Read these sentences from paragraph $4$ of the passage.

Today, most people on the planet can read. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, about $84$ percent of the world's adults were literate in $2011....$

Which words from these sentences help you understand the meaning of the word literate?

UNESCO Institute for Statistics

can read

most people

the world's adults

Reading Passage

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E$-$Books or Print Books? That Is the Question.

by Kim Nguyen

$1$ Teenagers curled in armchairs or jet passengers reaching cruising altitudes often reach for a paperback or a print magazine. Today, they are just as likely to grab an e$-$reader or a tablet and settle down for a cozy, digital read.

A photo shows an e$-$reader leaning against an open book

$2$ The e$-$book revolution is here. One online bookselling behemoth reported it sells more e$-$books than print books. In $2010$ alone, the sales of digital books increased by a whopping $164$ percent. In $2013,$ the Association of American Publishers announced that e$-$books accounted for $20$ percent of all book sales.

$3$ So$,$ what's the story with both of these kinds of books and, ultimately, which one is better?

How It All Began

$4$ Almost everyone agrees that the first printed book was the Diamond Sutra. The Diamond Sutra was printed in China in $868$ AD$.$ With the later invention of the printing press, reading became increasingly accessible to larger numbers of people. Today, most people on the planet can read. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, about $84$ percent of the world's adults were literate in $2011,$ and the global youth literacy rate topped $89$ percent. What have all these people been reading? According to Google, we have had many choices when it comes to books. Google recently estimated that throughout human history about $130$ million books have been written. Now think of the books that have sold many, many copies. Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, for example, has sold over $200$ million copies. And that's just one title. No matter how you do the math, there are numerous print books out there.

$5$ The identity of the first e$-$book is more controversial. Although seeds were sown as early as $1940,$ many historians agree that e$-$books began in the $1960$s$.$ In $1971,$ Michael Hart of the University of Illinois launched Project Gutenberg to make electronic versions of classic texts available to anyone with access to a computer. By $1992,$ Sony had launched the Data Discman, an electronic book reader. When novelist Peter James published his thriller Host on two discs in $1993,$ it was billed as the $$world$\text{'}$s first electronic novel.$$ However, the reception was grim. $$I got absolutely pilloried,$$ says James. $$I was on Today $($a morning TV show$)$ accused of killing the novel $..\mathrm{.}99$ percent of the press was negative.$$

The Advantages of Print Books

$6$ Killing the novel? Now there's a plot for a gripping murder mystery.

$7$ It seems clear that some people feel strongly about the superiority of printed books over e$-$books. Why? First and foremost, when readers choose print books, they choose to experience the physicality of the book: the cover that encloses and protects what's inside, its relative heft, the carefully chosen typeface and creamy$-$colored paper. Print book readers enjoy the feel of the book in their hands as well as the texture and edges of each page. Every book is unique. Hotels offer copies of the Bible with black leather covers and gilded pages; a full set of the printed Encyclopedia Britannica weighs as much as a human being; a softcover version of On the Road is pliable enough to carry in a pocket.

$8$ A major advantage of a print book, proponents say, is that you don't need electricity. With a print book, you never need a battery charge. While e$-$book supporters suggest that e$-$books are greener than paper books, they should examine these facts. According to treehugger.com, producing e$-$reading devices involves tens of thousands of workers in more than thirty companies on three continents. In one year, e$-$reader production released $2,350$ million kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Furthermore, less than $10$ percent of these devices are recycled; broken and outdated devices end up in landfills. When you consider the production and disposal of e$-$readers, e$-$books may not be greener than print books after all.

The Advantages of E$-$Books

$9$It$\text{'}$s much easier to purchase an e$-$book spontaneously,$$ M$.$K$.$ of Boston, reports. $$They are less of a commitment, easier to discard, and there is no need for bookshelves!$$ They can be delivered in seconds, are less expensive to buy, and don't require transportation costs or create pollution due to shipping books across the country and around the world.

$10$ People who travel adore e$-$books; in fact, travelers may be the e$-$book's strongest market. As B$.$R$.$ of Staunton, Virginia, comments:

I first read an e$-$book when I traveled last summer. Th