单选题 Prominently displayed on the front page of the New York Times is the company motto: "All the News That's Fit to Print." No form of mass media can carry every newsworthy event; all are constrained by costs and availability of space and time. For instance, the average daily newspaper fills approximately 62 percent of its space with advertising, leaving a mere 38 percent for news accounts, along with human interest stories, and pure entertainment features.
Contrary to the mirror-to-society myth, news is not simply out there; it must be picked from a multitude of happenings, What then is news? Perhaps the best explanation is that "news is what reporters, editors, and producers decide is news."
Although the basis of news judgment often seems vague and unarticulated, Doris Graber has identified five criteria most often used in selecting stories.
* To qualify as news the story must have a high impact on the audience, that is, the events covered must be relevant to people's lives. Events in the Middle East, for example, are news when they have a measurable effect on American hostages there or on the supply of oil at home.
* Larry Speakes, who served as deputy press secretary to former President Ronald Reagan, once noted that no one pays attention when one hundred members of Congress come out of a White House meeting and say that the president's program is great. "But if one says it stinks, that's news."
* Familiarity is also an element of newsworthiness. Approximately 85 percent of the domestic news stories covered by television and news magazines involve well-known people-mostly those holding official positions. Unknown people are most newsworthy as victims of crime or natural disasters.
* Local events are more newsworthy than those far away. In a nation linked by instant communications, however, close to home may also include such familiar locations as Washington, D. C. , and Wall Street.
* Stories must be timely and novel to capture the attention of the media. As a former editor of the old New York Sun put it, "When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news."
Reporters rely almost exclusively on interviewing and only occasionally on the reading of documents. The dependence on the interview results partly from the need to personalize the news—especially in television journalism, with its demand for visuals. The fact that most reporters find document analysis dull and boring also increases their dependence on interviews. Whatever the cause, the result is a bias in favor of those willing and able to talk. These criteria have little to do with the intrinsic importance of news stories and stress mainly ways of keeping me audience interested. Because media outlets make their profit from the advertising, they must keep their ratings or circulations high. This concern for audience appeal has an impact on the way politics is conducted in the United States.

单选题 The main idea of this passage is that ______.
A. reporters, editors, and producers decide what is news largely to keep audiences interested
B. newspapers print only the news that fits
C. news stories are selected for their high impact
D. audience interest is important because media outlets depend on the sale of advertising
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨大意题。根据文章第一段第一句，《纽约时报》的金科玉律实质就是找到适合刊登的新闻，同时本段最后一句提到38%的新闻也是根据人们的喜好或者纯娱乐性质来界定的。文章最末段提到选择的标准是要保持读者对报纸感兴趣，因为媒体利润的来源是广告收入，没有读者就不会有广告收入，归纳可知文章的中心是A“记者、编辑、发行商认为保持观众对报纸感兴趣的内容才可以称之为新闻”。B“报纸只印刷适合的新闻”；C“新闻故事的选择是依据其自身的影响力来决定的”；D“读者的兴趣是至关重要的，因为媒体的收入依靠广告”。此三项都是具体提到的一点，但中心思想的本质是提炼事实的精华。
单选题 We can infer from the selection that to understand issues, news reporters ______.
A. cannot trust the people they interview
B. do not rely much on written sources
C. rely too much on written sources
D. must take an active role
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题。根据第九段第一句话，“记者几乎只是依靠采访来写新闻，很少通过阅读具体文件的方式”，可知选B“并不怎么依靠文字性材料”。A“不能相信他们采访的人”，与原文完全相反。C“太过于依靠文字性材料”，与原文意思相反。D“必须发挥积极作用”文中未提及。
单选题 We can conclude that the authors of this selection believe that Americans get all the news ______.
A. that they are interested in
B. they need
C. that is important for understanding the world
D. there is
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 具体细节题。A“他们感兴趣的”，根据文章中心思想可知新闻实质是取悦读者，所以是令其感兴趣的。B“他们需要的”；C“对于认知世界有重要作用的”；D“随处可见的”。
单选题 In general, news media are ______.
A. most interested in presenting a balanced, complete picture of the news
B. concerned with educating their audiences
C. very concerned with appealing to their audiences
D. interested in increasing the space devoted to news
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题。A“最关心怎样平衡全面的报道新闻”；B“注意教育读者”；C“非常关心如何吸引读者”，通过中心论点可知新闻媒体要保证读者对新闻感兴趣才能盈利，因此正确答案为C。D“想要加大新闻板块”。
单选题 Regarding the information found in this article, we can conclude that the authors ______.
A. based their assertions only on their own personal opinions
B. drew on years of experience as media executives
C. did a good deal of research on the topic
D. consulted with Larry Speakes and Ronald Reagan
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题。C“作了很多调查”，通过文章中间五个标准可知作者的确作了很多调查；A“只根据自己的观点下论断”；B“利用多年来媒体管理人员的经验来做评论”；D“咨询Larry Speakes和Ronald Reagan”。