76.
The natural treatments __________.
A.
include
vitamin and mineral supplements B.
are applied to keep the hair healthy
C.
have been proved useful D.
are the most commonly-used ways
E
Books are not Nadia Konyk’s thing. Her mother brings them
home from the library, but Nadia rarely shows interest. Instead, like so many other teenagers, Nadia,
15, is addicted to the Internet. She regularly spends at least six hours a day
in front of the computer, spending most of her time reading and
commenting on stories written by other users. Her mother, Deborah Konyk, would
prefer that Nadia read books for a change.
As teenagers’ scores on reading tests have declined, some
argue that the hours spent surfing the Internet are the enemy of
reading---destroying a precious common culture that exists only through the
reading of books. Critics have
warned that electronic media would destroy reading.
Others say the Internet has created a new kind of reading.
The Web inspires a teenager like Nadia, who might otherwise spend most of her
leisure time watching television, to read and write. What is different now, some literacy experts
say, is that spending time on the Web engages viewers with text.
Web supporters believe that
strong readers on the Web may eventually surpass those who rely on books. Reading five Web sites,
experts say, can be more enriching than reading one book. “It takes a long time to read a 400-page book,” said Spiro.
“In a tenth of the time,” he said, the Internet allows a reader to “cover a lot
more of the topic from different points of view.”
Some literacy experts say that
reading itself should be redefined. Interpreting videos or pictures, they say,
may be as important a skill as analyzing a novel or a poem. “Kids are
using sound and images so they have a world of ideas to put together,” said
Donna Alvermann, a professor of literacy education at the University of Georgia.
“Books aren't out of the picture, but they’re only one way of experiencing
information in the world today.”
Next year, the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, which gives reading, math and science
tests to 15-year-old students in more than 50 countries, will add an electronic
reading software. The United
States says it will not participate because
an additional test would overburden schools.
