If you wish to become a better reader, here are four important things to remember about reading rate:

　　● Knowing why you are reading or what you are reading to find out will often help you to know whether to read rapidly or slowly.

　　● Some things should be read slowly throughout. Examples are directions for making or doing something, arithmetic problems, science and history books, which are full of important information. You must read such things slowly to remember each important step and understand each important idea.

　　● Some things should be read rapidly throughout. Examples are simple stories meant for enjoyment, newsletters from friends, pieces of news from local, or home-town, papers, telling what is happening to friends and neighbors.

　　● In some of your reading, you must change your speed from fast to slow and slow to fast, as you go along. You will need to read certain pages rapidly and then slow down and do more careful reading when you come to important ideas which must be remembered.

　　1. The underlined word "rate" in the first sentence means _______.

　　A. fast

　　B. slow

　　C. speed

　　D. skill

　　2. Which should be read slowly according to the passage?

　　A. Stories for enjoyment

　　B. Arithmetic problems

　　C. Letters from friends

　　D. News from hometown newspapers

　　3. How fast should we read?

　　A. The faster, the better.

　　B. The more slowly, the better.

　　C. Neither too fast nor too slow.

　　D. It depends on what we are reading.

　　4. According to the passage which of the following is NOT true?

　　A. Read slowly when you are reading something important to you.

　　B. Read fast when you are reading something unimportant to you.

　　C. Read the materials that you are interested in slowly.

　　D. Read the materials that you are interested in fast.

　　【答案与解析】

　　1. C。推断题。文中各点讲的都是读书的速度问题，所以 reading rate 意为“读书的速度”，即是 rate 是“速度”的意思，因此答案为 C。

　　2. B。细节题。根据 Examples are directions for making or doing something, arithmetic problems… 可知此题答案为 B。

　　3. D。判断题。通过阅读全文可知：有的东西需要仔细读，而有的快速浏览一下就行，是慢读还是快读取决于所读的内容，所以此题答案为 D。

　　4. D。推断题。通过阅读全文和平时的常识可知对于你感兴趣的材料一定会读得仔细，所以 D 的说法是错误的，因此此题答案为 D。

　　One hot night last August, I tried everything I could think of — a warm bottle, songs etc. to make him fall into sleep, but he just couldn’t do it. Since I believed that a long night was waiting for me ahead, I had no choice but to bring a TV into his room to kill off the hours until dawn. I was surprised that the moment I turned on the TV the baby became quiet right away and fixed his little eyes brightly on the screen. Not willing to waste an opportunity for sleep, I then tiptoed out of the room, leaving him to watch the boring TV programs.

　　I heard no more of the baby’s crying that night and the next morning when I went into his room, I found him still watching TV by himself. I found there was a metaphor(暗喻) in my baby’s behavior(行为) for the new generation. When I gave my boy some books to go over, he only spit(打呼噜) upon them; when I read to him, he did not feel comfortable. And so it is in the schools with my students. I find that our students don’t read and they look down upon reading and make light of(轻视、不在乎) those of us who teach it. All they want to do is watch TV. After this experience with the baby, however, I have drawn a conclusion: “Let them watch it!” If television is that much more attractive to children than books, why should we fight against it? Let them watch what they want!

　　1. Why did the father bring a TV set into his son’s room?

　　A. To enjoy some interesting programs together with his son.

　　B. To help himself pass the long hours ahead of him.

　　C. To help his son fall asleep sooner.

　　D. To keep his son from making noises.

　　2. The baby seemed to be ______ at the sight of the TV set.

　　A. excited

　　B. surprised

　　C. bored

　　D. pleased

　　3. This experience with his baby helped the father ______.

　　A. to know his baby better

　　B. to know better how to educate his students

　　C. to change his opinions towards TV

　　D. to know better about the new generation

　　【答案与解析】

　　1. B。细节题。根据文章第1段第2句to bring a TV into his room to kill off the hours可推知此题答案为B。

　　2. A。推断题。根据文章第1段倒数第2句fixed his little eyes brightly on the screen及第2段第1句I found him still watching TV by himself可推知此题答案为A。

　　3. D。推断题。根据文章第2段第2句I found there was a metaphor(暗喻) in my baby’s behavior(行为) for the new generation可推知此题答案为D。