《英语通》(初三版)所刊登的阅读材料，语言地道，新颖有趣，内容丰富，形式多样，思想性强，富有启发性。它们不仅可作为阅读理解材料，而且可作为完形填空、短文改错、书面表达，甚至听力理解材料使用。因此《英语通》(初三版)已经成为中考命题的一个重要资源。下面举个例子。

　　例1 新疆生产建设兵团2004年中考英语试题短文填空

　　II. 短文填空(本题10小题，每小题1分，共10分)

　　根据短文内容和首字母提示，写出所缺单词。

　　Early to bed, early to get up makes a man healthy. T __11__ is an old English saying. Have you ever h__12__ of it? It means that we must go to bed early at n __13__ and get up early in the morning. If we do so, we shall be strong.

　　Is this true? Perhaps it is. The body must have e__14__ sleep. Children of your age need nine or ten h__15__ of sleep every night. If you don't go to bed early, you can't do your work well.

　　Some people go to bed late at night and get up late in the morning. This is not g __16__ for them. We must sleep at night when it is dark. The dark helps us to sleep well. When daytime c __17__ ,we must get up. It is time for exercise. If the body is not used, it becomes weak. Exercise keeps it strong. Exercise helps the blood (血液) to move around inside the body. This is very important. Blood takes food to all parts of our bodies. The brains (脑) in our head also n __18__ blood. We think with o __19__ brains. If we take exercise and keep our bodies h __20__，we can think better.

　　(参考答案: 11. That / This 12. heard 13. night 14. enough 15. hours 16. good 17. comes 18. need 19. our 20. healthy)

　　该短文填空与《英语通》(初三版)2004年第2期第38页刊登的阅读理解A短文内容基本一致。中考题根据命题需要删去了最后一段。

　　例2 新疆乌鲁木齐市2004年中考英语试题短文填空

　　IV. 短文填空(每小题1分，共10分)

　　阅读短文，完成文中所缺单词(每空一词)

　　Now many middle school students have got a mobile phone. Because a lot of parents think __31__ their children have mobile phones, it is __32__ for their parents to keep in touch with their children at any time. If a child is in __33__ or lost, they can help him or her in time. But some teachers don't __34__ it is a good idea for students to carry mobile phones to schools. They say students depend (依赖) too much on them. For example, if they forget something, they may phone home and tell their parents to __35__ it to school. Some other teachers say students should not have mobile phones at school because some students send short __36__ or play games and don't listen to the teachers carefully in class. These make teachers feel __37__ and they are bad for studying. So mobile phones have become a __38__ for middle schools. Many teachers think it's not __39__ to bring them to school. Some middle schools have banned (禁止) students from __40__ mobile phones during school hours.

　　(参考答案: 31. if / when 32. easy / easier 33. trouble / danger / difficulty 34. think / believe 35. bring / send 36. messages 37. angry / unhappy / sad 38. problem 39. right / necessary 40. carrying / using / having)

　　例3 2004年新疆生产建设兵团中考英语阅读理解B

　　B. 阅读短文，选择最佳答案。

　　The mobile phone has become a problem for middle schools. Some middle-school students in Australia are not allowed to carry mobile phones during school hours.

　　Mobile phone use among children has become a problem for the school year. Several children have got mobile phones as Christmas presents, and more students will want them. Mary Bluett, a headmaster, said that mobile phone use is a distraction (分心事) to students during school hours and it also gives teachers much trouble in their classrooms. Teachers were also saying that sometimes students might use phone messages to cheat during exams.

　　She said some schools had tried to ban (禁止) mobile phones. Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn't get in touch with their children.

　　Many teachers said students should not have mobile phones at school, but if there were a good reason (理由), they could leave their phones at the school office. They also said there were many reasons why the students should not have mobile phones at school: they were easy to lose and were a distraction from studies.

　　Many people say that they understand why parents would want their children to have phones, but they think schools should let the students know when they can use their mobile phones.

　　26. Some middle schools in Australia have stopped students from carrying mobile phones ________ .

　　A. because they are students

　　B. when they are free

　　C. when they are at school

　　D. because they are children

　　27. What does the word cheat mean in Chinese in this passage?

　　A. 聊天B. 核对

　　C. 查询D. 作弊

　　28. Some children get mobile phones from________ as presents.

　　A. the makers and sellers

　　B. the passers-by and strangers

　　C. their parents and friends

　　D. some mobile phone users

　　29. Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn't ________ during school hours.

　　A. use their mobile phones

　　B. leave their mobile phone in the school office

　　C. help the teachers with their work

　　D. get in touch with their children

　　30. The passage tells us that ________.

　　A. students shouldn't have mobile phones at school except for some special reasons

　　B. it is impossible to ban students from using mobile phones at school

　　C. some parents felt unhappy because they couldn't use their phones at home

　　D. parents should teach their children how to use mobile phones during school hours

　　(参考答案: 26—30 CDCDA)

　　这篇阅读文章与《英语通》(初三版)2004年第6期《2004年中考英语模拟试题(五)》中IV.短文听写(40页)及录音材料(63页)中内容极为相似。

　　这三篇文章，含义大致相同，都是关于手机在中学生中流行及家长、老师们对此的忧虑。三篇文章后有三种不同的命题形式：短文填空、阅读理解及短文听写，分别考查学生单词拼写能力、阅读理解能力和听力能力。

　　(文/辛勤；英语通2004年第12期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)