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  3. Like a tired marriage, the relationship between libraries and publishers has long been reassuringly dull. E-books, however, are

Like a tired marriage, the relationship between libraries and publishers has long been reassuringly dull. E-books, however, are

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问题     Like a tired marriage, the relationship between libraries and publishers has long been reassuringly dull. E-books, however, are causing heartache. Libraries know they need digital wares if they are to remain valuable, but many publishers are too wary of piracy and lost sales to co-operate. Among the big six, only Random House and HarperCollins license e-books with most libraries. The others have either denied requests or are reluctantly experimenting. In August, for example, Penguin will start a pilot with public libraries in New York.
    Electronic borrowing is awfully convenient. Unlike printed books, which must be checked out and returned to a physical library miles from where you live, Electronic book files can be downloaded at home. Digital library catalogues are often browsed at night, from a comfy sofa. The files disappear from the device when they are due (which means no late fees, nor angst about lost or damaged tomes).
    E-lending is not simple, however. There are lots of different and often incompatible e-book formats, devices and licences. Most libraries use a company called OverDrive, a global distributor that secures rights from publishers and provides e-books and audio files in every format. Some 35 million titles were checked out through OverDrive in 2011, and the company now sends useful data on borrowing behavior to participating publishers. Yet publishers and libraries are worried by Over-Drive’s market dominance, as the company can increasingly dictate fees and conditions.
    Publishers were miffed when OverDrive teamed up with Amazon, the world’s biggest online bookseller, last year. Owners of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader who want to borrow e-books from libraries are now redirected to Amazon’s website, where they must use their Amazon account to secure a loan. Amazon then follows up with library patrons directly, letting them know they can "Buy this book" when the loan falls due.
    So publishers keep tweaking their lending arrangements in search of the right balance. Random House raised its licensing prices earlier this year, and HarperCollins limits libraries to lending its titles 26 times. Penguin plans to keep new releases out of libraries for at least six months, and each book will expire after a year. Hachette is engaged in some secret experiments, and the others are watching with bated breath. In Britain the government will soon announce a review of the matter. The story of the library e-book is a nail-biter.
Judging from the context, the word "miffed" (Para. 4) most probably means______.
选项 A、excited
B、annoyed
C、worried
D、delighted
答案B
解析 含义题。根据题干关键词“miffed”(Para．4)定位到第四段。通读文章可知，第四段是对第三段的进一步延伸，第三段最后一句“因为OverDrive公司可以提高授权费用和条件，所以这家公司的市场占有率让出版商和图书馆担忧”承上启下，所以miffed应与worried“担忧”同义，但程度更深。miffed是形容词，意为“有点儿恼火，有点儿不高兴”，即slightly angry or upset，同义词是annoyed，故B项为正确答案。A项“激动的，兴奋的”、C项“担心的”和D项“高兴的”均不正确。
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