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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

admin2014-06-30  54
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 relevant, but many publishers are too careful about 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.
    Publishers are wise to be nervous. Owners of e-readers are exactly the customers they need: book-lovers with money—neither the devices nor broadband connections come cheap. If these wonderful people switch to borrowing e-books instead of buying them, what then?
    Electronic borrowing is awfully convenient. Unlike printed books, which must be checked out and returned to a physical library miles from where you live, book files can be downloaded at home. Digital library catalogues are often browsed at night, from a comfortable sofa. The files disappear from the device when they are due.
    Awkwardly for publishers, buying an e-book costs more than renting one but offers little extra value. You cannot resell it, lend it to a friend or bum it to stay warm. Owning a book is useful if you want to savour(品尝)it repeatedly, but who reads "Fifty Shades of Grey" twice?
    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. Yet publishers and libraries are worried by OverDrive’s market dominance, as the company can increasingly dictate fees and conditions.
    Library boosters argue that book borrowers are also book buyers, and that libraries are vital spaces for readers to discover new work. Many were cheered by a recent Pew survey, which found that more than half of Americans with library cards say they prefer to buy their e-books. But the report also noted that few people know that e-books are available at most libraries, and that popular titles often involve long waiting lists, which may be what inspires people to buy.
    So publishers keep adjusting 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. Hachette is engaged in some secret experiments, and the others are watching with held breath. In Britain the government will soon announce a review of the matter. The story of the library e-book is a nail-biter.
According to the recent Pew survey, ______.
选项 A、more than half of Americans choose e-books over physical copies
B、people with library cards advocate borrowing rather than buying books
C、people with library cards have to wait to borrow popular e-books
D、the desire to collect a popular book inspires people to buy it
答案C
解析 事实细节题。本题考查对最近皮尤研究的结论的理解。定位句指出，这份调查发现，很少有人知道大多数图书馆里也有电子书资源，而且热门书的后面总是跟着长长的借阅预约名单，这或许就是促使人们买书的原因，故答案为C)。A)“超过一半的美国人选择电子书而不是纸质版本的”、B)“有借阅证的人提倡借阅而不是买书”，由本段第二句可知，是超过一半持有借阅证的美国人喜欢买电子书，主语范围扩大，而且是更喜欢购买而不是借阅，故均排除；D)“收藏一本受欢迎的书的渴望促使人们去购买”与原文意思不符，故排除。
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