Today, almost everyone has heard of Harry Potter. The books detailing his experiences at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have aroused passion, creativity, and interest in reading throughout the world.

But have you ever considered why you are a fan of the Harry Potter series?

JK Rowling has created a list of characters and an environment for them to inhabit that appeals to both adults and children. 

The fantasy aspect of the wizarding world expands the imagination, and takes the mind to new and exciting places. Anything could happen there. Her stories contain parts of the believable and unbelievable, changing the predictability that readers commonly come across and bear in fiction. 

The main theme of the series, including good versus evil, prejudice, love, death, sacrifice, friendship and loyalty, in actuality contributes to the ever-lasting nature of the stories. At the same time, these themes remind us of classic literature, offering mature readers tales that wear like a comfortable pair of shoes, while introducing younger readers to concepts they will meet throughout their lives. 

Much of the appeal also comes from the characters. In each book, JK Rowling introduces and describes the characters in such a way that we wonder not only about their futures, but also about their pasts. Even supporting characters are suddenly more than just extras in the background. And what of Harry Potter himself? We care about Harry, because we watch him grow from an innocent boy to a powerful wizard. We see him as both Hero and Victim. He experiences endless love and extreme pain, and as readers, we experience them with him.

This perfect combination of emotion, suspense and fantasy, together with the fact that JK Rowling is a superb storyteller is the reason why we are Harry potter fans. People are fond of Harry Potter series. With books like these, it’s hard not to be.

Harry Potter series become popular partly because ____________.

A. they remind us of the childhood and environment we had in the past

B. they take us to a world beyond our imagination and expectation

C. they offer us ever-lasting nature of the stories

D. they set an example of hero for us to follow

What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 mean?

A. The supporting characters are not necessary in the story.

B. Readers care only about Harry but not those supporting characters.

C. Even the supporting characters are attractive in the story.

D. Those supporting characters only appear all of a sudden.

The themes of the Harry Potter series do not contain ____________.

A. prejudice and love                          B. good and evil

C. death and sacrifice                          D. safety and peace

People care for Harry Potter because ____________.

A. they think of classic literature when reading the story

B. they find different experiences from theirs on Harry

C. they share the experiences with Harry

D. they like JK Rowling’s description very much

He met her at the party. She was so outstanding, with many boys around her, while he was so normal, with nobody paying attention to him.

At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him. She was surprised, but due to being polite, she agreed.

They sat in a nice coffee shop. He was too nervous to say anything, and she felt uncomfortable, thinking, “Please let me go home.”

Suddenly he asked the waiter, “Would you please give me some salt? I’d like to put it in my coffee.”

 Everybody stared at him---so strange! His face turned red, but, still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it.

She asked him curiously, “Why do you have this hobby?”

He replied, “When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I liked playing in the sea, and I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood. I miss my hometown so much. I miss my parents who are still living there.”

While saying that, tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. That’s his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart. A man who can tell about his homesickness must be a man who loves home, cares about home, and has a good sense of responsibility.

Then she also started to speak, about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family. That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story.

They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands: he was kind-hearted, warm and careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him!

Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story, the princess married the prince, then they were living a happy life…And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee.

After 40 years, he passed away, leaving her a letter which said, “My dearest, please forgive my whole-life lie. This was the only lie I said to you ---the salty coffee.”

“Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time. Actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead.”

“I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything.”

“Now I’m dying, I’m afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth: I don’t like the salty coffee. What a strange and bad taste! But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life!”

“Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for a second time, I still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again.”

Her tears made the letter totally wet.

Someday, someone asked her, “What’s the taste of salty coffee?” “It’s sweet,” she replied.

After ordering some salt to put into the coffee, the young man must have felt _________.

A. excited         B. satisfied          C. embarrassed        D. displeased

Why did the man have salty coffee all his life?

A. To change lifestyle.                   B. To please his wife.

C. To keep his word.                     D. To remember the past

What does the write mean by saying “she almost missed him”?

A. She meant to leave him on their first date.

B. She thought of him every now and then.

C. She nearly misunderstood his explanation.

D. She could hardly believe this simple fact.

From the passage, we can see that the man is ___________.

A. dishonest but responsible              B. shy but kind-hearted

C. caring and loyal                       D. warm and understanding

It is implied in the passage that the woman ___________ when reading the letter left by her husband.

A. was confused about his behavior          B. was touched by his white lie

C. felt sorry to know the truth too late    D. felt angry about his dishonesty

He met her at a party．She was so outstanding，with many boys around her，while he was so normal, with nobody paying attention to him．

At the end of the party，he invited her to have coffee with him．She was surprised，but due to being polite，she agreed．

They sat in a nice coffee shop．He was too nervous to say anything，and she felt uncomfortable，thinking，“Please let me go home．”

Suddenly he asked the waiter，“Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee．”

Everybody stared at him——so strange! His face turned red，but，still，he put the salt in his coffee and drank it．

She asked him curiously，“Why do you have this hobby?”

He replied，“When I was a little boy，I was living near the sea．I liked playing in the sea, and I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee．Now every time I have the salty coffee．I always think of my childhood．I miss my hometown so much．I miss my parents who are still living there．”

While saying that tears filled his eyes．She was deeply touched．That's his true feeling，from the bottom of his heart．A man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, and has responsibility of home．

Then she also started to speak，about her faraway hometown，her childhood, her family．That was a really nice talk，also a beautiful beginning of their story．

They continued to date．She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands；he was kind-hearted, warm and careful．He was such a good person but she almost missed him!

Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story，the princess married the prince, then they were living a happy life…And, every time she made coffee for him，she put some salt in the coffee．

After 40 years, he passed away，leaving her a letter which said，“My dearest，please forgive my whole life lie．This was the only lie I said to you—the salty coffee．

“Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time．Actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt．It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead．

“I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything．

“Now I'm dying, I'm afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth：I don't like the salty coffee．What a strange bad taste! But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life!

“Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you．Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life．If I can live for a second time，I still want to know you and have you for my whole life，even though I have to drink the salty coffee again．”

Her tears made the letter totally wet．

Someday，someone asked her,“What's the taste of salty coffee?”“It's sweet，”she replied．

After ordering some salt to put into the coffee, the young man must have felt     ．

A．touched     B．satisfied    C．disappointed    D．embarrassed

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Salt coffee is more delicious and sweeter than sugar coffee．

B．The man ordered the salt coffee in order to create a chance to date with the girl．

C．The man had to have salty coffee all his life to keep his word．

D．The woman hardly believed the man's explanation at their first date．

From the passage we can see that the man is         ．

A．caring and kind-hearted      B．shy and sly

C．dishonest but responsible     D．warm and understanding

It is implied in the passage that the woman _____ when reading the letter left by her husband．

 A．was cheated by his husband's behavior    B．was touched by his husband's white lie

 C．felt sorry to know the truth too late       D．felt angry about his dishonesty

Today, almost everyone has heard of Harry Potter. The books detailing his experiences at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have aroused passion, creativity, and interest in reading throughout the world.

But have you ever considered why you are a fan of the Harry Potter series?

JK Rowling has created a list of characters and an environment for them to inhabit that appeals to both adults and children. 

The fantasy aspect of the wizarding world expands the imagination, and takes the mind to new and exciting places. Anything could happen there. Her stories contain parts of the believable and unbelievable, changing the predictability that readers commonly come across and bear in fiction. 

The main theme of the series, including good versus evil, prejudice, love, death, sacrifice, friendship and loyalty, in actuality contributes to the ever-lasting nature of the stories. At the same time, these themes remind us of classic literature, offering mature readers tales that wear like a comfortable pair of shoes, while introducing younger readers to concepts they will meet throughout their lives. 

Much of the appeal also comes from the characters. In each book, JK Rowling introduces and describes the characters in such a way that we wonder not only about their futures, but also about their pasts. Even supporting characters are suddenly more than just extras in the background. And what of Harry Potter himself? We care about Harry, because we watch him grow from an innocent boy to a powerful wizard. We see him as both Hero and Victim. He experiences endless love and extreme pain, and as readers, we experience them with him.

This perfect combination of emotion, suspense and fantasy, together with the fact that JK Rowling is a superb storyteller is the reason why we are Harry potter fans. People are fond of Harry Potter series. With books like these, it’s hard not to be.

1. Harry Potter series become popular partly because ____________.

A. they remind us of the childhood and environment we had in the past

B. they take us to a world beyond our imagination and expectation

C. they offer us ever-lasting nature of the stories

D. they set an example of hero for us to follow

2. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 mean?

A. The supporting characters are not necessary in the story.

B. Readers care only about Harry but not those supporting characters.

C. Even the supporting characters are attractive in the story.

D. Those supporting characters only appear all of a sudden.

3. The themes of the Harry Potter series do not contain ____________.

A. prejudice and love                B. good and evil

C. death and sacrifice               D. safety and peace

4. People care for Harry Potter because ____________.

A. they think of classic literature when reading the story

B. they find different experiences from theirs on Harry

C. they share the experiences with Harry

D. they like JK Rowling’s description very much

Today, almost everyone has heard of Harry Potter. The books detailing his experiences at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have aroused passion, creativity, and interest in reading throughout the world.

But have you ever considered why you are a fan of the Harry Potter series?

JK Rowling has created a list of characters and an environment for them to inhabit that appeals to both adults and children. 

The fantasy aspect of the wizarding world expands the imagination, and takes the mind to new and exciting places. Anything could happen there. Her stories contain parts of the believable and unbelievable, changing the predictability that readers commonly come across and bear in fiction. 

The main theme of the series, including good versus evil, prejudice, love, death, sacrifice, friendship and loyalty, in actuality contributes to the ever-lasting nature of the stories. At the same time, these themes remind us of classic literature, offering mature readers tales that wear like a comfortable pair of shoes, while introducing younger readers to concepts they will meet throughout their lives. 

Much of the appeal also comes from the characters. In each book, JK Rowling introduces and describes the characters in such a way that we wonder not only about their futures, but also about their pasts. Even supporting characters are suddenly more than just extras in the background. And what of Harry Potter himself? We care about Harry, because we watch him grow from an innocent boy to a powerful wizard. We see him as both Hero and Victim. He experiences endless love and extreme pain, and as readers, we experience them with him.

This perfect combination of emotion, suspense and fantasy, together with the fact that JK Rowling is a superb storyteller is the reason why we are Harry potter fans. People are fond of Harry Potter series. With books like these, it’s hard not to be.

1. Harry Potter series become popular partly because ____________.

A. they remind us of the childhood and environment we had in the past

B. they take us to a world beyond our imagination and expectation

C. they offer us ever-lasting nature of the stories

D. they set an example of hero for us to follow

2.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 mean?

A. The supporting characters are not necessary in the story.

B. Readers care only about Harry but not those supporting characters.

C. Even the supporting characters are attractive in the story.

D. Those supporting characters only appear all of a sudden.

3.The themes of the Harry Potter series do not contain ____________.

A. prejudice and love                                    B. good and evil

C. death and sacrifice                                  D. safety and peace

4.People care for Harry Potter because ____________.

A. they think of classic literature when reading the story

B. they find different experiences from theirs on Harry

C. they share the experiences with Harry

D. they like JK Rowling’s description very much