London, April 28---The Man Group, a British hedge fund, is betting that investors will want to read more than the latest how-to- get –rich-quick business book.

In a five-year deal worth roughly $3.6 million announced last week, Man has agreed to sponsor(主办)the Booker Prize for Fiction, which will be renamed the Man Booker Prize. Since creating the award in 1969, Booker P.L.G., a British food group, in June 2000, executives began considering attracting outside sponsors. Man will be the first of these. Bill Grimsey, the chief of the Big Food Group, saw little business sense in a link between a food supplier and a literary prize, explained Dotti Irving, a spokeswoman for the Booker Prize foundation.

Such dissimilarities (差异) have not reduced Man’s enthusiasm for the prize which is expected to be open for the first time to American authors. David Browne, a spokesman for Man, said most of the firm’s investors are high-net-worth individuals who appreciate literature. “The people who buy hedge funds,” Mr. Browne said, “also read.”

Under the new agreement, authors will get more money. The winner of the annual prize, to be awarded in October, will receive $73,000 , up from $30,000 the Australian writer Peter Carey won last year for his novel “True History of the Kelley Gang.”

The six short-listed authors will each receive $3,600, up from $1,500. Having a hedge fund as a backer apparently has its perks.(福利).

1.The article is mainly about ____.

2. This article is most probably seen in a(n) ____.

3.What can be inferred from the article?

4.Who is the spokesman for Man?

London, April 28---The Man Group, a British hedge fund, is betting that investors will want to read more than the latest how-to- get –rich-quick business book.
In a five-year deal worth roughly $3.6 million announced last week, Man has agreed to sponsor(主办)the Booker Prize for Fiction, which will be renamed the Man Booker Prize. Since creating the award in 1969, Booker P.L.G., a British food group, in June 2000, executives began considering attracting outside sponsors. Man will be the first of these. Bill Grimsey, the chief of the Big Food Group, saw little business sense in a link between a food supplier and a literary prize, explained Dotti Irving, a spokeswoman for the Booker Prize foundation.
Such dissimilarities (差异) have not reduced Man’s enthusiasm for the prize which is expected to be open for the first time to American authors. David Browne, a spokesman for Man, said most of the firm’s investors are high-net-worth individuals who appreciate literature. “The people who buy hedge funds,” Mr. Browne said, “also read.”
Under the new agreement, authors will get more money. The winner of the annual prize, to be awarded in October, will receive $73,000 , up from $30,000 the Australian writer Peter Carey won last year for his novel “True History of the Kelley Gang.”
The six short-listed authors will each receive $3,600, up from $1,500. Having a hedge fund as a backer apparently has its perks.(福利).
【小题1】The article is mainly about ____.

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is awarded every year for a novel written by a writer from the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland and it aims to represent the very best in contemporary fiction. The prize was originally called the Booker-McConnell Prize, which was the name of the company that sponsored it, though it was better-known as simply the “Booker Prize”. In 2002, the Man Group became the sponsor and they chose the new name, keeping “Booker”.

Publishers can submit books for consideration for the prize, but the judges can also ask for books to be submitted they think should be included. Firstly, the Advisory Committee formed by sponsors give advice if there have been any changes to the rules for the prize and select the people who will judge the books. The judging panel (group) changes every year and usually a person is only a judge once.

Great efforts are made to ensure that the judging panel is balanced in terms of gender and professions within the industry, so that a writer, a critic, an editor and an academic are chosen along with a well-known person from wider society. However, when the panel of judges has been finalized, they are left to make their own decisions without any further involvement or interference from the prize sponsor.

The Man Booker judges include critics, writers and academics to maintain the consistent quality of the prize and its influence is such that the winner will almost certainly see the sales increase considerably, in addition to the £50,000 that comes with the prize.

Worth £60,000 to the winner, the Man Booker International Prize is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language. The winner is chosen solely at the mercy of the judging panel; there are no opinions from publishers.

The Man Booker International Prize reflects and reinforces the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction in that literary excellence will be its sole focus. The Man Booker International Prize is significantly different from the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction in that it highlights one writer’s overall contribution to fiction on the world stage. In seeking out literary excellence the judges consider a writer’s body of work rather than a single novel.

63. We can learn from the passage that _______.

A. books can be submitted by writers

B. the judging panel doesn’t include women

C. the judging panel advises on changes to the rules

D. the sponsors are involved in choosing the judges

64. The consistent quality of the prize is guaranteed by _______.

A. the prize money

B. the gender of the judges

C. the make-up of the panel of judges

D. by the increase in sales of the winner

65. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is quite different from the Man Booker International Prize in that _______.

  A. it focuses on a single novel

  B. it highlights an author’s overall work

  C. it offers much less money to the winner

  D. it is named after the company that sponsored it

66. This passage suggests that both prizes mentioned in it _______.

  A. are not awarded to women writers

  B. benefit the English literature greatly

  C. are awarded only to the English writers

  D. aim to promote book sales in the market

LONDON — The novelist Hilary Mantel won the 2012 Man Booker Prize on Tuesday for Bring Up the Bodies, the second book in her trilogy about the life of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister.

Set over the course of the year 1535, it tells of Anne Boleyn, Henry’s ill-fated second wife — the time when she was the most powerful and her rapid demise. The story is told through the eyes of Cromwell, who plotted her downfall.

　 “You wait 20 years for a Booker Prize; two come along at once,” said Ms. Mantel upon accepting the award. She won the Booker in 2009, too, for the first book in the trilogy, Wolf Hall.

　 The Man Booker Prize is awarded annually to a novel written by a citizen of the United Kingdom, Ireland, or the Commonwealth. Much of literary London put on black ties and gathered for a formal dinner at the grand Guildhall to hear the winner announced; the BBC broadcast the announcement live.

　 The prize has been won in the past years by some of the biggest names in fiction, including Iris Murdoch, J.M. Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Kingsley Amis and Salman Rushdie.

Sir Peter Stothard, chairman of this year’s Booker panel, said the judges had based their choices on “novels, not novelists; texts, not reputations.”

　 He added, “It was the pure power of writing that settled most debates. We loved the shock of language shown in so many different ways and were excited by the vigor and vividly defined values in the books that we chose – and in the visible confidence of the novel’s place in forming our words and ideas.”

Other novels on the shortlist included The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twang Eng; Swimming Home by Deborah Levy; The Lighthouse by Alison Moore; Umbrella by Will Self; and Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil.　　

64. The underlined word “demise” (in Para 2) probably means _____ .

A. progress 　 B. end　　　 C. success　　　 D. recovery

65. How many novels are mentioned in the passage?

A. 5　　　　　 B. 6　　　　 C. 7　　　　　　 D. 8

66. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A. Peter Stothard thought the novels shaped people’s language in a way.

B. The judges attached importance to the language and the authors’ fame.

C. Hilary Mantel was the first to win the Man Booker Prize.

D. People were uninterested in the results of the prize.

67. The best title for the passage might be _____ .

A. Bring Up the Bodies　　　 .

B. The Man Booker Prize

C. Hilary Mantel’s Novels Earn Her Fame

D. Hilary Mantel Wins a Second Booker Prize