Today’s teenage generation has been brought up surrounded by one single stereotype (刻板印象): the so-called MTV generation. We’re all constantly glued to our phone and TV screens, the boys are addicted to video games and the girls prefer posting pictures of themselves on the Internet. Both could watch TV series all day and both could do without a book. How accurate is this stereotype?

It turns out that most of them could actually do without a book. “The Kids & Family Reading Report” found that only 24% of 12 to 14-year-olds read five to seven days a week. The percentage goes down to a mere 17% when it comes to 15 to 17-year-olds. And it may come as no surprise that 76% of the former visit social media websites on a daily basis.

Reading frequently has many great benefits: it develops your verbal abilities (especially for kids, it will greatly improve their vocabulary), it improves your focus and concentration, it enhances your imagination, it reduces stress and it’s entertaining! Not only that but research has shown that people who read for pleasure show a greater appetite to engage with stories, texts and learning.

The popular TV show “Game of Thrones” (《权利的游戏》) certainly seems to have motivated a lot of teens to buy George R.R. Martin’s best-selling book series. Sales skyrocketed after the show was first put on in 2011, selling 9 million copies in one year, with many teens and young adults believed to have contributed to this statistic. In contrast, the book series had “only” sold 5 million from the first book’s release till 2011.

With nowadays’ teenagers apparently constantly glued to their screens, TV series “Game of Thrones” seems to have inspired a lot of them to take a break and read a book. Maybe teenagers will end up being the ones solving the issue after all.

【小题1】Why does the author mention “The Kids & Family Reading Report” in paragraph 2?

A．To prove a fact about teenagers’ reading.

B．To stress the importance of daily reading.

C．To introduce some social media websites.

D．To encourage teenagers to read more each week.

【小题2】What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The importance of verbal abilities.	B．The ways to read for pleasure.
C．The advantages of frequent reading.	D．The appetite to engage with learning.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “skyrocketed” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Dropped slightly.	B．Increased quickly.
C．Changed frequently.	D．Remained surprisingly.

【小题4】How does the author think of the TV series “Game of Thrones”?

A．Positive.	B．Defensive.
C．Cautious.	D．Doubtful.