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高考压轴冲刺练 九 限时40分钟 Ⅰ. 阅读理解 Speed reading is a necessary and vital skill in the Internet age. We skim over articles, e-mails and tweets to try to grasp key words and the essential meaning of the text. With so much information available through our electronic devices, it would be impossible to get through everything if we read word by word, line by line. But a new trend calls on people to unplug and enjoy reading slowly, one which claims to have benefits beyond intellectual stimulation. A recent story from The Wall Street Journal reported on a book club in Wellington, New Zealand, where members meet in a cafe and turn off their smart phones. They sink into comfortable chairs and read in silence for an hour. Unlike typical book clubs, the point of the slow reading club isn’t to exchange ideas about certain books, but to get away from electronic devices and read in a quiet, relaxed environment. According to the story, the Wellington book club is just one example of a movement started by book lovers who miss the traditional way of reading. Traditional readers, like Maura Kelly, say a regular reading habit sharpens the mind, improves concentration, reduces stress levels and deepens the ability to understand others. Some of these benefits have been backed up by science. For example, a study of 300 elderly people published by the journal Neurology last year showed that mature people who take part in activities that use their brain, such as reading, suffer less memory loss as they get older. Another study published last year in Science showed that reading novels helps people understand others’ mental states and beliefs—a key skill in building relationships. | 
