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  3. Several years ago, at the height of the dotcom boom, it was widely assumed that a publishing revolution, in which the printed wo

Several years ago, at the height of the dotcom boom, it was widely assumed that a publishing revolution, in which the printed wo

admin2011-03-11  31
问题     Several years ago, at the height of the dotcom boom, it was widely assumed that a publishing revolution, in which the printed word would be supplanted by the computer screen, was just around the corner. It wasn’t: for many, there is still little to match the joy of reading a printed book and settling down for one hour. But recently some big technology companies, including Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo, contend that the dream of bringing books online is still very much alive.  
    The digitizing of thousands of volumes of print is not without controversy. On Thursday, Google, the world’ s most popular search engine, posted a first installment of books on Google Print. This collaborative effort between Google and several world’s leading research libraries aims to make books available to be searched and read online free of charge. Although the books included so far are not covered by copyright, the plan has attracted the rage of publishers.  
    Five large book firms are suing Google for violating copyright on material that it has scanned and, although out of print, is still protected by law. Google has said that it will only publish short extracts from material under copyright unless given express permission to publish more, but publishers are unconvinced. Ironically, many publishers are collaborating with Google Print Publisher, which aims to give readers an online taste of books that are commercially available. The searchable collection of extracts and book information is intended to tempt readers to buy the complete books online or in print form.  
    Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has made plans to enter the mass e-book market by selling a vast array of goods. Given that Google should impinge upon its central territory, Amazon revealed that it would introduce two new services. Amazon Pages will allow customers to search for key terms in selected books and then buy and read online whatever part they wish. Amazon Upgrade will give customers online access to books they have already purchased as hard copies. Customers are likely to have to pay five cents a page, with the bulk going to the publisher.  
    Microsoft has also joined the online-book trend. In October, the software giant said it would spend around $ 200 million to digitize texts, starting with I50,000 that are in the public domain, to avoid legal problems. It will do so in collaboration with the Open Content Alliance. And on Thursday, coincidentally the same day as Google and Amazon announced their initiatives, Microsoft released details of a deal with the British Library, the country’s main reference library, to digitize some 25 million pages ; these will be made available through MSN Book Search, which will be launched next year.
Which of the following is true of Google according to the text?
选项 A、It will invariably provide free online reading for its customers.
B、It has become the world’s most popular book publisher.
C、It facilitates books reading and searching to a larger extent.
D、It has gained permission to publish the complete books online.
答案C
解析 第二段提到了Google在网上为读者提供免费阅读和搜索服务；第三段提到了Google的做法遭到了一些出版商的反对，但很多出版商与Google合作为读者提供有偿的网上阅读服务，由此可见，Google在很大程度上方便了人们的阅读和搜索。选项A，invariably(总是)，过于绝对了，也与后面的Google正在提供有偿阅读服务的说法矛盾。选项B，Google是世界上最受欢迎的搜索引擎，但不是最受欢迎的图书出版商。选项D没有提及它获得了整套书籍出版的许可，而是说这些可以搜索到的内容摘要和书的信息意在吸引读者购买在线书籍的完整版本或是印刷版，故答案选C。   
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