Brazil A nation of non-readers MANY Brazilians cannot read. In 2000, a quarter of those aged 15 and older were functionally illiterate. Many simply do not want to. Only one literate adult in three reads books. The average Brazilian reads 1.8 non-academic books a yearless than half the figure in Europe and the United States. In a recent survey of reading habits, Brazilians came 27th out of 30 countries, spending 5.2 hours a week with a book. Argentines, their neighbours, ranked 18th. In rare accord, government, businesses and NGOs are all striving in different ways to change this. On March 13th the government launched a National Plan for Books and Reading. This seeks to boost reading, by founding libraries and financing publishers among other things. The Brazil Reader Institute, an NGO, brings books to people: it has installed lending libraries in two S o Paulo metro stations, and is planning one in a Carnival samba school. It is starting to be common to see characters in television soap operas shown reading. Cynics note that Globo, the biggest broadcaster, is also a big publisher of books, newspapers and magazines. One discouragement to reading is that books are expensive. At S o Paulos book fair this week, O Cdigo Da Vinci was on sale for 32 reaismore than a tenth of the official minimum monthly wage. Most other books have small print-runs, pushing up their price. But Brazilians indifference to books has deeper roots. Centuries of slavery meant the countrys leaders long neglected education. Primary schooling became universal only in the 1990s. Radio was ubiquitous by the 1930s; libraries and bookshops have still not caught up. The electronic experience came before the written experience, says Marino Lobello, of the Brazilian Chamber of Books, an industry body. All this means that Brazils book market has the biggest growth potential in the western world, reckons Mr Lobello. That notion has attracted foreign publishers, such as Spains Prisa-Santillana, which bought a local house last year. American evangelical publishers are eyeing the market for religious books, which outsell fiction in Brazil. But reading is a difficult habit to form. Brazilians bought fewer books in 2004289m, including textbooks distributed by the governmentthan they did in 1991. Last year the director of Brazils national library quit after a controversial tenure. He complained that he had half the librarians he needed and termites had eaten much of the collection. Along with crime and high interest rates, that ought to be a cause for national shame.
上一篇: 大学英语四级考试阅读常见考点出处
下一篇: 英语四级仔细阅读训练
国际英语资讯:Russia reports over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours
感谢你的对手
不走寻常路
9年陕西省中考满分作文赏析及点评
国际英语资讯:Turkeys COVID-19 cases exceed 146,000 as Irans tally surpasses 116,000
打网球,太棒了!
战胜自己
国内英语资讯:Xi Focus: Xi chairs leadership meeting to discuss draft government work report
国际英语资讯:Japan should be prepared for long battle against coronavirus: Abe
美国新冠感染病例居高不下 高校担忧国际生源流失
生命,并没有结束
送你一轮明月
国际英语资讯:Italys active COVID-19 infections continue downward trend, as govt mulls reopening inter
国内英语资讯:Chinese mainland expounds on measures supporting Taiwan-funded enterprises
国内英语资讯:Xi calls for more international support for Africas COVID-19 fight
不走寻常路
国内英语资讯:China urges consistent efforts to keep COVID-19 from rebounding
战胜自己
从那一刻起
梦醒时分迎朝阳