Should Writers Be Paid for Their E-books Lent by Libraries?

When libraries lend books to the public, authors and publishers receive remuneration from the Government under the Lending Rights schemes.     1     Is this fair?

This year, the government has distributed almost a $ 22 million under these Public Lending Rights and Educational Lending Rights Schemes. For each book in public library collections creators receive $2.11 and publishers receive $0.52.

The amount that each claimant receives is often not very significant, with the majority of authors receiving between S100-500 annually, Still, a previous study has revealed that this remuneration constitutes the second most important source of income for creators from their creative work.

E-books, however, are not covered by these Lending Rights schemes.     2     But e-book lending is increasing and, according to the Australian Library and Information Association, e-books are likely to reach 20% of library holdings by 2020. Also, most, if not all, self-published titles are done so in digital format only. Such self-published titles, if lent by libraries ,would not qualify for any remuneration.

    3    Although the Book Industry Collaborative Council made such proposal already in a report of 2013 , nothing has happened of yet.

One of the main reasons why e-books are not covered is that e-book lending is quite different from print book lending. In case of print books, authors and publishers are arguably losing on customers and revenues when libraries loan their books for free.Creators only receive $2.11 and publishers receive $0.52 for each book in public library collections.

At present, in the case of e-books, many publishers chose not to sell these books to libraries.     4    

While publishers charge libraries high prices for e-books, writers complain that these amounts do not reach them. Publishing contracts often don't specify whether and how much authors receive for e-books sales or for e-lending.

Food & Health Myths

Every day there is new information about food and health products. Newspapers regularly have articles that discuss how certain foods or drinks are good or bad for you, Some television shows often deal with new stories about how consuming certain substances can affect your body    1    

One myth about food and health is that eggs are bad for your heart. Although they are indeed high in cholesterol(胆固醇)and fat, it's not true that eating eggs every day will damage your heart.     2     As far as fat goes, it's the yellow part of the egg that contains all the fat. So if you're worried about the fat content of eggs, go ahead and just eat the whites. You might also choose to buy certain kinds of eggs that have less fat content depending on the diet of the animal. Check your local supermarket for more information.

    4    Consumers who are especially concerned about their health should think carefully about new information they read about or see on television.

3 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

4 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。

5 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。

8 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box.   Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Communication — a thing of the past?

We all think we communicate all the time, and that’s true. There’s also non-verbal communication you could add into the mix — everything we’re saying when we’re not saying anything. But there’s a(n)     1     between saying things to people, or liking and sharing a post on social media, and communication. I’m quite well connected — there’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, email, iEverything, but sometimes communication starts to feel like a chore. Check this blog post, read that article someone shared,     2     back to someone else, and answer their questions… Sometimes I feel like a cross between Siri and a mad juggler. Nothing seems to go in and I’m always mixing people up — asking someone how their band is going when they can’t play an instrument or how the job search is going when someone’s just written to say how depressed they are that they can’t find a job.

So it was quite a(n)     3     to spend New Year in the Highlands in Scotland with no phone signal, no internet and no ‘communication’ at all, apart from with the people I was with. Suddenly all the pressure to communicate disappeared. All of our conversations became slower, more inverted and far more interesting. We were a group of 12, a(n)     4     of couples and friends, only one of whom I was at university with, so I was meeting a bunch of new people for the first time. Our conversations veered towards the banal and the humdrum in that we often discussed our plans for the day and what we were going to cook in the evening, but often they went a lot farther and a lot deeper. Tucked up on the leather sofas,     5     dinner, we dissected Brexit and one person even changed their     6     entirely! We shared ideas and theories, plots of books and plays and city trips we’d been on, described family troubles and gave advice, listened to work scenarios and offered pointers, and we had to talk and sketch and use words more than ever before, because you couldn’t say, ‘It’s a great film, you should google it later.’ Some of us even had sore throats from talking so much! In such a short     7     of time, due to the proximity of sharing interconnected cottages and verbal communication, I felt much closer to the new people I’d met and been speaking with than some other people I communicate with in my normal life.

I don’t think our common, current methods of communication come close to being in a small house with lots of people and having to communicate     8    . The brevity of Twitter, the showiness of Facebook, all these aspects contribute to a shallow form of communication that doesn’t challenge you to     9     your feelings and motives enough. ‘Liking’ something is an instant response but what does it really say about your opinion of something? It’s a(n)     10     response to millions of other people, whereas you and your thoughts are unique. If we’re not careful, perhaps we might forget how to communicate on a deeper lever.

10 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。