The Art of Slow Reading If you are reading this article in print, chances are that you will only get through half of what I have written. And if you are reading this online, you may not even finish a fifth. ____16____ They suggest that many of us no longer have the concentration to read articles through to their conclusion. So are we getting stupider? Actually, our online habits are damaging the mental power we need to process and understand textual information. Round-the-clock news makes us read from one article to the next without necessarily engaging fully with any of the content. Our reading is frequently interrupted by the noise of the latest email and we are now absorbing short bursts of words on Twitter and Facebook more regularly than longer texts. ____17____ But we are gradually forgetting how to sit back, think carefully, and relate all the facts to each other. ____18____ A desperate bunch of academics want us to take our time while reading, and re-reading. They ask us to switch off our computers every so often and rediscover both the joy of personal engagement with printed texts, and the ability to process them fully. What's to be done then? Most slow readers realize that total rejection of the web is extremely unrealistic. They feel that getaway from technology for a while is the answer. ____19____ Personally, I'm not sure whether I could ever go offline for long. Even while writing this article, I am switching constantly between sites, skimming too often, absorbing too little. Internet reading has become too rooted in my daily life for me to change. I read essays and articles not in hard copy but as PDFs. I suspect that many readers are in a similar position. ____20____ You can download a computer application called Freedom, which allows you to read in peace by cutting off your Internet connection. Or if you want to avoid being disturbed by the Internet, you could always download offline reader Instapaper for your iPhone. If you're still reading my article, that is slow reading. A. The Internet is probably part of the problem. B. Now some campaigns are advocating slow reading. C. These are the two findings from the recent research projects. D. But if you just occasionally want to read more slowly, help is at hand. E. Some of them have suggested turning their computers off for one day a week. F. Slow reading can help connect a reader to neighborhood and become popular. G. Because of the Internet, we have become very good at collecting information.
The Art of Slow Reading
If you are reading this article in print, chances are that you will only get through half of what I have written. And if you are reading this online, you may not even finish a fifth. ____16____ They suggest that many of us no longer have the concentration to read articles through to their conclusion.
So are we getting stupider? Actually, our online habits are damaging the mental power we need to process and understand textual information. Round-the-clock news makes us read from one article to the next without necessarily engaging fully with any of the content. Our reading is frequently interrupted by the noise of the latest email and we are now absorbing short bursts of words on Twitter and Facebook more regularly than longer texts. ____17____ But we are gradually forgetting how to sit back, think carefully, and relate all the facts to each other.
____18____ A desperate bunch of academics want us to take our time while reading, and re-reading. They ask us to switch off our computers every so often and rediscover both the joy of personal engagement with printed texts, and the ability to process them fully. What's to be done then? Most slow readers realize that total rejection of the web is extremely unrealistic. They feel that getaway from technology for a while is the answer. ____19____ Personally, I'm not sure whether I could ever go offline for long. Even while writing this article, I am switching constantly between sites, skimming too often, absorbing too little. Internet reading has become too rooted in my daily life for me to change. I read essays and articles not in hard copy but as PDFs. I suspect that many readers are in a similar position. ____20____ You can download a computer application called Freedom, which allows you to read in peace by cutting off your Internet connection. Or if you want to avoid being disturbed by the Internet, you could always download offline reader Instapaper for your iPhone. If you're still reading my article, that is slow reading.
A. The Internet is probably part of the problem.
B. Now some campaigns are advocating slow reading.
C. These are the two findings from the recent research projects.
D. But if you just occasionally want to read more slowly, help is at hand.
E. Some of them have suggested turning their computers off for one day a week.
F. Slow reading can help connect a reader to neighborhood and become popular.
G. Because of the Internet, we have become very good at collecting information.
题目解答
答案
16. C 17. G
18. B 19. E
20. D
解析
文章讨论了现代人阅读习惯的变化，特别是互联网对阅读习惯的影响。文章指出，由于互联网的干扰，人们越来越难以集中精力阅读完整篇文章，而这种习惯正在损害我们处理和理解文本信息的能力。文章还提到，一些学者提倡“慢阅读”，即花时间阅读和重读文章，以重新发现阅读的乐趣和能力。
步骤 2：分析选项
选项A：互联网可能是问题的一部分。
选项B：现在一些运动提倡慢阅读。
选项C：这些是最近研究项目的两个发现。
选项D：但如果你只是偶尔想读得更慢，帮助就在手边。
选项E：他们中的一些人建议每周关机一天。
选项F：慢阅读可以帮助读者与社区联系并变得流行。
选项G：因为互联网，我们已经变得非常擅长收集信息。
步骤 3：选择正确答案
16. 根据上下文，这里需要一个总结句，指出这是最近研究项目的两个发现，因此选择C。
17. 根据上下文，这里需要一个过渡句，指出互联网使我们擅长收集信息，但逐渐忘记了如何坐下来仔细思考，因此选择G。
18. 根据上下文，这里需要一个引出下文的句子，指出现在一些运动提倡慢阅读，因此选择B。
19. 根据上下文，这里需要一个具体建议，指出一些学者建议每周关机一天，因此选择E。
20. 根据上下文，这里需要一个总结句，指出如果你只是偶尔想读得更慢，帮助就在手边，因此选择D。