Part of the problem with reading is that it is a skill which is not appreciated in most developed societies. This is an attitude that has forced a large number of the population in most Western nations to illiteracy （文盲）. It might surprise people in countries outside the West to learn that in the United Kingdom, and indeed in some other European countries, the literacy rate has fallen to below that of so-called less developed countries.

　　There are also forces against reading in our modern society. It is not seen as cool among a younger generation more at home with computer screens or e-libraries.

　　And reading is not very appealing. Students at school, college or university, who read a lot are called bookworms. The term indicates the contempt （轻蔑） in which reading and learning are held in certain circles or subcultures. It is a criticism, like all such attacks, driven by the insecurity of those who are not literate or are semiliterate. Criticism is also a means, like all bullying, of keeping peers in place so that they do not step out of line. Peer pressure among young people is so powerful that it often kills any attempts to change attitudes towards habits like reading.

　　But the negative senses apart, is modern Western society standing Canute-like （自以为是地） against an uncontrollable drop? I think not.

　　72．What is the main idea of Paragraph 1?

　　A．Reading plays an important role in education.

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