2011年12月英语六级真题及答案详解
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2011 年 12 月英语六级真题及答案
Part IWriting(30 minutes)
Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay
entitledThe Way to Successby commenting on Abraham Lincoln's
famous remark, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will
spend, the first four sharpening the axe." You should write at
least150words but no more than200words.
The Way to Success
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 1 上作答。
Part IIReading Comprehension (Skimming and
Scanning)(15 minutes)
Directions:In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly
and answer the questions onAnswer Sheet 1.For questions 1-7,
choose the best answer fromthe four choices marked A), B), C) and
D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information
given in the passage.
Google's Plan for World's Biggest Online Library: Philanthropy Or Act of
Piracy?
In recent years, teams of workers dispatched by Google have been working
hard to makedigital copies of books. So far, Google has scanned more than 10
million titles from libraries inAmerica and Europe
-
including half a million
volumes held by the Bodleian in Oxford. The exactmethod it uses is unclear; the
company does not allow outsiders to observe the process.
Why is Google undertaking such a venture? Why is it even interested in all
those out-of-printlibrary books, most of which have been gathering dust on
forgotten shelves for decades? Thecompany claims its motives are essentially
public-spirited. Its overall mission, after all, is to "organisethe world's
information", so it would be odd if that information did not include books.
The company likes to present itself as having lofty aspirations. "This really
isn't about making money. We are doing this for the good of society." As Santiago
de la Mora, head of Google Books for Europe, puts it: "By making it possible to
search the millions of books that exist today, we hopeto expand the frontiers
of human knowledge."
Dan Clancy, the chief architect of Google Books, does seem genuine in his
conviction that thisis primarily a
philanthropic
(慈善的) exercise. "Google's
core business is search and find, soobviously what helps improve Google's search
engine is good for Google," he says. "But we havenever built a
spreadsheet
(电
子数据表) outlining the financial benefits of this, and I have neverhad to
justify the amount I am spending to the company's founders."
It is easy, talking to Clancy and his colleagues, to be swept along by their
missionary passion.But Google's book-scanning project is proving
controversial. Several opponents have recentlyemerged, ranging from rival tech
giants such as Microsoft and Amazon to small bodies representing authors and
publishers across the world. In broad terms, these opponents have levelled two
setsof criticisms at Google.
First, they have questioned whether the primary responsibility for digitally
archiving the world'sbooks should be allowed to fall to a commercial company.
In a recent essay in the
New YorkReview of Books,
Robert Darnton, the head of
Harvard University's library, argued that because such books are a common
resource – the possession of us all – only public, not-for-profit bodiesshould
be given the power to control them.
The second related criticism is that Google's scanning of books is actually
illegal. This allegation has led to Google becoming
mired in
(陷入) a legal
battle whose scope and complexity makesthe Jarndyce and Jarndyce case in Charles
Dickens'
Bleak House
look straightforward.
At its centre, however, is one simple issue: that of copyright. The
inconvenient fact about mostbooks, to which Google has arguably paid
insufficient attention, is that they are protected bycopyright. Copyright laws
differ from country to country, but in general protection extends for
theduration of an author's life and for a substantial period afterwards, thus
allowing the author's heirs to benefit. (In Britain and America, this post-death
period is 70 years.) This means, of course, thatalmost all of the books
published in the 20th century are still under copyright–and the last
centurysaw more books published than in all previous centuries combined. Of
the roughly 40 millionbooks in US libraries, for example, an estimated 32
million are in copyright. Of these, some 27million are out of print.
Outside the US, Google has made sure only to scan books that are out of
copyright and thus in the "public domain" (works such as the Bodleian's first
edition of
Middlemarch,
which anyone canread for free on Google Books Search).
But, within the US, the company has scanned both in-copyright and out-of-
copyright works. Inits defence, Google points out that it displays only small
segments of books that are in copyright–arguing that such displays are "fair
use". But critics allege that by making electronic copies ofthese books
without first seeking the permission of copyright holders, Google has committed
piracy.
"The key principle of copyright law has always been that works can be
copied only onceauthors have expressly given their permission," says Piers
Blofeld, of the Sheil Land literary agencyin London. "Google has reversed this
– it has simply copied all these works without bothering toask."
In 2005, the Authors Guild of America, together with a group of US
publishers, launched a
class action suit
(集团诉讼) against Google that, after
more than two years of negotiation, endedwith an announcement last October that
Google and the claimants had reached an out-of-courtsettlement. The full
details are complicated - the text alone runs to 385 pages–and trying
tosummarise it is no easy task. "Part of the problem is that it is basically
incomprehensible," saysBlofeld, one of the settlement's most vocal British
critics.
Broadly, the deal provides a mechanism for Google to compensate authors and
publisherswhose rights it has breached (including giving them a share of any
future revenue it generates fromtheir works). In exchange for this, the rights
holders agree not to sue Google in future.
This settlement hands Google the power - but only with the agreement of
individual rights holders–to exploit its database of out-of-print books. It
can include them in subscription dealssold to libraries or sell them
individually under a consumer licence. It is these commercial provisions that
are proving the settlement's most controversial aspect.
Critics point out that, by giving Google the right to commercially exploit
its database, thesettlement paves the way for a subtle shift in the company's
role from provider of information to seller. "Google's business model has always
been to provide information for free, and sell advertising on the basis of the
traffic this generates," points out James Grimmelmann, associate professor at New
York Law School. Now, he says, because of the settlement's provisions, Google
couldbecome a significant force in bookselling.
Interest in this aspect of the settlement has focused on "orphan" works,
where there is noknown copyright holder–these make up an estimated 5-10% of
the books Google has scanned.Under the settlement, when no rights holders come
forward and register their interest in a work, commercial control automatically
reverts to Google. Google will be able to display up to 20% oforphan works for
free, include them in its subscription deals to libraries and sell them to
individualbuyers under the consumer licence.
It is by no means certain that the settlement will be
enacted
(执行)
–it is the subject of afairness hearing in the US courts. But if it is
enacted, Google will in effect be off the hook as far ascopyright violations in
the US are concerned. Many people are seriously concerned by this - and the
company is likely to face challenges in other courts around the world.
No one knows the precise use Google will make of the intellectual property it
has gained byscanning the world's library books, and the truth, as Gleick, an
American science writer and member of the Authors Guild, points out, is that the
company probably doesn't even know itself. Butwhat is certain is that, in some
way or other, Google's entrance into digital bookselling will have asignificant
impact on the book world in the years to come.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 1 上作答。
1.Google claims its plan for the world's biggest online library is _____.
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价格：3.2金币
属性：25 页
大小：140KB
格式：DOC
时间：2024-11-14
