In recent years, there has been a rise in the volume of audiobook sales, which is easily aided by the dominance of the smartphone. Other contributors to the rise beyond technology?
One thing is obvious: Reading even a short book involves a significant investment of time and prevents any other activity. You can’t drive or garden while reading. Andy Miller, the author of The Year of Reading Dangerously, said: “I was hunting for a book to read.” Kit Waal, my friend, said, “you should get the audiobook Old Filth; it’s fantastic.” She was right. I could walk the dog and still be reading a brilliant novel, or have one read to me brilliantly. I loved that book and I loved that way of reading it. So I’m a recent convert.”
Does he worry audio provides too different an experience to reading itself? “Clearly on audio you are at the mercy of the reader’s skills,” he says. “But then , ego (自己) aside, the same is true of reading a book on the page. We’re all at the mercy of our own skills and tastes, aren’t we? But on audio you are influenced by someone else’s interpretation. And you might simply dislike the voice of the reader. But at its best audio offers a complementary (互补的) experience to the actual book.”
Will audiobook distract us from the page before us? Better to focus on what we might gain. As someone who frequently interviews authors on stage, I'm aware of the unique insight to a text produced by hearing someone read their own work; I’ve frequently re-interpreted a passage after such an experience. But that has had no impact on whether or not I'll read a book by a writer I will never hear reading.
I once met the writer Don Delillo. In response to a question about the process of writing, he remarked that he sometimes became attracted by the shape of particular letters, by the way individual words appeared before him, their beauty beyond meaning and the relationship to meaning. He sounded hippy-dippy; then it made perfect sense. Reading does start with shapes, which slowly resolve to make a certain meaning, filtered through our own subjectivity and our senses. That will never change.
1. What does Andy Miller mean by “I’m a recent convert” in paragraph 2?| A．I like the reader’s voice. | B．I enjoy my daily routines. |
| C．I fall in love with audiobook. | D．I am addicted to reading novels. |
| A．It has a good voice. | B．It limits our interpretation. |
| C．It controls our skills and tastes. | D．It misleads our interpretation. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Objective. | C．Opposed. | D．Favourable. |
| A．Easy listening: the rise of the audiobook? |
| B．The audiobook-a growing trend in reading |
| C．Slow reading-the decline of the actual book? |
| D．A new experience: the appearance of audiobook |
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【推荐1】There’s something so wonderfully easy about reading this column in a physical newspaper. You turned the page, and here it is, with few annoyances or distractions, in an ultra-high-definition(超高清的)typeface which was custom-designed with pleasurable reading in mind. Or—wait—are you reading this on a phone? Did you follow a link from Twitter, or Facebook? Or maybe you’re on a train, or a plane, or you’re trying to use your laptop on your cousin’s bad Wi-Fi connection out in the countryside somewhere. In the case, there’s a pretty good chance that even getting this far is some kind of minor miracle.
When talking about the economics of online publishing, the first thing to remember is that job No.1 isn’t to get the news to you. Rather, it is to monetize you, by selling you off, in real time, to the highest bidder. This happens every time you click on a link, before the page has even started to load on your phone. An almost unthinkably enormous ecosystem of scripts, cookies and often astonishingly personal information is used to show you a set of brand messages and sales pitches which are tailored almost uniquely to you.
That ecosystem raises important questions about privacy and just general creepiness(毛骨悚然)—the way that the minute you look at a pair of shoes online, for instance, they then start following you around every other website you visit for weeks. But whether or not you value your privacy, you are damaged, daily, by the sheer weight of all that technology.
Online ads have never got less annoying over time, and you can be sure that mobile ads are going to get more annoying as well, once Silicon Valley has worked out how to better identify who you are. The move to greater privacy protection might help slow the pace at which such technologies are adopted. But there’s no realistic hope that websites will actually improve from here. If you want to avoid the terrible experience of the mobile web, you’ll only have one choice—which is to start reading your articles natively, in the Facebook or Apple News app. But it won’t be Facebook and Apple who killed the news brands. It’ll be ad tech.
1. What is the main purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce various reading styles. |
| B．To lead to the topic to be talked about. |
| C．To show the advantages of physical newspapers. |
| D．To compare physical newspapers with electronic reading. |
| A．The reader’s demand is satisfied. |
| B．The reader’s interest is motivated. |
| C．The reader is cheated by the design. |
| D．The reader is taken advantage of. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Critical. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Online ads have become less troublesome. |
| B．Silicon Valley is as famous as Facebook. |
| C．Ad tech is a good solution to privacy protection. |
| D．It is tough to keep away from the annoyances brought about by ads. |
【推荐2】Love on wheels
For many commuters, a bus journey presents a rare opportunity for one to get stuck in a book. In some cities, however, public transport is being used as a means of getting books to the communities that need them the most. Vehicles are being upcycled not only to spread the joy of reading, but also to educate and improve lives.
Every week, two converted blue buses stocked with children’s books carefully navigate the streets of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, avoiding areas where deadly explosions are common. These travelling libraries stop off at schools in different parts of the city, delivering a wealth of reading materials directly to youngsters who have limited access to books.
Afghanistan has one of the world’s lowest literacy rates, with only three in ten adults able to read, according to UNESCO.
Over 600 children visit the buses each day to read, socialize, and play games. “They’re often very excited,” Karim says. “
On the other side of the world, in Tijuana, Mexico, another bus has been similarly transformed-this time for migrant children. Their families have come from such countries as Honduras and El Salvador to escape violence or poverty.
Estefania Rebellon, founder of the Yes We Can World Foundation, which runs the bus school, had her own migrant experience as a child when her family fled Colombia for the United States. She was motivated to set up the school after volunteering at a Tijuana refugee camp. “I saw kids running around without shoes, not having anything to do,” she says. “
The bus school chose a location next to a shelter for migrant families, as children make up 60% of the resident population. Apart from their studying of reading, writing, maths and science, the children receive emotional support to help them cope with the specific challenges they face. The school also provides children’s storybooks about migration, and gives them uniforms and backpacks full of school supplies.
There are 45 kids at the school, with a further 30 about to be enrolled, and Yes We Can is raising funds for a second mobile school. “As the days go by, you see the change in the kids that arrive,” says Rebellon. “
| A．They really feel like they’re in a safe space. |
| B．We needed a fast solution to this urgent problem. |
| C．They can’t work or rent a place because they don’t have any status. |
| D．We were trying to understand what we could do to promote critical thinking in our country. |
| E．One of our biggest challenges is that so many children want to come inside the bus, but we can’t have all of them in one day. |
| F．The majority of public schools in the city do not have libraries and the city’s libraries do not offer many children’s books. |
【推荐3】As a child, I had library phobia (恐惧症) associated going to the library with doing research for a school project or a book report. I defined reading as work, and books came from the library.
The closest I came to wanting to read was “The Big Green Book” by Robert Graves, a gift from my aunt. Its leading character, a boy of 8, about my age discovered a book of magic spells (咒语). I was very interested. Spells were not in the book, but I drew an imaginary magic circle with a long stick in my bedroom, stood inside the circle, took three deep breaths and made up my own spell. I never became invisible (看不见的), though. This was my favorite book.
My library phobia was cured 23 years ago when my family moved to Long Island. The East Meadow Public Library became a regular destination for me and my family. My children were introduced to books through the children’s section with free programs that even my wife and I enjoyed.
As for “The Big Green Book”,
| A．I read it again and again. |
| B．I don’t have a favorite type of book. |
| C．I didn’t mind having to buy a book a month. |
| D．I was as eager as my children were to get their library cards. |
| E．I shared my copy with my children when they were younger. |
| F．Therefore, going to the library for fun was beyond my thinking. |
| G．Thanks to the library I can even reread a book from years ago. |
【推荐1】Scientists say they have found out a chemical produced by locusts（蝗虫）that causes the insects to join together in huge swarms（群）.
On their own, locusts are mostly harmless. But in large swarms, they can be extremely destructive. The new finding could lead to new methods to prevent locusts from joining swarms to destroy huge areas of crops.
A recent study published in Nature identifies a pheromone believed to be responsible for the insect’s swarming behavior. A pheromone is a chemical item produced by an animal that influences the behavior of another animal of the same kind.
The pheromone, known as 4VA, was found in the world’s most widespread kind of locust, the migratory locust. It powerfully drew locusts of both sexes and all ages, the research found. And it was produced when as few as four to five locusts came together.
Lead researcher Le Kang is with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Zoology. He told Reuters news agency that migratory locusts are so widespread and dangerous, they represent"a serious threat to agriculture worldwide. " Kang said further research will be needed to find out if 4VA exists in other species, such as the desert locust.
Kang said a chemical could be developed to block 4VA’s effects to prevent swarming. A man-made version of the pheromone might also be developed to attract locusts into traps to be killed. Locusts could also be developed with genetic changes that would not react to 4VA, Kang added. Such locusts could be sent to the wild to build wild non-swarming populations.
Leslie Vosshall, head of Rockefeller University’s Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior in New York, said one of the most exciting developments would be finding a chemical that could block the reception of 4VA. She noted that there are still several unknowns about the research. These include whether 4VA is the only cause of swarm formation, and whether other locust species respond similarly to the chemical.
1. What is the new finding of the study?| A．New methods could be used to stop locusts. |
| B．Locusts do not cause much damage on their own. |
| C．A large number of locusts can destroy the crops terribly. |
| D．Locusts swarm because of a chemical produced by themselves. |
| A．It only exists in the migratory locust. | B．It is made at least in groups of forty. |
| C．It is to blame for the locust’s swarming. | D．It affects the behavior of other animals. |
| A．Pessimistic. | B．Optimistic. | C．Subjective. | D．Objective. |
| A．Can we kill locusts? | B．How do locusts destroy crops? |
| C．How do locusts get swarmed? | D．Can we control the locust’s damaging? |
【推荐2】A young woman sits alone in a café sipping tea and reading a book. She pauses briefly to write in a nearby notepad before showing her words to a passing café waiter: “Where are the toilets please?” This is a familiar scene in Tokyo’s so-called “silent cafés”, where customers are not allowed to speak, and only communicate by writing in notepads.
The concept rises from a desire to be alone among young Japanese, a situation brought by economic uncertainty, a shift in traditional family support structures and the growing social isolation. The phenomenon is not limited to coffee shops but covers everything from silent discos, where participants dance alone wearing wireless headphones connected to the DJ, to products such as small desk tents designed for conversation-free privacy in the office. One Kyoto company even offers single women the opportunity to have a “one woman wedding” — a full bridal affair, complete with white dress and ceremony, and the only thing missing is the groom. The trend has its own media expression — “botchi-zoku”, referring to individuals who consciously choose to do things completely on their own.
One recent weekday afternoon, Chihiro Higashikokubaru, a 23-year-old nurse, travelled 90 minutes from her home, to Tokyo on her day off in order to enjoy some solo time. Speaking quietly at the entrance of the cafe, Miss Higashikokubaru said: “I heard about this place via Twitter and I like the idea of coming here. I work as a nurse and it's always very busy. There are very few quiet places in Tokyo, and it's a big busy city. I just want to come and sit somewhere quietly on my own. I’m going to drink a cup of tea and maybe do some drawings. I like the idea of a quiet, calm atmosphere.”
The desire to be isolated is not a new concept in Japan, home to an estimated 3.6 million “hikikomori” — a more extreme example of social recluses (隐士) who withdraw completely from society.
1. What is special about the “silent cafes”?| A．It provides various tea and books. | B．People are not allowed to communicate. |
| C．It offers service by writing not by speaking. | D．It has attracted many popular young people. |
| A．The stable economic situation. | B．The increasing social isolation. |
| C．The rapid development of the Internet. | D．The rising demand for privacy. |
| A．She doesn’t like to be a nurse. | B．She doesn’t like the life in big cities. |
| C．She enjoys her solo time in a quiet place. | D．She travelled to Tokyo on her work days. |
| A．A new concept in Japan | B．Social recluses in Japan |
| C．Silent cafes | D．Lonely Japanese |
【推荐3】Photographic self-portraits have existed for as long as cameras have been in human hands. But what about selfies in space? On Twitter last year, NASA astronaut Edwin Aldrin, who famously became the second man to walk on the moon in July 1969, laid claim to a spaceflight first: taking the first selfie in space during the Gemini XII mission in 1966.
“For me, it needs to be digital to be selfie,” argues Jennifer Levasseur, a director at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. According to Levasseur, the concept of a selfie is directly linked to internet culture. “The thing that makes a selfie is sharing it,” she says.
Still, astronauts have been carrying cameras aboard space vehicles since the 1960s. In 1966, Aldrin used a Hasselblad camera designed specifically for space. Hasselblad also painted the first camera in space a matte(磨砂) black to reduce reflections in the orbiter window. But cameras used in space need to survive extreme conditions, like temperature swings from -149° to 248°F, so Hasselblad painted later model silver.
Astronauts visiting the moon then had to take out the film and leave their camera bodies behind when they returned to Earth, because early space missions were limited by a weight limit on the returned trip. Then a big change in space camera technology came after the space shuttle Columbia broke apart on its return to Earth in 2003, Levasseur notes. “Fear that they’d never be able to bring film back from space and lose all that hard work accelerated the push for digital,” she says.
Today, astronauts also have access to internet and social platforms in space and can post true space selfies made using digital cameras. Similarly, space robots are participating in selfie culture, capturing remote pictures of themselves in space or on other planets and sending them back to Earth.
1. Why do selfies in space need to be digital according to Jennifer Levasseur?| A．Astronauts are fond of studying technology. |
| B．Astronauts are eager to be famous on the Internet. |
| C．Astronauts desire to communicate on social platforms. |
| D．Astronauts want to overcome the fear in space. |
| A．It is painted silver. |
| B．Its matte black gathers light. |
| C．Its design is special. |
| D．It can reduce reflection itself. |
| A．The heavy space tasks. |
| B．A returned space shuttle. |
| C．A spaceflight crash. |
| D．The improved film. |
| A．The Origin of Selfies in Space |
| B．The Brief History of Selfies in Space |
| C．The Significance of Selfies in Space |
| D．The Popularity of Selfies in Space |
