单选题
Read the following article and answer questions 19-25. For questions 19-25, choose the correct answer A, B, C or D. Mark your answer on your Answer Sheet. A Real Cliffhanger THE digital onslaught of e-books and Amazon-style e-tailers have put bookstores in an existential predicament. Digital books are expected to outsell print titles by 2015 in Britain, says Sam Hancock, digital product manager at HarperCollins, and even sooner in America. With the demise of HMV, that music-peddling stalwart, still fresh in everyone's minds, bricks-and-mortar bookstores appear to be on borrowed time. So, what is the future of the bookstore? This was the burning questions on everyone's lips at a recent event at Foyles's flagship bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London, where some of Britain's leading literary agents, authors, marketing managers and booksellers gathered to discuss its fate ahead of the bookseller's move from its current rambling premises to the former home of Central Saint Martin's art school just up the road For a bookstore to remain successful, it must improve "the experience of buying books," says Alex Lifschutz, an architect whose London-based practice is designing the new Foyles. He suggests an array of approaches: "small, quiet spaces cocooned with books; larger spaces where one can dwell and read; other larger but still intimate spaces where one can hear talks from authors about books, literature, science, travel and cookery." The atmosphere is vital, he adds. Exteriors must buzz with activity, entrances must be full of eye-catching presentations and a bar and cafe is essential. The trend for not only incorporating cafes in bookstores but also placing them on the top floor makes good sense. The new Foyles will have one, Mr.' Lifschutz explains, because this draws shoppers upwards floor-by-floor, which is bound to encourage people to linger longer and spend more. There are plenty of ways to delight the bookstore customer, but few are easily monetized. The consensus is that bookstores need to become cultural destinations where people are prepared to pay good money to hear a concert, see a film or attend a talk. The programming will have to be intelligent and the space comfortable. Given how common it is for shoppers to browse in shops only to buy online later, some wonder whether it makes sense to charge people for the privilege. Victoria Barnsley, head of HarperCollins, thinks it might be a good idea. She cited similar experiments among clothing retailers to charge customers for trying on merchandise. But forcing people to pay for the privilege of potentially paying for goods could deter shoppers altogether. A more attractive idea might be a membership scheme like those offered by museums and other cultural venues. Unlike reward cards, which offer discounts and other nominal benefits, a club membership could provide priority access to events(talks, literary workshops, retreats)and a private lounge where members can eat, drink and meet authors before events. Different memberships could tailor to the needs of children and students. To survive and thrive, bookstores should celebrate the book in all its forms: rare, second-hand, digital, self-printed and so on. Digital and hybrid readers should have the option of buying e-books in-store, and budding authors should have access to self-printing book machines. The latter have been slower to take off in Britain, but in America bookstores are finding them to be an important source of revenue. "The quality is now almost identical to that of a book printed by a major publishing house," says Bradley Graham, owner of a leading independent bookstore in Washington, DC, called Politics & Prose. His shop leases an Espresso Book Machine and makes it available to customers. The bookstore of the future will have to work hard. Service will be knowledgeable and personalized, the inventory expertly selected, spaces well-designed and the cultural events enticing. Whether bookstores, especially small independents are up to the challenge, is not clear. The fate of these stores is a cliffhanger.
单选题
What will be the future of bookstores?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析:此题问的是书店的未来,第一自然段最后一句提出了这个问题,作者在第二自然段开头说“This was the burning questions on everyone’s lips…”,因此,书店的未来引发了热烈的讨论,众说纷纭,是不清楚的,即“unclear”。
单选题
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a strategy to help a bookstore to be successful?
【答案解析】解析:第5段第4句提到书店的顾客有时候在书店浏览完图书之后却去网上购买,这个现象很普遍。第5段第2句提到人们是付款才看电影的,因此A选项错误;人们来书店不仅仅只购买打折物品,有些人“pay good money to hear a concert”,因此B选项错误;文章没有提到免费咖啡,因此D选项错误。
单选题
Which of the following might be a better idea to attract shoppers?
【答案解析】解析:第7段第2句提到“budding authors should have access to self-printing bookmachines”,那些刚刚开始写作而尚未出名的作者应该能够在书店中使用白助印书机,印出自己的图书。第7段第3句提到“…in America bookstores are finding them to be an important source of revenue”,美国的书店发现自助印书是一个重要的收入来源,因此我们能够知道,作者在美国可以自助印书。