单选题 "It is an evil influence on the youth of our country. " A politician condemning video gaming? Actually, a clergyman denouncing rock and roll 50 years ago. But the sentiment could just as easily have been voiced by Hillary Clinton in the past few weeks, as she blamed video games for "a silent epidemic of media desensitisation" and "stealing the innocence of our children".
The gaming furore centers on "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas", a popular and notoriously violent cops and robbers game that turned out to contain hidden sex scenes that could be unlocked using a patch downloaded from the internet. The resulting outcry (mostly from Democratic politicians playing to the centre) caused the game's rating in America to be changed from "mature", which means you have to be 17 to buy it, to "adults only", which means you have to be 18, but also means that big retailers such as Wal-Mart will not stock it. As a result the game has been banned in Australia; and, this autumn, America's Federal Trade Commission will investigate the complaints. That will give gaming's opponents an opportunity to vent their wrath on the industry.
Skepticism of new media is a tradition with deep roots, going back at least as far as Socrates' objections to written texts, outlined in Plato's Phaedrus. Socrates worried that relying on written texts, rather than the oral tradition, would "create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves." (He also objected that a written version of a speech was no substitute for the ability to interrogate the speaker, since, when questioned, the text "always gives one unvarying answer". His objection, in short, was that books were not interactive. Perhaps Socrates would have thought more highly of video games.)
Novels were once considered too low-brow for university literature courses, but eventually the disapproving professors retired. Waltz music and dancing were condemned in the 19th century; all that twirling was thought to be "intoxicating" and "depraved", and the music was outlawed in some places. Today it is hard to imagine what the fuss was about. And rock and roll was thought to encourage violence, promiscuity and Satanism; but today even grannies buy Coldplay albums.

单选题 We can learn from the text that human beings have a history of______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[考点解析] 这是一道细节题，测试考生准确识别和理解原文重要信息的能力。本题的答案信息来源于第三段的首句，该句的大意是：“对新媒介物的置疑是一种有着深厚历史根源的传统……”。由此可以推断本题的正确选项是C“disbelief in the novel medium”(置疑新的媒介物)。考生在阅读时一定要准确识别重要信息，例如本文第三段的主题句。
单选题 The attitudes of Socrates and Hillary Clinton toward the novel medium are______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[考点解析] 这是一道细节归纳题，测试考生准确理解和归纳原文信息的能力。本题的答案信息来源于第一段第四句和第三段第一句。第一段第四句表明：Hillary Clinton指责电子游戏(当前的一种新的媒介)；第三段第一句表明：Socrates反对书面文本(当时的一种新的媒介)。由此可以得出这两人均对新的媒介持否定的态度，故本题的正确选项是A“identical”(相同的)。考生在阅读时要善于准确归纳原文信息。
单选题 Video games would have been recommended by Socrates due to its______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[考点解析] 这是一道细节分析题，测试考生准确识别和分析原文信息的能力。本题的答案信息来源在第三段的倒数第一、二句。这两句活的大意是：“Socrates反对的理由是书小不是互动的。大概Socrates会比较欣赏电子游戏的”。从这两句话可以推断出：电子游戏的互动性会使Socrates接纳和肯定。故本题的正确选项应该是D“two-way communication”(双向交流)。考生在阅读时要注意运用逻辑推导的能力。
单选题 To which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[考点解析] 这是一道细节推导题，测试考生准确理解原文主要信息并进行准确归纳的能力。本题的答案信息来源于第二段倒数第二句的后半部分，这部分的大意是：“今年秋天，美国联邦贸易委员会将调查有关投诉”。由此可以推断：有关电子游戏对人们有害的指责还没有法律上的裁决。考生在阅读时要注意重要的细节信息并进行准确推导。
单选题 When mentioning novels, waltz music and rock and roll, the author is suggesting
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[考点解析] 这是一道细节推导题，测试考生准确理解原文信息作用的能力。本题的答案信息在尾段。尾段一共四句话，作者在第一、二、四句中分别沦述了“小说”(novel)、“华尔兹音乐”(waltz music)以及“摇滚”(rock and roll)的今昔对比，即：昔日受指责，今日得到接受。作者在尾段的论述暗示：“电子游戏”(video games)正在重复着它们的历史。目前受指责的“电子游戏”一定会在未来被人们所接受。由此可以推断本题的正确选项应该是C“the prospect of video games”(电子游戏的未米)。考生在阅读时要重视相关信息与全文中心主旨的关联。