It is hardly necessary for me to cite all the evidenceof the depressing state of literacy. These figuresfrom the Department of Education are sufficient: 27million Americans cannot read at all. and a further35million read al a level that is less than sufficient tosurvive in our society.

　　But my own worry today is fess that of the overwhelming problem of elemental literacy thanit is of the slightly more luxurious problem of the decline in the skill even of the middle-classreader, of his unwillingness to afford those spaces of silence. those luxuries of domesticityand time and concentration, that surround the image of the classic act of reading. n has beensuggested that almost 80 percent of America's literate, educated teenagers can no longer readwithout 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 dealswith simultaneous conflicting input, but every common-sense intuition suggests we should beprofoundly alarmed. This violation of concentration} silence, solitude (独处的状态) goestothe very heart of our notion of literacy; this new form of part-reading, of part-perceptionagainst background distraction renders impossible certain essential acts of apprehensionand concentration, let alone that most important tribute any human being can pay to a poemor 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 realone. Ahead of us lie technical. psychic(心理的). and social transformations probably much moredramatic than thosebrought about by Gutenberg, the German inventor in printing. TheGutenberg 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. andreading. No one in the book industry can say with any confidence what will

　　happen to the book as we've known it.

　　1. The picture of the reading ability of theAmerican 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 ofpoetry 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