Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, c, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
The lack of printing regulations and the unenforceability of British copyright law in the American colonies made it possible for colonial printers occasionally to act as publishers. Although they rarely undertook major publishing project because it was difficult to sell books as cheaply as they could be imported from Europe, printers in Philadelphia did publish work that required only small amounts of capital, paper, and type. Broadsides could be published with minimal financial risk. Consisting of only one sheet of paper and requiring small amounts of type, broadsides involved lower investments of capital than longer works. Furthermore, the broadside format lent itself to subjects of high, if temporary, interest, enabling them to meet with ready sale. If the broadside printer miscalculated, however, and produced a sheet that did not sell, it was not likely to be a major loss, and the printer would know this immediately, there would be no agonizing wait with large amounts of capital tied up, books gathering dust on the shelves’ and creditors impatient for payment.
In addition to broadsides, books and pamphlets, consisting mainly of political tracts, catechisms, primers, and chapbooks were relatively inexpensive to print and to buy. Chapbook were pamphlet-sized books, usually containing popular tales, ballads, poems, short plays, and jokes, small, both in formal and number of pages, they were generally bound simply, in boards (a form of cardboard) or merely stitched in paper wrappers (a sewn antecedent of modern-day paperbacks). Pamphlets and chapbooks did not require me paper or a great deal of type to produce they could thus be printed in large, cost-effective editions and sold cheaply.
By far, the most appealing publishing investments were to be found in small books that had proven to be steady sellers, providing a reasonably reliable source of income for the publisher. They would not, by nature, be highly topical or political, as such publications would prove of fleeting interest. Almanacs, annual pu ications t at contained information on astronomy and weather patterns arranged according to the days, week, and months of a given year, provided the perfect steady seller because their information pertained to the locale in which they would be used.
Which aspect of colonial printing does the passage mainly discuss?
A. Laws governing the printing industry
B. Competition among printers
C. Types of publications produced
D. Advances in printing technology
Đáp án C.
Câu hỏi: Khía cạnh nào của việc in ấn thuộc địa mà đoạn văn chủ yếu đề cập?
Các em làm câu hỏi này sau khi đã hoàn thành xong các câu hỏi khác.
A. Laws governing the printing industry: Bộ luật quản lí ngành công nghiệp in ấn.
B. Competition among printers: Cạnh tranh giữa các nhà in.
C. Types or publications produced: Những loại ấn phẩm được sản xuất.
D. Advances in printing technology: Những tiến bộ trong công nghệ in ấn.
Chỉ có dảp án C là hợp lí vì chủ đề này được đề cập xuyên suốt đoạn văn, các đáp án còn lại đều không thích hợp
Kiến thức cần nhớ
Một số từ khóa trong bài:
- unenforceability / ʌnɪn'fɔ:s'bɪl.ə.ti/ (n): không thể thi hành được
- locale / lə'kɑ:l/ (n): bối cảnh