2014年6月英语四级阅读段落匹配题真题及答案

2014年6月英语四级阅读段落匹配题真题及答案TheEndoftheBook?

ByJohnSteeleGordon

A).Amazon,byfarthelargestbooksellerinthecountry,reportedonMay19thatitisnowsellingmorebooksinitselectronicKindleformatthanintheoldpaper-and-inkformat.Thatisremarkable,consideringthattheKindlehasonlybeenaroundforfouryears.E-booksnowaccountfor14percentofallbooksalesinthiscountryandareincreasingfarfasterthanoverallbooksales.E-booksalesareup146percentoverlastyear,whilehardbacksalesincreased6percentandpaperbacksdecreased8percent.

B).Doesthisspellthedoomofthephysicalbook?Certainlynotimmediately,andperhapsnotatall.WhatitdoesmeanisthatthebookbusinesswillgothroughatransformationinthenextdecadeorsomoreprofoundthananyithasseensinceGutenbergintroducedprintingfrommoveabletypeinthe1450s.

C).Physicalbookswillsurelybecomemuchrarerinthemarketplace.Massmarketpaperbacks,whichhavebeendecliningforyearsanyway,willprobablydisappear,aswillhardbacksformysteries,thrillers,"romancefiction,"etc.Suchbooks,whichonlyrarelyendupinpermanentcollectionseitherprivateorpublic,willprobablyonlybeavailablease-bookswithinafewyears.Hardbackandtradepaperbacksfor"serious"nonfictionandfictionwillsurelylastlonger.Perhapsitwillbecomethemarkofanauthortoreckonwiththatheorsheisstillpublishedinhardcopy.

D).Asforchildren'sbooks,whoknows?Children'sbooksarelikedogfoodinthatthepurchasersarenottheconsumers,sothemarket(andthemarketing)isinherentlystrange.

E).Forcluestothebook’sfuture,let’slookatsomeexamplesoftechnologicalchangeandseewhathappenedtotheoldtechnology.

F).Onetechnologyreplacesanotheronlybecausethenewtechnologyisbetter,cheaper,orboth.Theegreaterthedifferential,thesoonerandmorethoroughlythenewtechnologyreplacestheold.Printingwithmoveabletypeonpaperreducedthecostofproducingabookbyordersofmagnitudecomparedwiththeold-fashionedoneshandwrittenonvellum,whichcomesfromsheepskin.ABible—tobesure,backup.SteamcapturedtheNorthAtlanticpassengerbusinessfromsailinthe1840sbecauseofitsmuchgreaterspeed.Butsteamshipsdidn'tlosetheirriggingandsailsuntilthe1880s,becauseearlymarineengineshadanastyhabitofbreakingdown.Untilshipsbecamelargeenough(andenginessmallenough)tomounttwoenginessidebyside,theyneededtokeepsails.(Thehighcostofsteamandthelesserneedforspeedkeptthemajorityoftheworld’soceanfreightmovingbysailuntiltheearlyyearsofthe20thcentury.)

M).Thenthereisthefireplace.Centralheatingwasubiquitousinupper-andmiddle-classhomesbythesecondhalfofthe19thcentury.Butfunctioningfireplacesremaintothisdayapowerfulsellingpointinahouseorapartment.Isuspectthereasonisadeeplyingrained,atavisticloveoffire.Firewasoneoftheearliestmajortechnologicaladvancesforhumankind,providingheat,protection,andcookedfood(whichismucheasiertoeatanddigest).Humancontroloffiregoesbackfarenough(overamillionyears)thatevolutioncouldhaveproducedageneticpredispositiontowardsfireasacentralaspectofahumanhabitation(justconsiderthephrase"hearthandhome").

N).Books—especiallybookstheaveragepersoncouldafford—haven’tbeenaroundlongenoughtoproduceevolutionarychangeinhumans.Buttheyhaveapowerfulholdonmanypeoplenonetheless,aholdextendingfarbeyondtheirliterarycontent.Attheirbest,theyareworksofartandthereisatactilepleasureinbooksnecessarilylostine-bookversions.Theabilitytoquicklyflipthroughpagesisalsolost.Andaroomwithbooksinitinduces,atleastinsome,afeelingnotdissimilartothatofafireinthefireplaceonacoldwinter’snight.

O).ForthesereasonsIthinkphysicalbookswillhavealongerexistenceasacommercialproductthansomecurrentlypredict.Likeswords,bookshavesymbolicpower.Likefireplaces,theyinduceasenseofcomfortandwarmth.And,perhaps,similartosails,theymakeausefulbackupforwhenthelightsgoout.

46.Authorsstillpublishedinprintedversionswillbeconsideredimportantones.

答案：D

解析：对应D段末句。printedversions(纸质版本)对应hardcopy(印刷版本)，beconsideredimportantones(被认为重要)对应becomethemark…toreckon(认为是标志)。

47.Somepeoplearestillinfavorofprintedbooksbecauseofthesenseoftouchtheycanprovide.

答案：N

解析：对应N段第三句提到的tactilepleasureinbooks(书本的触觉上的愉悦)。

48.Theradiobusinesshaschangedgreatlyandnowattractsmorelisteners.

答案：J

解析：对应J段最后两句。changedgreatly(巨大改变)对应averydifferentbusiness(相当不同的行业)，attractsmorelisteners(吸引更多听众)对应enlargedtheiraudience(扩大受众面)。

49.Contrarytomanypeople’spredictionofitsdeath,thefilmindustrysurvived.

答案：H

解析：对应H段第二句。manypeople’sprediction对应widelypredicted。

50.Remarkablechangeshavetakenplaceinthebookbusiness.

答案：A

解析：这是对A段所描述的电子书在近几年内大幅增长的现象的概括。

51.Oldtechnologysometimescontinuestoexistbecauseofitsreliability.

答案：L

解析：对应L段第三句。continuestoexist(继续存在)对应remain(保持)，reliability(可靠)对应backup(支持、后盾)。

52.Theincreaseofe-booksaleswillforcethebookbusinesstomakechangesnotseenforcenturies.

答案：B

解析：对应B段第三句。makechanges(做出改变)对应gothroughatransformation(经历转变)，notseenforcenturies是对该句后部分时间表达的概括。

53.Anewtechnologyisunlikelytotaketheplaceofanoldonewithoutaclearadvantage.

答案：F

解析：对应F段第一句。aclearadvantage(明显优势)岁对better,cheaperorboth的概括。ta