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Despite rising education levels and the convenience of buying books online, Chinese of every age are reading less and less these

admin2021-05-24  45
问题         Despite rising education levels and the convenience of buying books online, Chinese of every age are reading less and less these days, according to an analysis released by Chinese Academy of Press and Publication. The following article gives detail information of this phenomenon.
        Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize the article briefly;
        2. give your comment.
                                                                   Why Aren’t Chinese People Reading Books Anymore?
        While the supply of books has exploded in China in recent decades, people’s interest in them has not kept up. According to a survey result published by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication in February, Chinese people read 4.39 books per capita in the past year, a figure that trails far behind major developed countries. And, on average, Chinese people allocated just over 15 minutes a day to reading, compared to almost 100 to watching television and over 45 for using the Internet.
        Why are the Chinese turning away from reading books? The question has prompted soul-searching among the country’s intellectuals. Zhang Lyia, a freelance writer based in Beijing, reminisced fondly about people’s passion for reading: "I often had get-togethers with friends where we talked about politics and discussed the books we were reading," she recalled. "There was such a strong spirit of inquiry." That spirit disappeared, Zhang says, by China’s single-minded pursuit for economic prosperity, which has left its people with little regard for anything else. "People are too restless, too utilitarian," she reflected. "You need some peace in mind in order to be able to sit down with a book."
        Zhang’s opinion is echoed by a number of longtime professionals in the book industry, who, since the early days of the industry’s market-driven reform, have kept close watch of the public’s changing preference in books. Some of them point out that in addition to turning away from books, Chinese people have also abandoned more serious and intellectually enriching stories in favor of easy reads. "In the last decade, best-sellers in China have less intellectual content and have become increasingly practical," said He Xiongfei, a well-known publisher of popular books since the early 1990s. Best sellers in China today, He says, consist mainly of "child-rearing manuals, cookbooks, health and fitness guides, test-preparation books, thrillers, and romance novels."
        Chinese people now have flocked to the Web for more light-hearted fare. According to a 2012 report from the China Internet Network Information Center, almost 200 million Chinese read online literature, although the term lacks a clear definition. A survey by the Chinese research firm Research shows that the ten most popular Chinese literature websites receive a total of 12.2 million visitors on an average day. These websites run the gamut of genres, from romance and horror to science fiction and fantasy, and reader interest helps carve them into more specific niches, like military fantasy novels, "officialdom" literature, and stories about time travel. Some websites require readers to pay a small fee, usually less than 5 RMB (80 cents), to access the most popular serialized novels.
        In the U.S., readers who used to buy physical books now flock to digital stores to find content China’s online readers, however, are choosing e-books for precisely what print books lack: critical and realistic depictions of society, and, more often, a cheap form of escape that, not unlike video games and television, offers them a refuge from the complications and concerns of the real world.
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答案 Why Are the Chinese Reading Less? In spite of the exploding supply of books in the Chinese market nowadays, China is witnessing a dreadful drop in the number of books read by its citizens and the time they spend on reading. This trend is accompanied by another gloomy phenomenon that the Chinese are becoming more restless and practical, tending to prefer utilitarian books lacking in profundity and intellectual sense. This is indeed a sorry spectacle to behold, but it has its underlying causes. On the one hand, the dwindling of people’s reading time can be attributed both to the increasingly fast pace of life and to the growing variety of diversions. Nowadays, the majority of people are fully occupied all day long, with each of their days packed with various activities. Their schedules are so tight that reading, a seemingly non-urgent task, is often reduced to a secondary consideration. In addition, thanks to the rapid development of technology, there have cropped up numerous recreational electronic gadgets, which consume a large proportion of the already limited free time. Both factors conspire to encroach on people’s time for reading. On the other hand, the dropping quality of the reading materials can be blamed on the material-oriented and high-pressure social atmosphere bred by the obsession with economy prosperity. In a country whose economy is rocketing, most people are anxious to accumulate material wealth, with little attention paid to spiritual improvement. Besides, the enormous stress brought about by the fast-developing society leads to a constant seeking of relaxation, which further dilutes the enthusiasm for deep reading. Therefore, it is the books with utilitarian and entertaining contents that excel in winning people’s favor. In conclusion, the status quo of Chinese people’s reading has deep and intricate roots. It is imperative that more people heed the distressing trend and more efforts be made to reverse it.
解析         材料指出了中国阅读现状堪忧的问题，大致有关两方面内容，包括阅读量和阅读质量。
        前两段分析了国人阅读量减少的现象。指出国人的读书时间减少、数量下降。这种情况源于求知精神（spirit of inquiry）的缺乏和浮躁（too restless）、功利（too utilitarian）的心态。
        后三段则反映了国人阅读内容的质量下降。指出国人现在倾向于读一些实用性较强（practical）但缺乏精神内涵的书籍（have less intellectual content）。材料也指出，中国读者蜂拥至网上阅读轻松的读物。很多读者选择电子书是因为缺少相应的纸质书，而且这些题材的电子书能让读者逃避现实社会的复杂问题（a refuge from the complications and concerns of the real world）。
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