I. BEFORE YOU READ

Work in pairs. Ask each other the following questions.

(Làm việc theo cặp. Hỏi nhau những câu sau.)

1. Do you often read books?

(Bạn có thường xuyên đọc sách không?)

2. What kind of books do you enjoy reading most/least?

(Loại sách nào bạn thích đọc nhất / ít nhất?)

3. How do you read books?

(Bạn đọc sách như thế nào?)

II. WHILE YOU READ 

Read the text and do the tasks that follow.

(Đọc văn bản và làm các bài tập sau.)

On the subject of reading, Francis Bacon, who lived at about the same time as Shakespeare, wrote these words, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” This good advice shows how it is possible to read different types of books in different ways. For example, you might pick up a travel book and read a few pages before going to sleep. It is enough to dip into it and read bits here and there. In a word, this is “tasting”.

Some stories are for “swallowing”. Imagine that you have found a good story, and, what is even more important, the time to enjoy it. You might be on holiday, or on a long train journey. If it is a good book, you might say, “It’s so good I can’t put it down.” But not all stories belong to this class. Reviewers sometimes describe books as “hard-to-put- down”, or “hard-to-pick-up-again”.

Other books are for reading slowly and carefully. If it is a book on a subject that you are interested in, you will want to “chew and digest it”. That does not mean reading it too slowly. When you pick up a book for the first time, check that it is not too difficult. Do not start a book unless you can see from the first few pages that it is one you can easily read and understand.

Some people think that as more and more people have a television in their homes, fewer and fewer people will buy books to read. Why read when television can bring you all the information and stories with colour, picture and action? But, in fact, television has not killed reading. Today, more books of every kind are sold than ever before. Books are still a cheap way to get information and entertainment, and you can keep a book forever and read it many times. Books in the home are a wonderful source of knowledge and pleasure.

Task 1: The following words and phrases all appear in the passage. Find the Vietnamese equivalent for each of them.

(Tất cả những từ và cụm từ xuất hiện ở đoạn văn. Tìm từ tương đương tiếng Việt cho mỗi từ.)

1. swallow  - ___________

2. dip into  - ___________

3. taste – ___________

4. “hard-to-pick-up again"  - ___________

5. digest - ___________

6. chew - ___________

7. “ hard-to-put-down" - ___________

Task 2: Work in pairs. Decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F), or not mentioned (NM) in the reading passage. Tick (✓) the appropriate box.

(Làm việctheo cặp. Quyết định những câu nói là đúng (T) hay sai (F) hoặc không được nói đến (NM) ở bài đọc.Ghi dấu (✓) khung thích hợp.)

1. You can't read different types of books in the same way.

2. When you "taste" a book you read it carefully from the beginning to the end. 

3. Many people only have time to read when they are travelling.  

4. Books with good stories are often described as "hard-to-put-down".

5. Television has replaced books altogether.

Task 3: Answer the questions according to the information in the passage.

(Trả lời câu hỏi theo thông tin ở đoạn văn.)

1. How many ways of reading are there?

(Có bao nhiêu cách đọc?)

2. When might you "swallow" a book?

(Khi nào bạn "nuốt" một cuốn sách?)

3. What should you do before starting to read a book carefully and slowly?

(Bạn nên làm gì trước khi bắt đầu đọc cuốn sách cẩn thận và chậm?)

4. What are the advantages of television over books?

(Lợi ích của truyền hình hơn hẳn sách là gì?)

5. What are the advantages of books over television?

(Những lợi ích của sách hơn hẳn truyền hình là gì?)

III. AFTER YOU READ

Work in pairs or groups. Find the names of types of books in the square. The words may go across, down, up, backwards, or at an angle. Here are some clues...

(Làm việc từng  đôi hoặc từng nhóm. Tìm ra  tên của các loại sách trong hình. Các từ có thể theo hàng ngang, đi xuống, đi lên, lui,  hay đường chéo. Sau đây một vài gợi ý.)