The National Endowment for the Arts recently released 1 S/ L0 S! v2 ]' y2 h3 x
the results of its “Reading at Risk” survey, which described
2 O9 Z& c, R" E$ P) N/ k4 D" Uthe movement of the American public away from books and / ]: ~% b! c+ e7 Y. B# a8 z y7 y8 {
literature and toward television and electronic media. 4 L. U: p& G1 K" _
According to the survey, “reading is on the decline on every ___1___
, n1 E( A6 w5 E' z$ f/ Gregion, within every ethnic group, and at every educational level.” B, f4 T9 Z# B2 u: S9 A
The day the NEA report released, the U.S. House, in a tie ___2___
~' Q0 c8 V: M' |: b) D' m, xVote, upheld the government’s right to obtain bookstore and
" l) m: b1 w; ?2 q' g/ V+ r- E! ]library records under a provision of the USA Patriot Act. The$ Q, S) Q5 ~+ S+ B% i
House proposal would have barred the federal government
7 f: _- B5 e2 E, T5 O( Ufrom demand library records, reading lists, book customer ___3___
+ \8 `% H5 H" N! Z, I1 z! |lists and other material in terrorism and intelligence investigations.0 Z7 Z1 d; m# ?. a
These two events are completely unrelated to, yet they ___4___
2 y8 V+ M# N0 `' oecho each other in the message they send about the place of
8 q7 ?" N+ y5 i3 p1 e, q2 Wbooks and reading in American culture. At the heart 3 ?0 D& r& Y+ G* b) g% a
of the NEA survey is the belief in our democratic ___5___
?8 X6 k! C8 \1 {System depends on leaders who can think critically, analyze ( [' @$ U: ~" Z" w
texts and writing clearly. All of these are skills promoted by ___6___7 W% P, _( [9 W4 h v d6 }
reading and discussing books and literature. At the same time,$ V% e" Z1 ]3 }/ I) g
through a provision of the Patriot Act, the leaders of our
! @5 U) r& z' d ^' J3 qcountry are unconsciously sending the message that reading
; {. Y1 ~" K3 U; fmay be connected to desirable activities that might ___7___8 b0 [# M# x, |0 S4 T: I
undermine our system of government rather than helping ; ~$ a8 P) W9 G
democracy flourish.
) L" k' w' a- r* a; aOur culture’s decline in reading begin well before the___8___( Y' S1 k9 ]+ X$ l+ B% ?
existence of the Patriot Act. During the 1980s’ culture wars,
' `0 J1 ^+ A7 }3 V: F* Gschool systems across the country pulled some books from
: ]9 D* P; B; S+ clibrary shelves because its content was deemed by parents ___9___4 A- M, c/ ^6 c6 f
and teachers to be inappropriate. Now what started in schools 1 T* a7 `. Y$ r7 i/ V, G- f- v, r0 {
across the country is playing itself out on a nation stage and ___10___
5 i1 K5 w0 i6 S/ S6 gis possibly having an impact on the reading habits of the
# k$ ?6 ?. \4 U Z. B! t/ lAmerican public. |
发表于 2012-8-14 10:46:58
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