单选题 Of all the cuts to public services, few have provoked such loud protests as proposals to close libraries. Petitions and curses have been followed by legal challenges. On November 16th a judge in London rifled against plans to close 21 libraries in Gloucestershire and Somerset. Campaigners in Brent, in north-west London, have taken their fight against closures to the Court of Appeal.
Local politicians are startled. Keith Mitchell, leader of Oxfordshire county council, which was forced by public pressure to abandon plans to close many libraries, complained that protesters seemed much less upset by cuts to social care and rubbish collection. Visits to libraries have declined by 6.7% in the past five years, according to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). But this is to underestimate the symbolic role libraries play as a visible public good. A 2010 poll found that 69% of people had been to a library in the past year. More than 80% view libraries as "essential" or "very important".
Yet savings have to be made somewhere. If library closures cause protests, cuts must be done stealthily. In the 2010-11 fiscal year libraries acquired 7.4% fewer adult fiction books and 13.7% fewer non-fiction books than they had the year before. An older, less appealing stock could speed the decline in library visits.
Yet hard times are also forcing innovations that may help libraries in the long run. In a quiet success for David Cameron"s "Big Society", the number of volunteer librarians has risen from 12,708 to 21,642 in the past five years. That trend has its critics, especially among professional librarians. But staff account for at least half the cost of running a library. Other savings could probably be made by consolidating England"s 151 library authorities, and by making better use of technology. "London has 32 library authorities but just one police authority," marvels Desmond Clarke, a library campaigner.
An entirely different option is to pour money into a single edifice in the hope that it will have a benign effect on the neighborhood. England"s most popular library is the Norfolk & Norwich Millennium, a multi-storey space in a sparkling new building with a restaurant and gallery, which lured nearly 1.5m people last year. As the anchor of the development, the library attracts users who then linger and spend money nearby. Birmingham is building a new ￡188.8m library, the flagship of a development in the city centre that is due to open in 2013. Many of the city"s other 39 libraries could face cuts in service, including shorter opening hours and fewer staff. Libraries are not dead—just a little dusty.

单选题 Keith Mitchell"s plan to close more libraries had to be aborted mainly because ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】细节事实题
[解析] 根据题干中的人名锁定文章第二段的内容。基思·米切尔是牛津郡地方议会主席，他曾经计划关闭该郡多家图书馆，但后因遭到民众强烈反对而不得不取消这项计划。在就这个问题发表观点时，基思·米切尔认为民众对于关闭图书馆的议案反应过激，“对降低社会福利标准和垃圾收集的提案，反对者不见得有这么激动”。他的这番言论反映了他对于公立图书馆在人们心目中的地位缺乏正确的认识。虽然在过去的一些年中，公立图书馆的人流量不断下降，但是英国人还是表示公立图书馆的作用非常重要(More than 80% view libraries as "essential" or "very important")。因此本题的正确答案应该选A，选项内容是对“underestimate the symbolic role libraries play as a visible public good”的同义改写。

单选题 The British libraries have taken following measures to cut down budgets Except ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】判断题
[解析] 虽然面临巨大的舆论压力，但是在经济紧缩的年代，图书馆必须想方设法减少开支。降低预算的方法在文章第三段和第四段中有具体的介绍，包括A选项减少新书的购买量(In the 2010-11 fiscal year libraries acquired 7.4% fewer adult fiction books and 13.7% fewer non-fiction books than they had the year before)。B选项裁减多余的职工(the number of volunteer librarians has risen from 12,708 to 21,642 in the past five years)。C选项精简图书管理机构(Other savings could probably be made by consolidating England"s 151 library authorities)。只有D选项不是降低预算的措施。D选项在文章最后一段中有所提及，但和降低预算相反，这是政府为了利用图书馆带动周边经济而采取的追加预算的方法。

单选题 By saying that "London has 32 library authorities but just one police authority," Desmond Clarke means that ______.

单选题 Birmingham poured a lot of money into a new library project with an ulterior motive to ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】细节事实题
[解析] 根据题干的地名锁定文章最后一段。和三四段中介绍的图书馆压缩成本的方法不同，第五段讲的是重振英国图书馆的另一条策略——追加预算，集中力量建设某一个图书馆。例如英国的诺福克和诺维奇千年图书馆，它是一幢多楼层建筑，楼内附带有餐馆和画廊，去年吸引了近150万人。作为该地区经济发展的龙头项目，该图书馆起到了很好的刺激经济的作用。借鉴诺福克和诺维奇千年图书馆的成功经验，伯明翰也投入大量资金建设一个新的图书馆，同样，它的目的也在于利用这样一个地标性的建筑刺激当地经济的发展。因此，本题的正确答案应该选C。

单选题 In the author"s opinion, public libraries in Britain faces a ______ future.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】作者态度题
[解析] 整篇文章似乎都在讨论英国图书馆的没落，在经济危机的背景下，图书馆似乎必然会陷入无人问津的尴尬境地。但是文章有好几处显示了作者对于公共图书馆的信心，特别是在最后一段，有些地方政府通过建立图书馆带动当地经济发展的行为让作者看到了英国图书馆的曙光，因此他在最后一句话中说“Libraries are not dead—just a little dusty.”作者既没有悲观绝望，也不怀有十分的信心，这里C选项uncertain一词能十分准确地概括作者的态度。