A library book checked out more than 100 years ago in St. Paul, Minnesota, has finally been returned.

Someone looking through their relative’s belongings came across “Famous Composers”, a book published in 1902 that had a checkout slip (便条) from the St. Paul Public Library showing that it was last borrowed in 1919, according to Minnesota Public Radio. “There’s been a time or two when something has come back, and maybe it has been checked out for 20 or 30 years, but nothing where it looks like it has been out for some 100 years,” John Larson, the library’s digital coordinator, told The Associated Press.

The second volume of “Famous Composers” by Nathan Haskell Dole, was published in 1902. It explores the lives and works of famous composers including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. The book only spent a short time on the shelves of the library and had been checked out many times leading up to the last time in 1919.

According to the Minnesota Public Radio, Larson found that the book was cataloged (编目) in 1914, just before a fire destroyed 160,000 books in the library’s collection in the Old Market Hall. Almost a third of the library’s books had already been borrowed during the fire incident. Hence, “Famous Composers” was one of the fortunate literary works to have survived.

    ▲     That’s unclear. Larson said the book is in fragile (脆弱的) condition and that he doubts it will be available for circulation (发行). But he believes the library will keep it. “It has reached a point where it’s not just an old book, it’s an artifact. It has a little bit of history to it,” he told the AP. The library is hoping to find the person who returned the book and speak to them but doesn’t yet know who that is.

1.What can we know about “Famous Composers”?

A It was published in 1919.

B It mainly recorded the composer Bach’s life.

C It took Nathan Haskell Dole a year to finish it.

D It was popular in the library then.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第二段第一句“a book published in 1902”可知，这本书于1902年出版，A项错误；根据第三段第二句“It explores the lives and works of famous composers including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin.”可知，它探索了包括巴赫、莫扎特、贝多芬和肖邦在内的著名作曲家的生活和作品，B项错误；C项未提及；根据第三段最后一句“The book only spent a short time on the shelves of the library and had been checked out many times leading up to the last time in 1919.”可知，这本书在图书馆的书架上只放了很短的时间，就被多次借阅，由此可知这本书很受欢迎。故选D。

2.What’s the fourth paragraph mainly about?

A Importance of the book.

B Investigation of the book.

C Trouble the book caused.

D Prediction about the book.

解析：选B。B段落大意题。该段主要描述了对这本书的调查：这本书是在1914年编目的，就在一场大火摧毁了老市场大厅图书馆收藏的16万本书之前。火灾发生期间，图书馆近三分之一的书籍已经被借阅出去。因此，《著名作曲家》是此次大火中幸存下来的幸运文学作品之一。故选B。

3.What can be put back into the “ ▲ ”?

A What will happen to the book next?

B Why did the book get lost?

C Where did the book’s author come from?

D How did the government thank the person?

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据后面的“That’s unclear.”和“he doubts it will be available for circulation”可知，在图书馆已工作了25年的数字图书馆协调员约翰·拉森说，这本书现在的状况很脆弱，不知能否重新上架，但图书馆会保存好它。由此可知空白处在提问这本书现在会怎样。故选A。

4.What does Larson think of the fragile book?

A Meaningful.

B Useless.

C Fascinating.

D Touching.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据最后一段的“It has reached a point where it’s not just an old book, it’s an artifact. It has a little bit of history to it”可知，拉森认为，这本书已不仅仅是一本旧书，它还是一件艺术品，它有了一段历史。因此他认为这本书有意义。故选A。