In the 20th century, all the nightmare-novels of the future imagined that books would be burnt. In the 21th century, our dystopias imagine a world where books are forgotten. To pluck just one, Gary Steynghart’s novel Super Sad True Love Story describes a world where everybody is obsessed with their electronic apparatus—an even more omnivorous iPhone with a flickering stream of shopping and reality shows and porn—and have somehow come to believe that the few remaining unread paper books let off a rank smell. The book on the book, it suggests, is closing.
The book—the physical paper book—is being circled by a shoal of sharks, with sales down 9 percent this year alone. It’s being chewed by the e-book. It’s being gored by the death of the bookshop and the library. And most importantly, the mental space it occupied is being eroded by the thousand Weapons of Mass Destruction that surround us all. It’s hard to admit, but we all sense it: it is becoming almost physically harder to read books.
In his gorgeous little book The Lost Art of Reading—Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time, the critic David Ulin admits to a strange feeling. All his life, he had taken reading as for granted as eating—but then, a few years ago, he “become aware, in an apartment full of books, that I could no longer find within myself the quiet necessary to read”. He would sit down to do it at night, as he always had, and read a few paragraphs, then find his mind was wandering, imploring him to check his email, or Twitter, or Facebook. “What I’m struggling with,” he writes, “is the encroachment of the buzz, the sense that there’s something out there that merits my attention.”
I think most of us have this sense today, if we are honest. If you read a book with your laptop thrumming on the other side of the room, it can be like trying to read in the middle of a party, where everybody is shouting to each other. To read, you need to slow down. You need mental silence except for the words. That’s getting harder to find.
No, don’t misunderstand me. I adore the web, and they will have to wrench my Twitter feed from my cold dead hands. This isn’t going to turn into an antediluvian rant against the glories of our wired world. But there’s a reason why that word—“wired”—means both “connected to the internet” and “high, frantic, unable to concentrate”.
In the age of the internet, physical paper books are a technology we need more, not less. In the 1950s, the novelist Herman Hesse wrote: “The more the need for entertainment and mainstream education can be met by new inventions, the more the book will recover its dignity and authority. We have not yet quite reached the point where young competitors, such as radio, cinema, etc, have taken over the functions from the book it can’t afford to lose.”
31. By mentioning the work of Gary Steynghart, the author intends to ________.
32. The most significant reason for the falling sales of paper books is that ________.
33. According to paragraph 3, we can infer that ________.
34. The explanation of the word “wired” probably indicates that ________.
35. Which of the following will the author most probably agree on?
问题1选项
A.advocate the idea that reading physical paper books is out of fashion
B.introduce a brand new electronic product even more omnivorous than iPhone
C.prove that books will be outweighed by reality shows and porn in the future
D.indicate that books are left out in fictions describing the future world
问题2选项
A.electronic books are taking over more and more market share of paper books
B.people’ minds don’t have the space for reading due to all kinds of temptation
C.bookstores are out of business as people prefer to borrowing books from the library
D.people think things on the Internet are more worthy of their attention
问题3选项
A.people are inclined to take reading for granted
B.people’ minds are encroached by the Internet
C.it’s hard to concentrate on reading nowadays
D.David Ulin’s book gives readers a strange feeling
问题4选项
A.people always misunderstand the functions of internet
B.Internet is partly responsible for the vanishing of paper books
C.people call the internet “wired world” for a reason
D.Internet will take over the functions of paper books
问题5选项
A.True readers can maintain reading in all kinds of environment, including noisy one.
B.The Internet should be strictly condemned for endangering physical paper books.
C.Physical paper books are facing extreme danger of being replaced by other things.
D.Reading books isn’t in accordance with the increasing need for entertainment.
第1题:D
第2题:B
第3题:C
第4题:B
第5题:C
31.推理判断题。根据第一段In the 20th century, all the nightmare-novels of the future imagined that books would be burnt… To pluck just one, Gary Steynghart’s novel…describes a world where everybody is obsessed with their electronic apparatus—an even more omnivorous iPhone with a flickering stream of shopping and reality shows and porn—and have somehow come to believe that the few remaining unread paper books let off a rank smell.（在20世纪，所有关于未来的可怕小说都想象书会被烧毁……只举一个例子，Gary Steynghart的小说……描述了一个世界，在这里每个人都沉迷于电子设备——一个更无所不包的苹果手机，里面有闪烁的购物车、真人秀和色情——不知怎么的，人们开始认为剩下的几本没读过的纸书散发一股臭味。）可知在第一段中作者主要想表达在描述未来的书中不会有书的位置，所以D选项“表明在描述未来世界的小说中没有书”正确，没有说到真人秀等事物和书籍的关系，故C选项“证明书籍在未来将被真人秀和色情所取代”错误。A选项“提倡阅读纸质书已经过时的观点”和B选项“推出一款比iPhone更杂项的全新电子产品”：文章没有提到，故错误。因此D选项正确。
32.事实细节题。根据第二段第四句And most importantly, the mental space it occupied is being eroded by the thousand Weapons of Mass Destruction that surround us all.（最重要的是，它所占据的精神空间正在被我们周围数以千计的大规模毁灭性武器所侵蚀。），可知纸质书销量下降主要是因为读者的思想被其他的东西占据，所以B选项“由于各种各样的诱惑，人们的思维没有空间来阅读”正确。A选项“电子图书正在占领越来越多的市场份额的纸质书”：根据第二段第二句It’s being chewed by the e-book.（它正在被电子书啃噬。），可知文中有提到，但这不是主要原因，故错误。C选项“书店因为人们更喜欢从图书馆借书而歇业”：根据第二段第三句It’s being gored by the death of the bookshop and the library.（它受到书店和图书馆落寞的冲击。），可知书店和图书馆没有直接联系，也不是主要原因，故错误。D选项“人们认为互联网上的东西更值得他们关注”：文章没有提及，故错误。因此B选项正确。
33.推理判断题。根据第二段最后一句It’s hard to admit, but we all sense it: it is becoming almost physically harder to read books.（这很难承认，但我们都能感觉到：阅读书籍正变得越来越困难。），接着在第三段第一句the critic David Ulin admits to a strange feeling（评论家David Ulin承认他有一种奇怪的感觉），这种感觉就是could no longer find within myself the quiet necessary to read（再也无法在自己内心找到阅读所必需的安静），综合来看，C选项“现在很难集中精力读书”正确。A选项“人们倾向于视阅读理所当然”：根据第三段第二句All his life, he had taken reading as for granted as eating（在他的一生中，他把阅读当作理所当然的饮食），这是David的想法，而不是人们普遍的想法，故错误。B选项“人们的思想被互联网侵占”：这在之前就提到，也不是这一段表达的重点，故错误。D选项“David Ulin的书给读者一种奇怪的感觉”不符合文章内容，因此C选项正确。
34.语义推测题。根据第五段第三、四句This isn’t going to turn into an antediluvian rant against the glories of our wired world. But there’s a reason why that word—“wired”—means both “connected to the internet” and “high, frantic, unable to concentrate”.（喜爱网络不会变成不合时宜地对网络世界的繁荣进行痛斥。但这就是“wired”这个词既表示“连接互联网”，又表示“兴奋、疯狂、无法集中注意力”的原因。），这里的无法集中注意力指的是不能静下来读书，所以这里表达的是互联网让人不像以前那样读书多了，B选项“互联网对纸质书的消失负有部分责任”正确，人们不会因为其他原因而怒斥互联网本身，所以A选项“人们总是误解互联网的功能”错误。C选项“人们称互联网为‘连线世界’是有原因的”：不是这里要表达的重点，并且这是对原文的重述，不属于推断，故错误。D选项“互联网将取代纸质书的功能”：文章没有提到，故错误。因此B选项正确。
35.观点态度题。根据文章提到的越来越多的诱惑让人不能集中注意力来看书，人们的思维空间被其他的东西占满而腾不出空间看书，可知C选项“纸质书正面临被其他东西取代的极端危险”符合文章意思，所以正确。A选项“真正的阅读者可以在各种环境中保持阅读，包括嘈杂的环境”：根据第四段If you read a book with your laptop thrumming on the other side of the room, it can be like trying to read in the middle of a party, where everybody is shouting to each other…That’s getting harder to find.（如果你在房间的另一边用笔记本电脑砰砰地读一本书，这就像你在一个派对上看书，每个人都在互相大喊大叫……这越来越难找了）文章说到因为诱惑太多越来越难集中注意力读书，没有说到真正的阅读者是怎样的，故错误。B选项“互联网应该被严厉谴责危害纸质书”：根据第五段No, don’t misunderstand me. I adore the web…This isn’t going to turn into an antediluvian rant against the glories of our wired world.（不，别误会我。我热爱网络……这不会变成不合时宜地对网络世界的繁荣的痛斥。），可知作者不认为要谴责互联网，故错误。D选项“阅读书籍不符合日益增长的娱乐需求”：根据第六段第二句The more the need for entertainment and mainstream education can be met by new inventions, the more the book will recover its dignity and authority.（新发明越能满足娱乐和主流教育的需求，书就越能恢复其地位和权威。），可知娱乐得到满足对书籍发展有利，与文章意思不符，故错误。因此C选项正确。
