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Sales for Downloaded Books are Up 电子书销量持续增加

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Sales for Downloaded Books are Up  电子书销量持续增加

A recent announcement from Amazon.com, the world’s largest Internet book retailer, stated the company is selling 80 percent more e-books than hardcover ones. This is pretty amazing when you consider that the company has been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle e-books for only 33 months. This has led Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to declare, “The Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format.” One reason for the recent increase might be a recent price cut on Kindle, which made the device more affordable to consumers. However, industry analysts are not totally convinced that the days of printed books are over. They claim that the information released by Amazon leaves out a lot of key details. For example, paperback books, which outsell hardcover books by a large amount, were not included in the survey. Yet, with Amazon’s recent revelation and the success of the format on Apple’s iPad, it’s clear that e-books are here to stay.

全球最大的在线零售书商亚马逊近来发布一则声明，宣布该公司的电子书销量已经超越精装书八成。这真的很惊人，尤其当你考虑到该公司销售精装书已经长达15年，而Kindle的电子书问市仅33个月。亚马逊执行长杰夫．贝佐斯因此声明：「Kindle版电子书的销售已经超越精装书」。电子书销量增加的原因之一可能是由于近来Kindle阅读器的售价降低，令消费者更能负担得起这项设备。然而，产业分析师们并没有全然相信印刷书的时代已经结束。分析师们认为，亚马逊所释放的信息仍缺少很多关键的细节，像是平装书的销量就大幅度地超越精装书，此点却没有在评估范围内。但随着亚马逊近来所披露的这则消息，加上Kindle版在苹果平板计算机iPad上的成功，很明显地，电子书还会是目前的趋势。

UN Rules that Kosovo’s Breakaway from Serbia is Legal  联合国裁决：科索沃脱离塞尔维亚独立并不违法

A recent UN ruling has determined that Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia did not violate international law. Kosovo, formerly a territory of Serbia, spilt from the nation in 2008 after ten years of international administration following a war which ended in 1999. This decision may lead to Kosovo’s acceptance into the UN. Currently, the state is backed by 69 countries and it needs 100 to gain entry. Although the ruling may increase support of Kosovo’s independent status among other nations, there’s still a lot of tension between Kosovo and its former sovereign. Serbia feels that Kosovo is an important part of its culture, and Serbs are unwilling to let the Kosovans withdraw from their nation. Serbian President Boris Tadic has stated that Serbia would never recognize Kosovan independence. Serbia plans to lobby other nations against diplomatic recognition of Kosovo while simultaneously trying to pass a new UN resolution. Kosovo’s progress may encourage other separatist regions to declare their own independence as well.

联合国近来裁定科索沃脱离塞尔维亚宣布独立并无违反国际法。科索沃之前为塞尔维亚的领土，在1999年的一场战争结束后历经了十年的国际管辖，于2008年脱离了塞尔维亚。这项裁定可能导致科索沃获准加入联合国。目前，科索沃得到69国的支持，但要获得100个国家的支持才能进入联合国。虽然此项判决可能增加他国对科索沃独立的支持度，但科索沃跟前政权之间的关系仍十分紧绷。塞尔维亚认为科索沃是该国文化中重要的一部分，而且塞尔维亚人不愿让科索沃人脱离他们的国家。塞尔维亚的总统鲍里斯．塔迪奇声明，塞尔维亚绝不会承认科索沃的独立。塞尔维亚计划游说他国反对给予科索沃外交地位上的承认，同时尝试通过新的联合国决议案。科索沃这次的进展可能会鼓励其他自治区也宣布属于他们自己的独立。

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Vocabulary

单词发音

format [ˋfɔrmæt] n.〔书﹑杂志等的〕格式; 版式

overtake [͵ovɚˋtek] v. 赶上；超过

device [dɪˋvaɪs] n. 设备，装置

analyst [ˋæn!ɪst] n. 分析师

convinced [kənˋvɪnst] adj. 确信的; 信服的

leave out 省去; 遗漏 to omit; exclude

survey [ˋsɚve] n. 测量; 调查

be here to stay 普遍认可, 成为风尚  If something is here to stay, it has stopped being unusual and has become generally used or accepted.

violate [ˋvaɪə͵let] v. 违背，违反

acceptance [əkˋsɛptəns] n. 接受；领受

status [ˋstetəs] n. 地位，身分

withdraw [wɪðˋdrɔ] v. 撤退，撤离

lobby [ˋlɑbɪ] v. 进行游说

resolution [͵rɛzəˋluʃən] n.（会议等的）正式决定，决议

More Information

单词发音

retailer [rɪˋtelɚ] n. 零售商；零售店

hardcover [ˋhɑrdˋkʌvɚ] adj. 精装的

paperback [ˋpepɚ͵bæk] adj. 平装（本）的

outsell [aʊtˋsɛl] v. 卖得比……多

revelation [rɛv!ˋeʃən] n. 揭示；暴露

administration [əd͵mɪnəˋstreʃən] n. 管理；监督

sovereign [ˋsɑvrɪn] n. 君主，元首

diplomatic [͵dɪpləˋmætɪk] adj. 外交的

simultaneously [saɪməlˋtenɪəslɪ] adv. 同时地

separatist [ˋsɛpə͵retɪst] n. 分离主义者

Entry-level Kindle is an excellent no-frills e-book reader

Kosovo: the struggle for recognition (part one)