Despite rising education levels, Americans of every age are reading less and les

Despite rising education levels, Americansof every age are reading less and less for pleasure these days, according to ananalysis by the National Endowment for the Arts. The decline(下降) could have bad effects aspeople tune out books, tune in popular culture and become less sociallyengaged.

"We've got a public culture which isalmost entirely commercial(商业化)and novelty - driven (追新)," says NEA chairman Dana Gioia. "I think it's lettingthe nation down."

The study gathers years of data onAmericans' reading habits and finds that, at every age group, we're readingless.

Most of the data have appeared in private,government and university surveys, but today's report is the first to combinethem into a single portrait. It suggests that the demands of school, work andfamily and the decisive advantage of other forms of entertainment have causedthe decline in reading for millions of Americans.

·Only 38% of adults in 2006 said they hadspent time reading a book for pleasure.

·65% of college freshmen in 2005 said theyread little or nothing for pleasure.

·30% of 13 - year - olds in 2004 said theyread for fun "almost every day," down from 35% in 1984.

According to Gioia, a poet, they decline isprobably the single most important social issue in the United States today. Thefindings should be a wake - up call to educators to change the way they teachliterature at every level. It was once believed that if someone went tocollege, they would become a lifelong reader. What we're seeing right now isthat we're no longer producing readers. We're producing B. A. s and M. A. s andPh. D. s.

Cioia also wants main media to wake up tohow they can promote good books in many ways. He notes that when a character inthe 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral recited a few lines of W. H. Auden'spoem Funeral Blues, the poet briefly became a best seller.

65.The underlined phrase "tuneout" in the first paragraph probably means________.

A.close    B.publishC.prove   D.read

66.According to Dana Gioia, the change ofAmericans' reading habit________.

A.is positive andvaluable      B.does harm to the nation

C.is caused only by popularculture      D.can make poets best sellers

67.Which of the following is NOT the causefor the change in reading habit?

A.Demands of getting a B. A., M. A. or Ph.D.

B.Demands of family, school and work.

C.The change in the way the literature istaught.

D.Advantages of the entertainment.

68.We can infer that the number ofteenagers reading for pleasure reduced by________in 20 years.

A.30%   B.38%    C.65%    D.5%

试题答案

【答案】

 A

 B

 C

 D

【解析】