Despite rising education levels, Americans of every age are reading less and less for pleasure these days, according to an analysis by the National Endowment for the Arts. The decline(下降) could have bad effects as people tune out books, tune in popular culture and become less socially engaged.
"We've got a public culture which is almost entirely commercial(商业化)and novelty - driven (追新)," says NEA chairman Dana Gioia. "I think it's letting the nation down."
The study gathers years of data on Americans' reading habits and finds that, at every age group, we're reading less.
Most of the data have appeared in private, government and university surveys, but today's report is the first to combine them into a single portrait. It suggests that the demands of school, work and family and the decisive advantage of other forms of entertainment have caused the decline in reading for millions of Americans.
·Only 38% of adults in 2006 said they had spent time reading a book for pleasure.
·65% of college freshmen in 2005 said they read little or nothing for pleasure.
·30% of 13 - year - olds in 2004 said they read for fun "almost every day," down from 35% in 1984.
According to Gioia, a poet, they decline is probably the single most important social issue in the United States today. The findings should be a wake - up call to educators to change the way they teach literature at every level. It was once believed that if someone went to college, they would become a lifelong reader. What we're seeing right now is that we're no longer producing readers. We're producing B. A. s and M. A. s and Ph. D. s.
Cioia also wants main media to wake up to how they can promote good books in many ways. He notes that when a character in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral recited a few lines of W. H. Auden's poem Funeral Blues, the poet briefly became a best seller.
65.The underlined phrase "tune out" in the first paragraph probably means________.
A.close B.publish C.prove D.read
66.According to Dana Gioia, the change of Americans' reading habit________.
A.is positive and valuable B.does harm to the nation
C.is caused only by popular culture D.can make poets best sellers
67.Which of the following is NOT the cause for 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 is taught.
D.Advantages of the entertainment.
68.We can infer that the number of teenagers reading for pleasure reduced by________in 20 years.
A.30% B.38% C.65% D.5%
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分,满分40分）
阅读下列短文,从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
To all of you at Chinese love links,
I am 44 years old and never married. I have always wanted to find that perfect someone that I dream about. For about the last five years I have almost given up the hope of ever finding the one I truly wish to spend the rest of my life with.
I have always tried to be a nice guy. I had found your website some four or five months before. I did not know what to expect. I don't know how to speak Chinese and never thought truly of how I was to an Asian woman.
Well, I had a lot of replies from some very nice and pretty women. I had a hard time finding only a couple to write to. But one stood out from the rest. She was cute, nice and seemed to hold a lot of the same values as I do. In a short time I had decided to write only to her. We communicated via e - mails 2 - 3 times a day and phone calls once or twice a week.
I went and met her and her family only a week ago. Her name is Ying and she lives in Nanning. I found Nanning to be one of the most beautiful cities I had ever been to. We had even decided to marry and to bring her to the USA under the fiance visa. Not only did she meet everything I had ever hoped to find in someone else but turned out to be what every woman should be like, at least the ones I have met. We plan to marry as soon as she is here and start a family together as neither of us has children but we both want them.
So to anyone out there reading this, I can only say this: You may not find what you are looking for if you're not honest with your partner and yourself. This site worked for me mostly because I was honest with something that I wanted in someone else. When I did find her, love can work even across the other side of the world, between language differences and cultural differences. I wish you all luck in finding your perfect match. I have finally found mine and wish to give all my thanks to those at Chinese love links to help make it happen.
Sincerely yours,
Arthur
61.We can infer from the letter that Chinese love links is a website to________.
A.help foreigners to travel in China
B.help both Chinese and foreigners to find one they want to marry
C.help Chinese and foreigners make friends
D.receive letters from the USA
62.Which of the following is true about Arthur's story?
A.He was sure of finding a Chinese woman as his wife at first.
B.He was determined to find a Chinese woman as his wife.
C.He almost lost hope in finding a perfect wife until he found Ying.
D.No women wrote to him before Ying.
63.Ying stood out from the rest because________.
A.she was a Chinese B.she had much in common with Arthur
C.other women stopped writing to Arthur D.she was cute and nice and often phoned to Arthur
64.Arthur thinks________is the most important in finding someone one wants to marry.
A.being honest with the partner and oneself B.help from the website
C.difference in languages and places D.difference in cultures
第三节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分,满分30分）
阅读下面短文,从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I learned to play on a piano purchased at Grinnell Brothers in Detroit.My brothers and sisters were taking lessons and I 41 to play, too."You're 42 young,"I heard over and over.But when began playing my sister's 43 by heart from hearing her practice, they 44 me begin. I was four. 45 joy and comfort I found at those keys.If I had a rough day at school,I played ragtime hard and loud 46 my frustratio(挫折)was gone, then I calmed my self with Mozart until I was 47 to face the world. The day I lost my first child, and my dad was diagnosed with cancer,I played until I nearly 48 .There was a comfort in those keys.
That piano followed me everywhere.I taught hundreds of 49 and adults on the keys of my own piano in Taylor for over ten years. I 50 my home to a fire in 1998 and my piano was destroyed. I felt 51 I lost my oldest friend.
The insurance (保险) supplied the money to purchase 52 .My mother asked me every time she spoke to me, "Did you get another piano yet?" even when she struggled to call me by name. After she died in 1999, I 53 an envelope containing a gift certificate(礼券)to Hammell Music for a 54 .Mother made sure that I would get another piano, knowing I wouldn't do it 55 .
And so I purchased a Yamaha baby grand. Nearby hangs Mom and Dad's 56 . I play every day when I come home from work. I imagine my folks are in heaven, 57 and smiling. Every song is for them and the 58 goes on.
And although I miss my first piano, the new one is a(n) 59 that old things pass away and new life 60 .
41.A.planned B.allowed C.begged D.dared
42.A.very B.so C.not D.too
43.A.lessons B.piano C.keys D.text
44.A.permitted B.promised C.let D.made
45.A.What a B.What C.How D.How many
46.A.until B.when C.as soon as D.after
47.A.likely B.ready C.discouraged D.afraid
48.A.dropped B.went C.came to D.slept
49.A.people B.students C.boys D.children
50.A.destroyed B.left C.lost D.rebuilt
51.A.as though B.even though C.even if D.though
52.A.the other B.another C.a house D.one
53.A.accepted B.gained C.received D.won
54.A.present B.piano C.house D.sum of money
55.A.for myself B.at all C.any way D.above all
56.A.bed B.clothing C.portrait D.name
57.A.crying B.listening C.singing D.playing
58.A.joy B.piano C.sadness D.friendship
59.A.book B.reminder C.equipment D.instrument
60.A.disappears B.remains C.stops D.begins
第二节：完成句子（共10小题；每小题1.5分,满分15分）
阅读下列各小题,根据括号内的汉语提示,用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子,并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。
31.Hardly ___________________(他一下火车)when he was met and surrounded by his fans.(get)
32.But for the warning message, more lives___________________(会失去) in the flood.(lose)
33.The telephone is considered___________________(发明) by Bell.(invent)
34.This is the explanation ___________________(提出的) by him.(put)
35.Betty___________________(明确表示) she would support Amy.(clear)
36.__________________(最令我惊讶的是) that he has ended up designing the whole car and putting it into production.( surprise)
37.All too often, global development means that rich people get richer ,___________________(而穷人更穷).(while)
38.We are said ___________________(正生活在)the Information Age, a time for great discoveries and changes.(live)
39.You have no idea ___________________(对我们来说有多重要)to take every chance to live life to the fullest.(how)
40. ___________________ (用完了所有的钱),they had no chance of surviving.(run)
They were completely __________ by the story he made up.
|
A．taken up |
B．taken in |
C．taken off |
D．taken over |
Our vacation was totally ruined. Not only was the food terrible,the weather was awful_____
|
A．but also |
B．either |
C．neither |
D．as well |
