A
It's midnight in Taiwan，China.While some people are slowly walking home through the busy streets，or getting ready to hit the club scene，others are on their way to a more unusual place—a bookstore.The Eslite store in central Taipei opens 24 hours and has more visitors than most Western city bookstores could dream of during their daytime hours.Here，young and old sit sidebyside on small steps or around reading tables，deeply absorbed in literary worlds.Others stand and some sit on the floor，all reading in silence as soft classical music flows out from the speakers.
The Eslite Group，which runs the fivestorey store，opened its first branch in Taipei in 1989.Today，25 years on，the company runs 42 stores in Taiwan，one in Hong Kong and has powerful plans to expand in Chinese mainland.The chain's rise comes at a time when bookstores in the United States and Europe are struggling to survive，with some forced to wind up due to growing pressure from online competitors like Amazon.In the United Kingdom，a third of all independent bookstores have closed down in the last decade.
And the last major book seller in the US—Barnes & Noble—is shutting stores as its management struggles to meet the challenges from its digital competitors.Eslite has hit upon an idea to avoid this—making the store as much a place for books as it is for design，fashion and home styling，small cafés and restaurants.It reported revenue (收入) of around D|S425 million in 2013，with books accounting for some 40 percent of sales.
The mix of literature and design has made the store a place for bookworms，allowing the company to ignore the challenges of the digital age. “It is our belief that the more digital the society (becomes)，the more we treasure the warmth of the interconnection，” Timothy Wang，the manager，says. “This key idea makes Eslite hardly influenced by the changes of the industry.”
Eslite's success may seem counterintuitive(反直觉的) especially when it seems most latenight visitors treat it like a library，leaving empty handed after hours of free reading.Eslite's Timothy Wang says that the business is successful because it creates “a friendly environment” and treats “books as well as the visitors with great enthusiasm.”
【语篇解读】 文章介绍了中国台湾诚品书店成功的原因。
1．What's the meaning of the underlined phrase “wind up” in Paragraph 2?
A．Find out. B．Support.
C．Develop. D．Shut down.
解析：词义猜测题。根据第二段“The chain's rise comes at a time when bookstores in the United States and Europe are struggling to survive...In the United Kingdom，a third of all independent bookstores have closed down in the last decade.”可知中国台北诚品连锁书店正在崛起，而此时美国和欧洲的书店正惨淡经营。在过去的10年里，英国1/3的独立书店已经停业。由此可知，由于来自电商竞争者的压力日益剧增，比如亚马孙，有的书店被迫“关门”。画线短语的意思是“关门，停业”。
答案：D
2．How does the Eslite Group enlarge its business according to Paragraph 3?
A．By selling books online.
B．By competing with digital competitors.
C．By making its store comfortable and relaxing.
D．By selling books at a low price.
解析：推理判断题。根据第三段“Eslite has hit upon an idea to avoid this—making the store as much a place for books as it is for design，fashion and home styling，small cafes and restaurants.”可知，诚品书店想出了一个避免被电商冲击的办法——把书店打造成一个有设计感、时尚、家庭风格的小咖啡馆和餐厅式的地方。由此可推知，诚品书店把书店打造成一个舒适、放松的地方以吸引更多的读者。
答案：C
3．Which is the best title for this passage?
A．How to sell books in the digital age
B．Ways of managing a bookstore successfully
C．Why book selling is successful in Taiwan
D．The measures taken to protect the booksellers in the digital age
解析：主旨大意题。文章主要介绍了中国台湾的诚品书店在电商时代是如何取得成功的。
答案：C
