阅读理解 In the last decade the mass media have grown worldwide to be larger, more influential and more powerful. After it was possible in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 60s to receive one TV program and in the 60s and 70s to receive three TV programs, the number of receivable TV programs has risen for a huge part of the population in western Europe through cable TV to eleven or even more programs in the last years. More TV channels are announced. Additionally there is the huge offer of videos. The distribution of video recorders in the population is increasing. Worldwide we are on the way to communication to a mass media society in which fiction, fantasy, the definition of reality assumes a greater role than reality itself, where people want to be permanently entertained, and where the description of the content gains more emphasis than the content itself. For centuries news on crime have greatly attracted the population, In the Middle Ages ballad singers moved very successfully from town to town in order to spread their ballads which were to a great part murder stories. Criminal stories are not a new development because they do not report anything really new. They are regularly told according to the pattern of the "familiar sensation" because they have a function of relief for the society, because through them, the "law-abiding citizen" can set himself apart from the criminal, because they prove to him that his behavior is "normal" and because he can be content to feel that he is better than the criminals and that he successfully managed to escape the criminal act. There is a huge demand in the population for crime news because they are entertaining and remove the boredom of everyday life. The mass media willingly fulfill this demand because crime news are cheap and easy to get hold of and because they help sell almost any product. That is why there is a symbiosis, an unholy alliance between mass media and society against which the critical criminologist advances his objections almost in vain.
单选题 Which of the following could most probably be discussed before this passage?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】推理判断题。文章第一段讲述的是有关mass media的内容，因此在这篇文章前最有可能讨论的内容是Mass media。Criminal stories是文章第二段在讲述电视节目的内容时谈论的，排除。The invention of TV文章中没有提及，因此不能与原文形成合理衔接，排除。TV programs in Germany是文章在讲述mass media的发展时提到的，不是文章讨论的主要内容，排除。
单选题 We are next to a mass media society because of the fact that______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推理判断题。文章第一段说电视频道越来越多，录像带也越来越多。世界范围内人们正走向一个大众传媒的社会，因此答案选B。A项原文未提及，并且也过于片面。C项也不能全面地概括我们正接近一个大众传媒社会的原因。D项原文未提及。
单选题 It can be inferred that in a modern mass media society people prefer______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推理判断题。文章第一段说在大众传媒社会中虚构的东西比真实的东西扮演的角色更重要。人们对内容的描述比内容本身更重视。可见在一个现代的大众传媒社会中人们更喜欢虚构的东西而不是真实的东西，答案选C。
单选题 Ballad singers in the Middle Ages enjoyed popularity because______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推理判断题。文章第二段说一直以来有关犯罪的新闻非常吸引大众，而中世纪的民谣歌手们所唱民谣大部分是有关谋杀的故事，因此他们受到了欢迎。B项是对原文的正确解释。其他三项都不符合原文。
单选题 By "symbiosis" in the last sentence, the author most probably means______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】语义理解题。从文章最后一句的结构能判断symbiosis与alliance意思接近。从between…and可以判断symbiosis指的是大众传媒和社会的紧密关系。而这也导致持批评意见的犯罪学者，反对犯罪在大众传媒上出现过多的努力没有成效。