Reading aloud was more common in the medieval world because ______

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

Reading to oneself is a modern activity which was almost unknown to the scholars of the classical and medieval worlds, while during the fifteenth century the term “reading” undoubtedly meant reading aloud. Only during the nineteenth century did silent reading become commonplace.

One should be wary, however, of assuming that silent reading came about simply because reading aloud was a distraction to others. Examinations of factors related to the historical development of silent reading have revealed that it became the usual mode of reading for most adults mainly because the tasks themselves changed in character.

The last century saw a steady gradual increase in literacy and thus in the number of readers. As the number of readers increased, the number of potential listeners declined and thus there was some reduction in the need to read aloud. As reading for the benefit of listeners grew less common, so came the flourishing of reading as a private activity in such public places as libraries, railway carriages and offices, where reading aloud would cause distraction to other readers.Towards the end of the century, there was still considerable argument over whether books should be used for information or treated respectfully and over whether the reading of materials such as newspapers was in some way mentally weakening. Indeed, this argument remains with us still in education. However, whateverits virtues, the old shared literacy culture had gone and was replaced by the printed mass media on the one hand and by books and periodicals for a specialised readership on the other.

By the end of the twentieth century, students were being recommended to adopt attitudes to books and to use reading skills which were inappropriate, if not impossible, for the oral reader. The social, cultural and technological changes in the century had greatly altered what the term “reading” implied.

Reading aloud was more common in the medieval world because ______.

• A. people relied on reading for entertainment
• B. silent reading had not been discovered
• C. there were few places available for private reading
• D. few people could read to themselves

• Câu 2: Mã câu hỏi: 39159

  The word “commonplace” in the first paragraph mostly means “______”.

  • A. for everybody’s use
  • B. most preferable
  • C. attracting attention
  • D. widely used

• Câu 3: Mã câu hỏi: 39160

  The development of silent reading during the last century indicated ______.

  • A. an increase in the average age of readers
  • B. an increase in the number of books
  • C. a change in the nature of reading
  • D. a change in the status of literate people

• Câu 4: Mã câu hỏi: 39161

  Silent reading, especially in public places, flourished mainly because of ______.

  • A. the decreasing need to read aloud
  • B. the development of libraries
  • C. the increase in literacy
  • D. the decreasing number of listeners

• Câu 5: Mã câu hỏi: 39162

  The phrase “a specialized readership” in paragraph 4 mostly means “______”.

  • A. a requirement for readers in a particular area of knowledge
  • B. a limited number of readers in a particular area of knowledge
  • C. a reading volume for particular professionals
  • D. a status for readers specialized in mass media

• Câu 6: Mã câu hỏi: 39163

  The phrase “oral reader” in the last paragraph mostly means “a person who ______”.

  • A. is good at public speaking
  • B. takes part in an audition
  • C. practices reading to an audience
  • D. is interested in spoken language

• Câu 7: Mã câu hỏi: 39164

  All of the following might be the factors that affected the continuation of the old shared literacy culture EXCEPT ______.

  • A. the inappropriate reading skills 
  • B. the specialized readership
  • C. the diversity of reading materials
  • D. the printed mass media