There is a certain inevitability that ebook sales have now overtaken paperback sales on Amazon's US site. Amazon's Kindle 2 is so light and so cheap that it's easy to see why people have rushed to buy it. Though I'm still not keen on the design of the Kindle, it is a vast improvement on its predecessor and certainly tolerable. Beyond the device itself, Amazon has done a great job of rolling out Kindle apps, ensuring that people like me-who have an iPad but not a Kindle-can still join in the fun. Once you're into the Kindle ecosystem, Amazon locks you in tightly-just as Apple does with its iTunes/ iPod ecosystem. It's so easy to buy from Amazon's store and the books are so cheap that it's not worth the effort of going elsewhere.

　　While I remain opposed to Amazon's DRM (數(shù)字版權(quán)管理)-indeed, I'm opposed to DRM on any ebooks-I have to admit that the implementation is so smooth that most Kindle users won't care at all that their ebooks can't be moved to other devices.

　　The ebook trend is nowhere near peaking. Over the next five years we can expect to see more and more readers move away from printed books and pick up ebooks instead. But I don't think that will mean the death of the printed book.

　　There are some who prefer printed books. They like having shelves filled with books they've read and books they plan to read; they like the feel of the book in their hands and the different weights and typefaces and layouts of different titles. In other words, they like the physical form of the book almost as much as the words it contains.

　　I can sympathise with those people. As I wrote earlier this week, my ideal situation would be for publishers to bundle ebooks with printed ones-in much the same way that film studios btmdie DVDs with digital copies of films. There's no reason to think that lovers of printed books will change their minds. There will undoubtedly be fewer of them as time goes by because more people will grow up with ebooks and spend little time with printed ones. However, just as there are people who love vinyl records(黑膠唱片), even if they were born well into the CD era, there will still be a dedicated minority who love physical books.

　　Since there are fewer of these people, that will mean fewer bookshops and higher prices for printed books but I don't think the picture is entirely bleak. There is scope for smaller print runs of lavishly designed printed books and bookshops aimed at book lovers, rather than the Stieg Larsson-reading masses. With mainstream readers out of the printed book market, book lovers might even find they get a better experience.

　　56. What can be inferred from Paragraph One?

　　A.Most people buy Kindle 2 mainly because of its low price.

　　B.The author of the passage is a loyal customer of Apple products.

　　C.Amazon's Kindle 2 surpassed Kindle 1 in designing.

　　D.The sales of ebook outnumbered those of paperback in the U. S.

　　57. According to the passage, the reason why the author opposes to Amazon's DRM is that ______

　　A.ebooks can only be purchased on Amazon. com

　　B.Kindle books are not compatible with other electronic reading devices

　　C.once implemented, ebooks can't be transferred to other equipments

　　D.ebooks installed on Kindle 2 can't be edited freely

　　58. It can be learned that the trend of ebooks______

　　A.will come to stop any time soon

　　B.will reach the summit in the near future

　　C.will meet its heyday when printed books die

　　D.has already reached its peak

　　59. Why does the author believe that the surging sales of ebooks won't mean the death of the printed book?

　　A.Because a minority will stick to their love of printed books.

　　B.Because the majority of book lovers won't change their minds.

　　C.Because people always hold nostalgic feelings towards printed books.

　　D.Because people will return to the printed books as time goes by.

　　60. According to the author, which of the following is TRUE about the future of printed books?

　　A.They will be bundled with ebooks.

　　B.They will no longer be available in the market.

　　C.They will be sold in small quantity and high quality.

　　D.They will be redesigned to cater to the masses.

　　參考答案：

　　56.C),。本題考查對第一段的理解,。定位句指出“盡管我還是對Kindle的設(shè)計(jì)提不起興趣. 但較之第一代確實(shí)有了相當(dāng)大的改進(jìn)，還是非常不錯(cuò)的”,，即Kindle 2在設(shè)計(jì)上要優(yōu)于Kindle l,，故答案為 C)。

　　57.C),。本題考查作者對亞馬遜的數(shù)字版權(quán)管理持反對態(tài)度的原因,。定位句提到“我不得不承認(rèn)安裝過程實(shí)在是太便捷了，以至于大多數(shù)Kindle用戶并不介意電子書無法安裝到其他設(shè)備上”,，由此可知,，電子書一旦安裝后，不可以在其他設(shè)備上再次使用,，C)中的transfer,，equipments分別對應(yīng)定位句中的move和devices，故為答案,。

　　58.B),。本題考查電子書的發(fā)展趨勢。定位句提到,，電子書的發(fā)展趨勢正在無限接近頂峰,。換言之，電子書的發(fā)展趨勢很快就會(huì)接近頂峰,，故B)為答案,。

　　59.A),。本題考查作者認(rèn)為電子書不會(huì)造成紙質(zhì)書籍消亡的原因。定位句提到“然而,，正如有些生活在CD時(shí)代卻依然熱愛黑膠唱片的人一樣,，會(huì)有少數(shù)人仍然堅(jiān)定地愛著紙質(zhì)書”，由此可知,，仍有一部分人會(huì)堅(jiān)持購買紙質(zhì)書籍,，故答案為A)。