Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.
If our society ever needed a reading renaissance（复兴）, it’s now. The National Endowment for the Arts released “Reading at Risk” last year, a study showing that adult reading47 have dropped 10 percentage points in the past decade, with the steepest drop among those 18 to 24. “Only one half of young people read a book of any kind in 2002. We set the bar almost on the ground. If you read one short story in a teen—ager magazine, that would have48 ,” laments a director of research and analysis. He49 the loss of readers to the booming world of technology, which attracts would—be leisure readers to E—mail, IM chats, and video games and leaves them with no time to cope with a novel.
“These new forms of media undoubtedly have some benefits,” says Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good for You.Video games
50 problem—solving skills; TV shows promote mental gymnastics by
51 viewers to follow complex story lines. But books offer experience that can’t be gained from these other sources, from52 vocabulary to stretching the imagination. “If they’re not reading at all,” says Johnson, “that’s a huge problem.”
In fact, fewer kids are reading for pleasure. According to data53 last week from the National Center for Educational Statistic’s long—term trend assessment, the number of 17—year—olds who reported never or hardly ever reading for fun
54 from 9 percent in 1984 to 19 percent in 2004. At the same time, the
55 of 17—year—olds who read daily dropped from 31 to 22.
This slow but steady retreat from books has not yet taken a toll on reading ability. Scores for the nation’s youth have56 constant over the past two decades (with an encouraging upswing among 9—year—olds). But given the strong apparent correlation between pleasure reading and reading skills, this means poorly for the future.
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 and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
There is a new type of small advertisement becoming increasingly common in newspaper classified columns. It is sometimes placed among “situations vacant”, although it does not offer anyone a job, and sometimes it appears among “situations wanted”, although it is not placed by someone looking for a job, either. What it does is to offer help in applying for a job.
“Contact us before writing your application”, or “Make use of our long experience in preparing your curriculum vitae or job history”, is how it is usually expressed. The growth and apparent success of such a specialized service is, of course, a reflection on the current high levels of unemployment. It is also an indication of the growing importance of the curriculum vitae (or job history), with the suggestion that it may now qualify as an art form in its own right.
