Why should we bother reading a book?All children say this occasionally．Many among our educated classes are also asking why，in a world of accelerating technology，increasing time poverty and diminishing attention spans，should they invest precious time sinking into a good book?
The beginnings of an answer lie in the same technology that has posed the question． Psychologists from Washington University used brain scans to see what happens inside our heads when we read stories．They found that“readers mentally simulate each new situation encountered in a narrative”．The brain weaves these situations together with experiences from its own life to create a new mental synthesis．Reading a book leaves US with new neural pathways．
The discovery that our brains are physically changed by the experience of reading is something many of US will understand instinctively，as we think back to the way an extraordinary book had a transformative effect on the way we viewed the world．This transformation only takes place when we lose ourselves in a book，abandoning the emotional and mental chatter of the real world．That’S why studies have found this kind of deep readingmakes US more empathetic，or as Nicholas Cart puts it in his essay，The Dreams of Readers，“more alert to the inner ljves nf others”．
This is significant because recent scientific research has also found a dramatic fall in empathy among teenagers in advanced western cultures．We can’t yet be sure why this is happening，but the best hypothesis is that it is the result of their immersion in the internet． So technology reveals that our brains are being changed by technology，and then offers a potential solution--the book．
Rationally，we know that reading is the foundation stone of all education，and therefore an essential underpinning of the knowledge economy．So reading is——0r should be——an aspect of public policy．But perhaps even more significant is its emotional role as the．starting point for individual voyages of personal development and pleasure．Books can open up emotional and imaginative landscapes that extend the corridors of the web．They can help create and reinforce our sense of self．
If reading were to decline significantly，it would change the very nature of our species．If we，in the future，are no longer wired for solitary reflection and creative thought，we will be diminished．But as a reader and a publisher，I am optimistic．Technology throws up as many solutions as it does challenges：for every door it closes，another opens．So the ability，offered by devices like e-readers，smartphones and tablets，to carry an entire library in your hand is an amazing opportunity．As publishers，we need to use every new piece of technology to embed long—form. reading within our culture．We should concentrate on the message．Not agonize over the medium．
According to the psychologists from Washington University，reading a book will_______ ．
A.create new mental experience that is totally different from real—life experience
B.make readers simulate what they have read in real life
A．But scientists are still working to improve on that，and among them is social psychologist Aldert Vrij of the University of Portsmouth in England．Vrij has been using akey insight from his field to improve interrogation methods．In short，the truth
B．When Vrij and his colleagues asked volunteers what their offices looked like．after instructing half to tell the truth about their occupations and half to lie，both truth tellersand liars gave the same amount of detail in their verbal responses．But whe
C．All these tricks may seem like overkill when we think about the fictional detectives weknow，including Holmes Sherlock，who seem able to ferret out every falsehood theyhear without using any strategies other than their intuition．But in real life，such p
D．And in fact，that is just what happens in the lab：Vrij ran an experiment in which half the liars and truth tellers were instructed to recall their stories in reverse order．When observers later looked at videotapes of the complete interviews，they corr
E．Psychological scientists are fascinated by keen lie spotter．Detecting lies and liars isessential to effective policing and prosecution of criminals，but it is maddeninglydifficult．Most of us can correctly spot barely more than half of all lies and tr
F．Another strategy that could be surprisingly effective is to ask suspects to draw a picture． Putting pencil to paper forces people to give spatial information-something that most liars have not prepared for as part of planning t
G．Here are a few strategies that Vrij and his colleagues have been testing in the laboratory． One intriguing strategy is to demand that suspects tell their stories in reverse．Narrating backward increases cognitive load because it
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