A few years ago, at the height of the dotcom boom, it was widely assumed that a publishing revolution, in which the printed word would be supplanted by the computer screen, was just around the corner. It wasn’t: for many, there is still little to match the joy of cracking the spine of a good book and settling down for an hour or two of reading. But a recent flurry of activity by big technology companies—including Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo!—suggests that the dream of bringing books online is still very much alive.

   The digitising of thousands of volumes of print is not without controversy. On Thursday November 3rd, Google, the world’s most popular search engine, posted a first instalment of books on Google Print, an initiative first mooted a year ago. This collaborative effort between Google and several of the world’s leading research libraries aims to make many thousands of books available to be searched and read online free of charge. Although the books included so far are not covered by copyright, the plan has attracted the ire of publishers.

   Five large book firms are suing Google for violating copyright on material that it has scanned and, although out of print, is still protected by law. Google has said that it will only publish short extracts from material under copyright unless given express permission to publish more, but publishers are unconvinced. Ironically, many publishers are collaborating with Google on a separate venture, Google Print Publisher, which aims to give readers an online taste of books that are commercially available. The searchable collection of extracts and book information is intended to tempt readers to buy the complete books online or in print form.

   Not to be outdone, Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has unveiled plans for its own foray into the mass e-book market. The firm, which began ten years ago as an online book retailer, now sells a vast array of goods. No doubt piqued that Google, a relative newcomer, should impinge upon its central territory, Amazon revealed on Thursday that it would introduce two new services. Amazon Pages will allow customers to search for key terms in selected books and then buy and read online whatever part they wish, from individual pages to chapters or complete works. Amazon Upgrade will give customers online access to books they have already purchased as hard copies. Customers are likely to have to pay around five cents a page, with the bulk going to the publisher.

   Microsoft, too, has joined the online-book bandwagon. At the end of October, the software giant said it would spend around $200m to digitise texts, starting with 150,000 that are in the public domain, to avoid legal problems. It will do so in collaboration with the Open Content Alliance, a consortium of libraries and universities. (Yahoo! has pledged to make 18,000 books available online in conjunction with the same organisation.) And on Thursday, coincidentally the same day as Google and Amazon announced their initiatives, Microsoft released details of a deal with the British Library, the country’s main reference library, to digitise some 25m pages; these will be made available through MSN Book Search, which will be launched next year.

   注（1）：本文選自Economist, 11/04/2005

   注（2）：本文習題命題模仿對象為2004年真題Text 1。

   1． What is attitude towards online books by big technology companies?

    [A] Reserved

    [B] Proud

    [C] Confident

    [D] Indifferent

   2． Which of the following is NOT an online book service?

    [A] Yahoo Library

    [B] MSN Book Search

    [C] Google Print

    [D] Amazon Pages

   3． The expression “just around the corner” (Line 2, Paragraph 1) means that _______.

    [A] Something is very close.

    [B] There is something in the corner.

    [C] Something is impossible to happen.

    [D] Something is going to happen soon.

   4． What is the publishers’ attitude towards the service of onlin book?

    [A] Apprehansive

    [B] Ambivalent

    [C] Respectful

    [D] Indifferent

   5． What is the weak point of online book service?

    [A] It is not easy to use the service to search books.

    [B] Users need to pay for reading all book contents.

    [C] It cannot provide books of copyright for free.

    [D] The books online are not of good quality.

   篇章剖析

    本文是一篇說明文，主要討論了當今各大網(wǎng)絡技術公司紛紛推出在線圖書服務的計劃和行動。第一段簡單回顧了曾經(jīng)一度非常流行的一個理念——“印刷革命”，從而引出話題。第二段介紹了Google的在線圖書計劃；第三段則描寫了圖書出版上對于在線圖書服務的各種矛盾的態(tài)度；第四段介紹了亞馬遜公司的在線圖書計劃；而第五段則介紹了微軟在同一領域的行動。

   詞匯注釋

   supplant [sE`plB:nt] v. 取代，代替        unveil [Qn`veil] vi. 顯露, 除去面紗

   crack [krAk] v. (使)破裂, 裂紋, (使)爆裂   foray [`fCrei] n. 襲擊

   spine [spain] n. 脊骨, 書脊              mass [mAs] n. 大眾

   flurry [`flQri] n. 一陣風，一陣           array [E`rei] n. 排列, 大批

   instalment [in`stC:lmEnt] n. 連載；連續(xù)劇 pique [pi:k] vt. 傷害...自尊心, 使...生氣

   initiative [i`niFiEtiv] n. 提議，提案       impinge [im`pindV] v. 侵害；侵入

   moot [mu:t] vt. 提出...供討論            bulk [bQlk] n. 大批, 大多數(shù)

   sue [sju:] v. 提出訴訟, 提出請求         bandwagon [`bAnd9wAgEn] n. 樂隊花車, 流行

   violate [`vaiEleit] vt. 違犯, 侵犯          consortium [kEn`sC:tjEm] n. 社團, 協(xié)會, 聯(lián)盟

   extract [iks`trAkt] n. 摘錄, 選粹          conjunction [kEn`dVQNkFEn] n. 聯(lián)合, 關聯(lián)

   tempt [tempt] vt. 誘惑, 引誘, 吸引       coincidental [kEuinsiEdentl] adj. 一致的, 巧合的

   outdo [aut`du:] v. 勝過

   難句突破

   At the end of October, the software giant said it would spend around $200m to digitise texts, starting with 150,000 that are in the public domain, to avoid legal problems.

   主體句式  The software giant said …

   結構分析  這個句子看似復雜，其實結構非常簡單。said的后面是微軟的聲明內容，逗號后面starting 引導的這個短語是用來補充說明微軟的計劃，而下一個逗號to引導的不定式則是用來補充說明前面的這個短語。

   句子譯文  10月下旬，這個軟件業(yè)巨頭稱將斥資2億美元用于書籍電子化，首期項目包括15萬本屬于公共領域的書籍，以避免法律糾紛。

   題目分析

   1．C. 態(tài)度題。文章第一段比較后一句話談到印刷革命的夢想依然充滿了活力，而且全文都在談論各大網(wǎng)絡技術公司爭先恐后地推出了在線書籍的服務，可見他們的態(tài)度還是非常樂觀的。

   2．A. 細節(jié)題。文章各段依次介紹了Google、亞馬遜和微軟的在線圖書服務，但是沒有介紹雅虎。

   3．D. 語義題。根據(jù)該短語所在的上下文意思，可以推出意為印刷革命“很快就要發(fā)生”，因此答案為D。

   4．B. 態(tài)度題。文章第三段中提到，一些圖書出版公司反對在線圖書的服務，認為該服務侵犯了圖書版權。而同時另一些出版商卻開始與Google等網(wǎng)絡技術公司合作來提供再現(xiàn)圖書的服務。這說明出版?zhèn)儗τ谶@個問題的看法也是非常矛盾、搖擺不定的。

   5．C. 細節(jié)題。縱觀全文，各個段落中多次提到這些網(wǎng)絡公司為了防止侵犯版權，都只免費提供那些已經(jīng)不再受版權限制的公共書籍，這說明版權是一個很大的限制問題。因此答案為C。其中B選項錯誤的原因是在文章第二段中，Google的在線圖書服務中讀者能夠免費下載到一些書的全部內容。D選項錯誤的原因是，例如在比較后一段，微軟與大英圖書館聯(lián)合推出了在線圖書服務，這說明這些書籍的質量應該是上佳的。

   參考譯文

   在幾年前信息泡沫時代的高潮中，人們普遍認為一場由電腦屏幕代替?zhèn)鹘y(tǒng)印刷的出版革命即將掀起。但這并沒有發(fā)生：打開一本好書噼啪地敲書脊、并且專心致志的花一兩個小時來看書，這種樂趣是電腦無法相提并論。但比較近這些大技術公司－包括Google, Amazon, 微軟和雅虎－卻表示將書籍帶入到互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的夢想依然充滿了活力。

   將數(shù)以千計的印刷版書籍電子化并不是毫無爭議。11月3日星期四的時候，經(jīng)過了一年的籌劃準備，業(yè)界比較受歡迎的搜索引擎Google在其Google Print上發(fā)布了首期書目。Google和幾個全球領先的研究性圖書館共同合作，意在使讀者能夠在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上搜索到大量的書籍并且能夠免費閱讀。雖然目前這相關些書籍不在版權保護的范圍內，但該計劃依然引起了許多出版商的憤怒。

   五大圖書出版公司正在控告Google因掃描一些讀物而侵犯了版權，盡管這些書籍已停止印刷，但它們仍受到法律的保護。Google聲稱對于那些受到版權保護書籍只會發(fā)布簡短的摘錄，在取得出版商明確的許可之前不會發(fā)布更多的信息，但這并沒有說服出版商。有意思的是，現(xiàn)在很多出版商都與Google的一個分公司Google Print Publisher合作，目的在于為用戶提供有償?shù)木W(wǎng)上閱讀服務。這些可以搜索到的書目摘要和部分信息意在吸引讀者購買在線書籍的完整版本或是印刷版。

    為了保持領先地位，世界上比較大的網(wǎng)上零售商亞馬遜（Amazon）已經(jīng)計劃將要進軍大眾電子書籍市場。這個10年之前誕生的在線書籍零售目前銷售的產品種類極其廣泛。毫無疑問，由于Google這個后來者進軍亞馬遜的中心地帶，亞馬遜不甘落后、于是在星期四宣布將提供兩項新的服務。Amazon Pages允許用戶在選定的書籍中用關鍵字進行查詢，然后用戶還可以選擇購買或是在線閱讀書中的任何一部分，包括幾頁內容、幾個章節(jié)甚至是整本書。Amazon Upgrade 在用戶購買印刷版書籍后為其提供該書的電子版。用戶可能需要支付每頁5美分的費用，這將為出版商帶來巨大的收益。

    微軟也加入了這場在線書籍的流行趨勢。10月下旬，這個軟件業(yè)巨頭稱將斥資2億美元用于書籍電子化，首期項目包括15萬本屬于公共領域的書籍，以避免法律糾紛。微軟的合作伙伴是Open Content Aliance，一個由許多大學和圖書館組成的聯(lián)盟（雅虎也已宣稱與這個聯(lián)盟合作發(fā)布了18000冊在線書籍）。巧合的是，在Google和亞馬遜發(fā)布其新計劃的同一天，即星期四，微軟公布了與英國主要參考書圖書館大英博物館的詳細合作計劃。該計劃將電子化2500萬頁相關書籍，到明年用戶就可以通過MSN Book Search使用這項服務。