Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

THE BOOK IN THE 21st CENTURY

How many times in the last hundred years or so have people talked of the imminent death of the book? Films were an early threat because they were so effective at telling stories in a visual way. Next there was radio, (26) stepped into the mid-twentieth century and provided such an alternative to books as drama, documentaries and discussions. When television arrived, many people believed that it would finish the book off. Nowadays, (27) the threat by TV, the book is thought to be endangered by computers and the Internet, and by other technological attractions (28) the CD and the video game, too.

Surely there are now reasons why (29) book ought to be dead, or at least very badly injured. If so, why does it not show proper respect for these reportedly less literate times (30) die out? There is clearly more than a single answer to this question. Firstly, we have more leisure time than we (31) to, and people are generally living longer, which means there is more time to do more (including reading books). As (32) as this, there is the strength of the book as a tradition. We are all too dismissive of traditions in our modern world, but they can have very strong pull (33) us.

Added to this, the book is such a practical tool: it doesn't cost too (34) , it is usually small enough to carry around, and it can easily be (35) . We will never go without books, because they have served us so well for so long.

Điền vào ô 26

Life on Earth is disappearing fast and will continue to do so unless urgent action is taken.