Lu Xun is one of the greatest Chinese writers of the 20^th century. Besides his famous stories, he also wrote many influential articles about the living conditions of Chinese people.

     Born in 1881 to a wealthy family, Lu Xun had a happy childhood. In 1893, however, his grandfather, a senior government official, was put into prison for taking money. At the same time, his father became seriously ill. From that time on, his family were no longer accepted by their relatives and friends. These early experiences greatly influenced his writing.

     By the time Lu Xun arrived in Nanjing to study at university in 1899, he already believed that Chinese society had to change and become modern. In 1902 he went to study in Japan. There, he began writing articles for several Chinese student magazines. He showed a gift for writing and translating and he even wrote several books, although none was popular. He returned to China in 1909 because he was in need of money.

     After working for several years as a teacher in Beijing, Lu Xun again returned to writing. In 1918, he wrote his famous short story Diary of a Madman. It was the first Chinese novel published using the everyday language that people spoke, which helped make it a great success. This, together with his novel The True Story of Ah Q (1921), made Lu Xun a leading Chinese writer.

     Although successful, Lu Xun still worried greatly about China’s future. In 1926, he moved to Shanghai and gave up writing stories in order to devote himself to what he called “pen warfare”. He now only wrote articles which called on the people to fight against the government. For this, the government stopped him from publishing any more books. He was forced to write his articles using false names.

Since his death in 1936, Lu Xun’s importance and influence have grown. Today, many of his writings are included in school textbooks and his works are read by millions around the world.

1.Which of the following greatly influenced Lu Xun’s writing according to the passage?

A. The people he met in Japan.

B. The experiences in his early life.

C. Working as a teacher in Beijing.

D. His father’s being put into prison.

2.According to the passage, why was Lu Xun’s story Diary of a Madam so popular?

A. It was based on Lu Xun’s diary.

B. It was the first novel to use everyday language.

C. Its story took place in modern times.

D. It was written using a western style.

3.The underlined word “This” (Paragraph 4) refers to      .

A. the success of Diary of a Madman

B. the use of everyday language

C. the first Chinese novel

D. The True Story of Ah Q

4.After moving to Shanghai, Lu Xun mainly wrote       .

A. funny stories

B. articles about himself

C. articles against the government

D. stories about government officials

5.In what order did these events take place in Lu Xun’s life?

a. The government stopped him from publishing books.

b. He wrote Diary of a Madman.

c. His father became ill.

d. He moved to Shanghai.

e. His writings were put into textbooks.

A. c-a-b-d-e     B. c-b-d-a-e

C. a-c-d-b-e     D. a-d-b-c-e

Reading is a good habit, but the problem is, there's too much to read these days, and too little time to read every word of it. There are hundreds of skills to help you read more in less time. Here are two skills that I think are especially good.

Preview--if it's long and hard. Previewing is especially useful for getting a general idea of heavy reading like long magazine articles and business reports.

Here's how to preview.

●Read the first two paragraphs and the last two paragraphs carefully.

●Then read only the first sentence of the other paragraphs.

Previewing doesn't give you all the details. It keeps you from spending time on things you don't really want--or need--to read.

Skim--if it's short and simple. Skimming is a good way to get a general idea of light reading --like popular magazines or the sports and entertainment of your daily paper.

Here's how to skim.

●Get your eyes to move fast. Sweep them across each line.

●Pick up only a few key words in each line.

Everybody skims differently. You and I may not pick up the same words when we skim the same piece, but we'll get a similar idea of what it's all about.

1.How many skills are recommended in this passage?

A．One.             B．Two.              C．Three.            D．Four.

2.What does the underlined word "preview" mean in Chinese?

A．精读             B．默读             C．朗读             D．略读

3.What should we NOT do when we read sports news in a daily paper according to the passage?

A．Read the last two paragraphs carefully.       B．Get our eyes to move fast.

C．Sweep our eyes across each line.           D．Pick up only a few key words in each line.

4. What is the best title for this passage?

A．How to read faster   B．What to read       C．When to read      D．Why we should read

If you want to become a better reader, here are four important points to remember about rate or speed(速度)of reading:

First, knowing why you are reading and what you are reading to find out will often help you to know whether to read rapidly or slowly.

Second, some things should be read slowly. Examples are directions for making or doing something; arithmetic(算术)problems, science and history books. They are full of important information. You must read such things slowly to remember each important step and understand each idea.

Third, some things should be read rapidly. Examples are simple stories for enjoyment, news, letters from friends, items or bits of news from local or hometown paper, telling what is happening to friends and neighbors.

Fourth, in some of your readings, you must change your speed from fast to slow, and slow to fast, as you read. You’ll need to read certain pages rapidly and then slow down and do more careful reading when you come to important ideas which should be remembered.

1.A tale about fairies(神话) should be read_________.

A．slowly            B．carefully          C．rapidly            D．to change one’s speed fast to slow

2.A book about knowledge of the nature should be read _____________.

A．either rapidly or slowly                   B．rapidly            C．neither rapidly nor slowly  D．slowly

3.__________should be read slowly.

A．Novels                               B．Letters

C．Some things full of important information     D．Newspapers and magazines

4.In this passage the author advises us to ____________.

A．read more books                       B．be better readers

C．fit our speed to our needs                 D．change our speed of reading now and then(不时地)

5.According to this passage, one must pay attention to _______in your reading.

A．why you are reading                     B．what you are reading

C．the speed of reading                     D．careful reading

Ben

When I left school five years ago, I said to myself, “That’s that! No more learning for me．Now I can enjoy myself in the evening．” But about a year ago the boss said, “We’re going to get a computer in the near future．” What does he mean? I simply don’t know．Anyway, I decided to go to evening classes．I’m quite an expert(专家) on computers now and you know, I actually enjoy studying．

Eve

I haven’t much interest in studying．To be honest, I don’t like reading very much, except for magazines and that sort of thing．Just reading, that is, to kill the time．But I do enjoy watching TV．Not that I watch everything．In fact, I choose my programmes very carefully．I’m particularly interested in current affairs(时事)．In some ways I think I learn more in this way than I did at school．

Ted

I’m a very different sort of person－I simply love doing things．That’s why I enjoy sports so much．I mean, actually playing．I hardly ever watch it on TV, but I do read quite a bit about it．I’m even interested in the history of sports．I don’t have much time for anything else, except that I quite like dancing．Some people say I’m not very good at it, though．

Joan

I should say I have great interest in studying．I’d rather do this than anything else．Since I left school．I’ve taken courses in all sorts of things．I go to the city library once a week, but I much prefer evening classes because it’s more fun that way．My latest “craze（狂热）”－if you can call it that －is foreign languages．I’m learning two, not one!

1.According to what they say, which of the following is NOT TRUE?

A．Ben was pleased to leave school．

B．Eve does not spend much time in reading．

C．Ted spends a lot of time watching his favorite sport on TV．

D．Joan is learning languages in the evening school．

2.Among the four people, _____ are considered to have made good use of time in studying．

A．Ben and Eve                                                      B．Eve and Ted

C．Ted and Joan                                                     D．Ben and Joan

3.In the future, we can infer(推断) that ________．

A．Joan may speak one of foreign languages well．

B．Eve will study computers

C．Ben is interested in current affairs．

D．Joan prefers going to the city libraries．

4.The sentence “That’s that!” means ________．

A．Ben thinks he never need to learn

B．Ben wants to learn that

C．Ben would like to go on studying

D．Ben will learn from others