The holiday is upon us. Finally, after months of study, you have some time to yourself. So, why not read a book? Well, some people will say, "Why bother with books? We have the Internet and other media that offer a lot of more colorful entertainment. Books are history!" But don't be fooled. I'm sure there's still a lot to be said for reading.
One clear reason is that a well-chosen book is a wonderful source of vocabulary, so long as you have a good dictionary, of course. Believe me, it's far easier to get new English words and phrases from a book or an article than it is from the TV or the Internet.
But another more important point is that books give you something that modern media simply can not. The average webpage is picture-heavy and the text is often designed to make it as easy to read as possible. While "easy" may be attractive, unfortunately it's of little use for any long-term development of reading skills and the general language level. Because of that, there's still no substitute (替代品) of a book.
But perhaps the best single reason is that simply choosing what you read and doing it independently means that it's something you do by and for yourself. You can choose what you want to read. It's hard work, but somewhere down the line, you'll find that what once seemed like a duty is now a pleasure.
How many reasons for reading a book does the author mention in the passage?
A. Three B. Two C. One D. Four
According to the passage, we basically need a ________ in reading.
A. television B. pencil C. notebook D. dictionary
In the author's opinion, reading on the Internet may_________.
A. develop long-term reading skills B. improve the general language ability
C. not take the place of reading books D. be an effective way of reading
The passage is written mainly to _________.
A. share the pleasure of reading books B. advise readers to read books
C. stress the importance of reading online D. help readers to choose good books
