Passage 1
The National Endowment for the Arts recently released
the results of its “Reading at Risk” survey, which described
the movement of the American public away from books and
literature and toward television and electronic media.
According to the survey, “reading is on the decline on every 1. _________
region, within every ethnic group, and at every educational level.”
The day the NEA report released, the U.S. House, in a tie 2. ___________
vote, upheld the government’s right to obtain bookstore and
library records under a provision of the USA Patriot Act. The
House proposal would have barred the federal government
from demand library records, reading lists, book customer 3. ___________
lists and other material in terrorism and intelligence investigations.
These two events are completely unrelated to, yet they 4. ___________
echo each other in the message they send about the place of
books and reading in American culture. At the heart 5. ___________
system depends on leaders who can think critically, analyze
texts and writing clearly. All of these are skills promoted by 6. ___________
reading and discussing books and literature. At the same time,
through a provision of the Patriot Act, the leaders of our
country are unconsciously sending the message that reading
may be connected to desirable activities that might 7. ___________
undermine our system of government rather than helping
democracy flourish.
Our culture’s decline in reading begin well before the 8. ___________
existence of the Patriot Act. During the 1980s’ culture wars,
school systems across the country pulled some books from
library shelves because its content was deemed by parents 9. ____________
and teachers to be inappropriate. Now what started in schools
across the country is playing itself out on a nation stage and 10. ___________
is possibly having an impact on the reading habits of the American public.
参考答案
Passage 1
1.on → in;2. report released之间插入was;3. demand → demanding;4.去掉to
5.in → that;6.writing → write;7.desirable → undesirable;8. begin → began
9.its → their;10.nation → national
Passage2
Until recently, dyslexia an and other reading problems were
a mystery to most teachers and parents. As a result, too many
kids passed through school without master the printed page. 1. ____________
Some were treated as mentally deficient; many were left
functionally illiterate (文盲的), unable to ever meet their
potential. But in the last several years, there’s been a
revolution in that we’ve learned about reading and dyslexia, 2. _____________
Scientists are using a variety of new imaging techniques to
watch the brain at work. Their experiments have shown that
reading disorders are most likely the result of what is, in an effect,3. _______________
faulty wiring in the brain — not lazy, stupidity or a poor home 4. _______________
environment. There’s also convincing evidence which dyslexia 5. _______________
is largely inherited. It is now considered a chronic problem
for some kids, not just a “phase”. Scientists have also
discarded another old stereotype that almost all dyslexies are
boys. Studies indicate that many girls are affecting as well --- 6. _______________
and not getting help.
At same time, educational researchers have come up 7. _______________
with innovative teaching strategies for kids who are having
trouble learning to read. New screening tests are identifying
children at risk before they get discouraged by year of 8. _______________
frustration and failure. And educators are trying to get the
message to parents that they should be on the alert for the
first signs of potential problems.
It’s an urgent mission, Mass literacy is a relative new 9. _______________
social goal. A hundred years ago people didn’t need to be
good readers in order to earn a living. But in the Information
Age, no one can get by with knowing how to read well and 10. _______________
understand increasingly complex material.
参考答案：
Passage 2
1.master → mastering;2.that → what;3.in an effect → 去掉an;4.lazy → laziness;
5.which → that;6.affecting → affected;7.at same time → same前加the;8.year → years
9.relative → relatively;10. with → without
