Today more and more people go to websites when looking for information. Although most readers go to websites for news and e-mail, a form of person-to-person news, or in the form of chatting, they also read books on the web. It’s called electronic book (e-book).
Electronic books could revolutionize reading, but people ought to consider their far-reaching impacts as well. "The e-book promises to cause a slow tragedy on life as we know it," Jason Ohler, professor of technology assessment, university of Alaska Southeast In Juneau, warned the World Future Society, Bethesda, Md. His assessment weighed the pros and cons (赞成和反对的理由) of e-book technology’s impact on social relationships, the environment, the economy, etc. Before you curl up (蜷曲) with an e-book, consider the disadvantages.
They increase eyestrain due to poor screen resolution, replace a relatively cheap commodity with a more expensive one, and displace workers in print-book production and traditional publishing. E-books make it easy to share data, thereby threatening copyright agreements and reducing compensation (补偿) of authors, as well as creating nonbiodegradable (不可生物降解) trash.
On the other hand, e-books save paper and trees, reduce the burden of the carrying and storing of printed books, promote self-sufficiency in learning, and make reading a collaborative experience online. They also create new jobs for writers and artists and encourage self-publishing. In final analysis, Ohler points out, e-books should gain society’s approval if a few conditions are met: make them biodegradable and recyclable, solve the problem of eye fatigue, be sure the "have-nots" get the technology, and support e-book training in schools and business.
The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to ().
A. call on people to reject e-books
B. draw people’s attention to the disadvantages of e-books
C. criticize schools and business that don’t provide e-books
D. encourage people to use e-books
参考答案:B
解析:
本题是主旨题。文中主要是引导我们注意电子书籍的缺点,指出克服这些缺点才能使其获得社会的认可。B选项正好与此吻合。本文最后提出的建议实质是为了让电子书籍获得社会认可,而不是要大家摒弃之,故A选项错。原文没有“批评不提供电子书籍的学校和商界”,最后一段只是暗示他们缺乏相应的培训,故C选项错。原文只是说克服这些不足,电子书籍就可能被社会认可,但并没有“鼓励人们使用”它们,故D选项也错。