首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
Of all the cuts to public services, few have provoked such loud protests as proposals to close libraries. Petitions and curses h
Of all the cuts to public services, few have provoked such loud protests as proposals to close libraries. Petitions and curses h
admin
2013-06-26
70
问题
Of all the cuts to public services, few have provoked such loud protests as proposals to close libraries. Petitions and curses have been followed by legal challenges. On November 16th a judge in London ruled against plans to close 21 libraries in Gloucestershire and Somerset. Campaigners in Brent, in north-west London, have taken their fight against closures to the Court of Appeal.
Local politicians are startled. Keith Mitchell, leader of Oxfordshire county council, which was forced by public pressure to abandon plans to close many libraries, complained that protesters seemed much less upset by cuts to social care and rubbish collection. Visits to libraries have declined by 6. 7% in the past five years, according to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
But this is to underestimate the symbolic role libraries play as a visible public good. A 2010 poll found that 69% of people had been to a library in the past year. More than 80% view libraries as " essential" or " very important".
Yet savings have to be made somewhere. If library closures cause protests, cuts must be done stealthily. In the 2010-11 fiscal year libraries acquired 7. 4% fewer adult fiction books and 13. 7% fewer non-fiction books than they had the year before. An older, less appealing stock could speed the decline in library visits.
Yet hard times are also forcing innovations that may help libraries in the long run. In a quiet success for David Cameron’s "Big Society" , the number of volunteer librarians has risen from 12,708 to 21,642 in the past five years. That trend has its critics, especially among professional librarians. But staff account for at least half the cost of running a library. Other savings could probably be made by consolidating England’s 151 library authorities, and by making better use of technology. "London has 32 library authorities but just one police authority," marvels Desmond Clarke, a library campaigner.
An entirely different option is to pour money into a single edifice in the hope that it will have a benign effect on the neighborhood. England’s most popular library is the Norfolk & Norwich Millennium, a multi-storey space in a sparkling new building with a restaurant and gallery, which lured nearly 1. 5m people last year. As the anchor of the development, the library attracts users who then linger and spend money nearby. Birmingham is building a new £ 188.8m library, the flagship of a development in the city centre that is due to open in 2013. Many of the city’s other 39 libraries could face cuts in service, including shorter opening hours and fewer staff. Libraries are not dead—just a little dusty.
In the author’s opinion, public libraries in Britain faces a______future.
选项
A、bleak
B、rosy
C、uncertain
D、despairing
答案
C
解析
整篇文章似乎都在讨论英国图书馆的没落,在经济危机的背景下,图书馆似乎必然会陷入无人问津的尴尬境地。但是文章有好几处显示了作者对于公共图书馆的信心,特别是在最后一段,有些地方政府通过建立图书馆带动当地经济发展的行为让作者看到了英国图书馆的曙光,因此他在最后一句话中说“Libraries are not dead—just a little dusty.”作者既没有悲观绝望,也不怀有十分的信心,这里[C]选项uncertain一词能十分准确地概括作者的态度。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/vKd4777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Whenlabratssleep,theirbrainsrevisitthemazetheynavigatedduringtheday,accordingtoanewstudy(1)_____yesterday,o
Whenlabratssleep,theirbrainsrevisitthemazetheynavigatedduringtheday,accordingtoanewstudy(1)_____yesterday,o
Inmychildren’slifetimes,Ibelievegorillas,chimpanzeesandorangutanswillallbecomeextinctinthewild.Sothequestion
Inmychildren’slifetimes,Ibelievegorillas,chimpanzeesandorangutanswillallbecomeextinctinthewild.Sothequestion
PrinceKlemensismentionedinthefirstparagraphtoGooglewillplayadecisiveroleinthemarketforweb-videoadvertising
Theenergycontainedinrockwithintheearth’scrustrepresentsanearlyunlimitedenergysource,butuntilrecentlycommercial
Manypeopleseemtothinkthatsciencefictionistypifiedbythecoversofsomeoftheoldpulpmagazines,theBug-EyedMonster
Youaregoingtoreadalistofheadingsandatextabouthappiness.Choosethemostsuitableheadingfromthelistforeachnum
Youaregoingtoreadalistofheadingsandatextabouthappiness.Choosethemostsuitableheadingfromthelistforeachnum
随机试题
《北京条约》第2条第1款对“表演者”下了定义,表演者所享有的具体权利不包括()
既能运脾消食,固精止遗,又能化坚消石的药物是
A.1~2周B.临产前24小时C.先兆临产时D.妊娠12周内E.3~7天建立围生期保健卡的时间是()。
关于材料质量管理的说法,正确的有()。
下列法律后果中,属于民事责任承担方式的是()。
甲公司丢失一张汇票,挂失止付后得知乙银行在收到挂失止付通知书之前,已经向持票人付款,乙银行不再承担责任。()
古代警察的特点是()。
要说服别人,我们就要让别人相信;要让别人相信,我们就必须让人觉得可靠:要让人觉得可靠,我们就要诚实。由此可见:
经济体制改革是全面深化改革的重点,核心问题是处理好政府和市场的关系,使市场在资源配置中起决定性作用和更好地发挥政府作用。政府的职责和作用主要是()
下列哪个选项不是FilterInputStream的子类?
最新回复
(
0
)