B. John was not good at building bridges. C. John was foolish to build such a bridge. D. John should build the bridge earlier. 59. What do you think of the carpenter?
A. Shy. B. Wise. C. Pround. D. Careless. 60. What is the best title for the passage?
A. What a Big Fence! B. A Strong Bridge C. Three Kind Men D. A Frence or a Bridge 答案： 56. A； 57. C；58. A；59. B; 60. D
点评： 文章的主题是“沟通”。 文中的两位邻居原为好友，后因故友谊中断。其中一人就故意在两家间挖了条小溪，表示友谊彻底破裂。另一个准备让木匠建立高栅栏作为回应，智慧的木匠却在小溪上建了一座桥，使他们重归于好。文章寓意深长，鼓励人们要善于沟通、增进理解。第60小题画龙点晴，一方面考查考生归纳文章中心、大意的能力，另一方面考查考生对文章所包含的情感态度的判断能力。
3.引导学生关注社会，体现阅读的时代性
2007年中考英语试卷大多选用了具有鲜明的时代特征的阅读文章。他们以青少年熟悉的明星为话题，或以新闻报道聚集社会热点，引导学生关心社会，加强学科知识与社会热点的联系。文章生活气息浓厚，时代性强，具有积极的社会意义，对英语教学有良好的反拨作用。
例10 （江苏南通卷）
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BEIJING－Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has visited the “left-behid”(留守) children whose parents are working in cities before Children’s Day.
During a visit to northwest China’s Shanxi Province, Wen visited the home of Yang Saike, a primary school boy in a vollage of Xingping City. Yang, whose parents were working in Fujian, thousands of kilometers away, was cared for by his grandparents. His parents fail to go home even once a year.
The premier held Yang in his arms and looked through his exercise book and praised him for his hard work.
Wen talked with many children and asked them many questions about their schooling and life.
“You are so pretty, ” Wen sait to Liu Mengqi, a seven-year-old girl living with her grandmother. Liu’s parents were also working in the city. “Have you been to school yet?”Wen asked two other girls. “We are going to the pre-school class,”said one.
“Mom and dad at home?”Wen asked. The children shood their heads. “Children cannot see their parents very often, which is a new problem in the countryside . We should give them more care and love,”said the premier.
“With fast economic development, more people in the country choose to work in cities and left their children with grandparents or relatives back
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