Of all the changes that have taken place in English-language newspapers during the past quarter-century, perhaps the most far-reaching has been the inexorable decline in the scope and seriousness of their arts coverage. It is difficult to the point of impossibility for the average reader under the age of forty to imagine a time when high-quality arts criticism could be found in most big-city newspapers. Yet a considerable number of the most significant collections of criticism published in the 20th century consisted in large part of newspaper reviews. To read such books today is to marvel at the fact that their learned contents were once deemed suitable for publication in general-circulation dailies. We are even farther removed from the unfocused newspaper reviews published in England between the turn of the 20th century and the eve of World War II, at a time when newsprint was dirt-cheap and stylish arts criticism was considered an ornament to the publications in which it appeared. In those far-off days, it was taken for granted that the critics of major papers would write in detail and at length about the events they covered. Theirs was a serious business, and even those reviewers who wore their learning lightly, like George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Newman, could be trusted to know what they were about. These men believed in journalism as a calling, and were proud to be published in the daily press. "So few authors have brains enough or literary gift enough to ke ep their own end up in journalism," Newman wrote, "that I am tempted to define 'journalism' as 'a term of contempt applied by writers who are not read to writers who are'." Unfortunately, these critics are virtually forgotten. Neville Cardus, who wrote for the Manchester Guardian from 1917 until shortly before his death in 1975, is now known solely as a writer of essays on the game of cricket. During his lifetime, though, he was also one of England' s foremost classical-music critics, a stylist so widely admired that his Autobiography(1947)became a best-seller. He was knighted in 1967, the first music critic to be so honored. Yet only one of his books is now in print, and his vast body of writings on music is unknown save to specialists. Is there any chance that Cardus's criticism will enjoy a revival? The prospect seems remote. Journalistic tastes had changed long before his death, and postmodern readers have little use for the richly upholstered Vicwardian prose in which he specialized. Moreover, the amateur tradition in music criticism has been in headlong retreat.
单选题
Newspaper reviews in England before World War II were characterized by
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：推断题。本题考查二战前英国报纸评论的特点，根据题干关键词定位到第三段。首句有三 个词值得注意：unfocused、dirt-cheap、ornament，就是说20世纪初至“二战”前，英国的报纸评论内 容包罗万象(unfocused)，新闻用纸便宜(dirt-cheap)，并且艺术评论仅仅是报纸的装饰(ornament)， 由此可以推断出A项正确，即报纸评论内容繁杂、主题自由。B项“风格随意”、C项“布局精心”、 D项“观点激进”，均是针对原文的stylish、in detail and length等出的干扰项。
单选题
Which of the following would Shaw and Newman most probably agree on?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第三段。D项是对第三段末句so few authors have brains enough or literary gift enough to keep their own end up in journalism的同义改写，not all相当于so few，are capable of相当于have brains enough or literary gift enough，故选择D项。A项“认为作家 都有责任从事新闻工作”属于过度推断，B项“作家们不屑去做新闻工作者”，与两位作家对新闻 工作的积极态度相悖。C项“作家有可能被吸引从事新闻写作”无从推知。
单选题
What can be learned about Cardus according to the last two paragraphs?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：推断题。A项“他的音乐评论对当今读者可能已没有什么吸引力了”是第四段最后一句 his vast body of writings on music is unknown save to specialists和第五段第三句postmodern read ers have little use for…in which he specialized的概括和同义改写，故为正确答案。B项“他作为音 乐评论家享有的声誉长久以来饱受争议”属于无中生有，原文并没有提到。C项“他的风格主要迎 合现代专业人士”与第四段最后一句相矛盾。D项“他写的文章未能遵循业余传统”，全文末句提 到，业余音乐评论的传统业已经衰落，由此推出“业余传统”与“卡达斯的音乐评论受欢迎”是一 致的，故D项不对。