I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives（观点）by creating worlds we could step into, take part in and live in.
With this unshakable belief, I, at fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.
Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction. As a law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter — the volume（量）of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.
【小题1】What can be inferred about the author as a child?

下面短文中有10处语言错误。请在有错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(^)，并在其下面写上该加的词。删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写上修改后的词。注意：
1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改l0处，多者(从第ll处起)不计分。
Recently a top school in Nanjing announced its new rules. One of them is that students are not allowed to watching Hunan TV at weekends. Instead, CCTV is recommended. Once knowing to the public, the rule set off a heated discussion among teachers, students and parents. Some are in favour for the school’s decision, believing that children need properly guidance and a good cultural environment during the course of growth. Besides, they should keep away from program that may mislead them or affect their studies. On other hand, some people hold the view that children’s right to choose our own lifestyle should be respected. I think bans of this kind isn’t practical for schools. Instead, students should be guided to choose what will benefit from them.

Expressions about water are almost as common as water itself. But many of the expressions using water have unpleasant meanings.
The expression “to be in hot water" is one of them. It is a very old expression. “Hot water” was used 500 years ago to mean being in trouble. One story says it got that meaning from the custom of throwing extremely hot water down on enemies attacking a castle.
That no longer happens. But we still get in “hot water”．When we are in “hot water”, we are in trouble. It can be any kind of trouble—serious or not so serious. A person who breaks a law can be in hot water with the police. A young boy can be in hot water with his mother. if he walks in the house with dirty shoes.
Being in “deep water” is almost the same as being in hot water. When you are in deep water, you are in a difficult position. Imagine a person who cannot swim being thrown in water over his head.
You are in deep water when you are facing a problem that you do not have the ability to solve. The problem is too deep. You can be in deep water, for example, if you invest in stocks without knowing anything about the stock market.
“To keep your head above water” is a colorful expression that means staying out of debt. A company seeks to keep its head above water during economic hard times. A man who loses his job tries to keep his head above water until he finds a new job.
“Water over the dam” is another expression about a past event. It is something that is finished. It cannot be changed. The expression comes from the idea that water that has flowed over a dam cannot be brought back again.
【小题1】Which of the following two expressions have almost the same meaning?

I had the meanest mother in the world．While other kids ate candy for breakfast．I had to have cereal, eggs and toast．Others had cakes and candy for lunch, while we had to eat a sandwich．As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids'．But at least I was not alone in my suffering．My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did．
My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times．She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing．We had to wear clean clothes every day．Other kids always wore their clothes for days． We reached the height of disgrace （耻辱） because she made our clothes herself, just to save money．
The worst is yet to come．We had to be in bed by 9:00 each night and up at 7:45 the next morning．So while my friends slept, my mother actually had the courage to break Child Labor Law．She made us work. I believed she lay awake all night thinking up mean things to do to us．Through the years, our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing．My mother, however, would only be satisfied with black marks．None of us was allowed the pleasure of being a dropout （辍学者）．
She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults．Using this as a background, I'm now trying to bring up my three children．I'm filled with pride when my children think I am mean because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the world．
【小题1】From the passage we can learn that the writer's mother was____．

B
This is a dangerous world we live in. The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, etc. You know this because you have heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper.  But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are growing up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little.
This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous. For example, several years ago a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide. This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors(肿瘤), is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once. After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statements is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth. The students made the mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background.
The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said. When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths. Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave out information that is different to his view. For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe. Only 32 people may die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightning strikes, but which is really the most dangerous? If you think about it, you realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people who are in danger of a lightning strike. When you think about it, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at statistics. If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s. To be warned is to be prepared.
59. In the first paragraph, what problem does the writer want to warn us?
A. We are now living in a dangerous world.
B. We get a lot of false statistics from the media.
C. Statistics alone without full background doesn’t give us an accurate pictures of things.
D. There are around us more and more murders, diseases, etc.
60. Why does the writer use the example in the second paragraph?
A. To argue that high school students are easily persuaded.
B. To show the danger of reporting only part of the information.
C. To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous.
D. To warn us of the harmful substance around us.
61. Relative information is often left out because__________.
A. Relative information is not that important.
B. too much information will make readers feel confused.
C. the author is trying to show what he or she says is true.
D. readers are not able to analyze so much information at once.
62. What can we learn from the passage?
A. We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides.
B. Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world.
C. The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control.
D. Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong.