Hundreds of years ago, news was carried from place to place by people on foot or by horse. It took days, weeks and sometimes months for people to receive news. Now it is possible to send words and pictures around the world in seconds. Billions of people learn about news of their country and all over the world every day, either by watching TV or reading newspapers.
Newspapers have been an important part of everyday life since 18th century. Many countries have hundreds of different newspapers. How do newspaper editors decide which news to print？ Why do they print some stories and not others? What makes a good newspaper story?
Firstly, it’s important to report news. TV stations can report news much faster than newspapers. Yet, newspapers give more about the story. They may also look at the story in another way, or they may print completely different stories from those on TV.
Secondly, a new story has to be interesting and unusual. People don’t want to read stories of everyday life. As a result, many stories are about some kind of danger and seem to be “bad” news. For example, newspapers never print stories about planes landing safely, instead they print stories about plane accidents.
Another factor(因素) is also very important. Many people are interested in news in foreign countries, but more prefer to read stories about people, places and events in their own country. So the stories on the front page in Chinese newspapers are usually very different from the ones in British, French and American newspapers.
【小題1】According to the passage, how do people learn about news in the world now?

Hundreds of years ago, news was carried from place to place by people on foot or by horse. It took days, weeks and sometimes months for people to receive news. Now it is possible to send words and pictures around the world in seconds. Billions of people learn about news of their country and all over the world every day, either by watching TV or reading newspapers.

Newspapers have been an important part of everyday life since 18th century. Many countries have hundreds of different newspapers. How do newspaper editors decide which news to print？ Why do they print some stories and not others? What makes a good newspaper story?

Firstly, it’s important to report news. TV stations can report news much faster than newspapers. Yet, newspapers give more about the story. They may also look at the story in another way, or they may print completely different stories from those on TV.

Secondly, a new story has to be interesting and unusual. People don’t want to read stories of everyday life. As a result, many stories are about some kind of danger and seem to be “bad” news. For example, newspapers never print stories about planes landing safely, instead they print stories about plane accidents.

Another factor(因素) is also very important. Many people are interested in news in foreign countries, but more prefer to read stories about people, places and events in their own country. So the stories on the front page in Chinese newspapers are usually very different from the ones in British, French and American newspapers.

1.According to the passage, how do people learn about news in the world now?

A．They carry news stories and tell others from place to place on foot or by horse.

B．They tell each other what they have seen with their eyes.

C．They watch TV or read newspapers.

D．They listen to the radio every day.

2.Newspapers have been an important part of the daily life since ______.

A．19th century       B．18th century       C．16th century       D．17th century

3.The difference between newspaper stories and TV news reports is that ____.

A．people can learn more about the same news from a newspaper

B．people can read the news story more quickly in a newspaper

C．people can read news stories in other countries

D．people can read news stories about their own country

4.To make a good newspaper story, how many factors does the passage talk about?

A．Two.             B．Three.            C．Five.             D．Six.

5.Which is NOT TRUE in the passage?

A．Newspapers may print different stories from those on TV.

B．People like to read interesting and unusual news like plane accidents.

C．Many Chinese people have no interest in news in their own countries.

D．Newspapers have been an important part of everyday life for more than three hundred years.

A

Several years ago，a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America. One was a very rich banker，another owned one of the largest companies in the world，and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.

The reporter was talking to them about being important. “How do we know if someone is really important？” the reporter asked the banker.

The banker thought for a few moments and then said， “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President of the United States is really important. ”

The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that？” she asked.

The man shook his head， “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You‘d only be important if while you were visiting the President， there was a telephone call from the president of another country，and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it. ”

The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so？”

“No， I don‘t，” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important. ”

“Then what would make the visitor important？” the reporter and the other two men asked.

“Oh， I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang， and the President picked up the receiver， listened and then said， ‘It’s for you. ‘ ”

1.This story happened in _______.

A．England           B．America           C．Japan             D．Australia

2.There are _______ in this passage.

A．three men and one woman                B．two men and two women

C．three women and one man                D．four women

3.The following is true EXCEPT_________.

A．The banker thought any visitor to the White House was really important.

B．The owner of the very large company thought the visitor would be important if while he was visiting the President, the President would not answer any telephone call

C．The owner of many buildings thoughtthe visitor was really important if he was talking to the President and the President received a telephone call for the visitor.

D．the reporter knew the way to find out who was the most important.