From online newspapers to ereaders(电子阅读器) to social media, the Internet has had a deep effect on the ways people read for information and pleasure. However, research also shows that it has changed the depth of reading abilities. The Internet has not just changed what people read, but the ways they process and use the information, leading to both positive and negative consequences for Americans’ reading skills.
If you’ve ever got a headache when reading pages filled with texts or felt like you couldn’t focus when reading a simple paragraph, the Internet may have affected your attention. According to Nicholas Carr of The Atlantic, it actually may have changed your brain. Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” reports a widespread decrease in people’s abilities to carefully read and understand texts. Instead of focusing on the overall meaning of an article, people are likely to search for key words by reading the text quickly. This could possibly lead to weaker reading comprehension skills for students.
Although the results of studies are different, the National Endowment for the Arts reports a relationship between the lack of time students spend reading for pleasure and decreased(降低的) reading scores. Their report “To Read or Not to Read” revealed that more than half of people aged 18 to 24 don’t read for fun and that people in the same age group are more likely to spend money on entertainment than books. In possible consequence, overall reading test scores are down nationwide, with only 5 percent of students testing at skilled levels.
While some studies show that social media and texting have had a harmful effect on students’ language use, some studies show that these activities might actually be improving their skills. Researchers at Coventry University selected a group of 9and 10yearolds who did not text and had them perform reading and spelling tests before and after texting over a 10day period. The results revealed an improvement in test scores that could be linked to texting use. These studies showed that students seem to gain valuable writing practice from online communication.
【解题导语】 本文介绍的是不同的有关因特网和电子阅读对美国人阅读能力的正面或负面的影响的研究成果。希望能引起读者对电子阅读的利弊的重视。
1．Which of the following statement might Nicholas Carr agree with?
A．That reading online has increased people’s brain power.
B．That students’ understanding skills may become worse.
C．That people’s reading is more effective than before.
D．That the Internet has increased people’s attention.
B 解析：细节理解题。从文章第二段最后一句This could possibly lead to weaker reading comprehension skills for students.可知，Nicholas Carr的观点是因特网的使用，使得学生的阅读能力下降了。
2．According to the report in Paragraph 3, what should be responsible for the decreased reading scores?
A．The poor book quality.
B．The decrease of reading time.
C．The difficult reading passages.
D．The visual entertainment media.
B 解析：细节理解题。从第三段中a relationship between the lack of time students spend reading for pleasure and decreased(降低的) reading scores.可以看出，本段认为导致阅读能力下降的主要原因是阅读时间的减少。
3．What is the topic of the text?
A．The effect of Internet on reading.
B．The disadvantages of the Internet.
C．The changes in what people read.
D．The development of traditional reading.
A 解析：主旨大意题。本文主要介绍的就是电子阅读时代对美国人阅读能力的影响。
font-family: "Times New Roman";color:black'>C 解析：文章出处题。A.在课本里；B.在科幻书里；C.在网页上；D.在广告上。本文主要介绍了6种健康饮食习惯，由此可知C项正确。
