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  3. Despite student requests, digital options and congressional intervention, the tab for textbooks keeps growing in what is now an

Despite student requests, digital options and congressional intervention, the tab for textbooks keeps growing in what is now an

admin2012-10-30  36
问题     Despite student requests, digital options and congressional intervention, the tab for textbooks keeps growing in what is now an $ 8 billion industry. Prices are so high that some college students are trying to get by without purchasing the required books.     Why is something so fundamental as the price of a school book so difficult to control? Although college registration has increased in the past 10 years, textbook sales have been dropping. Not surprisingly , publishers and authors will do whatever they can to maintain profit levels. So, for example, as sales of used books have increased, prices for new books have climbed.
Compared to printed texts, e-books cost less to produce, yet they don’t change the bottom line dramatically. For one thing, they are sold separately to each user, eliminating used books and shared copies. And they require hardware, which students or schools must purchase and maintain. There are also indications that many students still prefer printed books. This is likely to change over time, but that means e-books must be introduced gradually.
    College bookstores profit from sales, as do some professors who make students buy books they have written. Also, teachers seem too willing to require new, "revised" editions of textbooks, even though the changes could be the least. In doing so, they wipe out the market for used copies.
    A congressional advisory committee identified several factors that cause prices to rise. The most damaging is that the primary choosers of books are not the primary users; that is, teachers usually select the books, but students pay for them. Second, students often are resigned to increases in prices because they are generally hostage (不由自主的人) to professors’ selections. Interestingly, many European schools demand lower prices from publishers. The committee discovered that one popular economics textbook cost $ 126 in the U. S. but $76 in Great Britain.
    A good first step in controlling college book costs would be for schools to comply with the law. Another would be for administrators to insist that teachers avoid ordering new editions that offer only cosmetic changes.
    Ultimately, wider use of electronic formats will loosen the grip of a few large publishing companies , leading to greater competition and presumably lower prices. Meanwhile, colleges and universities should wake up to the fact that the best way to avoid having $ 200 books is to stop requiring students to buy them. A new chapter in textbook pricing can’t be written quickly enough.
What is the result of requiring new and revised editions of textbook?
选项 A、Professors will earn more money.
B、The market of used copies shrinks.
C、Students learn less than before.
D、There are more copies of books.
答案B
解析 事实细节题。由第四段最后一句可知，这样做的话(即老师们似乎喜欢要求学生购买新的、“修订版”的教材)，二手教材市场将会被摧毁，故B)正确。A)“教授们将会挣更多钱”不符合原文意义，由原文可知，一些教授能获得经济利益的原因在于他们会让学生购买他们编写的教材，而这和修订版的教材无关，故排除；C)“学生们学到的东西比以前少了”与原文意义不符，修订版的教材所做的变化可能和旧版的差别不火，这只是意味着学生可能学不到更多的新东西，而并不是说学生们学到的东西更少了，故排除；D)“书的数量更多了”在原文中并未提及，故排除。
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大学英语四级

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