Question

    Stories are shared in many ways. They are described in books and magazines. They are read around the campfire at night. They are randomly distributed from stand-alone booths. But what else?

To revive （复兴）literature in the era of fast news and smartphone addiction, Short Edition, a French publisher of short-form literature, has set up more than 30 story dispensers （分发机）in the USA in the past years to deliver fiction at the push of a button at restaurants, universities and government offices.

Francis Ford Coppola, the film director and winemaker, liked the idea so much that he invested in the company and placed a dispenser at his Cafe Zoetrope in San Francisco. Last month public libraries in some other cities announced they would be setting them up, too. There is one on the campus at Penn State. A few can be found in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla. And Short Edition plans to announce more, including at the Los Angeles International Airport.

“Everything old is new again," said Andrew Nurkin, the director of the Free Library of Philadelphia, which is one of the libraries that set up the dispensers. “We want people to be easily exposed to literature. We want to advance literacy among children and inspire their creativity.

Here's how a dispenser works： It has three buttons on top indicating choices for stories that can be read in one minute, three minutes or five minutes. When a button is pushed, a short story is printed. The stories are free. They are chosen from a computer category of more than 100,000 original submissions by writers whose works have been evaluated by Short Edition's judges, and transmitted over a mobile network. Offerings can be tailored to specific interests, like children's fiction or romance. Short Edition gets stories for its category by holding writing contests.

Short Edition set up its first booth in 2016 and has 150 machines worldwide. “The idea is to make people happy," said Kristan Leroy, director of Short Edition, “There is too much unhappiness today. ”

1.What do we know about the stories sent by dispensers?

A.They are expensive.

B.They are short in form.

C.They can be read on smartphones.

D.They are mainly taken from magazine literature.

2.Where can you find the popularity of story dispensers in America?

A.In paragraph 3.

B.In paragraph 4.

C.In paragraph 5.

D.In paragraph 6.

3.Which is the main purpose of setting up the dispensers according to Andrew Nurkin?

A.To get rid of people's smartphone addiction.

B.To reduce the financial stress of libraries.

C.To make people have access to literature.

D.To advertise the network literature.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.Online Reading: a Virtual Tour

B.Short Edition, a French Publisher

C.Everything Old Will Be Popular Again

D.Taste of Literature, at the Push of a Button

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.C

4.D

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。人们可以通过多种途径读到小说，例如书籍、杂志等。为了能够在快新闻时代和智能手机成瘾的时代复兴文学，法国文学出版商Short Edition过去几年在美国建立了30多个小说分发机，在餐厅，大学和政府办公室只需按一下按钮即可以阅读小说。这样人们能更容易地接触文学，以此提高孩子们的读写能力并激发他们的创造力。

1.细节理解题。根据第五段中的when a button is pushed, a short story is printed”可知，按下按钮，就会打印出一篇短篇小说，因此小说在形式上是简短的。故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段中的“he …placed a dispenser at his Cafe Zoetrope in San Francisco. Last month public libraries in some other cities announced they would be setting them up, too. There is one on the campus at Penn State. A few can be found in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla. And Short Edition plans to announce more, including at the Los Angeles International Airport.”可知，在旧金山的Cafe Zoetrope有一台小说分发机，其他一些城市的公共图书馆也宣布将安装小说分发机。宾夕法尼亚州立大学的校园里有一台小说分发机。在佛罗里达州有一些小说分发机。在洛杉矶国际机场也将有更多的小说分发机。因此在第3段中可以看出小说分发机在美国受人欢迎。故选A。

3.细节理解题。根据第四段中的“We want people to be easily exposed to literature. We want to advance literacy among children and inspire their creativity.”可知，Andrew Nurkin说：“我们希望人们能够很容易地接触到文学。我们希望提高孩子们的读写能力并激发他们的创造力。”因此，在Andrew Nurkin看来，设置小说分发机的主要目的是使人们有机会接触文学。故选C。

4.标题判断题。根据第一段中的“Stories are shared in many ways. They are described…”可知，文章提出的话题是阅读小说。根据第二段“Short Edition… has set up more than 30 story dispensers in the USA in the past years to deliver fiction at the push of a button at restaurants, universities and government offices.”可知，法国文学出版商Short Edition过去几年在美国建立了30多个小说分发机，在餐厅，大学和政府办公室只需按一下按钮即可以阅读小说。因此D项（轻按一下按钮，即可品尝文学作品。）作为标题符合文章大意。故选D。