Which statement best summarizes the passage?

Question

From "Amazon.com." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2013. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.

'The Kindle Shakes Up Publishing'

By 2010 the rift between book publishers and Amazon.com over the price of e-books had grown. The publishing company Macmillan Books threatened to pull its e-books from Amazon.com, which retaliated by removing all Macmillan books, both printed and electronic, from the site. However, within weeks, Amazon.com capitulated and allowed Macmillan and other publishers to set prices of e-books.

A.Only one company, Macmillan Books, was brave enough to stand up to Amazon. And Macmillan won the fight.

B.Amazon came very close to losing a major publisher's books because of the disagreement over how to price e-books.

C.The incident with Macmillan Books gave other publishers hope that they could also stand up to Amazon when they felt that they were being unfairly treated.

D.Macmillan Books decided to stop selling through Amazon unless Amazon agreed to price e-books more fairly. To avoid this loss, Amazon quickly agreed to the major publisher's terms.

Answer 1

A. Only one company, Macmillan Books, was brave enough to stand up to Amazon. This is true, because the statement says that there was a rift between Amazon and other publishers, but a threat came from MacMillan Books. It was a brave move because they risked not being able to sell on the Internet giant. In fact, for a time they were booted by Amazon, but it was Amazon that decided to take them back. The passage does not say why they had a change of heart, but they allowed publishers to then set more fair prices. This is what MacMillan wanted, so it is also true that they won in the end.

B. Amazon came very close to losing a major publisher's books... This is not true, because for a time Amazon did lose a major publisher's books.

C. The incident gave other publishers hope that they could stand up to Amazon... This may or may not be true. The passage makes no claims that other publishers were hopeful. While one may infer it is true, additional reading may verify or refute the inference. The best summary is be based on factual information.

D. Macmillan Books decided to stop selling through Amazon... This is not true. The decision was Amazon's for MacMillan Books to stop selling.

A is the correct answer.