1、大学英语四级-92 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：3，分数：100.00)Are we ready for the library of the future?A. Librarians today will tell you their job is not so much to take care of books but to give people access to information in all forms. Since librarians, like so many people, believ
2、e that the entire universe of commerce, communication and information is moving to digital form, they are on a reform to give people access to the Internetto prevent them from becoming second-class citizens in an all-digital world. Something funny happened on the road to the digital library of the f
3、uture, though. Far from becoming keepers of the keys to the Grand Database of Universal Knowledge, today“s librarians are increasingly finding themselves in an unexpected, overloaded role: They have become the general public“s last-resort providers of tech support. B. It wasn“t supposed to be this w
4、ay. Today“s libraries offer a variety of media and social-cultural eventsthey are “blended libraries,“ to use a term created by Kathleen Imhoff, assistant director of the Broward County Library of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At the newly remodeled San Francisco Public Library, the computers are promin
5、ently displayed in the center of the library building while the books are all but hidden on the periphery (外围). Imhoff“s own library has word processing and other types of software for visitors to use, Internet access, audio CDs, videotapes, concerts, lectures, books and periodicals in three forms (
6、print, microfiche and digital). Many libraries have found that this kind of “blending“ is hugely popular in their communities, and librarians explain the changes in their institutions“ roles by pointing to the public demand for these new services. But other trends are at work, too. C. For some time,
7、 libraries have been automating their back-end, behind-the-desk functions for reasons of cost and convenience, just like any other business. Now, the computers have moved out from behind librarians“ desks and onto the floor where the visitors are. This means that, suddenly, library-goers will have t
8、o know how to use those computers. This sounds reasonable enough until you take a close look. Unfortunately, the same technology that cuts costs and relieves librarians of work behind the scenes increases it for the publicand for the librarians at the front desk who have to help the public figure ou
9、t how to use the technology. The unhappy result: People are simply not finding the information they seek. D. If you are just coming to the library to read a book for pleasure and you know what a card catalog is and you have some basic computer skills, then you are going to be OK. But if you are tryi
10、ng to find some specific informationsay, whether software in the classroom helps kids learn better or the causes of lung cancer or the basic procedure for doing a cost-benefit analysis of computer systems (three topics I have actually tried to look up in the San Francisco library)then you“re in trou
11、ble. E. To begin with, library visitors must now be able to type, to use a mouse and a menu and to understand the various types of computer interfaces (terminal text, windows and browsers). It“s also nice if you know 17 different ways to quit a program, which electronic databases you should look in
12、for what kinds of information, the grammar necessary to define your search and the Library of Congress“ controlled vocabulary. After I had been to the new San Francisco library three times, I started keeping a folder of instructions on how to do a keyword search, since I would forget between visits.
13、 F. Probably 50% of the population has never used a computer, fewer know how to type and almost nobody knows anything about electronic databases or searching grammar. As a result, the public library is now engaged in a massive attempt to teach computer literacy to the entire country. Some librarians
14、 compare it to the adult literacy programs the library also sponsors, but this is on a far larger scaleand less closely tied to the library“s traditional mission. The response at each library system has been different. Some libraries actually give courses in word processing, accounting program and s
15、o on. But even at libraries where the staff has resisted becoming computer trainers, they are still forced to devote significant resources to the problem. G. Such has been the case in San Francisco, where people with disabilities can sign up to use the voice-recognition program Dragon Dictatebut onl
16、y if they can prove they already know how to use the software. The librarians have neither the time nor the peculiar skill (nor the time to develop the skill) to teach it to them. At the reference desks, librarians try not to spend a lot of time teaching people the basics of how to use the computer,
17、 but sometimes it“s unavoidable. “We try to get them started,“ says business librarian John Kenney. “We let them do as much as they can on their own and they come get us. It“s certainly a big problem.“ H. The San Francisco library offers classes on its own electronic catalog, commercial periodical i
18、ndexes and the Internet twice a week as well as occasional lectures about the Internet. Although it seems odd to me that people now need to take a two-hour class before they can use the library, the classes are always full. But despite the excellent teachers, two hours is simply not enough to meet t
19、he needs of the students, many of whom have never used a computer before in their lives and many of whom simply can“t type. When I took the class one Tuesday, the man sitting next to me said he has used the library“s computer catalog many times, but he keeps making typing mistakes without knowing it
20、. This unexpectedly throws him into the wrong screens and he doesn“t know how to get back. On the floor, he repeatedly has to ask a librarian for help. I. “Providing technology does not mean people can use the technology,“ says Marc Webb, a San Francisco librarian and one of the teachers. “Half the
21、voters are still trying to read English.“ The library has also had to deal with the practical difficulties of making its catalog accessible via the Internet, a new service many libraries are starting to offer. “It“s absolutely overwhelming,“ Webb says. “Everyone is getting to us with multiple transp
22、orts, they“re all using different software, they have Winsock or Telnet set up differently, and suddenly the library is forced to become a hardware and software help desk. When you“re trying to tell someone over the telephone how to set up Winsock through AOL when this is the first time they“ve ever
23、 used a computer, it“s very difficult.“（分数：30.00）(1).Computers are more prominently displayed than books in San Francisco Public Library.（分数：3.00）(2).Libraries have been automating their back-end, behind-the-desk functions in consideration of cost and convenience.（分数：3.00）(3).Recently, many librarie
24、s are trying to provide the visitors with a new service: making their catalogs accessible via the Internet.（分数：3.00）(4).As 50% of the population may have never used a computer, the public library now has been engaged in computer literacy programs.（分数：3.00）(5).In today“s libraries, the librarians are
25、 playing an unexpected role as a provider of tech support for the public.（分数：3.00）(6).Library visitors have to know how to type and use a mouse if they want to seek information in the modern library.（分数：3.00）(7).If you have some basic knowledge of card catalogue and computer skills, you will be able
26、 to read a book for pleasure.（分数：3.00）(8).The San Francisco library regularly provides classes on computers skills and the Internet.（分数：3.00）(9).Blended libraries are hugely popular in communities at the present time.（分数：3.00）(10).Dragon Dictate is the software which is used to help the disabled in
27、library use.（分数：3.00）Here comes the e-book revolutionA. At what temperature do electronic books catch fire? We“re going to find out sometime this year. E-book sales are about to ignite. On Monday, A is expected to unveil a new version of its Kindle reader. It will probably be a lot better and a litt
28、le cheaper than the first version. But the real news already broke this week: A company spokesman announced that Amazon plans to offer Kindle books on Ceil Phones. This news countered Google“s announcement that the 1.5 million public domain books available on its Google Book Search offering will soo
29、n be available (free, of course) via a new Cell Phone application. B. I believe that Cell Phones will quickly outpace the dedicated e-book readers, including the Kindle, as the platform of choice for e-book readers. Leading the pack? The iPhone, ironically. It“s worth noting that A sold more Kindles
30、 (at least 500,000) in its first year of sales than Apple sold iPods in its first year (378,000). Apple may not understand the value of e-books, but iPhone users will embrace them anyway. The reason is simple: The iPhone has a huge, high-quality screen. And its user base includes millions of people
31、who love to do everything on their iPhones, including reading, which they“re already doing with online content. I (and others) have been predicting for some time that Apple will ship a killer tablet at some point. This device, I believe, will have the iPhone user interface and a super high-quality s
32、creen. It will be ideal for reading e-books as well. C. Just because e-books are available on better (the new Kindle) and more (all Cell Phones) devices doesn“t mean people will read them. But mark my words, read them they will. Six trends will conspire (共同促成) over the next year to drive e-book read
33、ing to levels that will surprise just about everybody. D. The economy is in the tank, and people are looking to cut costs any way they can. An Amazon Kindle pays for itself after the purchase of 20 or 30 books, then starts paying dividends. You save big on books, magazines and newspapers. These savi
34、ngs will grow even more attractive as the recession deepens. E. Interest in protecting the environment just keeps growing and growing. The idea of getting a daily newspaper or a weekly or monthly magazine on paper seems incredibly wasteful to the point of decadence. Environmental consciousness will
35、drive e-book acceptance. F. The book publishing industry is one of the most backward, musty, out-of-date businesses in our economy. While every other kind of information moves at the speed of light, the process of publishing a book is like something from the Middle Ages. For authors, it can take mon
36、ths to even find a literary agent willing to represent their work. Then the agent takes months to find a publisher. Then it takes ages for the publishing company to get the book out there. People are already circumventing (设法回避) all this by self-publishing. The self-publishing industry is the only a
37、rea of paper-book publishing that“s thriving right now. Soon enough, a huge number of authors are finally going to get fed up with the publishing industry and just self-publish electronically. They“ll hire their own freelance editors, and do the marketing themselves. The publication of a finished ma
38、nuscript will take minutes, rather than months. G. Old-school thinkers in the publishing industry will lament (悲叹) the slap-dash nature of self-published e-books, and sniff“ that books are no longer published with the quality and care that they used to. (Never mind that book publishers abandoned hig
39、h standards years ago in previous cost-cutting initiatives.) The world will pass them by as the book industry undergoes the same transition that happened with the media and blogs. First, the media didn“t understand blogs. Then they invalidated them. Then they accepted them. And now blogs are where t
40、he credibility is. Every columnist and reporter has a blog, and now major TV news programs are built around the opinions of bloggers. A similar transformation will take place about the credibility of serf-published and electronic books. H. Like the move from silent pictures to “talkies,“ the transit
41、ion to electronic publishing will prove fatal to laggards. Those aggressively pursuing and developing e-books will rise to take control of the publishing industry. Part of this revolution will happen in e-book marketing. The new generation of e-book publishers will leverage social media, contextual
42、advertising and other innovations. For anyone who spends time online, specific e-book titles will increasingly be advertised and marketed and integrated into other content. E-books, now mostly invisible, will soon be everywhere. I. The shift from print to electronic will change the nature of the boo
43、k itself. Many books will be shorter. They“ll be more timely and culturally relevant. They“ll be more colorfully and engagingly written. And they“ll go after young readers like nothing before. As in Japan, this will spark a new cultural phenomenon of young people not just reading, but also writing n
44、ovels and other book types on their mobile devices. The idea that “people don“t read anymore,“ especially young people, will be revealed as false. Young people today read more, and write a lot more, than any generation in history. To date, they“ve been unexcited about books, magazines and newspapers
45、 because they grew up with social networking and social media. Once books are electronic, relevant and social, too, they“ll start reading and writing books like crazy. J. And, finally, the newspaper industry is dying. The old method of physically delivering blog entries on dead tree pulp is out-of-d
46、ate. It“s very simple. Newspapers that embrace e-books will survive. Those that don“t, won“t. If you“d like to get a stark view of the relative economics of electronic vs. paper newspapers, check out a blog post on the Silicon Valley Insider . The blog did the math and determined that the New York T
47、imes could buy every single subscriber an Amazon Kindle e-book reader, and it would still cost them half as much as it will cost them to send paper newspapers for just one year. After decades of false starts, the e-book revolution is finally upon us. By this time next year, e-books will be totally m
48、ainstream.（分数：30.00）(1).Young people will be keen on reading and writing books when books are electronic, relevant and social.（分数：3.00）(2).In the serf-publishing industry, the marketing of a book is done by the author.（分数：3.00）(3).The credibility of blogs used to be not accepted by the media.（分数：3.0
49、0）(4).It is said that a newspaper will survive only when it incorporates with e-books.（分数：3.00）(5).The price of an Amazon Kindle is as much as an amount money of 20 or 30 books.（分数：3.00）(6).It was breaking news that Amazon announced it planned to offer Kindle books on cell phones.（分数：3.00）(7).Given environmental protection, a newspaper published on paper becomes wasteful.（分数：3.00）(8).At present, the book publishing industry is in a backward state.（分数：3.00）(9).It is believed that Cell Phones will become the dominant e-book reader platform, outpacing the Kindle.（分数：3.00）
