阅读 to oneself is a modern activity which was almost unknown to the scholars of the classical and medieval worlds,while during the fifteenth century the term 'reading' undoubtedly meant 阅读 aloud.Only during the nineteenth century did silent 阅读 become commonplace.

One should be wary,however,of assuming that silent 阅读 came about simply because 阅读 aloud was a distraction to others.Examinations of factors related to the historical development of silent 阅读 have revealed that it became the usual mode of 阅读 for most adults mainly because the tasks themselves changed in character.

The last cnetury saw a steady gradual increase in literacy and thus in the number of readers.As the number of readers increased,the number of potential listeners declined and thus there was some reducion in the need to read aloud.As 阅读 for the benefit of listeners grew less common,so came the flourishing of 阅读 as a private activity in such public places as libraries,railway carriages and offices,where 阅读 aloud would cause distraction to other readers.

Towards the end of the century,there was still considerable argument over whether 图书 should be used for information 或者 treated respectfully and over whether the 阅读 of materials such as newspapers was in some way mentally weakening.Indeed,this argument remains with us still in education.However,whatever its virtues,the old shared literacy culture had gone and was replaced 由 the printed mass media on the one hand and 由 图书 and periodicals for a specialised readership on the other.

由 the end of the twentieth century,students were being recommended to adopt attitudes to 图书 and to use 阅读 skills which were inappropriate,if not impossible,for the oral reader.The social,cultural and technological changes in the century had greatly altered what the term 'reading' implied.