B
The world of information is changing. Why send a long letter or text when you can share photos or videos instead? Why learn from a book when you can experience the story in virtual reality (虚拟现实)? Why read magazines when you can listen to podcasts (播客)?
Can people take part in today's world without reading or writing at all? Technology seems to make it possible. Nowadays most of our smart devices (设备) are able to talk and take spoken orders, like reporting the weather, playing a song or setting a timer. It's possible to imagine a future world where we can easily communicate without words.
But reading and writing are still powerful tools. For one thing, most people read faster than they speak. A podcaster or audiobook teller speaks at about 150 to 160 words per minute, while a native speaker can read through a text at 300 to 400 words per minute. That's twice as fast! Research also found that people remember more information and stay more interested when they are reading compared to listening.
Reading also creates new connections (联系) in the brain. When humans learnt to read, the very structure of the brain was changed, which improved the way to think and led to the evolution (进化).
Do you think people will keep on reading and writing or let technology make them out of date?
() 29. What can we know from the passage?
A. Reading helps people invent more things.
B. Fewer people communicate with smart devices.
C. Most smart devices can take spoken orders now.
D. Listening helps people remember more information.
() 30. What does Paragraph 4 mainly talk about?
A. Some advice on how to learn to read.
B. The advantages of reading over speaking.
C. Research about reading and the human brain.
D. The good effects that reading has on the human brain.
() 31. The writer probably agrees that ______.
A. people are unable to control the smart devices
B. people like magazines better than podcasts
C. reading and writing help human beings to develop
D. the invention of smart devices can change our brain