单选题 J.K. Rowling"s first novel for adults, which treads on very different ground to her bestselling Harry Potter series, is set to become a publishing sensation when it hits bookshelves next week. Waterstones, the country"s biggest book-chain store, revealed that the comic novel, The Casual Vacancy, has received the largest number of pre-order sales this year. This number is believed to be five figured, although online pre-orders have reportedly reached well over a million already. The RRP for the paperback is ￡20 but many outlets are reducing this considerably with Waterstones pricing it at ￡10.
The secrecy, as well as the excitement, around Rowling"s latest offering, has guaranteed its status as the biggest publishing event of the year. Waterstones is opening its doors an hour earlier than usual, at 8 a.m., on its official publication date next Thursday. Until then, Rowling"s publisher Little, Brown has stipulated that the books should not even appear on display. Staff will come in early to put out display copies and prepare for the crowds. Jon Howells, a spokesman for Waterstones, described it as one of the first "Super Thursdays" leading up to Christmas, not least because Jamie Oliver was also publishing his book, 15-Minute Meals, on the same day.
Mr. Howells said that while he anticipated a big rush at the outset, the book would, in all likelihood, not inspire the equivalent of Pottermania. "Certainly, the anticipation for J.K. Rowling"s book has been great because it"s the first non- Harry Potter book and it is for a purely adult audience. I think it will see a fantastic level of first day and first weekend sales and after that people will come to it more steadily."
"We are treating it as a very different thing from the Harry Potter books. The way readers will approach this will be different. A lot of the readers will be curious and interested in what this book can do for them. There was a huge sense of urgency with the Harry Potter books, and people wanted to read them quickly so that they would not find out the plot through other mediums, while this is a standalone story," he said. A spokeswoman for Tesco, which will also be stocking the book, said: "If the hits on the Tesco Books blog are anything to go by, we think it could be one of our bestselling books in the run-up to Christmas."
The plot of the book, which revolves around the inhabitants of a small English town, has been fiercely guarded, and newspaper reviewers have been asked to sign the kind of long and stiffly worded pre-publication confidentiality contracts that a celebrity footballer might use to protect his darkest secrets. A limited number of copies will be delivered by hand to reviewers" homes today.
Rowling is due to attend her only question-and-answer session in front of a live audience in London on the day of publication. The event, at the 900-seat Queen Elizabeth Hall in the Southbank Centre, sold out within 48 hours and will also be attended by the world"s media. The Southbank Centre condemned the selling of single ￡12 tickets on eBay for ￡85 each. The event, which will last just under two hours including a 30-minute Q & A with the audience, will be transmitted in a live feed on YouTube. Rowling will sign books afterwards, and audience members are limited to one copy per person. Next month she will appear at the Cheltenham Literary Festival and sign copies there. Little, Brown refused to reveal the numbers of copies that have been printed so far—but the book is expected to sell millions.
单选题 Rowling"s latest offering "treads on very different ground to her bestselling Harry Potter series" (para. 1) in that ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据上下文正确理解句子的能力。在原句语境下，tread on very different ground应理解为“(与《哈利·波特》系列)涉足完全不同的领域”。前半句提到，这是Rowling为成年读者创作的首鄙小说，那么该书与《哈利·波特》系列在涉足领域方面最大的差异，就在于内容及读者定位的不同。《哈利·波特》系列针对的是儿重读者，而新作则以成年读者为目标受众，故应选A。选项B和C所提到的两方面体现不出新书与《哈利·波特》系列在定位上的差异，应排除。选项D对原句存在严重误解。
单选题 The plot of The Casual Vacancy was dealt with absolute secrecy, which can be seen from all of the following details EXCEPT that ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 对文章基本内容的理解。为防止泄露新书的故事情节，出版商安排了严密的防范措施，包括在官方出版日期前书店不得上架展示该书，要求报纸评论员签署严苛的保密协议以及派人亲自送样书给评论员等。选项A，C和D的说法在第二和第五段均可找到依据。本题应选B，虽然出版日当天提早营业有可能是为了便于图书当天上架，但营业时间的变化本身并不与图书的保密直接相关，也可能是为满足热心读者的需求。
单选题 The word "Pottermania" in the sentence "... the book would, in all likelihood, not inspire the equivalent of Pottermania" (para. 3) can best be paraphrased as ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据上下文正确理解词语的能力。原句出现在第三段。该词前半部分Potter-显然是指Rowling的成名作《哈利·波特》系列，后半部分-mania有“热衷，狂热”之意，文中将两者结合在一起，表示读者对该系列的狂热追捧。选项中与此相符的为选项D。考生可根据语境对-mania的含义大胆猜测，由于前半句提到预计新书也会有一个big rush at the outset，可联想到此句意在比较新书和《哈利·波特》系列的受欢迎程度，由此也可选出正确答案。
单选题 Jon Howells described the publication date of The Casual Vacancy as "one of the first "Super Thursdays" leading up to Christmas" (para. 2) most probably because ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 对文章隐含意思的推测能力，关键词语为first "Super Thursdays"。浏览四个选项，可首先排除A，因其内容文中已有明确交代，无需推测。之后根据关键词first "Super Thursdays" 可推断，在 The Casual Vacancy 之后还会陆续有其他新书在星期四出版，而之所以会用到Super，想必这些新书也一定是名家之作，极具市场号召力。对比其余三个选项，可确定答案为C。
单选题 We can know from the article that the question-and-answer session ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 对文章基本内容的理解。答题依据集中在文章末段，考生只需将各个选项的说法与原文内容细心比对即可选出正确答案。YouTube为知名视频网站，网友可在该网站观看视频节目或直播；eBay则是一个网络交易平台。考生只要平时注意阅读积累，相信对上述网络媒体不会感到陌生。