The winter skies are grey and it’s cold outside. The nights come early and we spend a lot more time __1__ and alone. Many people __2__ winter: so cold, so dark, so boring. But I like winter because I have more time to read.
For many students reading means school; it means __3__. Reading is something your teacher assigns and it’s something you’re __4__. Reading is something you have to do, not something you want to do. But for me and many other people, reading is the most __5__ thing we can imagine. Getting lost in a good book can __6__ a cold winter evening disappear. Dull grey skies are no __7__ for the fantastic adventures of Frodo in The Lord of the Rings《指环王》or for romantic trouble-making of Jane Austen’s Emma《爱玛》, or for the youthful problems of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye《麦田守望者》.
All of those books are studied in North American high schools. They are interesting and well written books that __8__ young people. __9__, even there, many high school students don’t enjoy reading the books because they are __10__ their school work: “Oh, my God! Two hundred pages! I’ll never be able to read __11__ much.” But sometimes a funny thing happens. They begin to read and they begin to follow the __12__. Suddenly, the world inside the book becomes more exciting and more wonderful than the world they __13__. At the moment the thought __14__ reading is work disappears and reading becomes __15__.
Reading anything is __16__ but reading good books is a terrific （极好的） way to improve your English. Good writers write English very well and __17__ you with good examples to follow. And good books will tell you more about English __18__: what people think, how they talk, how they interact with each other. But don’t let me __19__ it by telling you that reading is good for you. Just think of it as a good way to __20_ on a cold winter evening.
1．A．indoors B．indoor C．outdoors D．outside
2．A．like B．prefer C．hate D．love
3．A．job B．worry C．try D．work
4．A．checked B．tested on C．examined D．based on
5．A．enjoyable B．reasonable C．comfortable D．considerable
6．A．want B．cause C．make D．force
7．A．contest B．challenge C．competition D．match
8．A．appeal to B．respond to C．react to D．reply to
9．A．Fortunately B．eventually C．Unfortunately D．Accidentally
10．A．free from B．part of C．in place of D．far from
11．A．not B．very C．this D．that
12．A．story B．subject C．idea D．theme
13．A．leave for B．care about C．flee from D．live in
14．A．what B．that C．this D．which
15．A．a comfort B．a failure C．a success D．a pleasure
16．A．bad B．mean C．great D．grand
17．A．provide B．offer C．give D．award
18．A．custom B．language C．culture D．art
19．A．break B．spoil C．make D．develop
20．A．keep warm B．stand still C．stay calm D．stay cool