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.

1.The writer enjoyed reading “literature” between the ages of nine and fourteen because ________.

A．he thought it was important for a schoolboy to do so

B．he was still too young to understand other books

C．he believed all the real historical figures were his friends

D．he could imagine himself being the characters in the books

2.“Existentialism” (in paragraph 4) is probably ________.

A．a library intended for teenagers            B．a kind of books on traditions

C．a philosophy theory                     D．a kind of reading skill

3.The main reason the writer stopped reading books was that ________.

A．he found watching TV was more interesting

B．he became too busy to read any books

C．he found books were of little use to his work

D．he had to read a lot of manuals, contracts and documents

4.Now the writer starts to read books again ________.

A．to find back his youth in books             B．for the pure pleasure of reading

C．so as to help kill his spare time             D．for only business purposes

5.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．The Years with Books                     B．Books and TV Programs

C．Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover           D．Reading Makes One Excellent

根据课文填空：

Before the middle of the 5th century, people in Britain all spoke a language called Celtic．Then three Germanic  __34____ from the __35____ mainland ---the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes---- invaded Britain．They each had their own language and Anglo-Saxon developed from_mixing these languages with Celtic．At the end of 9th century, the Vikings,people from Scandinavian countries,___36___Damark and Norway began to invade Britain．They __37____with them their languages,which also mixed with Anglo-Saxon．The language they____38__is what we now call Old English．

第四部分 写作技能 (共两节，满分25分)

双向翻译 （共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

    请根据上下文内容，将文中划线部分译成汉语或者英语。

Throughout history, people from many different countries and cultures have lived together in Britain.61. That is why English is a language with so many confusing rules. The English language is made up of the rules and vocabulary each group of people brought to Britain with them.

62. 古英语与我们今天所说的英语大不相同. The invasion of three Germanic tribes helped create the language Anglo-Saxon. Then the Vikings invaded Britain. They brought with them their languages, which also mixed with Anglo-Saxon. 63. The language they created is what we now call Old English. By the 10th century, Old English became the official language of England.

Middle English is the name given to the English used from around the 12th to the 16th century. The French ruled England for 250 years during this period. 64. 正因为如此，法语对英语有很大影响。Many English words we use today come from French.

Modern English began during the Renaissance in the 16th century. Because of this, Modern English includes many Latin and Greek words. However, this is not the end of the changes in the English language. 65. It is certain that this process will continue, and people will keep inventing new words and new ways of saying things.

61.____________________________________________________________________________

62____________________________________________________________________________

63.____________________________________________________________________________

64._______________ _____________________________________________________________

65_____________________________________________________________________________

单词拼写 (共10小题；每小题0.5分，满分5分)

根据首字母或汉语意思，在句中填入适当的词。

1.The crowd __________(惊慌) at the sound of the explosion.

2.It’s useful to read some _____________(简写) English stories.

3. I’m sorry the book you want is not ________(可获得的)now, but you can choose others related to the same topic. 

4.I’m afraid it isn’t a __________(方便的) time; could we fix another day?

5. She wore so much _________(珠宝) that she seemed to be covered in gold.

6.He was o        with an English story so that he didn’t hear someone come in.

7.With the midterm examination a_________, the students are working harder and harder.

8.Old English c____________ of Celtic, and the languages of the Angles and the Saxons, which once conquered Britain, and the Vikings.

9.The college is not an o__________recognized Spanish language school.

10.The twins are so alike that we have much difficulty in d______________ one from the other.

单词拼写 (共10小题；每小题0.5分，满分5分)
根据首字母或汉语意思，在句中填入适当的词。
【小题1】The crowd __________(惊慌) at the sound of the explosion.
【小题2】It’s useful to read some _____________(简写) English stories.
【小题3】 I’m sorry the book you want is not ________(可获得的)now, but you can choose others related to the same topic. 
【小题4】I’m afraid it isn’t a __________(方便的) time; could we fix another day?
【小题5】 She wore so much _________(珠宝) that she seemed to be covered in gold.
【小题6】He was o        with an English story so that he didn’t hear someone come in.
【小题7】With the midterm examination a_________, the students are working harder and harder.
【小题8】Old English c____________ of Celtic, and the languages of the Angles and the Saxons, which once conquered Britain, and the Vikings.
【小题9】The college is not an o__________recognized Spanish language school.
【小题10】The twins are so alike that we have much difficulty in d______________ one from the other.