Question

B

They text their friends all day long. At night, they do research for their term papers on laptops and communicate with their parents on Facebook. But as they walk the paths of Hamilton College, students are still pulling around old-fashioned textbooks — and loving it.

＂The screen won’t go blank,＂ said Faton, a sophomore. ＂There can’t be a virus. It wouldn’t be the same without books. They’ve defined ‘academia’ for a thousand years.＂

Though the world of print is receding before a tide of digital books, blogs and other websites, a generation of college students weaned on technology appears to be holding fast to traditional textbooks. That loyalty comes at a price. Textbooks are expensive, and students’ frustrations with the expense, as well as the emergence of new technology, have produced a lot of choices for obtaining them.

Many students are reluctant to give up the ability to flip quickly between chapters, write in the margins and highlight passages, although new software applications are beginning to allow students to use e-textbooks that way.

＂Students grew up learning from print books,＂ said Nicole Allen, ＂so as they transition to higher education, it’s not surprising that they carry a preference for a format that they are most accustomed to.＂

For now, buying books the old-fashioned way — new or used — prevails. If a campus store sold a new book for $100, it would typically buy the book back for $50 at semester’s end and sell it to the next student for $75. When Louis Boguchwal, a junior, tried to sell a $100 linear algebra textbook back to the college bookstore, he was offered $15. ＂It was insulting,＂ he said. ＂They give you next to nothing.＂

Rosemary Rocha, 26, she waits to borrow the few copies her professors leave on reserve at the library, or relies on the kindness of classmates. ＂My friends will let me borrow their books in exchange for coffee or a slice of pizza,＂ she said. ＂I very seldom buy the textbooks, but I’m always like a chicken without a head.＂

【题文1】Why do students prefer a book to a digital one?

A. E-books usually spread viruses among students.

B. Textbooks are much cheaper than e-books.

C. E-books can’t be written in the margins.

D. They grew up learning from print books.

【题文2】What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?

A. I am always at a loss what to do.

B. I can’t learn without a textbook.

C. I don’t like eating the head of chicken.

D. I don’t know where to buy textbooks.

【题文3】What did the experience of Louis prove?

A. Bookstores cheated students in textbook sales.

B. Bookstores are king in buying and selling textbooks.

C. Bookstores made it convenient to buy textbooks.

D. Bookstores bought books from students fairly.

【题文4】What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Textbooks will be replaced by e-books soon.

B. E-books attract more students to read.

C. Students still like paper books in a digital age.

D. Technology makes paper textbooks out of date.

Answer 1