Part A: Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)
Text 4
Visit any antiques store and you’ll encounter artifacts from the past: photographs, letters, a brochure detailing the Sinclair dinosaur exhibit from the 1964-1965 World’s Fair, the ephemera of history. Yet these objects aren’t truly ephemeral, because they’re still here, decades, even centuries later. Why? Because they’re tangible.
Have you pondered the life cycle of intangible formats, digital information, given that those who produce these artifacts seldom make provision for their long-term preservation? For millennia we’ve known what we’ve known due to artifacts that have survived, often despite their original creators’ neglect. The thing itself is the medium that delivers the information. At the time of creation, no attempts were made at intentional preservation, yet analog materials have a chance of surviving and serving as the historical record that biographers, historians, and novelists rely on. Libraries and archives have, traditionally shouldered the responsibility of organization, preservation, and access to information. Thus, librarians digitize the tangible so that researchers the world over can quickly search and access their holdings. The result is an embarrassment of historical riches, which brings its own needle-and-haystack problems.
Librarians’ selfless devotion can act against us when users point to universality of access by holding up a cellphone and saying, “it’s all in here” as evidence that libraries are less vital for researchers today. Yet how was that universality of access made possible and, perhaps more importantly, how is it maintained? Who curates what is preserved? When it comes to born-digital information, the terrifying answer can be: if not librarians and archivists, then no one. Digital information requires a great deal more care than analog.
Even when a digital object is preserved, it may only be the carrier that’s saved, not the information itself. As technology advances and a format becomes obsolete, the object is useless. Have you ever stared helplessly at a ZIP disk, thinking: how do I get the files off this? Without constant migration of digital assets, a nightmare about the foreseeable future is what keeps historians up at night: a historical record that abruptly stops when digital replace analog.
As a librarian whose day job revolves around special collections and digital assets, I share the night terrors of historians, and I’d be lying if I said a comprehensive preservation solution currently exists. Yet researchers can take some comfort in the fact that there are a multitude of librarians devoted to discovering, organizing, and preserving digital information for researchers current and future. Librarians are uniquely positioned to understand how end users seek and use information. Thus we play an integral role in identifying, preserving, and providing accessibility to digital artifacts so that, while future researchers may find the digital realm a challenging place to ply their trade, they won’t find it an impossible one.
36. The author mentions the artifacts from the past to
37. Compared with digital objects, tangible artifacts
38. According to Passage 3, librarians’ work may result in
39. The “ZIP disk” is cited as an example to show
40. Which of the following statements best summarizes the text?
答案与解析 (Answers)
36. [C] bring up the issue of preservation.
解析：作者在第一段通过描述古董店里那些有形的“历史遗留物”引出话题，并指出它们之所以能留存是因为它们是“有形的（tangible）”。紧接着第二段就提出了对“无形格式（数字信息）”保存周期的反思。因此，提到过去的文物是为了引出“保存（preservation）”这一核心议题。
37. [B] convey information in a more direct way.
解析：第二段明确指出：“物体本身就是传递信息的媒介（The thing itself is the medium that delivers the information）”，即使在最初创造时没有刻意保存，有形材料（analog materials）依然有机会作为历史记录存续。相比之下，数字信息更依赖于载体，载体过时则信息丢失。因此，有形文物传递信息的方式更直接。
38. [B] undervaluation of libraries.
解析：第三段指出，图书馆员的无私奉献（将资料数字化）可能会“对我们不利（act against us）”，因为用户会拿着手机说“都在这里面了”，并以此作为“图书馆对当今研究人员已不那么重要（libraries are less vital）”的证据。这种现象导致了图书馆价值被低估（undervaluation）。
39. [C] the possibility of losing information in obsolete formats.
解析：第四段讨论了数字对象面临的风险：即使载体被保存下来，如果格式过时（obsolete），对象就没用了。作者列举 ZIP 磁盘作为例子，询问读者是否曾无奈地看着它却无法读取其中的文件。这有力地说明了随着格式过时，信息有丢失的可能性。
40. [D] Keeping digital historical records is a challenge.
解析：通读全文，作者从有形文物的自然留存谈到数字信息的脆弱性，强调了数字保存需要极大的努力和图书馆员的专业维护。文章多次提到“Terrifying answer”、“Nightmare”、“Night terrors”等词描述数字保存的现状，说明这是一项巨大的挑战（challenge）。
全文翻译
走进任何一家古董店，你都会遇到来自过去的器物：照片、信件、一本详细介绍1964-1965年世界博览会辛克莱恐龙展览的小册子——历史的短暂存在。然而，这些物品并不真正短暂，因为它们仍然在这里，几十年甚至几个世纪后。为什么？因为它们是实实在在的。你是否思考过无形格式——数字信息——的生命周期，考虑到那些制作这些器物的人很少为其长期保存作出安排？几千年来，我们所知道的一切都源于幸存下来的文物，尽管它们的原始创造者往往对其疏于保管。物品本身就是传递信息的媒介。在创作时，没有人试图进行有意的保存，然而模拟材料有存活下来的机会，并成为传记作家、历史学家和小说家所依赖的历史记录。图书馆和档案馆传统上承担了组织、保存和提供信息获取的责任。因此，图书馆员将有形物品数字化，以便世界各地的研究人员能够快速搜索和访问其馆藏。结果是历史资料的极大丰富，这也带来了自身的大海捞针问题。图书馆员的无私奉献可能适得其反，当用户指着手中的手机说"都在这里了"，以普遍可获取性作为证据说明图书馆对今天的研究人员不再那么重要。然而，这种获取的普遍性是如何实现的，也许更重要的是，它是如何维持的？谁来策划保存什么？对于天生的数字信息，可怕的答案可能是：如果不是图书馆员和档案管理员，那就没有人。数字信息需要比模拟信息多得多的照料。即使一个数字对象被保存下来，可能也只保存了载体，而不是信息本身。随着技术的进步和某种格式变得过时，这个对象就无用了。你是否曾无助地盯着一张ZIP磁盘，想着：我怎么把文件取出来？如果没有数字资产的持续迁移，一个关于可预见未来的噩梦会让历史学家夜不能寐：当数字取代模拟时，历史记录突然中断。作为一名日常工作围绕特藏和数字资产的图书馆员，我同样会做历史学家的噩梦，而且如果我说目前存在全面的保存解决方案，那我是在撒谎。然而，研究人员可以从以下事实中得到一些安慰：有无数图书馆员致力于为当前和未来的研究人员发现、组织和保存数字信息。图书馆员处于独特的位置，能够理解最终用户如何寻找和使用信息。因此，我们在识别、保存和提供数字文物的可获取性方面扮演着不可或缺的角色，这样一来，虽然未来的研究人员可能会发现数字领域是一个充满挑战的谋生之地，但他们不会发现这是一个不可能之地。
核心长难句精解 (Highlighted Sentences)
1. 带有让步状语从句与原因状语的复合句：
"Have you pondered the life cycle of intangible formats, digital information, given that those who produce these artifacts seldom make provision for their long-term preservation?"
【解析】given that 引导原因状语从句，意为“考虑到...”。在从句中，those who... 是主语，who 引导定语从句。make provision for 意为“为...做准备”。
【翻译】考虑到那些生产这些（数字）制品的人很少为它们的长期保存做准备，你是否思考过无形格式——即数字信息——的生命周期？
"Have you pondered the life cycle of intangible formats, digital information, given that those who produce these artifacts seldom make provision for their long-term preservation?"
【解析】given that 引导原因状语从句，意为“考虑到...”。在从句中，those who... 是主语，who 引导定语从句。make provision for 意为“为...做准备”。
【翻译】考虑到那些生产这些（数字）制品的人很少为它们的长期保存做准备，你是否思考过无形格式——即数字信息——的生命周期？
2. 宾语从句与表语从句的嵌套：
"Without constant migration of digital assets, a nightmare about the foreseeable future is what keeps historians up at night: a historical record that abruptly stops when digital replace analog."
【解析】what 引导表语从句。冒号后是同位语，解释 nightmare。that 引导定语从句修饰 historical record，里面嵌套了 when 引导的时间状语从句。
【翻译】如果没有数字资产的持续迁移，一个关于可预见未来的噩梦令历史学家们夜不能寐：那就是当数字取代模拟信号时，历史记录会突然中断。
"Without constant migration of digital assets, a nightmare about the foreseeable future is what keeps historians up at night: a historical record that abruptly stops when digital replace analog."
【解析】what 引导表语从句。冒号后是同位语，解释 nightmare。that 引导定语从句修饰 historical record，里面嵌套了 when 引导的时间状语从句。
【翻译】如果没有数字资产的持续迁移，一个关于可预见未来的噩梦令历史学家们夜不能寐：那就是当数字取代模拟信号时，历史记录会突然中断。
3. 让步状语从句与宾语从句的复合：
"Thus we play an integral role... so that, while future researchers may find the digital realm a challenging place..., they won’t find it an impossible one."
【解析】so that 引导目的状语从句。在目的状语从句中，while 引导让步状语从句（虽然...但是）。主句谓语是 won't find，使用了“find + 宾语 + 补语”的结构。
【翻译】因此，我们（图书馆员）在识别、保存和提供数字制品的可访问性方面发挥着不可或缺的作用，这样一来，虽然未来的研究人员可能会发现数字领域是一个充满挑战的地方，但他们不会发现它是一个死胡同。
"Thus we play an integral role... so that, while future researchers may find the digital realm a challenging place..., they won’t find it an impossible one."
【解析】so that 引导目的状语从句。在目的状语从句中，while 引导让步状语从句（虽然...但是）。主句谓语是 won't find，使用了“find + 宾语 + 补语”的结构。
【翻译】因此，我们（图书馆员）在识别、保存和提供数字制品的可访问性方面发挥着不可或缺的作用，这样一来，虽然未来的研究人员可能会发现数字领域是一个充满挑战的地方，但他们不会发现它是一个死胡同。