14．Londoners are great readers．They buy vast numbers of newspapers and magazines and of books---especially paperbacks，which are still comparatively cheap in spite of ever-increasing rises in the costs of printing．They still continue to buy"proper"books，too，printed on good paper and bound（裝訂）between hard covers．
There are many streets in London containing shops which specialize in book-selling．Perhaps the best known of these is Charring Cross Road in the very heart of London．Here bookshops of all sorts and sizes are to be found，from the celebrated one which boasts of being"the biggest bookshop in the world"to the tiny，dusty little places which seem to have been left over from Dickens'time．Some of these shops stock，or will obtain，any kind of book，but many of them specialize in second-hand books，in art books，in foreign books，in books on philosophy，politics or any other of the countless subjects about which books may be written．One shop in this area specializes only in books about ballet!
Although it may be the most convenient place for Londoners to buy books，Charring Cross Road is not the cheapest．For the really cheap second-hand books，the collector must venture off the beaten track，to Farringdon Road，for example，in the East Central district of London．Here there is nothing so impressive as bookshops．The booksellers come along each morning and pour out their sacks of books onto small hand carts．And the collectors，some professionals and some amateurs，have been waiting for them．In places like this they can still，occasionally，pick up for a few pence an old one that may be worth many pounds．
5．"Londoners are great readers"means thatD．
A．Londoners are great because they read a lot．
B．There are a great number of readers in London
C．Londoners are readers who read only great books
D．Londoners read a lot
6．According to this passage，Charring Cross RoadB．
A．is in the suburbs of London
B．is famous for its bookshops
C．contains various kinds of shops
D．is the busiest street in London
7．In this passage，what does the underlined part"venture off the beaten track"mean？B．
A．buy books in a most busy street
B．move away from a busy street
C．waste time looking for books
D．take a risk of losing one's life
8．On Farringdon Road，C．
A．you can find fine bookshops for the latest books
B．there are only small bookshops for the second-hand books
C．you can see book sellers selling books on hand-carts
D．the same books as the ones in the bookshops of Charring Cross Road are sold．
分析 文章主要講述倫敦人都愛讀書，倫敦市區到處是書店，從出名的書店到街邊小推車都是一些買書的好地方．
解答 5．D 句意推測題．根據文章大意及第一段They buy vast numbers of newspapers and magazines and of books及They still continue to buy"proper"books可知倫敦人會買大量的報紙、雜志和書，由此可以推測出倫敦人喜歡閱讀．故D正確．
6．B 細節理解題．根據文章第二段There are many streets in London containing shops which specialize in book-selling．Perhaps the best known of these is Charring Cross Road in the very heart of London．可知此地以它的書店而出名．故B正確．
7．B 詞義推測題．Although it may be the most convenient place for Londoners to buy books，Charring Cross Road is not the cheapest．可知在Charring Cross Road買書很方便，但是書不便宜，要想買便宜的二手書需要venture off the beaten track，應該指的是離開這個繁忙地帶，故B正確．
8．C 細節理解題．根據第三段的"The booksellers come along each morning and pour out their sacks of books onto small handcarts．"可知在你可以看到售書人在手推車上賣書，故答案為C．
點評 閱讀理解題測試考生在閱讀基礎上的邏輯推理能力，要求考生根據文章所述事件的邏輯關系，對未說明的趨勢或結局作出合理的推斷；或根據作者所闡述的觀點理論，對文章未涉及的現象、事例給以解釋．考生首先要仔細閱讀短文，完整了解信息，準確把握作者觀點．
