Every morning my father buys a newspaper on his way to work. Every evening my mother looks through magazines at home. And every night, I look at the posters with photos of David Beckham and Yao Ming on my bedroom wall before I go to sleep. Can we imagine life without paper or print?
Paper was first created about 2,000 years ago, and has been made from silk, cotton, bamboo, and, since the 19th century, from wood. People learned to write words on paper to make a book. But in those days, books could only be produced one at a time by hand. As a result, they were expensive and rare. And because there weren’t many hooks, few people learned to read.
Then printing was invented in China. When printing was developed greatly at the beginning of the 11th century, books could be produced more quickly and cheaply. As a result, more people learned to read. After that, knowledge and ideas spread quickly.
Today information can be received online, downloaded from the Internet rather than found in books, and information can be kept on CD-ROMs or machines such as MP3 players.
Computers are already used in classrooms, and newspapers and magazines can already be read online. So will books be replaced by computers one day? No, I don’t think the Yao Ming poster on my bedroom wall will ever be replaced by a computer two metres high!
小題1:What does the writer do before he goes to sleep’?
| A．He reads books. | B．He reads newspapers |
| C．He looks through magazines | D．He looks at the posters on the wall. |
小題2:When was paper first created?
| A．About 2.000 years ago. | B．In the 19th century. |
| C．About 1.000 years ago. | D．In the 11th century. |
小題3:Why were books expensive and rare before the invention of printing?
A. People could not read.
B. People could not write words on paper.
C. People could not find silk, cotton or bamboo.
D People could only produce books one at a time by hand
小題4:What happened after books became cheaper?
| A．People didn’t want to buy books. |
| B．Printing was invented in China. |
| C．Knowledge and ideas spread quickly. |
| D．The Internet was introduced to people soon |
小題5:What is the writer’s opinion about books and computers’?
| A．People won’t need books any more |
| B．Books won’t be replaced by computers. |
| C．People prefer to find information in books. |
| D．Computers have already replaced books. |
