Question

    If you are not reading this on a screen then you hold in your hands one of humanity’s world-changing inventions. Yet that power has not been matched by fame: paper delights in self-modesty, pointing you to the words on its surface and so acting only as a stage for ideas and arguments that have changed history.

Without that stage, the written and printed word would have attracted only a small audience.All the alternatives to paper commonly used throughout our pre-digital history have been too rare, too heavy, too expensive or too inconvenient to deliver words to a wide number of people,let alone a mass readership

Paper has enabled writers to reach unprecedented(前所未有) numbers throughout history.Among them were the Buddhist missionary translators from South and Central Asia who brought their religion to China almost two thousand years ago. The paper age has its outstanding personalities: Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose collected works when combined fill more than 200 volumes.

For many of us, it has only been the rise of digital media that has finally opened our eyes to papers striking existence everywhere. Of course, paper has found thousands of roles for itself,writing aside. Your bedside lamp glows through a paper cover and the cups in the office coffee machine are made from paper. It can be as common and practical as a bus ticket or it can be treasured and expensive as the carrier of the worlds best-loved painting.

It is clear that many predictions of paper's extinction have been premature-and greatly overstated. Much of the 400 million tons of paper produced annually is absolutely necessary to our way of life. The bigger question, of course, concerns the one role paper has had that has been transformative for the world. namely as the carrier of written or printed text. Already,it is leaving much of the difficult work of words to digital media, and many of its centuries-old roles have already been largely transferred to the screen. There is also a sense in which paper has itself become a subject, rather than simply a medium. This began to become clear in art several decades ago. as paper became not simply the backdrop (背景) for art but, in a few cases, the stuff of the art itself.

This doesn’t mean that papers uses as a vehicle for words will end, but it does signal a slowing down. More than that, it signals that paper's greatest virtues are no longer good enough.Those virtues enabled unprecedented periods of cultural expansiveness. just as they encouraged knowledge, beliefs and ideas to move further down the socio-cconomic ladder. Yet such transformative qualities are shared by paper's digital opponent(对手), and paper can no longer compete on speed of delivery, scale of information immediately available, or ease of access.

Paper's historic dynamism(活力)has received its first great challenge and, in many aspects,it appears to be losing Nostalgia(怀旧)simply dismisses paper to a museum piece. But there are reasons to think that the dynamism that paper has exhibited over some 20 centuries will not be transferred totally to digital media. There are a few practical reasons. Electric power is always needed for digital media, of course. More importantly, anything online can, potentially, be hacked into. Your own reading choices can be viewed from the other side of the world. Even what you write can be viewed and changed or deleted. But it is the ownership of knowledge that matters most. As Amazon recently reminded a kindle reader who had lost the text of a book he was reading. you do not "own" your books on Kindle, as you own a physical book. You simply have the right to access them.

The digital revolution certainly provides unprecedented access to knowledge. But it is access only. Text that you can hold, shelve and own, due to paper, will always have a magic all its own.

1.Why does paper not have well-deserved fame?

A. Much information is available on a screen.

B. It takes great delight in being modest.

C. Only a small crowd enjoys the benefits of it.

D. It always guides readers to focus more on itself.

2.The underlined part in Paragraph 4 implies that the digital media      .

A. ignores the existence of paper

B. promotes the wide use of paper

C. replaces the functions of paper

D. helps us realize the roles of paper

3.One reason why paper won' t come to an end is that      .

A. it is being mass-produced

B. it is more than a medium

C. it has a centuries-old role

D. it is a well-known invention

4.What’s the purpose of mentioning the best virtues of paper in Paragraph 6?

A. To show its fast development.

B. To prove its unchanged strength.

C. To indicate its loss of competitiveness.

D. To bring back its past brilliance.

5.What is the biggest problem the digital media face?

A. It depends on electric power.

B. Personal privacy is easy to leak.

C. Users only have the right to use.

D. The joy of reading is hard to feel.

6.What is the best title for the passage?

A. The History of Paper

B. The Power of Paper

C. The Development of Paper

D. The Application of Paper

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.B

4.C

5.C

6.B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章叙述的是关于纸的重要性。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段中Yet that power has not been matched by fame: paper delights in self-modesty可知，报纸没有应有的名声是因为谦虚是最大的乐趣。故选B。

2.词义猜测题。根据第四段中For many of us, it has only been the rise of digital media that has finally opened our eyes to papers striking existence everywhere. Of course, paper has found thousands of roles for itself,writing aside“对我们许多人来说，只有数字媒体的崛起才最终让我们看到了无处不在的惊人存在。当然，除了写作，纸本身也有成千上万的角色。”.由此推知划线部分在暗示数字媒体帮助我们认识到纸张的作用。故选D。

3.细节理解题。根据第五段中There is also a sense in which paper has itself become a subject, rather than simply a medium.可知，纸不会终结的原因之一是它不仅仅是一种媒介。故选B。

4.推理判断题。根据第六段中More than that, it signals that paper's greatest virtues are no longer good enough.Those virtues enabled unprecedented periods of cultural expansiveness.可知，在第6段中提到纸的优点的目的是“以显示其竞争力的丧失。”故选C。

5.细节理解题。根据最后一段中The digital revolution certainly provides unprecedented access to knowledge. But it is access only.可知，数字媒体面临的最大问题是“用户只有使用权。”故选C。

6.主旨大意题。根据第一段If you are not reading this on a screen then you hold in your hands one of humanity’s world-changing inventions. Yet that power has not been matched by fame: paper delights in self-modesty, pointing you to the words on its surface and so acting only as a stage for ideas and arguments that have changed history.“如果你不是在屏幕上阅读这篇文章，那么你手中就拿着一项改变世界的人类发明。然而，这种力量并没有与名声相匹配:纸张以自谦为乐，把你指向表面上的文字，因此，它只是充当了改变历史的思想和争论的舞台。”文章在叙述纸的重要性。可知，The Power of Paper是最佳主题。故选B。