FOR the past two years in Silicon Valley, the centre of America’s technology industry, conference-goers have entertained themselves playing a guessing game: how many times will a speaker mention the phrase "long tail" It is usually a high number, thanks to the influence of the long tail theory, which was first developed by Chris Anderson, the editor of Wired magazine, in an article in 2004. Though technologists and bloggers chuckle at how every business presentation now has to have its long-tail section, most are envious of Mr Anderson, whose brainwave quickly became the most fashionable business idea around.
Whether a blockbuster film, a bestselling novel, or a chart-topping rap song, popular culture idolizes the hit. Companies devote themselves to creating them because the cost of distribution and the limits of shelf space in physical shops mean that profitability depends on a high volume of sales. But around the beginning of this century a group of internet companies realized that with endless shelves and a national or even international audience online they could offer a huge range of products—and make money at the same time.
The niche, the obscure and the specialist, Mr Anderson argues, will gain ground at the expense of the hit. As evidence, he points to a drop in the number of companies that traditionally calculate their revenue/sales ratio according to the 80/20 rule—where the top fifth of products contribute four-fifths of revenues. Ecast, a San Francisco digital jukebox company, found that 98% of its 10,000 albums sold at least one track every three months. Expressed in the language of statistics, the experiences of Ecast and other companies such as Amazon, an online bookseller, suggest that products down in the long tail of a statistical distribution, added together, can be highly profitable. The internet helps people find their way to relatively obscure material with recommendations and reviews by other people and (for those willing to have their artistic tastes predicted by a piece of software) computer programs which analyze past selections.
Long-tail enthusiasts argue that the whole of culture will benefit, not just commercial enterprises. Television, film and music are such bewitching media in their own right that many people are quite happy to watch and listen to what the mainstream provides. But if individuals have the opportunity to pick better, more ideally suited entertainment from a far wider selection, they will take it, according to the theory of the long tail. Some analysts reckon that entire populations might become happier and wiser once they have access to thousands of documentaries, independent films and sub-genres of every kind of music, instead of being subjected to what Mr Anderson calls the tyranny of lowest-common-denominator fare. That might be taking things a bit far. But the long tail is certainly one of the internet’s better gifts to humanity.
With which of the following would the long-tail advocates most probably agree（）
A. People are more willing to catch what the mainstream provides
B. People have more opportunities to find entertainment through computer
C. People would be happy for having access to a wider selection
D. People in the cultural field benefit most from the long tail theory
参考答案：C
解析：
[试题类型] 推理引申题。
[解题思路] 本题就长尾理论支持者的观点进行提问，根据题干关键词the long-tail advocates定位到文章第四段。第四段第三句指出，根据长尾理论，如果人们有机会在更大的选择范围内挑选时，他们会这样做的(if individuals have the opportunity to pick...from a far wider selection, they will take it...)。第四句继续指出，如果有机会接触到数以千计的纪录片、独立制作的电影和各种非主流音乐(once they have access to...)，人们将会变得更加快乐和明智(entire populations might become happier and wiser)。由此可知，长尾理论认为，人们乐意有更大的选择范围，放选项[C]为本题答案。
[干扰排除] 本段第二句提出，很多人非常乐意观看或收听主流媒介提供的节目(...people are quite happy to watch and listen to...)，但第三句和第四句接着指出，如果个人能够有机会选择更精彩的娱乐节目，人们将会做出其他选择，并且将会变得更加快乐和明智，由此可见选项[A]“人们更乐意观看主流媒体提供的节目”与原文不符，故排除。文章第三段段末提到在网络商城，人们可以通过电脑寻找一些不太知名的商品，但文中并没有说通过电脑更容易找到娱乐节目，故选项[B]也可排除。选项[D]根据本段第一句设置干扰，第一句指出，不仅是商业公司，整个文化界也会受益于这一理论，文中并没有对哪个行业受益更多进行比较，故选项[D]错误。