If you look for a book as a present for a child, you will be spoiled for choice even in a year when there is no new Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling’s wizard is not alone: the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and in turn led to increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.

Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics, in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading at all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.

Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability（可利用性）of computer games. Maybe the books boom（繁荣）has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Gordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre-budget（预算） report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.

Reading Recovery is aimed at six-year-olds, who receive four months of individual daily half- hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.

International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well, but read less – often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on（热衷） reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator（指示物）of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.

1.Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?

2.Statistics suggested that ___.

3.What do we know about Reading Recovery?

4.Reading for fun is important because book-loving children ____.

5.The aim of this text would probably be ____.

If you look for a book as a present for a child, you will be spoiled for choice even in a year when there is no new Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling’s wizard is not alone: the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and in turn led to increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.
Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics, in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading at all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.
Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability（可利用性）of computer games. Maybe the books boom（繁荣）has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Gordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre-budget（预算） report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.
Reading Recovery is aimed at six-year-olds, who receive four months of individual daily half- hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.
International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well, but read less – often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on（热衷） reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator（指示物）of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.
【小题1】Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?

Have you winterized your horse yet? Even though global warming may have made our climate more mild, many animals are still hibernating(冬眠)．It’s too bad that humans can’t hibernate．In fact, as a species, we almost did．

Apparently, at times in the past, peasants in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation．So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French peasants．As soon as the weather turned cold people all over France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months on end．

In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio’s The Current, tells us that the way we sleep has changed fundamentally since the invention of artificial(人造的) lighting and the electric bulb．

When historians began studying texts of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep”, which was not clarified, though．Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods．The business of eight hours’ uninterrupted sleep is a modern invention．

In the past, without the artificial light of the city to bathe in, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves around midnight．The late night period was known as ”The Watch” It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals, although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighbours ．

According to some sleep researchers, a short period of insomnia(失眠) at midnight is not a disorder ．It is normal．Humans can experience another state of consciousness around their sleeping, which occurs in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning．This period can be an extraordinarily creative time for some people．The impressive inventor, Thomas Edison, used this state to hit upon many of his new ideas．

Playing with your sleep rhythms can be adventurous, as anxiety may set in．Medical science doesn’t help much in this case．It offers us medicines for a full night’s continuous sleep, which sounds natural; however, according to Warren’s theory, it is really the opposite of what we need．

The example of the French peasants shows the fact that________．

 A．people might become lazy as a result of too much sleep

 B．there were signs of hibernation in human sleeping habits

C．people tended to sleep more peacefully in cold weather

D．winter was a season for people to sleep for months on end

The late night was called “The Watch” because it was a time for people_______．

 A．to set traps to catch animals        B．to wake up their family and neighbours

 C．to remind others of the time       D．to guard against possible dangers

What does the author advise people to do?

 A．Sleep in the way animals do．    B．Consult a doctor if they can’t sleep．

 C．Follow their natural sleep rhythm．D．Keep to the eight-hour sleep pattern．

What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To give a prescription for insomnia．   

B．To urge people to sleep less．

C．To analyze the sleep pattern of modern people．  

D．To throw new light on human sleep．

If you look for a book as a present for a child, you will be spoiled for choice even in a year when there is no new Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling’s wizard is not alone: the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and in turn led to increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.
Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics, in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading at all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.
Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability（可利用性）of computer games. Maybe the books boom（繁荣）has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Gordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre-budget（预算） report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.
Reading Recovery is aimed at six-year-olds, who receive four months of individual daily half- hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.
International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well, but read less – often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on（热衷） reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator（指示物）of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.
【小题1】Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?

二．完形填空：
Why did I come today? I wondered. My Christmas   16   contained several people that claimed they wanted nothing but I knew their feelings would be hurt   17   I didn’t buy them anything, so gift buying was   18   but fun.
Hurriedly, I finished shopping and   19   the long checkout lines. In front of me were a boy of about 5 and a younger girl. She carried a beautiful pair of    20   slippers. When we finally   21   the checkout register, the girl   22   placed the shoes on the counter. She treated them as though they were a   23  .
“That will be $ 6.09,” the cashier said. The boy   24   his pockets. He finally came up with $ 3.12. “I guess we will have to put them back,” he   25   said. “We will come back some other time, maybe tomorrow.” With that statement, a soft   26   broke from the little girl. “But Jesus would have loved these shoes,” she cried.
“Well, we’ll go home and work some more. Don’t cry. We’ll surely   27  ,” he said. Quickly I handed $ 3.00 to the cashier. These children had waited in line for a long time. And,   28  , it was Christmas. Suddenly a pair of arms came around me and a small voice   29   said, “Thank you, lady.” “What did you   30   when you said Jesus would like the shoes?” I asked. The boy answered, “Our mommy is sick and going to   31  . Daddy said she might go before Christmas to be with Jesus.” The girl spoke, “My Sunday school teacher said the streets in heaven are shiny gold, just like these shoes. Won’t mommy be   32   walking on those streets in these shoes?”
My eyes   33   as I looked into her tear-streaked face. “Yes,” I answered, “I am   34   she will.” Silently I thanked God for using these children to   35   me of the true spirit of giving.
16. A. plan                B. list                    C. goods                D. purchases
17. A. if                       B. because             C. unless               D. since
18. A. something           B. nothing             C. anything            D. everything
19. A. waited                B. joined               C. attended            D. gathered
20. A. cotton                 B. leather                     C. gold                  D. silver
21. A. approached         B. passed               C. checked             D. found
22. A. immediately        B. hesitantly          C. shyly               D. carefully
23. A. gift                    B. treasure             C. life                   D. prize
24. A. opened               B. touched             C. tore                  D. searched
25. A. bravely               B. uncertainly        C. slowly               D. doubtfully
26. A. tear                    B. sob                   C. smile                D. sigh
27. A. leave                  B. come                C. return               D. arrive
28. A. above all             B. at last                C. at least                     D. after all
29. A. gratefully            B. sweetly             C. gracefully          D. kindly
30. A. request               B. expect               C. mean         D. attempt
31. A. hospital                     B. tomb                 C. heaven                     D. sky
32. A. equal                  B. comfortable              C. convenient         D. beautiful
33. A. pained                B. flooded             C. shut                  D. froze
34. A. sure                    B. afraid                C. glad                  D. confident
35. A. inform                B. warn                 C. cure                  D. remind