12．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 weimagine 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 toread．After that，knowledge and ideas spread quickly．
Today information canbe 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 posteron my bedroom wall will ever be replaced by a computer two metres high!
56．What does the writer do before he goes to sleep？D
A．He reads books．
B．He reads newspapers
C．He looks through magazines
D．He looks at theposters on the wall．
57．When was paper first created？A
A．About 2000 years ago．
B．In the 19th century．
C．About 1000 years ago．
D．In the 11th century．
58．Why were books expensive and rare before the invention of printing？D
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．
59．What happened after books became cheaper？C
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．
60．What is the writer's opinion about books and computers？B
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．
分析 這篇短文主要講述了書籍的產(chǎn)生和變化及在人類社會發(fā)展中知識和思想傳播的巨大作用．
解答 56．D 細節(jié)理解題：根據(jù)第一段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．描述，可知作者在睡覺前都要看著墻上的海報，故選D．
57．A 細節(jié)理解題：根據(jù)第二段Paper was first created about 2，000 years ago，描述，可知報紙是在大約兩千年前產(chǎn)生的．故選A．
58．D 細節(jié)理解題：根據(jù)短文第二段But in those days，books could only be produced one at a time by hand．As a result，they were expensive and rare．描述，可知書籍貴的原因是，書籍那時只能手寫，而且一次只能寫一張，故選D．
59．C 細節(jié)理解題：根據(jù)短文第三段As a result，more people learned to read．After that，knowledge and ideas spread quickly．描述，可知在書籍變得便宜之后，更多的人喜歡閱讀，之后，知識和思想傳播得更迅速．故選C．
60．B 作者態(tài)度題：根據(jù)短文最后一段No…，可知作者認為書籍不會被電腦取代，故選B．
點評 對閱讀理解能力的測試是英語考試中必不可少的測試項目，主要考查學(xué)生對于不同體裁或不同題材語言材料的理解能力，以及通過材料的閱讀，對材料中信息的捕獲能力．這些能力的提高，需要同學(xué)們多多訓(xùn)練．
