1 . Mass communication is a very broad field which includes advertising, mass promotion, political campaigns, public relations, mass education and even the way you interact with other people. It covers just about everything you do in your daily life. Some characteristics of mass communication are: communication, information overload, group effort and feedback. There are some more that are less often mentioned but are just as important as the ones that have been listed above.

The most basic feature of communication is interaction. Interaction takes the form of communication where you can interpret what someone is trying to say. For example, when a person says “How are you?” and you respond in a loud voice or in a concerned manner, it’s considered interaction.

Another characteristic of mass communication that you’ll come across is a large number of receivers. When communicating with a group of people, it is important to keep in mind that each receiver will bring different characteristics to the table when communicating. Different receivers will take up different topics and bring a different set of characteristics to the table. In some cases, you will need to communicate with many different types of receiver in order for your communication ideas to be fully expressed and taken into full effect. You should therefore consider the characteristics of your receivers when planning your communication strategies.

New media is also impacting communication. Each type of new medium has diverse different ways in which it can deliver messages. You can make use of several types of communication in many cases and reach a wide range of target audiences. For example, you can use the Internet in order to communicate with your audience. As a result, the amount of information also in turn becomes too much for the human mind to process in a timely and effective manner. This overload is not only unsound, but it also tends to make people impatient, which finally takes the form of arguments and other types of exchanges that are based on facts, assumptions or personal experiences. However, although you may have to deal with some constraints, the Internet is still a very powerful tool that should not be ignored.

1. What role does the example given by the author in the second paragraph play?

A．Explain the importance of politeness.

B．Explain the concept of interaction.

C．Explain the characteristics of communication.

D．Explain what body language is.

2. Why should we consider different receivers when planning communication?

A．Because communicators have many different characteristics on the dinner table.

B．So that your ideas can be accurately expressed and play a role.

C．In order to better improve your communication strategy.

D．Because the receivers have different views on different topics.

3. Why does communication often take the form of argument?

A．Because there are too many types of communication.

B．Because people have different experiences.

C．Because the new media is not perfect.

D．Because overloaded information is boring.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards mass communication?

A．Uncaring.	B．Indifferent.
C．Objective.	D．Subjective.

2 . Almost every family buys as least one copy of a newspaper every day. Some people subscribe to as many as two or three different newspapers. But why do people read newspapers?

Five hundred years ago, news of important happenings--battles lost and won, kings or rulers overthrown(推翻)or killed--took months and even years to travel from one country to another. The news passed by word of mouth and was never accurate. Today we can read in our newspapers of important events that occur in faraway countries on the same day they happen.

Apart from supplying news from all over the world, newspapers give us a lot of other useful information. There are weather reports, radio, television and film guides, book reviews, stories, and of course, advertisements. The bigger ones are put in by large companies to bring attention to their products. They pay the newspapers thousands of dollars for the advertising space, but it is worth the money for news of their products goes into almost every home in the country. For those who produce newspapers, advertisements are also very important. Money earned from advertisements makes it possible for them to sell their newspapers at a low price and still make a profit.

1. The phrase “subscribe to” in the first paragraph means“________”

A．go to the newspaper stand and buy	B．send their own news stories to
C．agree to buy for a specific period of time	D．become faithful readers of

2. Before the time of the newspaper, ________

A．bad news traveled quickly and good news slowly

B．few people cared about events that took place in faraway countries

C．kings and rulers were often overthrown or killed

D．news was passed from one person to another

3. The author seems to agree that money spent on advertisements is ________.

A．wasted	B．not much
C．well spent	D．of no use to anyone

4. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Five hundred years ago it took a long time for news to reach other countries.

B．Newspaper advertisements turn people’s attention away from their products.

C．The news that we read in newspapers is mainly about new products.

D．When newspapers are sold at a low price, the newspaper producers will lose money.