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  3. Reading to oneself is a modern activity that was almost unknown to the scholars of the classical and medieval worlds, while duri

Reading to oneself is a modern activity that was almost unknown to the scholars of the classical and medieval worlds, while duri

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问题     Reading to oneself is a modern activity that was almost unknown to the scholars of the classical and medieval worlds, while during the fifteen century the term "reading" undoubtedly meant reading aloud. Only during the nineteenth did silent reading become commonplace. One should be wary, however, of assuming that silent reading came about simply because reading aloud is a distraction to others. Examination of factors related to the historical development of silent reading reveals that it became the usual mode of reading for most adult reading tasks mainly because the tasks themselves changed in character.
    The last century saw a steady gradual increase in literacy, and thus in the number of readers. As readers increased, the number of potential listeners decreased, and thus there was some reduction in the need to read aloud. Reading for the benefit of listeners grew less common, so came the flourishing of reading as a private activity in such public places as libraries, railway carriages and offices, where reading aloud would cause distraction to other readers.
    Towards the end of the century there was still considerable argument over whether books should be used for information or treated respectfully, and over whether the reading of material such as newspapers was in some way mentally weakening. Indeed this argument remains with us still in education. However, whatever its virtues were, the old shared literacy culture had gone and was replaced by the printed mass media on the one hand and by book and periodicals for a specialized readership on the other.
    By the end of the century students were being recommended to adopt attitudes to books and to use skills in reading them which were inappropriate, if not impossible, for the oral reader. The social, cultural and technological changes in the century had greatly altered what the term "reading" implied.
What is the writer’s purpose in writing this passage?
选项 A、To explain how present-day reading habits developed.
B、To change people’s attitudes toward reading.
C、To show how reading methods have improved.
D、To encourage the growth of reading.
答案A
解析 主旨题。本文主要介绍了阅读形式的改变。根据文中内容可知，19世纪以前，阅读的主要意思就是大声朗读，而随着能阅读的人数的增加；阅读这个词的意思发生了变化，阅读主要指默读。说明作者在讲现代的默读习惯是怎样形成的。所以正确答案是A。
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