We have a crisis on our hands. You mean the global warming? The world economy? No, the decline of reading. People are just not doing it anymore, especially the young. Who’s responsible? Actually, it’s more like, what is responsible? The Internet, of course, and everything that comes with it—Facebook, Twitter. You can write your own list.
There’s been a warning about the imminent death of literate civilization for a long time. In the 20th century, first it was the movies, then radio, then television that seemed to spell doom for the written world. None did. Reading survived; in fact it not only survived, it has flourished. The world is more literate than ever before—there are more and more readers, and more and more books.
The fact that we often get our reading material online today is not something we should worry over. The electronic and digital revolution of the last two decades has arguably shown the way forward for reading and for writing. Take the arrival of e-book readers as an example. Devices like Kindle make reading more convenient and are a lot more environmentally friendly than the traditional paper book.
As technology makes new ways of writing possible, new ways of reading are possible. Interconnectivity allows for the possibility of a reading experience that was barely imaginable before. Where traditional books had to make do with photographs and illustrations, an e-book can provide readers with an unlimited number of links: to texts, pictures and videos. In the future, the way people write novels, history, and philosophy will resemble nothing seen in the past.
On the other hand, there is the danger of trivialization. One Twitter group is offering its followers single-sentence-long “digests” of the great novels. War and Peace in a sentence? You must be joking. We should fear the fragmentation of reading. There is the danger that the high-speed connectivity of the Internet will reduce our attention span—that we will be incapable of reading anything of length or which requires deep concentration.
In such a fast-changing world, in which reality seems to be remade each day, we need the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us. This has always been the function of literature and we should be careful not to let it disappear. Our society needs to be able to imagine the possibility of someone utterly in tune with modern technology but able to make sense of a dynamic, confusing world.
In the 15th century, Johannes Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press in Europe had a huge impact on civilization. Once upon a time the physical book was a challenging thing. We should remember this before we assume that technology is out to destroy traditional culture.
1. Which of the following paragraphs briefly reviews the historical challenges for reading?
2. The following are all cited as advantages of e-books EXCEPT ______.
3. According to the passage, people need knowledge of modern technology and ______ to survive in the fast-changing society.
4. Which of the following can best describe how the author feels toward single-sentence-long novels?
5. What is the main idea of the passage?
问题1选项
A.Paragraph One.
B.Paragraph Two.
C.Paragraph Three.
D.Paragraph Four.
问题2选项
A.multimodal content
B.environmentally friendliness
C.convenience for readers
D.imaginative design
问题3选项
A.good judgment
B.high sensitivity
C.good imagination
D.the ability to focus
问题4选项
A.Ironic.
B.Worried.
C.Sarcastic.
D.Doubtful.
问题5选项
A.Technology pushes the way forward for reading and writing.
B.Interconnectivity is a feature of new reading experience.
C.Technology is an opportunity and a challenge for traditional reading.
D.Technology offers a greater variety of reading practice.
第1题:B
第2题:D
第3题:D
第4题:B
第5题:C
第1题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following paragraphs briefly reviews the historical challenges for reading? 以下哪一段简要回顾了阅读的历史挑战?
A. Paragraph One. A. 第一段。
B. Paragraph Two. B. 第二段。
C. Paragraph Three. C. 第三段。
D. Paragraph Four. D. 第四段。
【答案】B
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】第二段首句就提到“关于文学文明即将消亡的警告由来已久。”其后对阅读面临的挑战作了具体的解释:“在20世纪,首先是电影,然后是广播,继而是电视,这似乎意味着世界的末日,但阅读还是从中幸存了下来。”综上所述,B选项“第二段”对应题干,因此B选项正确。
【干扰项排除】A、C、D不符合题干要求。
第2题:
【选项释义】
The following are all cited as advantages of e-books EXCEPT_______. 以下都是电子书的优点,除了_______。
A. multimodal content A. 多模式的内容
B. environmentally friendliness B. 环保
C. convenience for readers C. 方便读者
D. imaginative design D. 富有想象力的设计
【答案】D
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】A选项对应第四段,第三句话指出“传统书籍只能提供照片和插图(photographs and illustrations),而电子书可以为读者提供无线数量的链接:文本、图片和视频(an unlimited number of links: to texts, pictures and videos)。”由此可知,电子书较传统书籍提供了更多模式,因此A选项属于电子书的优点,故排除;B、C选项对应第三段,最后一句话指出“像Kindle这样的阅读设备比传统的纸质书更方便,也更环保”,因此B、C选项也属于电子书的优点,故排除;D选项文中并未提到,属于无中生有,符合题干要求,因此D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】A、B、C选项都属于电子书的优点,不符合题干要求,因此排除。
第3题:
【选项释义】
According to the passage, people need knowledge of modern technology and____ to survive in the fast-changing society. 根据文章,人们需要现代技术知识和_____在快速变化的社会中生存。
A. good judgment A. 良好的判断力
B. high sensitivity B. 高灵敏度
C. good imagination C. 好的想象力
D. the ability to focus D. 集中注意力的能力
【答案】D
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】定位到倒数第二段,首句指出“在这样一个快速变化的世界里,现实似乎每天都在被重塑,我们需要专注和理解发生在我们身上的事情的能力(the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us)。”对应D选项,因此D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B选项文中并未提到,属于无中生有;
C选项出现在倒数第三段,是互联网对人们的影响的结果,不符合题干要求,属于张冠李戴。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following can best describe how the author feels toward single-sentence-long novels? 下面哪个选项能最好地描述作者对单句小说的感觉?
A. Ironic. A. 讽刺的。
B. Worried. B. 担心的。
C. Sarcastic. C. 挖苦的。
D. Doubtful. D. 怀疑的。
【答案】B
【考查点】观点态度题
【解题思路】题干出现在第五段,第二句话指出“一个推特团队向其追随者提供了几部伟大小说的单句‘摘要’(single-sentence-long “digest” of the great novels)”对应题干,而这句话的前一句表达了作者的态度:“另一方面,也存在着庸俗化的危险”此句表达出作者对单句摘要这样的阅读碎片化趋势而导致庸俗化感到担心,因此B选项正确。
【干扰项排除】A、C、D选项在文中没有体现,不符合题干要求。
第5题:
【选项释义】
What is the main idea of the passage? 这篇文章的主旨是什么?
A. Technology pushes the way forward for reading and writing. A. 技术推动了阅读和写作的发展。
B. Interconnectivity is a feature of new reading experience. B. 互联性是新型阅读体验的一个特征。
C. Technology is an opportunity and a challenge for traditional reading. C. 科技对传统阅读来说既是机遇也是挑战。
D. Technology offers a greater variety of reading practice. D. 科技提供了更多的阅读练习。
【答案】C
【考查点】主旨大意题
【解题思路】全文前半部分就科技的进步和时代的发展对阅读的有利影响展开论述,如第三段第二句“过去20年的电子和数字革命可以说为阅读和写作指明了前进的方向”,以及第四段首句“随着科技使新的写作方式成为可能,新的阅读方式也成为可能”;后半部分转而提到科技所带来的不利影响,如第五段首句“另一方面,也存在着庸俗化的危险……互联网的高速连接可能会降低我们的注意力”,因此作者对科技对于阅读的影响是非常客观的,在倒数第二段最后一句话中作者指出“我们的社会需要能够想象这样一种可能性:有人完全与现代技术合拍,但能够理解这个动态的、令人困惑的世界。”这说明他认为科技对传统阅读来说既是机遇也是挑战,对应C选项,因此C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项体现在全文前半部分,后半部分科技对阅读的不利影响没有体现,属于以偏概全;
B选项体现在第四段,但与题干无关,属于出处错位;
D选项文中并未提到,属于无中生有。