单选题 In America and Europe magazine publishers have a common headache: total circulation is either flat or declining slightly as people devote more time to the internet, and an ever greater share of advertising spending is going online. Magazine units are mostly a drag on growth for their parents. Time Inc, the world's biggest magazine company, has to fend off rumours that its parent, Time Warner, will sell it. People in the industry expect that Time Warner will soon sell IPC Media, its British magazine subsidiary.
The business model for consumer magazines is under pressure from several directions at once, both online and off. Magazines have become more expensive to launch, and the cost of attracting and keeping new subscribers has risen. In America newsstand sales have been worryingly weak, partly because supermarkets dominate distribution and shelf-space is in short supply.
The internet's popularity has hit men's titles the hardest. FHM, the flagship "lads" magazine of Emap— a British media firm, for instance, lost a quarter of its circulation in the year to June. Not long ago consumer magazines were Emap's prize asset, but slowing growth from the division contributed to the company's decision to put itself up for sale. Men's magazines are in trouble in most developed-world markets as people have quickly switched from magazines to online services.
There are good reasons why magazine owners should not feel pessimistic, however. For readers, many of the pleasing characteristics of magazines—their portability and glossiness, for instance—cannot be matched online. And magazines are not losing younger readers in the way that newspapers are. According to a study by the digital arm of Ogilvy Group, appetite for magazines is largely unchanged between older "baby boomers" and young "millennials" .
On the advertising side, magazines are fearing much better than newspapers, which are losing big chunks of revenue as classified advertising shifts online. Advertisers like the fact that in many genres, such as fashion, readers accept and value magazine ads and even consider them part of the product.
Unfortunately, magazine publishers have been slow to get onto the internet. "Eighteen months ago the internet was something they worried about after 4pm on Friday, " says Peter Kreisky, a consultant to the media industry, "but now it's at the heart of their business model. " To their credit, however, big magazine firms are doing far more than reproducing their print products online. They offer people useful, fun services online— Lagardère's Car and Driver website, for instance, offers virtual test drives, and Better Homes and Gardens online has a 3D planning tool to help people redesign their homes.
单选题 In the first paragraph, the author mainly discusses ______.
  • A. the effects of internet on the circulation of US and Europe magazines
  • B. the reason why parents don't subscribe to magazines
  • C. the problems American and European magazines face today
  • D. the consequences of people's devotion to online magazines
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨大意 此题是对文章第一段的理解。文章第一段第一句谈到“在美国和欧洲，杂志出版商共同面临一个令人头疼的问题：……”，这句话是第一段的中心句，接下来便对这个问题进行具体阐述。C项说美国和欧洲杂志现如今面临的问题，这与第一段的中心相符，故C项正确。 本题针对第一段命题，属于段落主旨大意的考查。本段第一句开门见山指出了“在美国和欧洲，杂志出版商共同面临一个令人头疼的问题：……”，即为本段的中心句。 第一段谈到了互联网对美国和欧洲杂志发行量的影响，但仅限于第一句前半部分，其余的句子均在阐述欧美国家杂志出版机构面临的困境，故A项太片面，排除。第一段第三句提到了杂志部门多数都变成了母公司增长的拖累，并没有涉及母公司不订阅杂志的原因，故B项也排除。第一段也没有提到人们关注在线杂志的后果，属无中生有，故D项也排除。
单选题 Which of the following is true of magazines' current situation?
  • A. Magazines face pressures from the Internet only.
  • B. Magazines need to spend more on the marketing.
  • C. Most readers of magazines are attracted to online services.
  • D. Newsstand in America plays a major role in magazine sales.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节 此题考查考生对文章中具体细节的理解。根据题目内容我们可以在文中找到考查的内容在第二段，第二句谈到“杂志发行越来越贵，吸引和保留新订户的成本也在上升。”这就说明杂志需要在市场上花费更多，故B项正确。 该题属于事实细节的考查，仅根据题干不一定能够正确定位。还可以根据“按照段落顺序命题”这一规律，优先定位至第二段。另外，从文章第一段可以知道本文应该属于“现象分析型”的篇章结构，由题干可知定位的段落一定是属于现象分析的段落，在第一段提出现象之后，第二段就应该是分析现象。所以同样可以定位到第二段。 文章第二段第一句提到，消费者杂志的商业模式面对来自各方的压力，既有网络的，也有非网络的，而A项说只有来自因特网的压力，故A项错误。原文第三段最后一句提到，男性杂志在多数发达国家市场都遇到了麻烦，因为人们很快从杂志转向了网上服务。这里的意思是特指男性杂志读者，而不是大多数读者，故C项不正确。第二段最后一句提到，“In America newsstand sales have been worryingly weak, ...”，这说明美国报摊的销售量很小，D项说法与此不符，故排除。
单选题 According to the text, magazine owners should not feel pessimistic in that ______.
  • A. magazines are easier to carry
  • B. magazines are not losing young readers
  • C. magazines earn more from advertising than newspapers
  • D. magazines still have competitive features not found online
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节 此题考查考生对文章中具体细节的理解。本题题干的内容可以在文章第四段第一句中找到，紧接着第二句就解释了杂志商不应该感到悲观的原因：即杂志有很多网络版无法比拟的令人满意的特点。D项反映这一观点，故答案为D项。 该题属于事实细节类考题，根据题干内容，通过通读全文，很容易发现第四段的首句内容与题干一致，从而定位到第四段。第二、三、四句话在从不同角度说明杂志不应该感到悲观的原因，只需要将四个选项与这三句话进行比对，即可得出正确选项D项。 A项的内容只是杂志令人满意的很多特点之一，过于片面，故排除。第四段第三句提到了杂志不会像报纸那样失去年轻读者，但这并不是杂志商不应该感到悲观的主要原因，故B项也不对。文中第五段第一句中提到了magazines are fearing much better than newspapers，这只是说杂志的处境比报纸的处境好得多，而并未对进行获益多少的对比，故C项排除。
单选题 When going onto the internet, big magazines ______.
  • A. have changed their business model completely
  • B. are making use of internet flexibly
  • C. are taking prompt actions
  • D. have turned their products into online version
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断 此题考查考生对文章具体内容进行推断的能力。文章最后一段最后一句提到了大型杂志公司：“They offer people useful, fun services online—Lagardère's Car and Driver website，for instance, offers virtual test drives, and Better Homes and Gardens online has a 3D planning tool to help people redesign their homes. ”从这句话我们可以看出大型杂志为人们在网上提供了很多有用有趣的服务，这就是灵活利用互联网的表现，与B项说法相符。 该题题干内容与最后一段首句一致，所以是针对最后一段进行命题。该题是对具体内容进行概括、推理判断。对于此类试题，我们通常需要联系题干，对该段内容进行整体理解，然后比对选项。 文章最后一段第二句提到：“18个月前，互联网是他们星期五下午四点以后担心的东西，但现在互联网在他们商业模式中处于核心地位”，这说明改变的是互联网在其商业模式中的地位，而不是像A项中所说的完全改变其商业模式，故A项错误。最后一段第一句提到：“不幸的是，杂志出版商与互联网的对接动作很慢”，这与C项所说的内容完全相反，故C项排除。文章中谈到大型杂志提供了很多网上服务，而不是简单地将其产品变为网上版本，故D项错误。
单选题 Which of the following best summarizes the text?
  • A. Magazines faced with various challenges.
  • B. Threats posed by the internet to magazines.
  • C. Popularity lost with magazines.
  • D. New opportunities of magazines.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨大意 本题考查考生对文章中心的理解。文章第一段提出了欧美国家杂志出版机构面临的困境；第二、三段分析了杂志出版机构面临困境的原因；第四、五段说杂志出版商的前途并不令人沮丧；第六段则指出杂志在与互联网对接方面的问题。我们可以看出全文都是围绕杂志面临的挑战展开的，故A项正确。 该题考查的是全文的主旨大意，需要对全文的内容进行概括总结。此外，全文第一段就指出了当前杂志面临的压力，而且压力来源有多方面。一般现象分析型的文章在第一段开门见山指出问题，即全文的主旨。全文的主旨题的正确选项一定要有概括性，不能是文中的局部细节。 B项中所说的互联网对杂志造成的威胁只是第三段的内容，故B项说法过于片面。文章第四段最后一句提到：“在年长的婴儿潮时代出生的人和年轻的新千年人之间，对于杂志的喜爱基本没发生什么变化”，故C项的说法错误。D项中所说的杂志的新机遇更不是文章谈论的主要内容，文章末段确实谈到了杂志与互联网的对接，但这只是杂志出版商解决问题的一个途径，谈不上是新的机遇，故排除。