14．
Circle of Knowledge
Most students today depend on the rapidness and convenience of the
Internet to provide the facts they look for．Given a research task，many
students make use of a website known as Wikipedia，which is available
（可获得的）to all users of the Internet．However，before the introduction of the Internet，students journeyed to the library to search for facts，figures and stories in a huge collection of books known as encyclopedias（百科全书）
The word"encyclopedia"，meaning"whole circle of knowledge"，comes from the ancient Greek language．The first encyclopedias were organized by topic．These early collections were the works of a single writer．The first book of this kind was written by a Roman，Pliny the Elder，nearly 2，000years ago．Plinys collection remained popular for almost 1，500years．Producing such huge works was a difficult task．So experts began to work together，sharing responsibility for writing about different topics．The first set of books to use many authors was An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences published in 1728．The multiple-author model became the most widely used format．
Today there are many encyclopedias in different media．The online encyclopedia Wikipedia
was started in 2001．Users can visit the free website on the Internet．But the online information has
mistakes．Users are warned that newer articles may have large mistakes．Printed encyclopedias are
more or less free of mistakes．However，it is expensive to make sure of the correctness．
Wikipedia is trying to improve its correctness．They employ（雇用）1，000"fact checkers"to
look through the website and correct mistakes．The website managers also state that older articles
are more complete and balanced．Encyclopedia Britannica has even made moves away from being a
single-format book too．The company started a free online version．The free articles are short；
however，longer articles are available after users pay for them．
Both online and print editions（版本）have disadvantages．The mistakes can be corrected，but
the process takes time．Print editions are resistant（顽固的）to such mistakes．They are also
resistant to something else：change．Sometimes new information becomes available after an
encyclopedia is printed．Publishers can wait to include the new information in the next edition，but
that might be a year or more away．
More changes are likely for encyclopedias，whether in print or online．As time goes by，the
knowledge of humankind will still need to be recorded，sorted，and stored．The story of how that
information will look in 20，50or even 100years is still unwritten．
52．What is the second paragraph mainly about？C
A．The readers of encyclopedias．
B．The journey to the library．
C．The history of encyclopedias．
D．The change to the library．
53．The problem of online encyclopedia Wikipedia might be thatD
A．the services cost too much
B．new articles cannot be found
C．users cannot visit the website
D．the information has mistakes
54．We can team from the passage thatA．
A．the future look of information is unknown to the world
B．older articles on the website are usually easy and short
C．the first encyclopedias were the works of many writers
D．print editions of encyclopedias change information fast
55．What is the purpose of writing the passage？D
A．To suggest reading printed encyclopedias．
B．To advise people to use online encyclopedias．
C．To sell some editions of encyclopedias online．
D．To introduce the development of encyclopedias．
