A.dealing with the college affairs of the university
B.making sure that the students follow university rules
C.finding out the value of students\' performance by bringing them before a court
D.keeping up the students\' eagerness for social activities
E STARTING TIME:MINUTES__________SECONDS_________
It is hardly necessary for me to mention all the proofs of the discouraging state of literacy(识字). These figures from the Department of Education are enough: 27 million Americans cannot read at all, and a further 35 million read at a level that is less than enough to continue to live in our society.
But my own worry today is less that of the very big problem of necessary literacy than it is of the slightly more luxurious(放纵的) problem of the loss in the skill even of the middle-class reader, of his unwillingness to afford those spaces of silence, those luxuries(great comfort) of family life and time and close attention that go around on every side the mental picture of the standard act of reading. It has been suggested that almost 80 percent of America\'s literate, educated young persons between 13-19 years old can no longer read without music in the background or a television screen moving unsteadily at the corner of their field of understanding. We know very little about the brain and how it deals with disagreeing input happening at the same time,but every common-sense power of understanding suggests we should be extremely alarmed(shocked). This break of close attention, silence, loneliness goes to the very heart of our idea of literacy; this new form of part-reading, of part-understanding against background enjoyment, makes impossible certain necessary acts of understanding and close attention, let alone that most important admiration any human being can pay to a poem or a piece of prose(散文) he or she really loves, which is to learn it by heart. Not by brain, by heart; the expression is important.
Under these conditions, 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 complete changes probably much more exciting than those brought 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 argued. The information revolution will touch every fact of composition, publication, division, and reading. No one in the book industry can say with any faith what will happen to the book as we\'ve known it.
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17.The picture of the reading ability of the American people, drawn by the author, is ______.
A.rather sad and without much hope B.fairly bright C.very exciting D.quite encouraging
18.A major problem with most youth who can read is ______.
A.their fondness of music and TV programs B.their lack of knowledge of various forms of art
C.their lack of attentiveness & basic understanding D.their inability to centre on disagreeing input