阅读理解。
The growing popularity of digital reading has encouraged best-selling young Chinese author Han Han to
release (发表) his new novel on the Internet.
Ta De Guo (His Country), of which Han Han has finished only one tenth so far, will be available for paid
reading from December 1st on Qidian.com, the online library has announced.
Han Han will update the story every day and finish the book before the end of the year. A printed edition
will only be produced after all of the content goes online, sources said.
To read the entire book, readers will have to pay eight yuan, or 0.08 yuan per 1,000 words. This is almost
four times the price of an average writer on Qidian.com.
Lu Jinbo, a well-known publisher, estimated that a popular writer like Han Han is likely to attract 20 million
subscribers. That means this high-school-dropout-turned popular author could bring in 160 million yuan, nearly
40 times as much as he earned in copyright royalties (版税) last year.
On the 2007 list of Chinese millionaire writers, Han Han ranked 13th with 3.8 million yuan. The richest, Guo
Jingming, earned 11 million yuan.
Statistics from China Internet Network Information Center show that there are at least 253 million Internet
users in China. Such a large-scale Internet population has developed a prosperous industry for online novel
writing. Among the many success stories is Zhang Muye, an office worker whose fantasy novel Ghost Blows
out the Light made him the 19th wealthiest author in 2007.
Besides the potential to gain a large readership base, the Internet writers are being recognized professionally.
The jury (评委) of the Mao Dun Literature Prize, the most prestigious (有影响力的) honor for Chinese writers,
is considering adding a category for online writers.
1. According to the passage, online writing is becoming more and more popular mainly because _____.
A. it's a good way to save paper
B. it's convenient to write online
C. all the online stories are interesting
D. Internet users in China are increasing
2. From the passage, we can learn that Ta De Guo is a novel of _____ words.
A. 300,000
B. 200,000
C. 150,000
D. 100,000
3. Which of the following statements is true?
A. Han Han has already finished writing Ta De Guo.
B. All the online authors are millionaires.
C. Guo Jingming earned less than any other online author in 2007.
D. Online writers are being accepted by readers and some organizations.
4. What's the author's attitude towards digital reading?
A. Doubtful.
B. Objective.
C. Negative.
D. Subjective.
