单选题 The media can impact current events. As a graduate student at Berkeley in the 1960s, I remember experiencing the events related to the People"s Park that were occurring on campus. Some of these events were given national media coverage in the press and on TV. I found it interesting to compare my impressions of what was going on with perceptions obtained from the news media. I could begin to see events of that time feed on news coverage. This also provided me with some healthy insights into the distinctions between these realities.
Electronic media are having a greater impact on the people"s lives every day. People gather more and more of their impressions from representations. Television and telephone communications are linking people to a global village, or what one writer calls the electronic city. Consider the information that television brings into your home every day. Consider also the contact you have with others simply by using telephone. These media extend your consciousness and your contact. For example, the video coverage of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake focused on "live action" such as the fires or the rescue efforts. This gave the viewer the impression of total disaster. Television coverage of the Iraqi War also developed an immediacy. CNN reported events as they happened. This coverage was distributed worldwide. Although most people were far away from these events, they developed some perception of these realities.
In 1992, many people watched in horror as riots broke out on a sad Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, seemingly fed by video coverage from helicopters. This event was triggered by the verdict (裁定) in the Rodney King beating. We are now in an age where the public can have access to information that enables it to make its own judgments, and most people, who had seen the video of this beating, could not understand how the jury (陪审团) was able to acquit (宣布无罪) the policemen involved. Media coverage of events as they occur also provides powerful feedback that influences events. This can have harmful results, as it seemed on that Wednesday night in Los Angeles. By Friday night the public got to see Rodney King on television pleading, "Can we all get along?" By Saturday, television seemed to provide positive feedback as the Los Angeles riot turned out into a rally for peace. The television showed thousands of people marching with banners and cleaning tools. Because of that, many more people turned out to join the peaceful event they saw unfolding (展开) on television. The real healing, of course, will take much longer, but electronic media will continue to be a part of that process.
单选题 The best title for the passage is ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨题需要利用段落的首尾句以及高频词汇进行解答。从第一段来看，首句讲到“媒体能够影响时事”，随后举了作者在伯克利大学经历的实例；第二段的首句讲到“电子媒体对人们的日常生活所产生的影响更大”，后面也是举例说明；第三段还是举例说明，所以本文的主旨为媒体的影响，因而正确答案为D，其中选项A和C明显是举例，不应该是文章的主旨。
单选题 The term "electronic city" in Paragraph 2 refers to ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 指代题。利用定位关键词定位到第二段“Television and telephone communications are linking people to a global village, or what one writer calls the electronic city”，即“电视和电话通讯正在将人们连成(link；relate；associate)一个地球村，或者如某个作家所言的‘电子城’”，这里根据并列结构or可推断electric city指的就是前面global village(地球村)，所以答案为B。
单选题 All the following statements are true EXCEPT that ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节判断题。利用选项A的关键词Berkeley和national coverage可以定位到第一段“Some of these events were given national media coverage in the press and on TV”，即“该事件中的一些获得报纸和电视的全国性的报道”，但并非所有事件，所以选项A夸大了原文信息；利用选项B的关键词San Francisco earthquake可以定位到第二段“the video coverage of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake focused on "live action" such as the fires or the rescue efforts. This gave the viewer the impression of total disaster”，利用选项C的关键词media和contact可以定位到第二段“These media extend your consciousness and your contact”，利用选项D的关键词可以定位到第二段“Although most people were far away from these events, they developed some perception of these realities”，可知B项、C项和D项都与原文信息一致，因而该题的答案为A。
单选题 The 1992 Los Angeles riots broke out because ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。利用定位关键词可以定位到第三段“In 1992, many people watched in horror as riots broke out on a sad Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, seemingly fed by video coverage from helicopters. This event was triggered by the verdict in the Rodney King beating.”，即“1992年，许多人惊恐地观看了在一个令人悲痛的周三晚上发生在洛杉矶的骚乱，似乎是从直升机上拍摄的。这一事件是由于罗德尼殴打案件的裁决而引发的”，可知1992年的洛杉矶骚乱爆发是因为一场打人事件的裁决，原文中的be triggered by(由……引起)与题干的because为同义改写。后面的句子“we are now in an age...most people, who had seen the video of this beating, could not understand how the jury was able to acquit (宣布无罪) the policemen involved”是对该事件的进一步解释，可知“大多数看过殴打录像的人不明白陪审团怎么会无罪释放涉案的警察”，由此可知该题的正确答案为C。
单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。选项中有明显的定位关键词，如选项A和C，因而该题可以改为定位选项来解题。定位选项A的关键词，可以定位到第三段“In 1992, many people watched in horror as riots broke out on a sad Wednesday evening...By Friday...By Saturday, television seemed to provide positive feedback as me Los Angeles riot turned out into a rally for peace”，可知1992年的骚乱事件开始于周三而结束于周六，所以可知选项A是错的；定位选项B的关键词，可以定位到第三段“By Friday night the public got to see Rodney King on television pleading”，可知Rodney King在电视上是pleading(恳求)而非angry，所以选项B也是错的；从1992年骚乱的例子可知媒体报道的视角不同就产生不同的后果，所以选项C是正确的；定位选项D的关键词可以定位到第三段“we are now in an age...most people, who had seen the video of this beating, could not understand how the jury was able to acquit the policemen involved”，可知看过打人视频的大众不能理解陪审团为什么无罪释放那名涉案的警察，而不是同意陪审团的意见，所以选项D也是错的。因而，该题的正确答案为C。