江丽

人們的业余爱好对他们的生活有着很大的影响。有些人喜欢运动，有些人喜欢看电视，而“我”，却喜欢看书。

难词探意

1. cringe /krnd/ v. 畏缩; 觉得难为情

2. prolong /prl/ v. 延长;拉长; 拖延;延期

3. obsession /bsen/ n. 着迷

What people do in their free time shapes their life. Some people play sports. Other people watch Netflix. I， however， read books. Its amazing how many of my peers cringe when I say I read for fun. Id much rather read all weekend than attend a party.

The most incredible thing about books is that you can put them down for as long as necessary; if you come back in a year itll still be there， faithfully waiting for the turn of a page. Through books， you can explore universes that havent been discovered yet. You can travel into the minds of others， and see things through their eyes. And maybe if youre lucky， like me， you can grow because of them.

I had my first battle with depression in 8th grade. After several months of being isolated from everyone in my grade， I decided that my life wasnt exactly worth fighting for anymore. If youve never experienced depression， youre lucky. Books were the only way I could escape into someone elses world and leave mine behind. Keeping my mind busy was the only way to prolong the inevitable defeat I was facing. As time went on it became harder to distract myself， and eventually I had decided that I was just going to end it before it could get worse.

I had planned to leave my home and have a travel alone in the evening while my mom was at a meeting. After school that day， I went to my grandparents house， as I frequently did. My grandma， knowing my obsession with the Harry Potter series， had purchased for me the final book in the series， which is the only one I hadnt read. I went home that afternoon and started reading， and ended up completely forgetting about my prior plan. The book took me about a week to read， and within that week， my life had gotten significantly easier to deal with. I gradually have friends， and I felt more confident being by myself， and eventually I became okay again. Actually， life can be full of sunshine if you treat it positively.

So I guess the book saved my life. And， books in general， continue to give me the stability to carry on.

1. Whats paragraph 2 mainly about？

A. Exploring the universe.

B. Purchasing books.

C. Benefits of books.

D. Importance of travel.

2. What happened to the author in 8th grade？

A. The author was addicted to attending parties.

B. The author suffered from depression.

C. The author had difficulty in reading books.

D. The author fought with classmates.

3. What does the underlined word “plan” in paragraph 4 refer to？

A. Buying the Harry Potter series.

B. Attending a meeting alone.

C. Enjoying sunshine with friends.

D. Leaving for a journey.