It is hardly necessary for me to cite all the evidenceof the depressing state of literacy. These figuresfrom the Department of Education are sufficient: 27million Americans cannot read at all. and a further35million read al a level that is less than sufficient tosurvive in our society.

　　But my own worry today is fess that of the overwhelming problem of elemental literacy thanit is of the slightly more luxurious problem of the decline in the skill even of the middle-classreader, of his unwillingness to afford those spaces of silence. those luxuries of domesticityand time and concentration, that surround the image of the classic act of reading. n has beensuggested that almost 80 percent of America's literate, educated teenagers can no longer readwithout an accompanying noise (music) in the background or a television screen flickering (闪烁)at the corner of their field of perception. We know very little about the brain and how it dealswith simultaneous conflicting input, but every common-sense intuition suggests we should beprofoundly alarmed. This violation of concentration} silence, solitude (独处的状态) goestothe very heart of our notion of literacy; this new form of part-reading, of part-perceptionagainst background distraction renders impossible certain essential acts of apprehensionand concentration, let alone that most important tribute any human being can pay to a poemor a piece of prose he or she really loves, which is to learn it by heart. Not by brain. by heart;the expression is vital.

　　Under these circumstances. the question of what future there is for the arts of reading is a realone. Ahead of us lie technical. psychic(心理的). and social transformations probably much moredramatic than thosebrought about by Gutenberg, the German inventor in printing. TheGutenberg revolution. as we now know it, took a long time; its effects are still being debated.The information revolution will touch every fact ofcomposition. publication. distribution. andreading. No one in the book industry can say with any confidence what will

　　happen to the book as we've known it.

　　1. The picture of the reading ability of theAmerican people, drawn by the author,is__________.

　　A) rather bleak

　　B) fairly bright

　　C) very impressive

　　D) quite encouraging

　　2. The author's biggest concern is____________________.

　　A) elementary school children’s disinterest in reading classics

　　B) the surprisingly low rate of literacy in the U.S.

　　C) the musical setting American readers require for reading

　　D) the reading ability and reading behavior of the middle class

　　3. A major problem with most adolescents who can read is________________.

　　A) their fondness of music and TV programs

　　B) their ignorance of various forms of art and literature

　　C) their lack of attentiveness and basic understanding

　　D) their inability to focus on conflicting input

　　4. The author claims that the best way a reader can show admiration for a piece ofpoetry or prose is ___________________.

　　A) to be able to appreciate it and memorize it

　　B) to analyze its essential features

　　C) to think it over conscientiously

　　D) to make a fair appraisal of its artistic value

　　5. About the future of the arts of reading the author feels___________.

　　A) upset

　　B) uncertain

　　C) alarmed

　　D) pessimistic

1.作者描绘的美国人的阅读能力的画面是_________。

　　A) 很暗淡的

　　B) 很明亮的

　　C) 令人印象深刻

　　D)非常具有鼓舞性

　　[A]根据文章第1段第1句“我无需举例说明那种令人沮丧的受教育状况”。句中depressing的意思与bleak相近，由此可推断作者描绘的这幅画面是相当黯淡的。

　　2.作者最大的担心是_____________。

　　A) 小学生对阅读课不感兴趣

　　B)美国的文盲率出奇地高

　　C) 美国人阅读的时候需要有背景音乐

　　D) 中产阶级的阅读能力和阅读行为

　　[D]根据文章第2段第1句“目前我担心的倒不是基本文化水平这个大问题，而是一个较为奢侈的问题，即美国中产阶级读者阅读艺术的衰退，即使是中级的读者也不愿意在寂静无声的空间里，放下家庭事务，付出时间全神贯注地进行经典性的阅读”，因此，只有D才与文中所陈述的意恩相符。

　　3.有阅读能力的大多数青少年的一个主要问题是___________。

　　A) 他们喜欢音乐和电视节目

　　B) 他们对艺术和文学多种多样的形式一无所知

　　C) 他们缺乏注意力和基础的知识

　　D) 他们不能专注于相互冲突的内容

　　[C]在第2段第2句和倒数第二句作者提到“大约80%的有文化、受过教育的十几岁的年轻人没有背景音乐和闪烁的电视屏幕的陪伴就无法阅读”和“而这种边阅读边在背景的干涉下进行理解的新方法使人们不可能对所阅读的东西全神贯注地加以理解”，由此可推断只有C是正确的。

　　4.作者声称，读者展示对诗歌或散文青睐的最好的方法就是_______________。

　　A) 能够理解并记得住

　　B) 分析其最根本的特点

　　C) 有意识地深刻理解它

　　D) 对其艺术价值作出公平的评价

　　[A]根据文章第2段倒数第二句“更不用说将散文或诗歌，不是用脑。而是用心背下来，这是人们欣赏他们所喜欢的诗歌或散文的最好的方式”，因此A与作者所表述的观点一致，因而正确。

　　5.对于阅读艺术的未来，作者感到__________。

　　A) 沮丧

　　B) 不确定

　　C) 警觉

　　D) 悲观

　　[B]在第3段第1句，作者写道“在这种情况下，阅读艺术的将来确实是一个真正的大问题”，在最后一句。作者又提到“图书界没有人能充满信心地预言到底会发生什么情况”，因此可推断，作者对阅读艺术的将来感到难以把握。故B与文章所陈述的观点一致。