（友情提示：鼠标拖选单词即时翻译） 2011年高考 英语阅读理解分类汇编 文化教育类

安徽卷 高中英语阅读理解题E
George Prochnik would like the world to put a sock in it. He makes his case in a new book, Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise. Here he explains himself (using his indoor voice):
“We’ve become so accustomed to noise, there’s almost a deep prejudice against the idea that silence might be beneficial. If you tell someone to be quiet, you sound like an old man. But it’s never been more important to find continuing quiet. Silence focuses us, improves our health, and is a key to lasting peace and satisfaction.”
“We need to excite people about the sounds you start to hear if you merely quiet things down a little. During a Japanese tea ceremony, the smallest sounds become a kind of art—the spoons making a light ringing sound on a bowl, the edges of a kimono(和服)brushing against the floor.”
“Deaf people are very attentive(专注的)in almost every aspect of life. If two deaf people are walking together, using sign language, they constantly watch out for each other and protect each other by paying steady attention to the other. They are connected yet also fully aware of their surroundings. Even deaf teenagers! We in the hearing world can learn from them. If we remove the powerful blasts(一阵阵)of noise, we become aware of an extraordinarily rich world around us—of little soft sounds and the sound of footsteps, of bird songs and ice cracking(开裂声). It’s astonishing how beautiful things sound when you can really listen. ”
【文章大意】文章介绍了George Prochnik的新著Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise
和他的观点：在喧嚣的世界中创造一方不太纷扰的环境，这个世界会更美好。