今天脑子不在状态 早上一个半小时的小组训练加下午的两杯咖啡没午觉让人觉得晕乎乎。字数写超orz
Hashtag: TEM8writing
Passage 1
A recent study reveals that people especially young people are reading far less literature—novels, plays, and poems—than they used to. This is troubling because the trend has unfortunate effects for the reading public, for culture in general, and for the future of literature itself.While there has been a decline in book reading generally, the decline has been especially sharp for literature. This is unfortunate because nothing else provides the intellectual stimulation that literature does. Literature encourages us to exercise our imaginations, empathize with others, and expand our understanding of language. So by reading less literature, the reading public is missing out on important benefits.Unfortunately, missing out on the benefits of literature is not the only problem. What are people reading instead? Consider the prevalence of self-help books on lists of best sellers. These are usually superficial poorly written, and intellectually undemanding. Additionally, instead of sitting down with a challenging novel, many persons are now more likely to turn on the television, watch a music video, or read a Web page. Clearly, diverting time previously spent in reading literature to trivial forms of entertainment has lowered the level of culture in general.The trend of reading less literature is all the more regrettable because it is taking place during a period when good literature is being written. There are many talented writers today, but they lack an audience. This fact is bound to lead publishers to invest less in literature and so support fewer serious writers. Thus, the writing as well as the reading of literature is likely to decline because of the poor standards of today's readers.
Passage 2
It is often said that people are reading less literature today than they used to. What should of this? Well first, a book doesn't have to be literature to be intellectually stimulating. Science writing history,. political analysis and so forth aren't literature perhaps, but they are often of high quality and these kinds of books can be just as creative and well-written as a novel or a play They can stimulate the imagination. So don't assume that someone who isn't reading literature isn’t reading a good book.But let's say that people aren't just spending less time with literature, they are also spending less time with books in general. Does that mean that the cultures is in decline? No, there's plenty of culturally valuable material that isn't written - music and movies, for example. Are people wasting their time when they listen to a brilliant song or watch a good movie? Do these non-literary activities lower cultural standards? Of course not. Culture has changed. In today's culture, there are many forms of expression available other than novels and poems. And some of these creative forms speak more directly to contemporary concerns than literature does.Finally, it's probably true that there's less support for literature today than in earlier generations. But don't be too quick to blame the readers. Sometimes it's the author's faults. Let's be honest. A lot of modern literature is intended to be difficult to understand. Here is not much reason to suppose that earlier generations of readers would have read a lot of today's literature either.
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word：476
Nowadays, diving figures of literature readership, especially the number of the youth, means that less and less people could enjoy and benefit from the dazzling and edifying novels, plays and poems that inspire our imaginations, sympathies and are wholesome to our language proficiency. They are bumped out by the dry and insipid screen entertaining programs as well as supercilious and moon-shiny self-help books those days. In addition, ripple effect of it is on the way, forming a vicious cycle, looming the future of both the literature and readers. However, where there is an agreement, there is a disagreed one. Some other voices think that literature is not the only choice of making people think in a more imaginative way. Other forms of work with high quality can do the same work, namely, science piece, political articles and so forth. Besides that, non-literary treasure such as music and movies could also have a uplifting and positive effect on readers’ lives. It’s also crucial to understand that authors of literature need to take part of the responsibilities because most of current works from them are not worthy of reading and do not deserve the credit.
To my personal perspective, I agree with both sides to some extent. I believe nourishing words are the same as the music, sharing by every individual without boundaries, confining by no genres. That means any works of the authors are rewarding as long as they can apply active and positive influence on the reader and be the light that guides. For example, many professional and instructive materials, such as the Seven Habits of Highly Efficient People and the McKinsey Working Style, are not literature, but does not stand in the way of making readers benefit from them. There is no denying that people now are preoccupied with all sizes of screen, but where there is a will, there is a way. One can improve oneself no matter how distracting the climate is: determined learner could pick up useful knowledge from the screen rather than simply kill the spare time; a resolved watcher can choose to take online class in lieu of watching opera soaps; a zealous reader could have a inspiring communication with old illustrious writers any time. In a word, the genres of reading materials, forms are nothing but the reader’s own decisions, nothing and nobody else should play the scapegoat here. Because all the bad side effects are all the results of external choices, not the internal desires and decisions. Therefore, as qualified readers, we should be responsible for both the authors and ourselves. It is paramount and necessary to handpick the works that are sound for our souls and make full use of our every day widgets, namely, the phones, PCs, pads, etc. We should make them serve us instead of being salves of them.