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  3. You’ve finally finished the book your co-worker recommended, so what to read next? If it is 5 a.m., chances are that you’re reac

You’ve finally finished the book your co-worker recommended, so what to read next? If it is 5 a.m., chances are that you’re reac

admin2018-07-10  26
问题     You’ve finally finished the book your co-worker recommended, so what to read next? If it is 5 a.m., chances are that you’re reaching for a romance novel—especially if you’re in Texas or Georgia. By early morning, thrillers might start to look more appealing.
    These are some of the insights from Scribd Inc. and Oyster, two startups that offer unlimited e-book rentals for a monthly subscription fee. Scribd, Oyster and Entitle Books—which just launched in December—are tracking reader behavior in hopes of figuring out recommendations of exactly what you’ll want to pick up next.
    Subscription services are popular because they "reduce the emotional burden" of purchasing, says Julie Haddon, Scribd vice president of marketing. Buying a book creates pressure to finish and get your money’s worth, she adds. In addition, people might try to save money by buying a cheaper book instead of the one they really want.
    An all-access subscription "lowers the activation energy for reading," says Oyster CEO Eric Stromberg. Reading often has a high "activation energy" because there’s a time gap between wanting to read a book and then actually getting your hands on it, he says. "When you can order a book and instantly get it on your tablet, you can hear about the book and then read it right there," says Willem van Lancker, Oyster’s chief product officer.
    "From the publishing perspective, the biggest problem is how to get people to care about a new book," says Otis Chandler, CEO of Goodreads, a site where people share what they’re reading and post recommendations. Goodreads, which was acquired by Amazon in March, uses an algorithm that recommends books that users with similar taste have enjoyed.
    Oyster and Scribd ask readers to rate books, what they call an "active signal." They also track "passive signals," such as the percentage of a book that a reader finishes and the click rate, or how many people who are shown a book click through to learn more. The companies use that information among other factors to recommend books. Active signals represent what we wish we read, while passive signals are more honest, says Jared Friedman, Scribd chief technology officer. A lot of people give a 5-star rating to "The Great Gatsby," while they read greedily, but don’t necessarily rate, thrillers like "The Da Vinci Code," for example.
    Personalized recommendations drive 10 times more browsing traffic than lists based on themes such as "globe-trotting memoirs" or "bad role models" that copy racks at the front of bookstores, Scribd’s Mr. Friedman says. The company is interested in combining algorithms with lists to create a list of best sellers that someone would, based on past reading behavior, find interesting. Another possible approach is to suggest different books or genres depending on time of day to take advantage of what the company knows about time-based preferences.
    These services, of course, compete with the library. But libraries have had limited e-book offerings and there are often waits for the books. While libraries’ budget for e-books has been growing, licensing restrictions mean that popular titles often aren’t available, says Laura Girmscheid, research manager for the trade publication Library Journal. This, combined with holds on e-books, is the largest hurdle preventing people from using library e-books more. "It’s just not convenient for instant access," Ms. Girmscheid says.
   
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答案A
解析 第六段第二句解释了passive signals包括the click rate，而第四句则引用Jared Friedman的话指出，passive signals是一种更真实的信号，A项复现了原文的关键词，为本题答案。
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