单选题 Almost every family buys at least one copy of a newspaper every day. Some people subscribe to as many as two or three different newspapers. But why do people read newspapers?
Five hundred years ago, news of important happenings—battles lost and won, kings or rulers overthrown or killed—took months and even years to travel from one country to another. The news passed by word of mouth and was never accurate. Today we can read in our newspapers of important events that occur in faraway countries on the same day they happen.
Apart from supplying news from all over the world, newspapers give us a lot of other useful information. There are weather reports, radio, television and film guides, book reviews, stories, and, of course, advertisements. There are all sorts of advertisements. The bigger ones are put in by large companies to bring attention to their products. They pay the newspapers thousands of dollars for their advertising space, but it is worth the money, for news of their products goes into almost every home in the country. For those who produce newspapers, advertisements are also important. Money earned from advertisements makes it possible for them to sell their newspapers at a low price and still make a profit.

单选题 The habit of reading newspapers is ______.
A. widespread
B. found among a few families
C. not popular
D. uncommon
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据第一段一、二句：几乎每个家庭都至少订一份报纸，有的甚至订两三份。可见，读报纸是一种很普遍的习惯。
单选题 In the past, news was ______.
A. sent by telegraph
B. sent by letter
C. passed from one person to another
D. sent by telephone
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。由第二段一、二句可知。
单选题 The money spent on advertisements is ______.
A. wasted B. not much
C. worthwhile D. of no use to anyone
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。由第三段第五句“They pay the newspapers thousands of dollars for their advertising space, but it is worth the money”可知。worthwhile：值得花费时间(或金钱)的，值得做的。
单选题 Which of the following statements is not true? ______
A. Five hundred years ago news did not take a long time to reach other countries.
B. Large companies put big advertisements in the newspapers to make their products known.
C. The news that we need in our newspapers is up-to-date.
D. Though the newspapers are sold at a low price, their owners still gain profit.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。选项B与第三段第四句符合；选项C符合第二段最后一句的内容。up-to-date：最新的。选项D与原文最后一句意思一致。而选项A，则与第二段的首句不符合：五百年前，报纸传到其他国家要花几个月甚至几年时间。
单选题 The phrase "subscribe to" in the second sentence means ______.
A. contribute to B. write to
C. pay for receiving D. appreciate
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 词汇题。subscribe to，订阅。所以只有选项C符合。contribute to，有助于、促进；write to，写信；appreciate，感激。