2. 外语
  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 relevant, 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.
    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 comfy sofa. The files disappear from the device when they are due (which means no late fees, nor worry about lost or damaged books).
    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 burn 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. Some 35m titles were checked out through OverDrive in 2011, and the company now sends useful data on borrowing behaviour to participating publishers. 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 tweaking ( 对……稍作调整) 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. The story of the library e-book is a nail-biter.
What was shown in Pew survey?
选项 A、The desire to collect popular books inspires people to buy them.
B、E-readers in America prefer to buy their e-books from libraries.
C、More than half of Americans are book borrowers and book buyers.
D、People with library cards usually have to wait for popular e-books.
答案D
解析 第2段第2句提到皮尤研究中心最近进行的一项研究，下一句提到，这项调查指出，很少有人知道大多数图书馆都有电子书，而热门书籍总是有太多的人等着借阅，这可能是促使人们购买的原因。由此可见，皮尤研究中心的这项研究表明，有图书馆借阅证的读者往往需要为借阅一本热门书籍而等待，故D)符合文意，为答案。研究中没有提到the desire to collect popular books，故排除A)。B)与原文不相关，予以排除。C）是利用第2句中的more than half of Americans with library cards设置的干扰项，文中说的是在持有图书借阅证的美国人中有多于一半的人说他们更愿意购买电子书，故C)与文意不符。
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