the unhappiness of the day, that one moment changed everything. How could I hate someone who made me     38     so important? For the   39      time, I saw my brother, not through the eyes of a child who was no longer favored (宠爱), but through the eyes of a   40    .

29. A. happy              B. hard          C. lonely              D. busy

30. A. began               B. continued C. changed            D. saved

31. A. fun                  B. anger               C. fear                  D. worry

32  A. makes        B. has made     C. is making          D. had made

33. A. which               B. where        C. who                 D. what

34. A. always             B. already       C. hardly              D. almost

35. A. but                  B. so             C. or                    D. for

36   A. far                   B. sick           C. different           D. free

37    A. one                  B. both          C. mine                D. them

38. A. feel                    B. feeling              C. feels                 D. felt    

39   A. first                 B. second       C. last                  D. next

40. A. student             B. parent       C. teacher             D. sister

第二节::完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分,满分30分）

I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. Coming my way from across the parking lot was  1  society would consider a bum(无业游民). From the  2  of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money. He sat down in front of the bus stop but didn’t look like he could have enough money to even  3  the bus. “That’s a very pretty car,” he said. He was  4  but he had a(n)  5  of dignity around him. I said, “thanks,” and  6  wiping off my car. He sat there  7  as I worked. The  8  beg for money never came. As the silence between us widened something inside said, “ask him if he needs any help.” I was  9  that he would say “yes”. “Do you need any help?” I asked. He answered in three  10  but profound(深远的) words that I shall never  11 . “Don’t we all?” he said.

I had been feeling high, successful and important  12  those three words  13  me like a shotgun. Don’t we all? I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I needed help. I  14  my wallet and gave him not only enough for bus fare, but enough to get a warm meal and  15  for the day. Those three little words still ring  16 . No matter how much you have, no matter how much you have  17 , you need help too. No matter how  18  you have, no matter how  19  you are with problems, even without money or a place to sleep, you can  20  help.

1. A. that              B. what          C. which        D. how  

2. A. expressions        B. manners       C. looks             D. attitudes 

3. A. ride                B. buy          C. drive          D. stop    

4. A. generous          B. disappointed   C. modern          D. ragged 

5. A. air                   B. atmosphere     C. appearance     D. figure 

6. A. finished            B. stopped          C. continued        D. began 

7. A. quietly                  B. casually                C. aimlessly               D. eagerly 

8. A. intenting            B. expected            C. boring            D. supposed 

9. A. afraid                  B. glad              C. doubtful         D. sure

10. A. simple             B. complex           C. strange              D. rigid 

11. A. accept                B. forget             C. respond          D. choose  

12. A. unless                B. after              C. until              D. when  

13. A. fightened        B. moved           C. wounded        D. hit  

14. A. reached in               B. searched for    C. looked up       D. exposed to 

15. A. shelter             B. clothes            C. reward            D. blanket 

16. A. nice                   B. ridiculous       C. true                D. proper 

17. A. submitted           B. devoted         C. applied          D. accomplished

18. A. few                 B. many              C. little               D. enough 

19. A. loaded             B. puzzled           C. angry             D. unsatisfied 

20. A. receive             B. give                 C. need              D. seek 

I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. Coming my way from across the parking lot was  1  society would consider a bum(无业游民). From the  2  of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money. He sat down in front of the bus stop but didn’t look like he could have enough money to even  3  the bus. “That’s a very pretty car,” he said. He was  4  but he had a(n)  5  of dignity around him. I said, “thanks,” and  6  wiping off my car. He sat there  7  as I worked. The  8  beg for money never came. As the silence between us widened something inside said, “ask him if he needs any help.” I was  9  that he would say “yes”. “Do you need any help?” I asked. He answered in three  10  but profound(深远的) words that I shall never  11 . “Don’t we all?” he said.

I had been feeling high, successful and important  12  those three words  13  me like a shotgun. Don’t we all? I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I needed help. I  14  my wallet and gave him not only enough for bus fare, but enough to get a warm meal and  15  for the day. Those three little words still ring  16 . No matter how much you have, no matter how much you have  17 , you need help too. No matter how  18  you have, no matter how  19  you are with problems, even without money or a place to sleep, you can  20  help.

1. A. that              B. what             C. which            D. how  

2. A. expressions       B. manners          C. looks            D. attitudes 

3. A. ride              B. buy              C. drive            D. stop    

4. A. generous          B. disappointed     C. modern           D. ragged 

5. A. air               B. atmosphere       C. appearance       D. figure 

6. A. finished          B. stopped          C. continued        D. began 

7. A. quietly           B. casually         C. aimlessly        D. eagerly 

8. A. intenting         B. expected         C. boring           D. supposed 

9. A. afraid            B. glad             C. doubtful         D. sure

10. A. simple           B. complex          C. strange          D. rigid 

11. A. accept           B. forget           C. respond          D. choose  

12. A. unless           B. after            C. until            D. when  

13. A. fightened        B. moved            C. wounded          D. hit  

14. A. reached in       B. searched for     C. looked up       D. exposed to 

15. A. shelter          B. clothes          C. reward           D. blanket 

16. A. nice             B. ridiculous      C. true             D. proper 

17. A. submitted        B. devoted          C. applied          D. accomplished

18. A. few              B. many             C. little           D. enough 

19. A. loaded           B. puzzled          C. angry            D. unsatisfied 

20. A. receive          B. give             C. need             D. seek