听力原文：
Passage Two

The earliest printed book we know today appeared in China in the year 868, and metal type was in use in Korea at the beginning of the fifteenth century, but it was in Germany around the year 1450 that a printing press using movable metal type was invented.
Capitalism turned printing from an invention into an industry. Right from the start, book printing and publish­ing were organized on capitalist lines. The biggest sixteenth- century printer, Plantin of Antwerp, had twenty-four printing presses and employed more than a hundred workers. Only a small fraction of the population was literate, but the pro­duction of books grew at an extraordinary speed. By 1500 some twenty million volumes had already been printed.
The immediate effect of printing was to increase the cir­culation of works that were already popular in the handwritten form, while less popular works went out of circulation. Publishers were interested only in books that would sell fairly quickly in sufficient numbers to cover the costs of production and make a profit. Thus, while printing enormously increased access to books by making cheap, high-volume production possible, it also reduced choice.
The great cultural impact of printing was that it facili­tated the growth of national languages. Most early books were printed in Latin, but the market for Latin was limited, and in its pursuit of larger markets the book trade soon produced translations into the national languages emerging at the time. Printing indeed played a key role in standardizing and stabilizing these lan­guages by fixing them in print, and producing dictionaries and grammar books.

Q12：What happened in Germany around the year 1450?

题目问的是在1450年前后，德国发生了什么。听音时需特别注意年份信息。文章提到，但是直到1450年前后，使用金属活字的印刷机才在德国被发明出来。也就是说，这一年前后金属活字在德国开始用于印刷。故选A。选项B和D在文中均未提及，故排除；根据文章开头的The earliest printed book we know today appeared in China in the year 868可知，选项C错误。

听力原文：
Passage Two

The earliest printed book we know today appeared in China in the year 868, and metal type was in use in Korea at the beginning of the fifteenth century, but it was in Germany around the year 1450 that a printing press using movable metal type was invented.
Capitalism turned printing from an invention into an industry. Right from the start, book printing and publish­ing were organized on capitalist lines. The biggest sixteenth- century printer, Plantin of Antwerp, had twenty-four printing presses and employed more than a hundred workers. Only a small fraction of the population was literate, but the pro­duction of books grew at an extraordinary speed. By 1500 some twenty million volumes had already been printed.
The immediate effect of printing was to increase the cir­culation of works that were already popular in the handwritten form, while less popular works went out of circulation. Publishers were interested only in books that would sell fairly quickly in sufficient numbers to cover the costs of production and make a profit. Thus, while printing enormously increased access to books by making cheap, high-volume production possible, it also reduced choice.
The great cultural impact of printing was that it facili­tated the growth of national languages. Most early books were printed in Latin, but the market for Latin was limited, and in its pursuit of larger markets the book trade soon produced translations into the national languages emerging at the time. Printing indeed played a key role in standardizing and stabilizing these lan­guages by fixing them in print, and producing dictionaries and grammar books.

Q13：What does the speaker say about the printer, Plantin of Antwerp?

题目问关于印刷商——安特卫普的普兰亭的信息。文章前半部分提到，16世纪最大的印刷商——安特卫普的普兰亭——拥有24台印刷机，雇用了100多名工人。当时只有一小部分人是识字的，但是书籍的印刷量却在以惊人的速度增长。到1500年，已经印刷出的书籍大约有两千万卷。由此可知选项B正确，其他三项都是对原文中这几句话的错误理解，均排除。

听力原文：
Passage Two

The earliest printed book we know today appeared in China in the year 868, and metal type was in use in Korea at the beginning of the fifteenth century, but it was in Germany around the year 1450 that a printing press using movable metal type was invented.
Capitalism turned printing from an invention into an industry. Right from the start, book printing and publish­ing were organized on capitalist lines. The biggest sixteenth- century printer, Plantin of Antwerp, had twenty-four printing presses and employed more than a hundred workers. Only a small fraction of the population was literate, but the pro­duction of books grew at an extraordinary speed. By 1500 some twenty million volumes had already been printed.
The immediate effect of printing was to increase the cir­culation of works that were already popular in the handwritten form, while less popular works went out of circulation. Publishers were interested only in books that would sell fairly quickly in sufficient numbers to cover the costs of production and make a profit. Thus, while printing enormously increased access to books by making cheap, high-volume production possible, it also reduced choice.
The great cultural impact of printing was that it facili­tated the growth of national languages. Most early books were printed in Latin, but the market for Latin was limited, and in its pursuit of larger markets the book trade soon produced translations into the national languages emerging at the time. Printing indeed played a key role in standardizing and stabilizing these lan­guages by fixing them in print, and producing dictionaries and grammar books.

Q14：What was the immediate effect of printing?

题目就印刷的直接影响进行提问。文章中间部分提到，印刷的直接影响就是增加了当时已经很受欢迎的手写体形式的作品的发行量，而那些不太受欢迎的作品则不再发行。由此可知选项B正确，选项A错误。选项C和D文章均未提及，故排除。

听力原文：
Passage Two

The earliest printed book we know today appeared in China in the year 868, and metal type was in use in Korea at the beginning of the fifteenth century, but it was in Germany around the year 1450 that a printing press using movable metal type was invented.
Capitalism turned printing from an invention into an industry. Right from the start, book printing and publish­ing were organized on capitalist lines. The biggest sixteenth- century printer, Plantin of Antwerp, had twenty-four printing presses and employed more than a hundred workers. Only a small fraction of the population was literate, but the pro­duction of books grew at an extraordinary speed. By 1500 some twenty million volumes had already been printed.
The immediate effect of printing was to increase the cir­culation of works that were already popular in the handwritten form, while less popular works went out of circulation. Publishers were interested only in books that would sell fairly quickly in sufficient numbers to cover the costs of production and make a profit. Thus, while printing enormously increased access to books by making cheap, high-volume production possible, it also reduced choice.
The great cultural impact of printing was that it facili­tated the growth of national languages. Most early books were printed in Latin, but the market for Latin was limited, and in its pursuit of larger markets the book trade soon produced translations into the national languages emerging at the time. Printing indeed played a key role in standardizing and stabilizing these lan­guages by fixing them in print, and producing dictionaries and grammar books.

Q15：What was the great cultural impact of printing?

题目就印刷的伟大文化影响进行提问。文章最后提到，印刷伟大的文化影响在于它促进了民族语言的发展。由此可知选项D正确。文章提到拉丁文的市场有局限性，但并没说拉丁语言消亡，故选项A错误；文章提到通过使其在印刷中确定下来，印刷在将这些民族语言标准化、稳定化方面确实起到了关键作用，而且促进了字典和语法书的生产，但是并没说印刷使语法书籍的出版标准化，故选项B错误；文章提到图书贸易中很快产生了将拉丁文转变成当时新兴的民族语言的翻译，但是没有提到翻译变成了受欢迎的职业，故选项C错误。