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  3. Whatever happened to the death of newspapers? A year ago the end seemed near. The recession threatened to remove the advertising

Whatever happened to the death of newspapers? A year ago the end seemed near. The recession threatened to remove the advertising

admin2012-01-27  36
问题     Whatever happened to the death of newspapers? A year ago the end seemed near. The recession threatened to remove the advertising and readers that had not already fled to the Internet. Newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle were chronicling their own doom. America’s Federal Trade Commission launched talks about how to save newspapers. Should they become charitable corporations? Should the state subsidise (补贴) them? It will hold another meeting soon. But the discussions now seem out of date.
    In much of the world there is little sign of crisis. German and Brazilian papers shrugged off the recession. Even American newspapers, which inhabit the most troubled corner of the global industry, have not only survived but often returned to profit. Not the 20% profit margins that were routine a few years ago, but profit all the same.
    It has not been much fun. Many papers stayed out of debt or difficulties by laying journalists off. The American Society of News Editors reckons that 13,500 newsroom jobs have gone since 2007. Readers are paying more for slimmer products. Some papers even had the nerve to refuse delivery to distant suburbs. Yet these desperate measures have proved the right ones and, sadly for many journalists, they can be pushed further.
    Newspapers are becoming more balanced businesses, with a healthier mix of revenues from readers and advertisers. American papers have long been highly unusual in their reliance on ads. Fully 87% of their revenues came from advertising in 2008, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). In Japan the proportion is 35%. Not surprisingly, Japanese newspapers are much more stable.
    The whirlwind that swept through newsrooms harmed everybody, but much of the damage has been concentrated in areas where newspapers are least distinctive. Car and film reviewers have gone. So have science and general business reporters. Foreign bureaus have been savagely cut off. Newspapers are less complete as a result. But completeness is no longer a virtue in the newspaper business.
    It is grim to forecast still more writers losing their jobs. But whether newspapers are thrown onto doorsteps or distributed digitally, they need to deliver something that is distinctive. New technologies like Apple’s iPad only make this more true. The mere acquisition of a smooth block of metal and glass does not magically persuade people that they should start paying for news. They will pay for news if they think it has value. Newspapers need to focus relentlessly (持续地) on that.
What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs about the current newspaper business?
选项 A、Distinctiveness is an essential feature of newspapers.
B、Completeness is to blame for the failure of newspaper.
C、Foreign bureaus play a crucial role in the newspaper business.
D、Readers have lost their interest in car and film reviews.
答案A
解析 根据题干中的the last two paragraphs将本题出处定位到第5、6段。第5段首句提到，横扫新闻编辑室的旋风伤及每个人，但造成的损害大都集中在报纸最没有特色(least distinctive)的地方。第6段第23又提到，不管报纸是被抛弃于门阶上还是向数字化分化，它们都需要发表一些特色的东西(something that is distinctive)。这两段从正反两个方面指出，特色(distinctiveness)对报纸的重要性，故答案为[A]。[B]“完整性该为报纸的失败负责”是对第5段末两句的错误理解。[C]“驻外办事处在报业起着关键作用”是对第5段第4句“驻外办事处遭到无情的裁剪”的过度推测。[D]“读者对汽车和电影的评论失去了兴趣”是对第5段第2句的“汽车和电影评论员离开了”的过度推断。
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