I entered high school having read hundreds of books.But I was not a good reader.Merely bookish,I lacked a point of view when I read.Rather,I read in order to get a point of view.I searched books for good expressions and sayings,pieces of information,ideas,themes—anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated.When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a “complicated(复杂的) idea” until he had read at least two thousand books,I heard the words without recognizing either its irony(嘲讽) or its very complicated truth.I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read.Strict with myself,I included only once a title I might have read several times.(How,after all,could one read a book more than once?)And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length.(Could anything shorter be a book?)

There was yet another high school list I made.One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college.The article had a list of the “hundred most important books of Western Civilization.”“More than anything else in my life,”the professor told the reporter with finality,“these books have made me all that I am.”That was the kind of words I couldn’t ignore(忽视).I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles.Most books,of course,I hardly understood.While reading Plato’s The Republic,for example,I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about.However,with the special patience and superstition(迷信) of a schoolboy,I looked at every word of the text.And by me time I reached the last word,pleased,I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic,and seriously crossed Plato off my list.

On heating the teacher’s suggestion of reading,the writer thought ______.

A.one must read as many books as possible

B.a student should not have a complicated idea

C.it was impossible for one to read two thousand books

D.students ought to make a list of the books they had read

While at high school,the writer ______.

A.had plans for reading

B.learned to educate himself

C.only read books over 100 pages

D.read only one book several times

The underlined phrase “with finality” probably means ______.

A.firmly                                                                 B.clearly

C.proudly                                                               D.pleasantly

The writer’s purpose in mentioning The Republic is to ______.

A.explain why it was included in the list

B.describe why he seriously crossed it off the list

C.show that he read the books blindly though they were hard to understand

D.prove that he understood most of it because he had looked at every word

The writer provides two book lists to ______.

A.show how he developed his point of view

B.tell his reading experience at high school

C.introduce the two persons’ reading methods

D.explain that he read many books at high school

When we think about giving help to developing countries, we often think about giving money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals, buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies. These seem to be the most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help. However, it's far from enough. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to come up with some better ideas to help them.
I was very surprised, then, when I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries. A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity. He decided to invent this computer after he visited a school in Cambodia.
The laptop which Mr. Negroponte has designed is a little different from the normal laptop computers you can buy in the shops. One difference is that it is covered in rubber so that it is very strong and won't be damaged easily. As an electricity supply can be a problem in developing countries, the computer also has a special handle so that children can wind the computer up to give it extra power when needed.
These special laptop computers will cost less than 100 US dollars and Mr. Negroponte wants to build as many as 15 million machines in the first year of production. The idea is that these computers will help the children's education as they will be able to access the Internet. These computers might not help the people in developing countries immediately, but by improving children's education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.
Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again. In the UK, and, probably in many other countries too, millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year. The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them. In this way we will be able to achieve two important goals at the same time. We will reduce the waste we produce and help others. In other words, we will be able to 'kill two birds with one stone', and that is always a good thing.
【小题1】  The author gives the example of Mr. Negroponte's cheap computers _______.

When we think about giving help to developing countries, we often think about giving money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals, buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies. These seem to be the most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help. However, it's far from enough. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to come up with some better ideas to help them.

I was very surprised, then, when I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries. A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity. He decided to invent this computer after he visited a school in Cambodia.

The laptop which Mr. Negroponte has designed is a little different from the normal laptop computers you can buy in the shops. One difference is that it is covered in rubber so that it is very strong and won't be damaged easily. As an electricity supply can be a problem in developing countries, the computer also has a special handle so that children can wind the computer up to give it extra power when needed.

These special laptop computers will cost less than 100 US dollars and Mr. Negroponte wants to build as many as 15 million machines in the first year of production. The idea is that these computers will help the children's education as they will be able to access the Internet. These computers might not help the people in developing countries immediately, but by improving children's education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.

Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again. In the UK, and, probably in many other countries too, millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year. The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them. In this way we will be able to achieve two important goals at the same time. We will reduce the waste we produce and help others. In other words, we will be able to 'kill two birds with one stone', and that is always a good thing.

It's an excellent idea to recycle old mobile phones because _______.

A. it reduces waste and can help others  

B. it prevents waste and can earn lots of money

C. it can send the waste produced by developed countries to other countries

D. it is good for the environment and very educative for phone users

The author gives the example of Mr. Negroponte's cheap computers _______.

A. to show what high tech can bring us.

B. to illustrate the kindness of people in the developed countries

C. to show how to find business opportunities in developing countries

D. to give an example of how to help developing countries

Which of the following statements is TRUE about Mr. Negroponte's cheap computers?

      A. His computers don’t need any power to function well.

      B. His computers are covered with rubber so that they are very cheap.

      C. His computers will help children in developing countries to have better education.

      D. His computers will help people in developing countries to find all the solutions.

Where does this passage probably come from?

      A. A magazine      B. A newspaper        C. A lecture          D. An advertisement

When we think about giving help to developing countries, we often think about giving money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals, buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies. These seem to be the most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help. However, it's far from enough. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to come up with some better ideas to help them.
I was very surprised, then, when I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries. A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer and he planed to produce a lot and sell them to the children in developing countries at a low price after he visited a school in Cambodia. The laptop will be covered in rubber so that it is very strong and won't be damaged easily. The idea is that these computers will help the children's education as they will be able to surf the Internet. By improving children's education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.
Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again. In the UK, and probably in many other countries too, millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year. The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them. In this way we will be able to achieve two important goals at the same time. We will reduce the waste we produce and help others. In other words, we will be able to 'kill two birds with one stone’, and that is always a good thing.
【小题1】
It's an excellent idea to recycle old mobile phones because        .

A．to show what high technology can bring us

B．to show the kindness of people in the developed countries

C．to show how to find business opportunities in developing countries

D．to give an example of how to help developing countries

A．A newspaper.	B．A magazine.
C．A lecture.	D．An advertisement.

When I first entered university, my aunt, who is an English professor, gave me a new English dictionary. I was   1  to see that it was an English English dictionary, also known as a monolingual（单语的） dictionary.   2  it was a dictionary intended for non-native learners, none of my classmates had one and, to be honest, I found it extremely  3  to use at first. I would look up words in the dictionary and still not fully understand the meaning. I was used to the   4  bilingual（双语的）dictionaries, in which the words are    5  both in English and Chinese. I really wondered why my aunt   6  to make things so difficult for me. Now, after studying English at university for three years, I   7 that monolingual dictionaries are  8 in learning a foreign language.

As I found out, there is in fact often no perfect equivalence(对应) between two  9  in two language. My aunt even goes so far as to  10 that a Chinese “equivalent” can never give you the   11 meaning of a word in English! Therefore, she insisted that I read the definition(定义) of a word in a monolingual dictionary when I wanted to get a better understanding of its meaning. 12  , I have come to see what she meant. 

Using a monolingual dictionary for learners has helped me in another important way. This dictionary uses a(n)   13  number of words, around 2, 000, in its definitions. When I read these definitions, I am  14 exposed to the basic words and learn how they are used to explain objects and ideas.  15 this, I can express myself more easily in English.