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）：本文选自Economist, 11/04/2005

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2004年真题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

    本文是一篇说明文，主要讨论了当今各大网络技术公司纷纷推出在线图书服务的计划和行动。第一段简单回顾了曾经一度非常流行的一个理念——“印刷革命”，从而引出话题。第二段介绍了Google的在线图书计划；第三段则描写了图书出版上对于在线图书服务的各种矛盾的态度；第四段介绍了亚马逊公司的在线图书计划；而第五段则介绍了微软在同一领域的行动。

词汇注释

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

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

spine [spain] n. 脊骨, 书脊              mass [mAs] n. 大众

flurry [`flQri] n. 一阵风，一阵           array [E`rei] n. 排列, 大批

instalment [in`stC:lmEnt] n. 连载；连续剧 pique [pi:k] vt. 伤害...自尊心, 使...生气

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

moot [mu:t] vt. 提出...供讨论            bulk [bQlk] n. 大批, 大多数

sue [sju:] v. 提出诉讼, 提出请求         bandwagon [`bAnd9wAgEn] n. 乐队花车, 流行

violate [`vaiEleit] vt. 违犯, 侵犯          consortium [kEn`sC:tjEm] n. 社团, 协会, 联盟

extract [iks`trAkt] n. 摘录, 选粹          conjunction [kEn`dVQNkFEn] n. 联合, 关联

tempt [tempt] vt. 诱惑, 引诱, 吸引       coincidental [kEuinsiEdentl] adj. 一致的, 巧合的

outdo [aut`du:] v. 胜过

难句突破

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.

主体句式  The software giant said …

结构分析  这个句子看似复杂，其实结构非常简单。said的后面是微软的声明内容，逗号后面starting 引导的这个短语是用来补充说明微软的计划，而下一个逗号to引导的不定式则是用来补充说明前面的这个短语。

句子译文  10月下旬，这个软件业巨头称将斥资2亿美元用于书籍电子化，首期项目包括15万本属于公共领域的书籍，以避免法律纠纷。

题目分析

1．C. 态度题。文章第一段最后一句话谈到印刷革命的梦想依然充满了活力，而且全文都在谈论各大网络技术公司争先恐后地推出了在线书籍的服务，可见他们的态度还是非常乐观的。

2．A. 细节题。文章各段依次介绍了Google、亚马逊和微软的在线图书服务，但是没有介绍雅虎。

3．D. 语义题。根据该短语所在的上下文意思，可以推出意为印刷革命“很快就要发生”，因此答案为D。

4．B. 态度题。文章第三段中提到，一些图书出版公司反对在线图书的服务，认为该服务侵犯了图书版权。而同时另一些出版商却开始与Google等网络技术公司合作来提供再现图书的服务。这说明出版们对于这个问题的看法也是非常矛盾、摇摆不定的。

5．C. 细节题。纵观全文，各个段落中多次提到这些网络公司为了防止侵犯版权，都只免费提供那些已经不再受版权限制的公共书籍，这说明版权是一个很大的限制问题。因此答案为C。其中B选项错误的原因是在文章第二段中，Google的在线图书服务中读者能够免费下载到一些书的全部内容。D选项错误的原因是，例如在最后一段，微软与大英图书馆联合推出了在线图书服务，这说明这些书籍的质量应该是上佳的。

参考译文

在几年前信息泡沫时代的高潮中，人们普遍认为一场由电脑屏幕代替传统印刷的出版革命即将掀起。但这并没有发生：打开一本好书噼啪地敲书脊、并且专心致志的花一两个小时来看书，这种乐趣是电脑无法相提并论。但最近这些大技术公司－包括Google, Amazon, 微软和雅虎－却表示将书籍带入到互联网的梦想依然充满了活力。

将数以千计的印刷版书籍电子化并不是毫无争议。11月3日星期四的时候，经过了一年的筹划准备，业界最受欢迎的搜索引擎Google在其Google Print上发布了首期书目。Google和几个全球领先的研究性图书馆共同合作，意在使读者能够在互联网上搜索到大量的书籍并且能够免费阅读。虽然目前这相关些书籍不在版权保护的范围内，但该计划依然引起了许多出版商的愤怒。

五大图书出版公司正在控告Google因扫描一些读物而侵犯了版权，尽管这些书籍已停止印刷，但它们仍受到法律的保护。Google声称对于那些受到版权保护书籍只会发布简短的摘录，在取得出版商明确的许可之前不会发布更多的信息，但这并没有说服出版商。有意思的是，现在很多出版商都与Google的一个分公司Google Print Publisher合作，目的在于为用户提供有偿的网上阅读服务。这些可以搜索到的书目摘要和部分信息意在吸引读者购买在线书籍的完整版本或是印刷版。

    为了保持领先地位，世界上最大的网上零售商亚马逊（Amazon）已经计划将要进军大众电子书籍市场。这个10年之前诞生的在线书籍零售目前销售的产品种类极其广泛。毫无疑问，由于Google这个后来者进军亚马逊的中心地带，亚马逊不甘落后、于是在星期四宣布将提供两项新的服务。Amazon Pages允许用户在选定的书籍中用关键字进行查询，然后用户还可以选择购买或是在线阅读书中的任何一部分，包括几页内容、几个章节甚至是整本书。Amazon Upgrade 在用户购买印刷版书籍后为其提供该书的电子版。用户可能需要支付每页5美分的费用，这将为出版商带来巨大的收益。

    微软也加入了这场在线书籍的流行趋势。10月下旬，这个软件业巨头称将斥资2亿美元用于书籍电子化，首期项目包括15万本属于公共领域的书籍，以避免法律纠纷。微软的合作伙伴是Open Content Aliance，一个由许多大学和图书馆组成的联盟（雅虎也已宣称与这个联盟合作发布了18000册在线书籍）。巧合的是，在Google和亚马逊发布其新计划的同一天，即星期四，微软公布了与英国主要参考书图书馆大英博物馆的详细合作计划。该计划将电子化2500万页相关书籍，到明年用户就可以通过MSN Book Search使用这项服务。