2012年大学英语六级快速阅读冲刺题（4）

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 10:30:44

Newspapers

Newspapers are the original form of broadband communication, a distinction not always recognized in the age of the Internet. Long before we had computers, television, radio, telephones and telegraph, newspapers were the cheapest and most efficient way to reach mass audiences with news, commentary and advertising. Newspapers, from their beginnings as hand-printed "broadsheets", have been a true random-access medium-readers can move easily and quickly through the different sections of a newspaper, returning to them days or even weeks later. And because a newspaper’s "software" consists of a common language, it possesses a universal and timeless quality.
      What Did the Growth of TV News Mean to Newspapers?

With the growth of television news in the 1960s, newspapers confronted their first formidable competitor. Today, ABC News claims that more Americans get their news from ABC than from any other source-and it’s probably true. The United States’ 1,600 daily newspapers continue to serve millions of readers, but newspapers are no longer the country’s dominant mass medium. How to survive and even flourish in a culture more attuned to (吻合) electronic media than to printer’s ink is the most serious issue facing the newspaper industry as it enters the 21st century.

It is safe to say that newspapers are not about to follow the Morse telegraph into oblivion. Newspapers are a portable, convenient medium. No one lugs a computer monitor to the breakfast table to get the morning news. And, newspapers are proving surprisingly adept at reinventing themselves for today’s readers by emphasizing good design, color photography and detailed stories that report and interpret current events.

What Exactly Is News and How Does It Work?

Curiously, for a publication called a newspaper, no one has ever coined a standard definition of news. But for the most part, news usually falls under one broad classification-the abnormal. It is human folly, mechanical failures and natural disasters that often "make the news".

Reporters are a newspaper’s front-line eyes and ears. Reporters glean（收集） information from many sources, some public, such as police records, and others private, such as a government informant. Occasionally, a reporter will go to jail rather than reveal the name of a confidential source for a news story. American newspapers proudly consider themselves the fourth branch of government-the watchdog branch -that exposes legislative, executive and judicial misbehavior.

Some reporters are assigned to beats, or an area of coverage, such as the courts, city hall, education, business, medicine and so forth. Others are called general assignment reporters, which means they are on call for a variety of stories such as accidents, civic events and human-interest stories.

In the movies, reporters have exciting, frenzied（狂热的）and dangerous jobs as they live a famous pronouncement of the newspaper business: "Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." Although a few members of the media have been killed as a result of investigations into wrongdoing, newspaper work for the great majority of reporters is routine.

All reporters are ultimately responsible to an editor. Depending on its size, a newspaper may have numerous editors, beginning with an executive editor responsible for the news division. Immediately below the executive editor is the managing editor, the person who oversees the day-to-day work of the news division. Other editors-sports, photo, state, national, features and obituary (讣告), for example-may also report to the managing editor.

However, the best known and in some ways the most crucial editor is the city or metro editor. This is the editor that reporters work for directly. The city or metro editor assigns stories, enforces deadlines and is the first to see reporters’ raw copy on the composition system or computer network. These editors are called gatekeepers, because they control much of what will and will not appear in the next day’s paper. Often working under the stress of breaking news, their decisions translate directly into the content of the newspaper.

Once the city or metro editor has finished editing a reporter’s raw copy, the story moves from the composition system via the computer network to another part of the news division, the copy desk. Here, copy editors check for spelling and other errors of usage. They may also look for "holes" in the story that would confuse readers or leave their questions unanswered.

The copy desk chief routes finished stories to other editors who fit local and wire service stories, headlines (written by the editor-not the reporter!) and digital photographs onto pages. Newspapers are increasingly doing this work, called pagination (分页), with personal computers using software available at any office supply store. Microsoft Windows, Word and Quark Express are three programs that, though not designed for newspaper production, are easily adapted for it.

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 10:30:45

What Are the Editorial Pages All About?

A newspaper publishes its views on current events-both local and national-on its editorial pages. This is where editorials, unsigned commentary that reflects the collective position of the newspaper’s editorial board, appear. Editorials are not news, but rather reasoned opinion based on facts. For example, editorials may criticize the performance of public officials such as the mayor, the police chief, or the local school board; conversely, editorials may praise others for their civic contributions. Whatever the topic, newspapers hope their editorials will raise the level of community discourse.
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Two ways this occurs are familiar to any newspaper reader-letters to the editor and op-ed articles (a contraction of opposite-editorial page). Letters are always among the best-read section of any newspaper, for this is where readers express their opinions. Op-ed articles usually run 850 to 1,000 words. Newspapers make space for letters to the editor and op-ed articles freely available as part of their contribution to civic dialogue.

The editorial pages are under the direction of an editor outside the news division. Newspaper people call this "separation of church and state", meaning there is a line between news and opinion that must not be crossed. To do so strips a newspaper of its most valuable asset-credibility. For that reason, editorial page editors at some large newspapers report to the publisher, who is the chief executive officer of the company, and not to the executive editor. Other newspapers may have their editorial page editor reporting to the executive editor. Whatever the organizational model, though, neither department can tell the other what to publish in the newspaper.

How Are Newspapers Distributed?

Responsibility for getting the newspaper from the press to the reader falls to the distribution division. Large newspapers publish two, three or even four editions, all of which must be ready to leave the newspaper plant at a certain time. The first edition, sometimes called the bulldog edition (晨版), goes to the outer limits of the newspaper’s circulation area. This may be several counties or even an entire state. Later editions contain progressively fresher news and go to smaller areas. The final edition, which goes to press after midnight, contains the latest news but covers the smallest geographical area, usually a city.

Any subscriber to a daily newspaper knows that it plops (扑通落下) onto the driveway in the wee hours of the morning. Independent contractors called carriers buy copies of the newspaper at a discount and deliver them, using their personal vehicles. The first job for many American youngsters was delivering the afternoon paper in their neighborhood.

The circulation department draws the routes that carriers follow. This department is also responsible for rack sales, newspapers that go into coin-operated dispensers (自动售货机). The circulation department maintains subscribers’ billing records, stops and starts deliveries upon request, and uses service runners to deliver missing papers.

In 18 hours of highly coordinated work carried out by numerous divisions, what newspaper people call a "rough draft of history" has moved through computer systems, imaging（成像）machines and presses, to its final destination-the readers. After 3:30 a.m., few people remain at a newspaper plant. All the other divisions have gone home. The presses have fallen silent, perhaps undergoing maintenance for the remainder of the night. The sudden silence will not last long. In less than four hours, the newspaper, as it must do 365 days a year, will rouse from its short sleep and start all over again.

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 10:30:46

1. What can best describe the characteristics of today’s newspapers?

A) They are popular and everlasting.

B) They are original and hand-printed.

C) They are the most important media.

D) They are cheaper and more efficient.

2. What qualities should newspapers possess to survive in the competition against other media?

A) Adaptability and good design.

B) Convenience and adaptability.
来自www.Examw.com
C) Good design and color photagraphy.

D) Convenience and color photagraphy.

3. For the most part, news has been classified into ________.

A) police records and a government informant

B) legistative, executive and judicial misbenhavior

C) accidents, civic events and human-interest stories

D) human folly, mechanical failures and natural disasters

4. What endangers the security and life of a journalist?

A) Investigating wrongdoings.

B) Exposing executive mish\behaviors.
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C) Revealing confidential news sources.

D) Gleaning information from police records.

5. Whether or not the news story will be on the newspaper is decided by ________.

A) the copy editor

B) the managing editor

C) the executive editor

D) the city or metro editor

6. The newspapers’ own comments on current events are put on ________.

A) headlines

B) raw copy

C) editorial pages
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D) composition system

7. Newspapers make room for letters to the editor and opposite-editorial articles as important devotion to ________.

A) civic dialogue

B) current events

C) public reports

D) private stories

8. The editorial page and the news division are directed by independent editors, which ensures no overstep on the border between _________________.

9. Among the different editions of a large newspaper, the one that reachers the smallest circulation area is the _________________.

10. To deliver newspapers to the subscribers, camers use their vehicles and follow the routes desiged by the ________________.

会计考友 · 发表于 2012-8-14 10:30:47

文章梗概：

本文主要介绍了报纸的编辑和制作过程。第一个标题概括了当今报纸在各种新闻媒体形式竞争中的地位和生存之道；第二个标题首先说明新闻的性质，然后介绍了新闻报道的各级负责人；第三个标题阐明了报纸社论的性质和编辑原则；最后一个标题介绍了报纸发行部的工作。

答案解析：中华考试网

1. 由题干关键词the characteristics of today’s newspaper定位至第一段最后两句Newspapers,…have been a true random-access medium-readers can move easily and quickly through the different sections of a newspaper,….And because a newspaper’s "software" consists of a common language, it possesses a universal and timeless quality.报纸已从最初的手工印刷发展到随机存取，读者可以在几天或数周后方便、快捷地浏览报纸的各个版面。和以前的报纸比较起来，现在的报纸使用一门通用的语言，因此具有大众化和不受时间限制的特点。A）是对原文的转述，故为正确答案。这里的random-access意为"随机存取"，timeless意为"永久的，不受时间影响的"。

2. 由题干关键词survival in the competition定位至第一个标题What Did the Growth of TV News Mean to Newspapers?下第二段。该段第二句Newspapers are a portable, convenient medium.和最后一句中的newspapers are proving surprisingly adept at reinventing themselves for today’s readers分别与题干中的convenience 和 adaptability表述一致。故B）为正确答案。

3. 由题干关键词classified定位至第二个标题What Exactly Is News and How Does It Work?下第一段第二、三句But for the most part, news usually falls under one broad classification-the abnormal.和第三句It is human folly, mechanical failures and natural disasters that often "make the news". 在很大程度上，新闻通常泛指异常情况。也就是：人类的蠢行、机械故障以及自然灾害打造了新闻。因此D）为正确答案。这里的abnormal意为"异常的，反常的"，folly 意为"愚蠢的行为、思想"。

4. 由题干关键词life和journalist定位至第二个标题What Exactly Is News and How Does It Work?下第四段最后一句Although a few members of the media have been killed as a result of investigations into wrong doing....由此可知，有个别的媒体成员因为调查一些坏事而被杀害。题干中所说的记者的安全和生命有时会面临危险与A)表述相符。

5. 由题干关键词whether the story will be on the newspaper定位至第二个标题What Exactly Is News and How Does It Work?下第六段第四句These editors are called gatekeepers, because they control much of what will and will not appear in the next day’s paper.这些编辑被称为"把关人"，因为他们掌控着第二天报纸即将出现和不出现的内容。其中These editors指的是本段开头提到的the city or metro editor，故D)为正确答案。

6. 由题干关键词their own comments on currents affairs定位至第三个标题What Are the Editorial Pages All About?下第一段第一句A newspaper publishes its views on current events-both local and national-on its editorial pages. 报纸往往把他们对地方或全国实事的评论刊登在社论一栏。C)与题干的陈述一致。

7. 由题干关键词letters to the editor, opposite-editorial articles和devotion to定位至第三个标题What Are the Editorial Pages All About?下第二段最后一句Newspapers make space for letters to the editor and op-ed articles freely available as part of their contribution to civic dialogue.报纸会为读者来信和社论版留出很大的自由空间，作为他们对与市民对话的贡献。因此A)为正确答案。来自www.Examw.com

8. 由题干关键词editorial page and the news division定位至第三个标题What Are the Editorial Pages All About?下最后一段。题干的前半部分正好是本段第一句的同义转述，即社论版由新闻版之外的编辑负责。第二句中说，办报纸的人把这种安排叫作国教分离，意思是新闻和观点之间的界限不可逾越，由此可见题干后半句no overstep on the border与第二句中there is a line between news and opinion that must not be crossed意思相近，故答案为news and opinion。

9. 由题干关键词smallest circulation area定位至第四个标题How Are Newspapers Distributed?下第一段最后一句The final edition, which goes to press after midnight, contains the latest news but covers the smallest geographical area, usually a city. 最后一版一般是午夜之后付印的，包含了最新的消息，所覆盖的地理面积也最小，通常是一个城市。划线处即为答案。

10. 由题干关键词follow the routes定位至第四个标题How Are Newspapers Distributed?下倒数第二段第一句The circulation department draws the routes that carriers follow.发行部制订运送者所走得路线。由此可知，答案为circulation department。

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[六级阅读] 2012年大学英语六级快速阅读冲刺题（4）