PassageOne
Questions 46 to 50 arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
Textbooksrepresentan 11 billiondollarindustry, upfrom $8 billionin 2014. TextbookpublisherPearsonisthelargestpublisher -- ofanykind -- intheworld.
Itcostsabout $1 milliontocreateanewtextbook. Afreshmantextbookwillhavedozensofcontributors, fromsubject-matterexpertsthroughgraphicandlayoutartiststoexpertreviewersandclassroomtesters. Textbookpublishersconnectprofessors, instructorsandstudentsinwaysthatalternatives, suchasopene-textbooksandopeneducationalresources, simplydonot. Thisconnectionhappensnotonlybymeansofcollaborativedevelopment, reviewandtesting, butalsoatconferenceswherefacultyregularlydecideontheirtextbooksandcurriculaforthecomingyear.
Itistruethattextbookpublishershaverecentlyreportedlosses, largelyduetostudentsrentingorbuyingusedprinttextbooks. Butthiscanbechalkeduptotheexcessivelyhighcostoftheirbooks -- whichhasincreasedover 1,000 percentsince 1977. Arestructuringofthetextbookindustrymaywellbeinorder. Butthisdoesnotmeantheendofthetextbookitself.
WhiletheymaynotbeasdynamicasaniPad, textbooksarenotpassiveorlifeless. Forexample, overthecenturies, theyhavesimulated (模拟) dialoguesinanumberofways. From 1800 tothepresentday, textbookshavedonethisbyposingquestionsforstudentstoanswerinductively (归纳性地). Thatmeansstudentsareaskedtousetheirindividualexperiencetocomeupwithanswerstogeneralquestions. Today'spsychologytexts, forexample, ask: "Howmuchofyourpersonalitydoyouthinkyouinherited?" whileonesinphysicssay: "Howcanyoupredictwheretheballyoutossedwillland?"
Expertsobservethat "textbookscomeinlayers, somethinglikeanonion." Foranactivelearner, engagingwithatextbookcanbeaninteractiveexperience. Readersproceedattheirownpace. They "customize" theirbooksbyengagingwithdifferentlayersandlinkages. Highlighting, Post-Itnotes, dog-earsandothertechniquesallowforfurthercustomizationthatstudentsvalueinprintbooksoverdigitalformsofbooks.
46. Whatdoesthepassagesayaboutopeneducationalresources?
A) Theycontributetoteachingasmuchastolearning.
B) Theydon'tprofitasmuchastraditionaltextbooksdo.
C) Theycan'tconnectprofessorsandstudentsastextbooksdo.
D) Theycompetefercelyforcustomerswithtextbookproducers.
47. Whatisthemaincauseofthepublishers'losses?
A) Failuretomeetstudentneed.
B) Industryrestructuring.
C) Emergenceofe-books.
D) Fllingsales.
48. Whatdoesthetextbookindustryneedtodo?
A) Reformitsstructures.
B) Cutitsretailprices.
C) Findreplacementsforprintedtextbooks.
D) Changeitsbusinessstrategyperiodically.
49. Whatarestudentsexpectedtodointhelearningprocess?
A) Thinkcarefullybeforeansweringeachquestion.
B) Askquestionsbasedontheirownunderstanding.
C) Answerquestionsusingtheirpersonalexperience.
D) Giveanswersshowingtheirrespectivepersonality.
50. Whatdoexpertssayaboutstudentsusingtextbooks?
A) Theycandigitalizetheprintseasily.
B) Theycanleaminaninteractiveway.
C) Theycanpurchasecustonizedversions.
D) Theycanadaptthematerialthemselves.