What do literary tourists look for when they visit the British Isles? Often it’s the charmingly old-fashioned bookshops that provide the perfect excuse to read uninterruptedly and to disconnect from the world. Until recently, the trend for fine coffee and high-speed Wi-Fi was considered by some in the city’s bookish crowd to be ruining London’s centuries-old tradition of disconnected reading.
But a crop of bookshops is fighting against crazy online engagement and is creating environments where the real-life, Internet-free book reading is the most effective way to expand your social and professional networks. Leading the fighting is Libreria Books, which is in the company of Tenderbooks, Buchhandlung Wakther, Lutyens&Rubinstein etc., all independent bookshops without high-speed Wi-Fi and coffee.
Mr. Silva of Libreria was inspired to open his shop after experiencing a common suffering for London’s book-lovers—the repeated ring tones of smart phones ruining the peace of his bookshop experience. He wanted to get people reading without interruption. He said, “You can get Wi-Fi anywhere now, it’s not necessary in a bookshop.”
Their mantra(原则) has drawn a wise, brainy crowd. The bookshop should be an escape from an information overload. “ If someone gets a phone call, they leave the shop. It’s the same with the Internet—people just know this isn’t the space for being on line.” said Tamsin Clark, owner of Tender books. And in face of the Internet overload, some stores are proving to be among London’s hottest places.
Mr. Silva said “an old-fashioned space” is clearly appealing to book-lovers. He said his shop has had twice as many customers as expected, with visitors from as far as Australia and China. Faced with a bookshelf recommended by the Queen or surrounded by first editions, who wants to download a morning full of emails?
32. What would literary tourists like to find in an old-fashioned bookshop?
A. Free coffee. B. Social networks.
C. High-speed Wi-Fi. D. Peaceful reading time.
33. Why did Mr. Silva of Libreria decide to open his own bookshop?
A. He saw the trend of running bookshops.
B. He aimed at banning Wi-Fi in bookshops.
C. He was inspired by other bookshop owners.
D. He had an unpleasant reading in a bookshop.
34. What do London’s bookish crowd think of the Internet-free bookshops?
A. Outdated. B. Attractive. C. Fashionable. D. Professional.
35. What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean?
A. People prefer reading to being connected.
B. Emails keep coming in all morning.
C. You can still work efficiently.
D. People have no access to downloading emails.
DDBA
A. Profits enlarging B. Technology developing C. Education investing D. Benefits transferring E. Dominance disappearing F. A nation rising |
The following is an imaginary diary entry written by US president. This diary is part of Global Trends 2025, which was written by the US National Intelligence Council
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The
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Global wealth and economic power will shift from West to East.
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The transition from old fuels to new will be slow, as will the development of new technologies that present feasible alternatives to fossil fuels or help eliminate food and water problems. All current technologies are inadequate, and new ones will probably not be commercially possible by 2025