单选题 Since the buildup to the war with Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has taken it on the chin from the media. The British media ordinarily grill politicians, but in this case they have been particularly feisty, empowered by opinion polls that showed most Brits wanted nothing to do with invading Iraq. ①Until now the American media, which by nature are less aggressive than their British counterparts but probably are taking a lead from polls and politicians that supported the administration's war stance, have gone relatively easy on President Bust.
But this week the media have hit the administration hard with questions about Bush's State of the Union statement that Iraq was acquiring uranium from Niger, one of the administration's justifications for war. And with the 2004 campaign heating up and Bush's approval rating dipping, his administration is being grilled harder than it has been in months. Experts say the questioning will get sharper as summer progresses.
"That Democrats are just now 'beginning to get traction' on the justification for the war is an example of how differently politics are played in the U.S.A. than they are in Britain"says Martin Turner, Washington bureau chief of the BBC. The respondents have been highly critical of the war and suspicious of administration claims that weapons of mass destruction exist in Iraq.
In Britain, whereas prime minister must defend himself every week before Parliament, the media take a "much more muscular approach to grilling politicians", Turner says. Here, the BBC is often regarded as a rather impolite member of the Washington press corps. "We tend to ask questions in a different way than they are asked on the Sunday political programs."
In London, Michael Goldfarb, senior correspondent for National Public Radio affiliate WBUR in Boston, says his British counterparts talk about "how astonishing the ride has been for Bush" and how the Bush administration "manages the news like it's nobody's business. Here they call Blair Bush's poodle (狮子狗)". But then again, he says, British media "simply don't hold to the American notion of objectivity and certainly not impartiality". ABC anchor Peter Jennings, who reported from London in the 1970s and 1980s, says he has "always been struck by how mu ch more aggressive the British press is". They're simply much more aggressive. In the U.S.A., "there is no doubt that the press is aware of the influence of a powerful president, and the press is aware to some extent that it is in competition for public opinion, so there is always stress between a powerful president and the press." But in the past week, with debate over the war heating up, it led several of Jennings' World News Tonight broadcasts. "Our reporters sense some deep concern about what is happening./

单选题 The passage is primarily concerned with ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】主旨题。文章第一段提到,英国媒体总是盘问政客,而美国媒体则不像英国媒体那样具有攻击性;后面又提到,英国媒体根本不顾美国媒体所谓的客观性和公正性,他们要好斗得多。综合可知,本文重点论述了英国媒体 的“好斗性”,所以c正确。
单选题 From the first sentence of the passage we learn that the British Prime Minister ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】推断题。文章第一句指出,自从伊拉克战争的准备工作开始之后,英国首相布莱尔就一直忍受来自媒体的压力,如果清楚句中的take it on the chin 意为“忍受痛苦(处罚等)”,就可确定答案为A。如果不清楚该短语的含义,也可以从下文得出答案。下一句提到,英国媒体总是对政客折磨有加,而在这件事上他们的态度更加严厉,因为民意调查表明大多数英国人都不希望参与伊拉克战争;由此推断,英国媒体在伊拉克战争的问题上给布莱尔施加了很大的压力。
单选题 It is implied in paragraphs 2 and 3 that Bush might lose public support if ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】推断题。文章第二段指出,本周媒体严厉质疑布什所作的国情咨文,布什在国情咨文中表明伊拉克正从尼日尔获取铀,这正是美国政府计划对伊发动战争的原因,而随着2004总统大选进入白热化阶段,布什的支持率有所下跌,布什政府遭受了比以往几个月更为严厉的盘问;由此推断,如果布什无法找到理由来证明其对伊开战的合理性,那么他就将失去公众的 支持,所以本题选D。第三段首句提到,民主党正着手证实战争的合理性,可见民主党是支持对伊战争的,故排除干扰项B。
单选题 The reaction of a British correspondent of American media can be best described as one of ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推断题。文章最后一段提到,美国广播公司的主持人彼得·詹宁斯在上个世纪七八十年代曾任驻伦敦记者,他总是对英国新闻界的好斗性感到震惊;由此推断,美国媒体驻英国的记者对英国媒体做法的反应是吃惊的,所以B正确。
单选题 What Jennings said implies that the press in America ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推断题。在文章最后一段中詹宁斯指出,在美国,新闻界无疑清楚一位强有力的总统的影响力,并且在某种程度上也意识到他们要通过竞争赢得公众的赞许,由此推断,美国媒体更注重公众对报道的反应,所以B正确。