Question

Do you know about a series of books that say they are “for dummies”? These American self-help books have been translated into more than thirty-nine languages including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Greek and Spanish.

 “Dummy” is a word for a stupid person. The dummies books are not really for stupid people. They are designed to show people how to do something they may never have tried before, like painting a house or learning a language. The books all say in a funny way that they are for dummies, such as World History for Dummies, Rabbits for Dummies, Chinese Cooking for Dummies, and Wedding Planning for Dummies. The first such book, DOS for Dummies, was published in 1991. It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system for computers. Since then, more than one hundred fifty million dummies books have been sold.

The dummies. com website explains the idea behind the books. It says that they show that people can be taught to do anything. First they can make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand. Then they show how the information can be interesting and easy. The publishers say that the books do not provide more information than necessary. They give readers just enough information to do what they want. They say that the dummies books give the best and easiest way to do something. And the books use simple and easy language.

There are more than one thousand different dummies books. A report in New York Times says that the top-selling dummies books are those that explain technology and personal finance.

The publishers say that the best-selling dummies books are those providing information many people need---like information about diseases, education and cooking. People interested in opera, car repair and wine can also find dummies books to help them. And there are even more dummies books to come. The publishers say that they publish about two hundred new dummies books every year.

1. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. Books for Dummies

B. The Easiest, the Best

C. Books for Stupid People

D. New Ideas Behind the Books

2. The dummies books have been popular because ______.

A. they provide enough information on the concerning subject

B. they provide just what is needed and are easy to understand

C. people can learn to do anything with just one copy

D. people can save lots of money through self-teaching

3. According to New York Times, we know that books on ____ sell best.

A. diseases and education

B. opera and car repairing

C. technology and personal finance

D. cooking and world history

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A. The first dummies book was on Chinese cooking.

B. The simple language was intended for child readers

C. Fifty million different dummies books have been published.

D. The dummies books will continue to be popular.

Answer 1

【小題1】A

【小題2】B

【小題3】C

【小題4】D