单选题 Whatever happened to the death of newspaper? A year ago the end seemed near. The recession threatened to remove the advertising and readers that had not already fled to the Internet. Newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle were chronicling their own doom. America's Federal Trade commission launched a round of talks about how to save newspapers. Should they become charitable corporations? Should the state subsidize them ? It will hold another meeting soon. But the discussions now seem out of date. In much of the world there is the sign of crisis. German and Brazilian papers have shrugged off the recession. Even American newspapers, which inhabit the most troubled come of the global industry, have not only survived but often returned to profit. Not the 20% profit margins that were routine a few years ago, but profit all the same. It has not been much fun. Many papers stayed afloat by pushing journalists overboard. The American Society of News Editors reckons that 13, 500 newsroom jobs have gone since 2007. Readers are paying more for slimmer products. Some papers even had the nerve to refuse delivery to distant suburbs. Yet these desperate measures have proved the right ones and, sadly for many journalists, they can be pushed further. Newspapers are becoming more balanced businesses, with a healthier mix of revenues from readers and advertisers. American papers have long been highly unusual in their reliance on ads. Fully 87% of their revenues came from advertising in 2008, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development(OECD). In Japan the proportion is 35%. Not surprisingly, Japanese newspapers are much more stable. The whirlwind that swept through newsrooms harmed everybody, but much of the damage has been concentrated in areas where newspaper are least distinctive. Car and film reviewers have gone. So have science and general business reporters. Foreign bureaus have been savagely cut off. Newspapers are less complete as a result. But completeness is no longer a virtue in the newspaper business.
单选题 By saying "Newspapers like ... their own doom"(Para. 1), the author indicates that newspaper______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:语义题。可以根据下文猜测此句的含义。下文句意是:联邦贸易委员会发起了一系列怎样拯救报纸的讨论。由此可以判断,报纸行业一定是陷入了困境,因此D项符合题意。
单选题 Some newspapers refused delivery to distant suburbs probably because______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:细节题。通过关键词可定位到文章第四段:Some papers even had the nerve torefuse delivery to distant suburbs.即一些报纸甚至斗胆拒绝向远郊区投递报纸。该段的主题句是首句:It has not been much fun,即情况并不容太乐观。后面讲到很多报纸用各种方式缩减成本,因此可拒绝向远郊区投递报纸也是报社为节约成本而采取的措施,因此B项符合题意。
单选题 Compared with their American counterparts, Japanese newspapers are much more stable because they______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:细节题。通过关键词定位到文章第五段:美国报业一直对广告有不寻常的依赖性。2008年收入的87%来源于广告。而日本报纸行业中,广告的收入只占35%,因此日本的报纸行业更加稳定。由此可见,日本报纸行业之所以比较稳定,是因为对广告的依赖小。故选C。
单选题 What can be inferred from the last paragraph about the current newspaper business?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:推理题。由最后一段中The whirlwind that swept through newsrooms harmedeverybody,席卷报业行业的旋风对每个人都带来了伤害。由此可知报刊行业出现了问题,但是真正的原因为出现在“报纸最没有特色”的领域里。答案为A。
单选题 The most appropriate title for this text would be______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:主旨题。第一段提到报纸面临的危机,该段最后一句是个转折句,指出了下文将要讨论的问题,即有关拯救报纸或报纸死亡的争论已过时,因为报纸已经摆脱了危机,开始赢利。报纸在收入来源上已变得更平衡。尽管第三段开始又开始讨论报业尽管脱离了危机,但不容乐观,并分析了各家报纸摆脱危机的方式。紧接着话锋一转,最后一段总结到报业不再完整,也不再有特色,但正是没有报业特色的领域所受伤害最大,而报业本身却并不是最惨的受害者,全文音符仍然落在能够生存的基调上。故本体选A(美国报业:艰难地生存)。