题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
上海市行知中学2019-2020学年高二上学期英语第一次月考试卷
We have encountered a crisis around the corner. You mean global warming? The world economy? No, the decline of reading. People are just not doing it anymore, especially the young. Who's responsible?
Actually, it's more like, what is responsible? The Internet, of course, and everything that comes with it – Facebook, Twitter. You can write your own list.
There's been a warning about the imminent death of literate civilization for a long time. In the 20th century, first it was the movies, then radio, then television that seemed to spell doom for the written world. None did. Reading survived; in fact it not only survived, it has flourished. The world is more literate than ever before – there are more and more readers, and more and more books.
The fact that we often get our reading material online today is not something we should worry over. The electronic and digital revolution of the last two decades has arguably shown the way forward for reading and for writing. Take the arrival of e-book readers as an example.
Devices like Kindle make reading more convenient and are a lot more environmentally friendly than the traditional paper book.
As technology makes new ways of writing possible, new ways of reading are possible. Interconnectivity allows for the possibility of a reading experience that was barely imaginable before. Where traditional books had to make do with photographs and illustrations, an e-book can provide readers with an unlimited number of links: to texts, pictures, and videos. In the future, the way people write novels, history, and philosophy will resemble nothing seen in the past.
On the other hand, there is the danger of trivialization. One Twitter group is offering its followers single-sentence-long "digests" of the great novels. War and Peace in a sentence? You must be joking. We should fear the fragmentation of reading. There is the danger that the high-speed connectivity of the Internet will reduce our attention span—that we will be incapable of reading anything of length or which requires deep concentration.
In such a fast-changing world, in which reality seems to be remade each day, we need the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us. This has always been the function of literature and we should be careful not to let it disappear. Our society needs to be able to imagine the possibility of someone utterly in tune with modern technology but able to make sense of a dynamic, confusing world.
In the 15th century, Johannes Guttenberg's invention of the printing press in Europe had a huge impact on civilization. Once upon a time the physical book was a challenging thing. We should remember this before we assume that technology is out to destroy traditional culture.
Field Trip Day
On Friday, May 16, our class will take a field trip to North Park Zoo. The zoo has lions, elephants, and other interesting animals. Many of the animals we have been studying will be there for us to closely examine.
Our class will be divided into six teams. Each team will have five students and one leader. The leaders are listed in the table.
Team 1 | Miss Banker |
Team 2 | Mrs. Lopez |
Team 3 | Mr. Harper |
Team 4 | Miss Abel |
Team 5 | Mr. Soto |
Team 6 | Mrs. Thomas |
What You Need to Know
The cost is $1.00 for students to enter the zoo. We will leave the school at 9:00 a.m. and return at 2:30 p.m.
On the morning of the trip, the students will be divided into teams. One student from each team will receive a camera. The cameraman will take pictures of the team, the animals, and other fun sights at the zoo.
All members should wear blue shirts. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes because we will be walking all day. Please bring a bag lunch and a drink. We will have a picnic at the park inside the zoo. Bring a healthy snack, such as a piece of fruit and a drink, for later in the day.
When we are at the zoo, always remain with your team. Do not leave the team without asking permission from the team leader.
Feeding the Animals
The ONLY animals that students are allowed to feed are those in the children's Zoo. Special food can be bought at the zoo for 25 cents and given to these animals. Do not feed your lunch to them. It is not food for the animals.
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