A Book Report on A thousand splendid suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a 2007 novel by Afghan-American author KhaledHosseini. It is his second, following his bestselling 2003 debut, The Kite Runner.

Khaled……..nia (John,Dolan ,A thousand splendid,RIVERHEAD BOOKS, New York,2007)

The novel centers around the friendship between Mariam and Laila. It is split into four parts, with a focus on Mariam in the first part, continuing with Laila in the second and fourth, and the relationship between the two women in the third part.

Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man and one of his housekeepers, sufferring shame throughout her childhood because of the circumstances of her birth When she was 15,her mother killed herself and she was forced to marry to a much older man, a shoemaker, whose views on the rights of women mirror those that the Taliban would soon enforce. Laila, whose life is destroyed by wars, lost her parents because of the war. As a result she had to marry to Mariam’s husband for her baby that had not come to the world yet. Laila is beautiful while Miriam is plainer. Laila is loved by both her parents with whom she lives and has many chances to develop her knowledge and skills. They also grow up in different times: Miriam is old enough to be Laila's mother. They are so different but fate bring them together from 1960s to 2003. Despite sharing a husband, the two women became the best friend of each other when facing the horric abuse of their shared husband. The women’s only hope of affection or solidarity is with one another, and they survive not just physically but also emotionally by putting their faith in each other and in their love for Laila’s children. Finally, in order to help Laila get happiness, Mariam killed Rasheed and then voluntarily surrendered herself

I just finished the book. While I couldn't put it down, If I had to include all my feelings in two words that is Heartbreaking and inspiring.I found that many of the dramatic moments were so impressive that I haddreamt about them couple of times . I could practically hear the music swelling in the background. First of all, I really admireahtuthor’s writing techniques. With peaceful but impressive words, he described a beautiful and poetry Afghanistan to us at the beginning of the book. However, as we went on reading in depth, we saw a country like hell. People died all over, children were begging on the street, every one were living in horror. That was Afghanistan after the war.Through using this contrast, Hossinishowed the dreadful strength of war. And I also love the way KH depicts his characters. It is easy to be part of them, see what they went through and feel the emotions they go through.I connected with the characters, cried and laughed with them.I felt sad about the fate of Mariam. It is unfair to her.I feel happy for Mariam finally she got love and acceptance from someone. And her father also felt regretful and I think he loved her from his heart. Mariam wants love in her short life, and she got it finally. It also reminds me that life is not easy for all of us. If we want to be loved, we should give love at first.

This book shows the cruelty of wars,violence of men,and the unfairness of fate.Compared with the afghan women in that age ,we are so lucky to live right now.I believe that this story affects my life a lot .I know thatif you always have hope,you will see,tomorrow will be better!At the end ot the story, mariam sacrificed herself for laila. The novel’s title comes from a poem, “One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, / Or the thousand splendid suns

that hide behind her walls.” Though Mariam died, it shows hope to us, just like what the poem express.

第二篇：英语读书报告(2) 300单词

A Very Special Dog

Today I read an article with the title A Very Special Dog in IELTS with answers 7. This article tells about a very special dog— Florence, who is a sleek black labrador(一种纽芬兰猎犬). Florence is a truly new breed as a product of what is perhaps the only project in the world dedicated to breeding dogs solely to detect drugs. Florence?s work is finding drugs when the cavalcade of luggage passing beneath her all-smelling nose.

The Australian Customs have been using dogs to find drugs since 1969. As we all know, it is a very effective and successful method. In 1993, John Vandeloo and some others set up a breeding programme to train more detector dogs.

In this article the author states that a good detector dog must have six essential traits. First, a good detector dog must love to be praised because this is the only tool trainers have at their disposal, but the dog must still be able to work without it. Then it needs a strong hunting instinct and stamina to keep sniffing at the taxing rate of around 300 times per minute. Fourth, it is also fearless enough to deal with jam-packed airport crowds and the roaring engine rooms of cargo ships. Finally, a good detector dog must have a capacity of “selective attention” and “sustained attention”(选择性的集中精力和持续性的集中精力). It means that the dog must be capable of focusing on searching for drugs despite the distractions in any airport, which must persevere and keep focusing on it for hours at a time.

Apparently，Florence have had the above six essential traits. She is always brave.She has a strong hunting instinct and stamina to keep sniffing. In a word, she is an ideal detector dog. She is making the work of the Australian Customs much easier.

长难句：

1、 Florence could help neurobiology to understand both what they call ?attention processing?, the brain mechanisms that determine what a person pays attention to and for how long, and its flip side , problems such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD).

Florence(佛罗伦萨)既可以帮助神经生物学来理解他们所称之为的“注意力处理”，即大脑决定一个人关注什么并且关注多久的机制；又可以帮助其理解它的反面，如注意力缺陷/多动症（注意力不集中症）。

2、 With the current interest in attentional processing, as well as human conditions that have an the super-sniffer dog attract the attention of neurobiologists trying to cure these conditions. 随着当前人们的兴趣主要集中在注意力的处理，以及人类本身的注意力不集中的问题，如注意力不集中症，可以预见：神经生物学家治疗超级辑毒犬集中注意力只是一个时间的问题。

3、 Vigilance tasks provide signals that are infrequent and unpredictable — which is exactly what is expected of the dogs when they are asked to notice just a few odour molecules in the air, and then to home in on the source.

警戒任务提供了珍贵的和不可预知的信号——而这恰恰是狗所希望得到的信号，特别是

当他们被要求注意空气中少量的气味分子时，然后它们根据这些信号返回到气味的出源地。