阅读试题

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 35million read al a level that is less than sufficient to survive in our society.

But my own worry today is fess 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. n 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 tothe 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 thosebrought 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 ofcomposition. 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.

参考译文

[1]我几乎用不着列举所有那些例子来说明令人沮丧的读写状况。单是教育部的这些数字就足够了：2700万美国人目不识丁，还有3500万人的阅读水平低得不足以让他们在社会上立足。

[2]但是我现在担忧的不是基本读写能力存在的严重问题，而是层次稍高一点的问题，即甚至在中产阶级读者中都存在的阅读技能的滑坡问题，他们不愿意为阅读营造安静的空间，难以深居简出腾出时间并专心致志地阅读，而这些都是传统阅读方式中常见的景象。[3]据说，对大约80%受过教育、有阅读能力的美国青少年而言，如果身边没有噪音（音乐）伴随，或学习场所的某个角落没有电视屏幕闪烁，他们就不能继续阅读。我们对大脑及其如何处理同时输入的、相互冲突的信息了解甚少，但我们所有的常识和直觉都表明，我们应该警醒了。这种破坏了阅读中所需要的专心致志、安静环境、独处的做法正是我们所指的读写能力的症结所在。[3]/[4]这种在背景干扰中半阅读、半理解的做法使集中注意力和理解这些最基本的行为都不可能完成，更不指望会有什么人对他或她真正喜欢的诗歌或散文还能奉上最崇高的敬意即熟诵于心了。不是用大脑记忆，而是用心记；这句话说到了点子上。

[5]在这样的状况下，阅读艺术的前景如何确实成了问题。我们面临的技术上的、精神上的及社会的改革，可能比古腾堡（德国活版印刷发明人）带来的变革要深刻得多。我们现在熟悉的古腾堡变革经历了很长时间，其影响仍在争议中。信息革命会触及写作、出版、发行及阅读的每一环节。[5]出版业无人能有把握地预言我们熟悉的书籍其前景将会如何。

测试题

1. 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

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 of poetry 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

选项翻译与答案详解

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。