It is hardly necessary for me to cite all the evidence of the depressing state of literacy

It is hardly necessary for me to cite all the evidence of the depressing state of literacy. These figures from the Department of Education are sufficient- 27 million Americans cannot read at all, and a further 35 million read at a level that is less than sufficient to survive in our society.

But my own worry today is less that of the overwhelming problem of elemental literacy than it is of the slightly more luxurious problem of the decline in the skill even of the middle-class reader, of his unwillingness to afford those spaces of silence, those luxuries of domesticity and time and concentration, that surround the image of the classic act of reading, it has been suggested that almost 80 percent of America's literate, educated teenagers can no longer read without an accompanying noise (music) in the background or a television screen flickering at the corner of their field of perception. We know very little about the brain and how it deals with simultaneous conflicting input, but every common-sense intuition suggests we should be profoundly alarmed. This violation of concentration, silence, solitude goes to the very heart of our notion of literacy; this new form. of part-reading, of part-perception against background distraction, renders impossible certain essential acts of apprehension and concentration, let alone that most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or 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 real one. Ahead of us lie technical, psychic, and social transformations probably much more dramatic than those brought about by Gutenberg, the German inventor in printing. The Gutenberg revolution, as we now know it, took a long time; its effects are still being debated. The information revolution will touch every fact of composition, publication, distribution, and reading. No one in the book industry can say with any confidence what will happen to the book as we've known it.

The picture of the reading ability of the American people, drawn by the author, is ______.

A．rather bleak

B．fairly bright

C．very impressive

D．quite encouraging

Passage Three：Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage. It is hardly necessary for me to cite all the evidence of the depressing state of literacy. These figures from the Department of Education are sufficient: 27 million Americans cannot read at all, and a further 35 million read at a level that is less than sufficient to survive in our society.

but my own worry today is less that of the overwhelming problem of elemental literacy than it is of the slightly more luxurious problem of the decline in the skill even of the middle-class reader, of his unwillingness to afford those spaces of silence, those luxuries of domesticity and time and concentration, that surround the image of the classic act of reading. It has been suggested that almost 80 percent of America’s literate, educated teenagers can no longer read without 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 deals with simultaneous conflicting input, but every common-sense intuition suggests we should be profoundly alarmed. This violation of concentration, silence, solitude (独处的状态) goes to the very heart of our notion of literacy; this new form. of part-reading, of part-perception against background distraction, renders impossible certain essential acts of apprehension and concentration, let alone that most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or 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 real one. Ahead of us lie technical, psychic (心理的), and social transformations probably much more dramatic than those brought about by Gutenberg, the German inventor in printing. The Gutenberg revolution, as we now know it, took a long time; its effects are still being debated. The information revolution will touch every fact of composition, publication, distribution, and reading. No one in the book industry can say with any confidence what will happen to the book as we’ve known it.

第31题：The picture of the reading ability of the American people, drawn by the author, is ________.

A) rather bleak

B) fairly bright

C) very impressive

D) quite encouraging

Section B

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.

It is hardly necessary for me to cite all the evidence of the depressing state of literacy(读写能力). These figures from the Department of Education are sufficient: 27 million Americans cannot read at all, and a further 35 million read at a level that is less than sufficient to survive in our society.

But my own worry today is less that of file overwhelming(压倒性的)problem of elemental literacy than it is of the slightly more luxurious problem of the decline in the skill even of the middle-class reader, of his unwillingness to afford those spaces of silence, those luxuries of domesticity(家庭生活)and time and concentration, that surround the image of the classic act of reading. It has been suggested that almost 80 percent of America's literate, educated teenagers can no longer read without 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 deals with simultaneous(同时的)conflicting input, but every common-sense intuition(直觉)suggests we should be profoundly(深深地)alarmed. This violation of concentration, silence, solitude (独处的状态)goes to the very heart of our notion of literacy; this new form. of part-reading, of part-perception against background distraction(分心), renders impossible certain essential acts of apprehension(理解)and concentration, let alone that most important tribute (赞美)any human being can pay to a poem or 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 arks of reading is a real one. Ahead of us lie technical, psychic (心理的), and social transformations probably much more dramatic than these brought about by Gutenberg, the German inventor in printing. The Gutenberg revolution, as we now know it, took a long time; its effects are still being debated. The information revolution will touch every fact of composition, publication, distribution, and reading. No one in the book industry can say with any confidence what will happen to the book as we've known it.

The picture of the reading ability of the American people, drown by the author, is______.

A．rather bleak(令人沮丧的)

B．fairly bright

C．very impressive

D．quite encouraging

The child is ______ all the evidence for his opinion.

A．not encouraged either to be critical or to examine

B．encouraged either to be critical nor to examine

C．either encouraged to be critical or to examine

D．neither encouraged to be critical nor to examine

All the evidence points to the fact ______ he is the murderer.

A. who

B. which

C. that

D. those

All the useful energy at the surface of the earth comes from the activity of the sun. The sun heats and feeds creatures and mankind. Each year it provides men with two hundred million tons of grain and nearly ten million tons of wood, coal, oil, natural gas, and all other fuels are stored energy from the sun. (80) Some was collected by this season's plants as carbon compounds. Some was stored by plants and trees ages ago. Even waterpower derives from the sun. Water turned into vapor by the sun fails as rain. It courses down the mountains and is converted to electric power. Light transmits only the energy that comes from the sun's outer layer, and much of this energy that is directed towards the earth never arrives. About nine tenths of it is absorbed by the atmosphere of the earth. In fact, the earth itself gets only one half millionth of the sun's entire output of radiant energy.

The sun is the source of all of the following EXCEPT ______

A．gasoline

B．natural gas

C．atomic power

D．animal fat

All the useful energy at the surface of the earth comes from the activity of the sun. The sun heats and feeds creatures and mankind. Each year it provides men with two hundred million tons of grain and nearly ten million tons of wood.

Coal, oil, natural gas, and all other fuels are stored energy from the sun. Some was collected by this season's plants as carbon compounds. Some was stored by plants and trees ages ago. Even waterpower derives from the sun. Water turned into vapor by the sun falls as rain. It courses down the mountains and is converted to electric power. Light transmits only the energy that comes from the sun's outer layer, and much of this energy that is directed towards the earth never arrives. About nine tenths of it is absorbed by the atmosphere of the earth. In fact, the earth itself gets only one half millionth of the sun's entire output of radiant energy.

The sun is the source of all of the following EXCEPT______.

A．gasoline

B．natural gas

C．atomic power

D．animal fat