Indians are the world"s biggest bookworms, reading on average 10.7 hours a week, twice as long as Americans, according to a new survey.
The NOP World Culture Score index surveyed 30,000 people in 30 countries from December 2004 to February 2005.
Analysts said self-help and aspirational reading could explain India"s high figures.
Time spent on reading meant fewer hours watching TV and listening to the radio - India came fourth last in both.
The NOP survey of 30,000 consumers aged over 13 saw China and the Philippines take second and third place respectively in average hours a week spent reading books, newspapers and magazines.
Britons and Americans scored about half the Indians" hours and Japanese and Koreans were even lower - at 4.1 and 3.1 hours respectively.
R Sriram, chief executive officer of Crosswords Bookstores, a chain of 26 book shops around India, says Indians are extremely entrepreneurial and reading "is a fundamental part of their being".
"They place a great deal of emphasis on reading. That"s the reason why they do well in education and universities abroad," he said.
"People educate themselves and deal with change throughout their lives. And the way to do that is to themselves with books."
Mr Sriram says social changes have also made a difference: "Earlier people could turn to their parents and grandparents for advice. Now they turn to books."
最新一項調查顯示，全世界最愛讀書的是印度人，他們每周花在讀書上的時間平均達到10.7小時，是美國人的兩倍。
NOP世界文化評分指數在2004年12月至2005年2月期間對30個國家的三萬人進行了調查。
分析師們指出，自助讀書、熱愛讀書是印度人均讀書時間超過別的國家的主要原因。
把時間用于讀書意味著看電視和聽廣播的時間就相對減少，印度人用在看電視和聽廣播的時間都排在倒數第四位。
NOP調查的`三萬名消費者的平均年齡超過13歲。中國人和菲律賓人每周用在讀書、讀報及看雜志上的時間分列第二和第三名。
英國人和美國人的每周讀報時間僅為印度人的一半，而日本和韓國則更低，分別為4.1小時和3.1小時。
在印度擁有26家圖書連鎖店的克勞斯沃茲書店執行總裁斯利拉姆表示，印度人非常具有開創精神，讀書是他們生活中不可缺少的一部分。
他說：“他們非常注重讀書。這就是為什么他們的學習都很棒，在國外大學學習時表現也很出色。”
“人們進行自我教育，應對生活中出現的變化。要做到這點就必須通過讀書來充實自己。”
斯利拉姆先生表示，社會變革也起到一定影響，“以前人們會從父母或祖父母那里尋求幫助，而現在他們求助于書本。”
Vocabulary:
bookworm: one who spends much time reading or studying(極愛讀書者，一個把很多時間花在讀書和學習上的人)
entrepreneurial: means having the qualities that are needed to succeed as an entrepreneur(具有企業家精神的)
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