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!
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.
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.
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
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
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.
