The first half of the nineteenthcenturysawdramaticchanges in the economics of the printed word in both the United States and Europe, though the changes generally happened earlier and on a wider basis in America. In the 1830s and 1840s, sharp reductions in prices for newspapers and books in America highlighted theadventof aneraof cheap print. Now there were daily newspapers thatinsteadof 6 cents per copy sold for a penny or two. Now there were novels thatinsteadof an earlier price of $2 sold for 25 cents or less, when the same books in Britaincosttheequivalentof more than $7. Sosteepwere the declines in the price of print over so short a period that they amounted to an information-pricerevolution, the first of several such episodes of declining prices that haveprofoundlyaffected information andcultureduring the past two centuries. Two mid-nineteenth-century American cultural innovations, the "penny press" and the "dime novel", were actually named for their low price. These were criticized for being cheap in both senses of that word: low in price and low intaste. But low price did not necessarily mean lowbrow. Increasingly, book publishers issuedeventhe most esteemed works in cheap as well as expensive editions toreachas wide a public as possible. The information-pricerevolutionalso affectedreligiousandpoliticalpublishing, as reading became a basis ofmasspersuasion for the first time inhistory.

Cheap print was notentirelyunprecedented. In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England and France, cheap collections of stories, ballads, and other miscellany had circulated among thelowerclasses. But since only aminorityof the poor could read, most listened while a few read aloud; thus cheap print reached not so much a reading as a listening public. Theexpansionof cheap print in the nineteenthcenturyin America and Europe was on a much largerscale, and it took place during a great increase inpopularliteracy. Together these amounted to a cultural watershed. Traditionally,eveninliteratehomes, books and other publications had beenrelativelyrareand treasured objects; reading meant returning to a few texts, especiallyreligiousworks. But with theexplosionof print, reading became morevaried, and readers scanned newspapers, magazines, and cheap books that they soon passed on or discarded. Intensivereading ofreligiousand other works did not disappear, but reading became an increasinglycommonform ofdiversionas well asdevotion.

The usual explanation for the rise of cheap print emphasizes new technology. Unquestionably, the fulldevelopmentof cheap print could not have happened withouttechnologicalchange. Print, however, had already become cheaper in America beforetechnologicaladvances played asignificantrole; new technology arrived once theprocesswas under way, not at the beginning. This was no accident: the continuingexpansionof print created anincentivefortechnologicalinnovation. Toconceiveof technology as the causal force is to understate thepriorimportance ofpolitics,culture, and markets in creating the conditions that allowed investments in new technology topayoff.

Cheap print was publicpolicyin America. While European governments taxed newspapers and other publications, the United States let them go tax free andevensubsidized them, to adegree,throughthe postal system. The rise of cheap books and other forms of cheap print in the United States also reflecteddistinctivepatterns of nineteenth-century American consumer markets. As theeconomichistorian Nathan Rosenberg remarks, citing the cases of cutlery, guns, boots, and clothing, "Americansreadilyaccepted products which had beendeliberatelydesigned for lowcost,massproduction methods "at a time when handmade goods persisted in Britain. Books fit thispattern. Americans had not beenprimarilyresponsiblefor introducing new manufacturing technology to the production of books. On thecontrary, most of the key advances in printing and papermaking before 1850 had traveled westacrossthe Atlantic rather than thereverse. But theindustrializationof book production proceeded more rapidly in the United States, where themarketby the middle decades of thecenturywas not only larger than in Britain but also apparently moresensitiveto price than toquality, perhaps because elite readers constituted a smallerproportionof book buyers.

Questions:
question_stem: All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 1 as being true of nineteenth- century print prices EXCEPT:
choices: tag: A
text: Prices first experiences a significant decrease in the 1830s and 1840s.

tag: B
text: Daily newspapers that sold for 6 cents in Britain sold for a penny or two in America.

tag: C
text: Some American novels declined in price from two dollars to about 25 cents.

tag: D
text: Reductions in print prices had effects that lasted well into the twentieth century.
answer_key: B
explanation: 题干提问“对19世纪印刷价格的描述，以下哪个选项是错误的”。
定位第1段段2句 In the 1830s and 1840s, sharp reductions in prices 对应选项 A，正确；
第4句 novels that instead of an earlier price of $2 sold for 25 cents or less 对应选项 C，正确；
第5句 the first of several such episodes of declining prices that have profoundly affected information and culture during the past two centuries 对应选项 D，正确；
第3句 daily newspapers that instead of 6 cents per copy sold for a penny or two 对应选项 B，但是6 cents 是美国原来售价，并不是选项中提到的6 cents in Britain，错误。
故选 B

question_stem: The word "unprecedented" in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: reliable

tag: B
text: new

tag: C
text: accepted

tag: D
text: effective
answer_key: B
explanation: unprecedented adj.前所未有的，空前的；与 new 同义。
故选 B

question_stem: According to paragraph 2, which of the following was true of cheap print in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England and France?
choices: tag: A
text: An increase in popular literacy allowed cheap print to succeed.

tag: B
text: Cheap publications of stories and ballads reached a wider readership in France than they did in England.

tag: C
text: Decreasing print prices did not affect the reading habits of the upper classes.

tag: D
text: Cheap print reached more people by being read aloud than by being read silently.
answer_key: D
explanation: 题干提问“英国和法国17-18世纪廉价印刷，正确表述”。
定位第2段第2-3句，由第3句 But since only a minority of the poor could read, most listened while a few read aloud; thus cheap print reached not so much a reading as a listening public.理解为此时阅读主要以一部分人大声朗读，一部分人倾听的形式呈现，对应选项 D。
故选 D

question_stem: According to paragraph 2, reading changed in all of the following ways after the explosion of print EXCEPT:
choices: tag: A
text: Reading for amusement became more common.

tag: B
text: People began to read books more carefully than they had in the past.

tag: C
text: People began to read a greater variety of publications.

tag: D
text: Readers began to discard books more frequently.
answer_key: B
explanation: 题干提问“印刷品爆发式增长之后，以下哪个是不符合阅读发生的变化”。
定位第2段倒数第1句，reading became an increasingly common form of diversion as well as devotion 对应选项 A，正确；
倒数第2句 reading became more varied 对应选项 C，正确；
倒数第2句 they soon passed on or discarded 对应选项 D，正确；
倒数第3句 readers scanned newspapers, magazines, and cheap books 对应选项 B，原文是 scan 浏览，即并非仔细阅读，与选项 B 提及 more carefully 不符，错误。
故选 B

question_stem: In paragraph 3, the author expresses which of the following points of view on the relationship between technology and the development of cheap print?
choices: tag: A
text: Changes in technology, politics, cultures, and markets all preceded the development of cheap print.

tag: B
text: Technological advances were the most important causal force in the print revolution.

tag: C
text: The arrival of new technology made the development of cheap print possible.

tag: D
text: The growth of cheap print provided people with a reason to develop new technology.
answer_key: D
explanation: 题干提问“科技与廉价印刷发展之间的关系是”。
定位第3段第3-4句 Print, however, had already become cheaper in America before technological advances played a significant role; new technology arrived once the process was under way, not at the beginning. This was no accident: the continuing expansion of print created an incentive for technological innovation. 可得知，印刷在技术出现前已经变得廉价，印刷品的持续扩张为技术创新创造了动力，对应选项 D。
故选 D

question_stem: Why does the author refer to Nathan Rosenberg's remarks on "the cases of cutlery, guns, boots, and clothing"?
choices: tag: A
text: To explain how new production methods used for books were quickly applied to other types of products

tag: B
text: To point out similarities between consumer patterns in the United States and in Britain

tag: C
text: To support the claim that books fit the pattern of the nineteenth-century American consumer markets

tag: D
text: To explain why handmade products were not as popular in America during the nineteenth century as they were in Britain
answer_key: C
explanation: 题干提问“作者提及 the cases of cutlery, guns, boots, and clothing 的目的是”。
定位第4段第3-5句，廉价书籍反映了19世纪美国消费市场，第4句提及的各种产品体现出了低廉价格适合美国市场，第5句 Books fit this pattern.扣题，对应选项 C。
故选 C

question_stem: The word "persisted" in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: spread

tag: B
text: suffered

tag: C
text: continued

tag: D
text: improved
answer_key: C
explanation: persist v.维持，保持，持续存在；与 continue 同义。
故选 C

question_stem: Which of the sentence below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentences in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
choices: tag: A
text: The American book industry's larger market and commitment to low prices prevented it from selling books that were similar in quality to the books sold to British buyers.

tag: B
text: Industrialization of book production occurred more rapidly in the United States than is usually realized, perhaps because of the large markets and low prices that were common in the nineteenth century.

tag: C
text: A larger market than in Britain and a greater demand for cheap books in the United States contributed to the faster industrialization of book production.

tag: D
text: The industrialization of book production occurred more quickly in the United States than in Britain because elite readers in America were not as sensitive to quality as elite readers in Britain were.
answer_key: C
explanation: 定位第4段简化句，分析：industrialization of book production proceeded more rapidly in the United States，原因有二（1）larger than in Britain ，（2）more sensitive to price than to quality，后面 because elite readers constituted a smaller proportion of book buyers 作为（2）的原因。
选项 A 的 were similar inquality，选项 B 的 than is usually realized，选项 D 的 not as sensitive to quality as 均未提及，错误；
选项 C 符合原文主干及原因（1）（2）。
故选 C