题目内容：

    A book is so much more than mere ink and paper. So insist French booksellers, who for nearly four decades successfully persuade the government to keep the forces of the free market at bay. A law passed in 1981 bans the sale of any book at anything other than the price decided by its publisher. Authorities are cracking down on those trying to sell the latest Thomas Piketty or J.K Rowling at a discount.

The fixed-price rule is meant to keep customers loyal to their local bookshop and out of the control of supermarkets and corporations. But the arrival of e-commerce and e-readers has promoted questions worthy of their own tomes(大部头著作). Can you fix the price of a book if it is part of an all-you-can-read subscription service? Are audio-books books at all? And what of authors who self-publish?

Changes have been made to preserve the principle of “one book, one price”. In 2011, the rule began to apply to digital tomes. Free delivery by online sellers was prohibited because it implied a subsidy(补贴) on the delivered books (encouraging online sellers to charge only €0.01 for postage). But a new challenge to the policy is proving more difficult to deal with.

Used books are exempted from the pricing rule. Third-party sellers on Amazon are accused of using this as a way to apply forbidden discounts: selling brand-new books as “second hand” to make them cheaper. So fans can purchase a copy of the latest Michel Houellebecq novel Serotonine for 11.71 pounds on Amazon, roughly half of its original price. Its seller claims it is in “perfectly new” condition.

Amazon claims its practices are legal. But books sellers are upset, and their political allies with them. “This is a major concern,” said Franck Riester, the culture minister, at a bookseller’s conference this week. He says new laws may be needed.

Defenders of the fixed-price principle (which has spread to other parts of Europe) say it helps keep independent bookshops alive. Others are not so sure. Books are expensive in France — an odd way to encourage people to buy more.

1.What was the function of the law passed in 1981?

A.To stop publishers from publishing poor books.

B.To prevent the random price of books in the market.

C.To help book consumers benefit from the free market.

D.To encourage French booksellers to sell cheaper books.

2.What’s implied about the arrival of e-commerce and e-readers in Paragraph 2?

A.It greatly changed people’s reading habits.

B.It challenged the principle of “one book, one price”.

C.It weakened the ties between publishers and authors.

D.It provided local booksellers with some new opportunities.

3.What does the underlined part “are exempted from” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A.are involved in. B.are threatened by.

C.are consistent with. D.are unrestricted by.

4.What is Franck Riester’s attitude towards those third-party sellers’ practices on Amazon?

A.He is hopeful of them. B.He is uncertain of them.

C.He disapproves of them. D.He is indifferent to them.