The National Endowment for the Arts recently released the
the results of its “Reading at Risk” survey, which described
movement of the American public away from books and
literature and toward television and electronic media.
According to the survey. “reading is on the decline on every 62.__________
region, within every ethnic group, and at every educational level.“
The day the NEA report released, the U.S. House, in a tie 63.___________
vote, upheld the government's right to obtain bookstore and
library records under a provision of the USA Patriot Act. The
House proposal would have barred the federal government
from demand library records, reading lists, book customer 64.___________
lists and other material in terrorism and intelligence investigations.
These two events are completely unrelated to, yet they 65.___________
echo each other in the message they send about the place of
books and reading in American culture. At the heart
of the NEA survey is the belief in our democratic 66.__________
system depends on leaders who can think critically, analyze
texts and writing clearly. All of these are skills promoted by 67.__________
reading and discussing books and literature. At the same time,
through a provision of the Patriot Act, the leaders of our
country are unconsciously sending the message that reading
may be connected to desirable activities that might 68._________
undermine our system of government rather than helping
democracy flourish.
Our culture's decline in reading begin well before the 69._________
existence of the Patriot Act. During the 1980s' culture wars,
school systems across the country pulled some books from
library shelves because its content was deemed by parents 70.__________
and teachers to be inappropriate. Now what started in schools
across the country is playing itself out on a nation stage and 71.________
is possibly having an impact on the reading habits of the
American public.

The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health.Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat ,it has, at the same time,made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well,especially cancer of the colon. Different cultures are more likely to cause certain different illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures. That food is related to illness is nto a new discovery. In 1945, about 35 years ago, government researchers realized that nitrates, commonly used to preserve color in meats,and other food additives,caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things on the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to beef and living animals, and because of this ,penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cow. Sometimes similar drugs are given to animals not for medical purposes,but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.