题文
Collections were the inspiration(灵感) for a project at Thomas Tallis School, which formed part of the Imagine Children's Literature Festival last autumn. Each child (aged 12-13) beautified a box and wrote a story on the subject of collections to throw inside it. The boxes were spread within the Royal Festival Hall's Ballroom. Some were left empty to encourage visitors to write their own stories.
The subject chosen by Lauren was an imaginative one. "It's a sort of Cinderella (灰姑娘) story," she told me, inspired by a collection of letters from her cousin, In the story these become love letters, burned by a cruel stepmother. Lauren's best friend Charlotte is the stepmother. "I'm in Charlotte's story too," says Lauren, "and I get run over." Charlotte's tale was inspired by the girls' coin collection. "We've collected foreign coins for years – since our families went on holiday to Tenerife." she explains. "That was before the Euro, so we put pesetas in." Lauren continues: "I find a coin in the road, go to get it and get run over. I'm in hospital and then I die." Charlotte adds: "Or she might not die. I haven't decided yet."
Millie Murray, who is a teen-novel author, thinks that setting the subject of collections was a useful inspiration to their creativity rather than a restriction(限制). "In the beginning I thought, 'Will the children be able to do it?"she says. "But it's been fruitful. Some have their own collection, some have parents who do, and some have written complete stories. It's made them think about something they wouldn't have otherwise, which can only be a good thing."
59. What were the children asked to do in the project?
A. To meet friends at Thomas Tallis School. B. To write stories on the subject of collections.
C. To encourage visitors to write their own stories.
D. To have their friends for characters in the stories.
60. The underlined word "pesetas" in Paragraph 2 is a kind of _____.
A. story B. collection C. inspiration D. foreign coin
61. From the stories by Lauren and Charlotte, we know that _____ .
A. Charlotte hurt herself when getting a coin
B. both of them developed their imagination
C. both of them will die in each other's stories
D. Lauren's cousin posted her some love letters
62. Millie Murray thinks ________.
A. collections could inspire writing creativity
B. it was good for parents to have collections
C. inspirations were very useful in writing stories
D. setting collection subjects restricted inspirations 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
59.B 60.D 61.B 62.A
解析
59.解析：这是一道细节题。第一段“Each child （aged 12～13） beautified a box and wrote a story on the subject of collections to throw inside it.”说明孩子们被要求为这项活动写故事。
60.解析：这是一道猜义题。根据上文中“We’ve collection foreign coins for years—since our families went on holiday to Tenerife，” she explains.可猜测出pesetas的意思是一种外币。
61.解析：这是一道细节推断题。根据第二段“The subject chosen by Lauren was an imaginative one.”可推断出Lauren和Charlotte两人充分发挥了自己的想像力。
62.解析：这是一道细节推断题。根据最后一段“Millie Murray，who is a teen－novel author，thinks that setting the subject of collections was a useful inspiration to their creativity rather than a restriction.”可推断出Millie Murray认为收藏可促进写作的创造性。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“Collections were the.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
