As children return to schools in Sweden, many of their teachers are paying more attention to some traditional skills. These include reading paper books, quiet reading time and handwriting practice. Teachers are spending less time on digital devices (数码设备), online research and typing skills.

The return to traditional ways of learning might be the answer to the question raised by experts. They have questioned the country’s dependence on electronic technology in education.

Lotta Edholm is the Swedish Minister for Schools. “Swedish students need more textbooks,” Edholm said in March. “Paper books are important to their learning.” Edholm said that the government planned to stop digital learning for children under the age of six.

Swedish students’ reading ability scores were higher than the European average (平均水平). But an international test on fourth-grade reading levels showed that the reading ability of Swedish children had decreased (降低) between 2016 and 2021.

The use of digital learning tools in schools also has drawn concern of the United Nations’ education and culture agency. In a report published last month, UNESCO encouraged countries to speed up the Internet connections at schools. But it also said that technology in education should be used in a proper way.

Online teaching is a highly debated (有争议的) subject across Europe and in other parts of the world. Poland, for example, just had a program to give a laptop (笔记本电脑) paid for by the government to each student starting from the fourth grade.

To improve Swedish students’ reading ability, the Swedish government will spend $64.7 million buying books for the country’s schools this year. Another $45.3 million will be spent yearly in 2024 and 2025 to speed up the return of textbooks to schools.

【小题1】What are many teachers in Sweden paying more attention to?

A．Typing skills.

B．Handwriting practice.

C．Digital devices.

D．Online research.

【小题2】What have Swedish experts questioned?

A．The traditional ways of learning.

B．The advantages of online teaching.

C．The dependence on electronic technology in education.

D．The importance of paper books to children’s learning.

【小题3】Which country decided to give free laptops to students starting from the 4th grade?

A．Poland.

B．Britain.

C．America.

D．Sweden.

【小题4】What does the last paragraph tell us?

A．What the Swedish government will do to improve students’ reading ability.

B．What schools in Sweden will do to to make students learn better.

C．When the Swedish government will provide free textbooks for students.

D．How much money the Swedish government has spent on education.

【小题5】What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．The government planned to stop digital learning for children.

B．Swedish students’ reading ability had decreased between 2016 and 2021.

C．Countries should speed up the Internet connections at schools.

D．Sweden brings books and handwriting practice back to school.