阅读理解-练习二十一及答案解析.doc

1、阅读理解-练习二十一及答案解析(总分：20.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Text A(总题数：1，分数：4.00)Why do so many Americans distrust what they read in their newspapers? The American Society of Newspaper Editors is trying to answer this painful question. The organization is deep into a long self-analysis known as the journalism credibility

2、 project.Sad to say, this project has turned out to be mostly low-level findings about factual errors and spelling and grammar mistakes, combined with lots of head scratching puzzlement about what in the world those readers really want.But the sources of distrust go way deeper. Most journalists lear

3、n to see the world through a set of standard templates (patterns) into which they plug each days events. In other words, there is a conventional story line in the newsroom culture that provides a backbone and a ready-made narrative structure for otherwise confusing news.There exists a social and cul

4、tural disconnect between journalists and their readers, which helps explain why the “standard templates“ of the newsroom seem alien to many readers. In a recent survey, questionnaires were sent to reporters in five middle-sized cities around the country, plus one large metropolitan area. Then reside

5、nts in these communities were phoned at random and asked the same questions.Replies show that compared with other Americans, journalists are more likely to live in upscale neighborhoods, have maids, own Mercedeses, and trade stocks, and theyre less likely to go to church, do volunteer work, or put d

6、own roots in a community.Reporters tend to be part of a broadly defined social and cultural elite, so their work tends to reflect the conventional values of this elite. The astonishing distrust of the news media isnt rooted in inaccuracy or poor reportorial skills but in the daily clash of world vie

7、ws between reporters and their readers.This is an explosive situation for any industry, particularly a declining one. Here is a troubled business that keeps hiring employees whose attitudes vastly annoy the customers. Then it sponsors lots of symposiums and a credibility project dedicated to wonderi

8、ng why customers are annoyed and fleeing in large numbers. But it never seems to get around to noticing the cultural and class biases that so many former buyers are complaining about. If it did, it would open up its diversity program, now focused narrowly on race and gender, and look for reporters w

9、ho differ broadly by outlook, values, education, and class.（分数：4.00）(1).What is the passage mainly about?（分数：1.00）A.Needs of the readers all over the world.B.Causes of the public disappointment about newspapers.C.Origins of the declining newspaper industry.D.Aims of a journalism credibility project.

10、2).The results of the journalism credibility project turned out to be（分数：1.00）A.quite trustworthy.B.somewhat contradictory.C.very illuminating.D.rather superficial.(3).The basic problem of journalists as pointed out by the writer lies in their（分数：1.00）A.working attitude.B.conventional lifestyle.C.w

11、orld outlook.D.educational backgroun(4).Despite its efforts, the newspaper industry still cannot satisfy the readers owing to its（分数：1.00）A.failure to realize its real problem.B.tendency to hire annoying reporters.C.likeliness to do inaccurate reporting.D.prejudice in matters of race and gender.二、Te

12、xt B(总题数：1，分数：5.00)Increasing numbers of parents in the U.S. are choosing to teach their kids at home. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that, in 1999, around 850,000 children were being homeschooled. Some educational experts say the real figure is about double this estimate, and t

13、he ranks of homeschooled children appear to growing at a rate of about 11 percent annually.At one time, there was a stigma associated with homeschooling. It was traditionally used for students who could not attend school because of behavioral or learning difficulties. Today, however, more parents ar

14、e taking on the responsibility of educating their children at home due to dissatisfaction with the educational system. Many parents are unhappy about class size, as well as problems inside the classroom. Teacher shortages and lack of funding mean that, in many schools, one teacher is responsible for

15、 thirty or forty pupils. The result is often that children are deprived of the attention they need. Escalating classroom violence has also motivated some parents to remove their children from school.Critics of homeschooling say that children who are not in the classroom miss out on learning importan

16、t social skills because they have little interaction with their peers. Several studies, though, have shown that the home educated appear to do just as well in terms of social and emotional development as other students, having spent more time in the comfort and security of their home, with guidance

17、from parents who care about their welfare. In spite of this, many critics of homeschooling have raised concerns about the ability of parents to teach their kids effectively. Many parents who homeschool have no teacher training and are not competent educators of all the subjects taught in schools. In

18、 terms of academic achievement, however, homeschooled children do just as well as those who have been in the classroom and many walk the campuses of Harvard and Stanford alongside the conventionally educated.With an increasing number of disgruntled parents taking their children out of class, schools

19、 are receiving less money in per pupil funding. Some see this as a threat to the system, and argue that schools will never be able to improve their situation and restore parents confidence in the educational system. Many schools have opened their doors to homeschoolers on a part-time basis, allowing

20、 these children to attend classes once or twice a week, or take part in extracurricular activities such as playing football or taking ballet lessons. While parents will not completely put their confidence back into the system, many of them have reached a compromise that allows their children the ext

21、ra benefits of peer interaction and access to a wider choice of activities.Whatever the arguments for or against it, homeschooling in the U.S. has become a multimillion dollar industry, and it is growing. There are now websites, support groups, and conventions that help parents assert their rights a

22、nd enable them to learn more about educating their children. Though once the last resort for troubled children, homeschooling today is an accepted alternative to an educational system that some believe is failing.（分数：5.00）(1).What is the reason that more parents are taking on the responsibility of e

23、ducating their children at home?（分数：1.00）A.Teacher shortages and lack of funding.B.Escalating classroom violence.C.Large class and problems inside the classroom.D.Dissatisfaction with the educational system.(2).Which of the following is NOT the viewpoint of the critics on homeschooling?（分数：1.00）A.Th

24、ose children who didnt go to school are lacking important social skills.B.The ability of parents to teach their kids is doubtful.C.The home-educated children are able to enter those famous universities.D.The home-educated children have little interaction with their peers.(3).Why have many schools op

25、ened their doors to homeschoolers on a part-time basis?（分数：1.00）A.Because they want to raise money for their school.B.They hope to refigure their images in the parents mind.C.They hope to provide those home-educated children the extra benefits of peer interaction and access to a wider choice of acti

26、vities.D.They did it at the request of parents.(4).The word “escalating“ in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to（分数：1.00）A.disgusting.B.terrible.C.disorderly.D.increasin(5).What is authors attitude towards homeschooling?（分数：1.00）A.Approval.B.Disapproval.C.Neutral.D.Strongly opposin三、Text C(

27、总题数：1，分数：4.00)I was born in Tuckahoe, Talbot Country, Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves knows as little of their age as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowl

28、edge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember having ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvesting, springtime, or falltime. A lack of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. T

29、he white children could tell their ages, I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was not allowed to make any inquires of my master concerning it. He considered all such inquires on the part of a slave improper and impertinent. The nearest estimate I can give makes me now

30、 between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years of age. I come to this, from hearing my master say, some time during 1835. I was about sventeen years old. My mother was named Harriet Bailey. She was the daughter of Isaac and Betsey Bailey, both colored, and quite dark. My mother was of a darker complex

31、ion than either my grandmother or grandfather.My father was a white man. The opinion was also whispered that my master was my father; but of the correctness of this opinion, I know nothing; the means of knowing was withheld from me. My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant-before I kn

32、ew her as my mother. It is a common custom, in the part of Maryland from which I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age. Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off, and the

33、 child is placed under the care of an older woman, too old for field labor. For what this separation is done, I do not know, unless it was to hinder the development of the childs affection towards its mother.（分数：4.00）(1).The author did not know exactly when he was born because（分数：1.00）A.he did not k

34、now who his mother was.B.there was no written evidence of it.C.his master did not tell his father.D.nobody on his farm knew anything about it.(2).In the mid-nineteenth century, slaves often（分数：1.00）A.marked their birthdays by the season.B.did not really care how old they were.C.forgot the exact time

35、 when they were born.D.pretended not to know each others birthdays.(3).According the passage, when the author was very young his mother（分数：1.00）A.ran away.B.was light-skinned.C.had several children.D.was sent to work elsewher(4).The author was most probably raised（分数：1.00）A.by his grandparents.B.by

36、an old woman slave.C.with his masters support.D.together with other children.四、Text D(总题数：1，分数：4.00)Hollywood racked up another “record“ year at the box office. But the higher ticket sales mask fundamental issues in the U.S. movie industry, where the so-called blockbuster strategy is causing movies

37、to open with big tallies that fall off faster than in previous years. Movie ticket sales reached an estimated $8.35 billion in 2001, up 8.4% from $7.7 billion in 2000, the largest gain since 1998. Moreover, the number of tickets sold-a more reliable indicator-rose to an estimated 1.49 billion, accor

38、ding to box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. The strong sales were aided by the post-Christmas, pre-new Year weekend. Although many observers thought people would stay away from the theaters after the 9.11, the numbers have been up 5% industry-wide since then from year earlier levels.Tho

39、se positive trends, however, gloss over deeper problems facing the Hollywood studios and movie theater chains, where real audience growth has been marginal. Box-office totals have nearly tripled during the past decade, while the number of tickets sold has risen 30%; indicating the box-office record

40、is driven by higher ticket prices, not increase in movie attendance. A more dangerous development, at least for theater operators, has been the trend toward movies opening to large box-office figures during the first weekend and then quickly trailing off. Theater operators earn most of the money fro

41、m movies playing in their theaters after the second week. Studios, in contrast, collect the majority of a movies ticket receipts the first week.But, for the Hollywood studios that distribute the bulk of the movies seen by the public, the blockbuster strategy of putting as many marketable high profil

42、e movies into theaters as possible will continue in 2002. “I call it the year of the sequel,“ says Paul, a box-office analyst, noting the coming years lineup includes Men in Black 2, Stuart Little 2, Spy Kids 2, second installments for Harry Potter and Lord of the Ring. “Studios are playing it safe,

43、 he says. Such hyper-marketed movies can open big at box office, but they dont tend to hold up in subsequent Weeks, as the core movie-going audience-teenagers and adults in their 20s flock to the next “big“ movie. Some of last years largest openers, such as Planet of the Apes, The Mummy Return and

44、Jurassic Park saw their box-office number plunge by 50% or more the second weekend.One possible outcome is that the decades old relationship between studios and theaters will undergo changes. If the studios persist in pushing “blockbuster“ movies, then the traditional system of the studios taking a

45、larger share of the box-office receipts in the first weeks could be revised to something more equitable. Studios, however, would be expected to fight any effort to revamp the current system.（分数：4.00）(1).The fundamental issue in the U.S. movie industry is that（分数：1.00）A.the box office figures have be

46、en declining ceaselessly without any improvement.B.as the ticket price is going up rapidly these years, fewer people can afford it.C.those “big“ movies open with a extremely large box office figures, but decline quickly after a short period.D.high quality movie are becoming marginal and the core of

47、the movie goings audience is limite(2).The theater operators are facing perilous problems except（分数：1.00）A.the number of the audience is getting smaller year after year.B.the studios gain most of the ticket receipts while the theater operators gain less.C.generally speaking, after the second week, t

48、he audiences nearly have little interest in the so called “blockbuster“ movies.D.the box office figures usually fall off rapidly after the first weeken(3).The so-called “blockbuster“ (Paragraph 1) means（分数：1.00）A.“show a meticulously high quality movie to attract the audience.“B.“show as many high p

49、rofile movies as possible.“C.“put on the well publicized movies to overwhelm the audiences.“D.“put a lot of movies into the theaters in a short period.“(4).According to the passage, one possible solution that can solve the current problem between the studios and the theaters is to（分数：1.00）A.produce more and more marketable “big“ movies and put them into theaters immediately.B.improve the quality of the movies and enlarge the number of the audiences.C.stop carrying out the “blockbuster“ strategy and implement revised system to balance the interest.D.have recourse to law in or