单选题 On July 15th India will become the latest country to shut down its official telegram service. In Britain, telegrams were replaced by telemessages, which were simply telegrams printed out and put into the post，in 1982. America"s telegram service, operated by Western Union, ended in 2006. Australia shut down its telegram service in 2011. Are telegrams dead?
Not quite. The honorable technology still clings to life, and not just in India. The mechanical telegraph dates back to the 1790s. In the 1840s such mechanical telegraphs gave way to electrical telegraphs, which sent messages as coded pulses along wires, and the word "telegram" emerged shortly afterwards to describe a message sent by telegraph. The invention of the telephone in the 1870s did not result in the immediate decline of the telegram, because the technical difficulty and expense of making long-distance phone calls meant that telegrams were still the easiest way to send international messages quickly. But as long-distance telephony became cheaper and easier, it was only a matter of time. From the 1970s, the emergence of electronic means of communication, starting with the fax machine, and then followed by e-mail and mobile-phone text messages in the 1990s, restricted telegrams to ceremonial uses such as messages relating to births, marriages and deaths.
In India, the telegram held on a bit longer because it was used for internal government communications. Even after the shut-down of India"s official service, the telegram survives in a few other countries, including Belgium, Japan and Sweden, where it was kept as a nostalgic(怀旧的) service. And in many other countries private firms offer telegram-delivery services. So despite several recent reports to the contrary, the telegram is not quite dead, and will probably never die.
Moreover, in some ways the tradition of the telegram is healthier than ever. Tweets, like text messages, also require users to keep their messages brief and telegraphic. Such digital messages have undermined the business case for the telegram, but have preserved aspects of telegraphic tradition. Some mobile phones used to announce incoming text messages with beeps that sound like Morse code, the international alphabet of telegraphy. The 19th-century technology of the telegram lives on, in spirit at least, in our 21st-century devices.
单选题 Which of the following is the first country toy to end its telegram service?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节理解题。从文章的第一段可以找到选项中的四个关键词。第一段的第一句用将来时表达印度即将关闭电报业务，所以可先排除。接下来从时间状语1982、2006、2011找到其分别对应Britain、America、Australia，由此确定答案为B。
单选题 The second paragraph is a brief review of ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨大意题。从第二段的时间状语可知，本段讲述电报技术的发展历程，下面的几句可以充分证明：The mechanical telegraph dates back to the 1790s. In the 1840s such mechanical telegraphs gave wav to electrical telegraphs..., 还有From the 1970s, the emergence of electronic means of communication, starting with the fax machine, and then followed by e-mail and mobile-phone text messages in the 1990s，由此可知A、B两项均可被排除。C项的内容与原文所述的“The invention of the telephone in the 1870s did not result in the immediate decline of the telegram”不符，可排除，只有D项是正确答案。
单选题 The drastic drop of telegram services is mainly caused by ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节理解题。本题问电报业务急剧下降的原因，在第二段提到：The invention of the telephone in the 1870s did not result in the immediate decline of the telegram, because the technical difficulty and expense of making long-distance phonon calls meant that telegrams were still the easiest way to send international messages quickly.(在19世纪70年代，电话的发明并没有使电报立即消失，因为电话存在技术困难和长途话费费用问题，所以用电报发送国际消息是最快的。)所以根据此信息，可先排除A项和B项。C项中的fax与前面的选项内容重复，可排除。在第二段的最后提到：starting with the fax machine, and then followed by e-mail and mobile-phone text messages in the 1990s, restricted telegrams to ceremonial uses such as messages relating to births, marriages and deaths, 由此可知，在20世纪90年代，随着电子邮件和手机短信业务的发展，电报被局限于只能发红白喜事这类消息，选项D符合这一内容，是正确答案。
单选题 Telegram services are still kept in some countries for ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节理解题。本题考查在某些国家留存电报业务的原因，由此可以找到其对应原文在第三段。第三段没有提到电报业务对人们的影响，故可先排除A项。从B项的关键词major events来看，在原文也没有提及，可排除。文章谈到印度时说：the telegram held on a bit longer because it was used for internal government communications，由此司知C项是以偏概全，与原文不符。作者在本段的最后提到：And in many other countries private firms offer telegram-delivery services，而D项正符合此意，是正确答案。
单选题 The main idea of the last paragraph is that ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨大意题。从最后一段的第一句：“... in some ways the tradition of the telegram is healthier than ever”可知，电报的传统做法比以前更健全。接下来，文章介绍电报的相关技术在现代通讯领域发挥的作用及影响，A项与此段内容相悖，可排除。此段也未提及telegraphy，也可排除B项。从文章的最后一句“The 19th-century technology of the telegram lives on, in spirit at least, in our 21st-century devices”可知，电报技术的精髓不会消失，C项符合此意。D项电报业务将很快消失与原文不符，也被排除。