1 . What is the future of newspapers as the industry has faced increasing newsprint prices, falling sales and the great drops in circulation (发行量)? In recent years the number of newspapers being closed down has risen, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom. Income has dropped while competition from the Internet has pressed older print publishers a lot.

To live on, newspapers are considering uniting and other choices though the result hasn’t been agreed.

Since the beginning of 2009, the United Sates has seen a number of major newspapers closed after no buyers appeared, including The Rocky Mountain News, closed in February, and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, reduced to a complete Internet operation. In Detroit, both newspapers, The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, cut down home delivery to three days a week, while inviting readers to visit the newspapers’ Internet sites on other days. In Tucson, Arizona, the state’s oldest newspaper, The Tucson Citizen, would stop publishing on March 21, 2009, when parent Gannett Company failed to find a buyer.

A number of other large, financially troubled newspapers are trying to get buyers. One of the few large dailies finding a buyer is The San Diego Union-tribune. It agreed to be sold to a private firm for what The Wall Street Journal called the rock-bottom price over of less than $50 million considered to have been worth about $1 billion in 2004.

In the United Kingdom, newspaper publishers have been similarly hit. In late 2008 The Independent announced job cuts. In January the chain Associated Newspapers sold a controlling stake (股金) in the London Evening Standard as it announced a 24% decline in 2008 as income. In March 2009 parent company Daily Mail and General Trust said job cuts would be deeper than expected.

1. How does the author feel about the future of newspapers?

A．Concerned.

B．Uncaring.

C．Hopeful.

D．Satisfied.

2. Which of the following newspapers is operated entirely online?

A．The Detroit News.	B．The Detroit Free Press.
C．The Rocky Mountain News.	D．The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

3. What does the underlined word “rock-bottom” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Increasing.

B．Common.

C．Reasonable.

D．Lowest.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．More newspapers in the UK and the USA are closing down.

B．Newspaper publishers try to control their employees.

C．Newspapers are developing fast in the UK and the USA.

D．British newspapers have been losing money.

2 . “It’s like tasering an elderly person who’s already on a pacemaker,” says a British newspaper boss of the newsprint market, where prices have risen by over 50% in a matter of months.

When times were good, before ads went online, newspapers had a supportive partnership with paper mills. As ads went away and circulations fell, “paper mills had the worst of it for years as newspapers reduced pages, went wholly digital or shut forever.”

The papers were able to cut down the cost of newsprint from firms fighting for business as demand decreased. Price-taking paper mills suffered in silence, taking out newsprint capacity and adjusting machines to make packaging for e-commerce. The pandemic, with people working from home, meant even fewer newspaper sales, which depressed demand for newsprint again and increased the pain for paper suppliers. In the past 24 months European mills have responded by shutting almost a fifth of their newsprint capacity, says a buyer for a large British newspaper group.

Then reopening of economies and growing demand for newsprint, combined with much reduced capacity and coupled with up-going energy prices, has resulted in a price shock. Particularly controversial are additional energy charges that some paper suppliers are seeking to pass on.

Newspaper firms consider this amounts as breaking agreements. European newspapers will have to pay newsprint prices that are 50—70% higher in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the year before. As for their counterparts in Asia and Oceania, they are facing prices around 25% to 45% above their usual level. North American prices went up earlier, and more gradually; agreements are fixed monthly rather than half-yearly. But there, too, newsprint prices are 20—30% higher in 2021 than in 2020.

Germany’s print and media industry association has warned that mills are going to force newspapers to quit paper editions, hurting each other in the process. But more digital adrenaline is one possible response of newspapers to the paper mills’ tasers.

1. What can be learned from the first three paragraph?

A．Newspapers have raised their prices by over 50% .

B．Newspapers and paper mills were good friends all the time.

C．Newspapers and paper mills affect each other.

D．Newspapers increased their sales and the pain of paper mills.

2. The paper mills and the newspapers don’t agree with each other on the prices for ________ ?

A．Reopening of economies.	B．Growing demand for newsprint.
C．Much reduced capacity.	D．Additional energy consumption.

3. Which of the following area has the highest increase in newsprint prices?

A．Europe.

B．Asia.

C．Oceania.

D．North American.

4. Which column does this passage belong to?

A．Health.

B．Science.

C．Business.

D．Environment.

3 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

We rely on news     1     (learn) about things around us. However, reports on the same events contain different information. That’s because journalists may have different     2     (priority). Another reason why news reports on the same event may contradict each other     3     terms of factual details is that events in the real world are usually complicated and     4     (constant) changing. When we come across such factual differences in news reports, we should not rush to the conclusion that the news report gives false information. Instead, check when the reports     5     (complete). Because news reports written at different stages of an event could contain different information as news facts are brought to light. Therefore,     6     (check) different sources enables us to draw     7     more informed conclusion.

To sum up, it is wise to read news reports written from     8     (vary) perspectives and at different stages, which     9     (bring) us a more accurate understanding of a situation. We also need to be critical about the information we receive and remember not to blindly trust     10     we have read.

4 . Four Popular Newspapers in 2021

The Guardian

The Guardian is a British daily newspaper founded on May 5, 1821. It was founded by John Edward Taylor. Its headquarters (总部) is in London, the United Kingdom. It covers daily news from various sections like political news, sports news, business news, jobs and interviews, current affairs, local news, national and international news etc. The Guardian Weekly and The Observer are the sister newspapers of The Guardian.

The Asashi Shimbun

The newspaper is one of the five national newspapers in Japan. This Japan’s oldest and largest daily newspaper was founded on January 25, 1879. Its headquarters is in Tokyo, Japan. It circulates (发行) about 3,000 copies each day. It covers news from various fields like world, sports, business, jobs, current affairs, interviews, breaking news and so on.

The Washington Post

The newspaper, an American daily newspaper, was founded on December 6, 1877. It was founded by Stilson Hutchins. Its headquarters is in Washington, DC, the United States. It is an English newspaper which circulates about 474,000 daily copies while about 830,000 on Sunday. It is the oldest and largest English newspaper in the US that covers news from various fields such as sports, business, jobs, current affairs, politics etc.

China Daily

It is an English-language daily newspaper that was founded on June 1, 1981. Its head-quarters is in Beijing, China. It’s published from Monday to Saturday and its circulation is about 500,000. It is the widest print circulation of any English language newspaper in China. It serves those who are foreigners in China as well as those who wish to improve their English. It covers news from each field like sports, business, jobs, current affairs, politics etc.

1. Which newspaper has the longest history?

A．The Washington Post.	B．The Asashi Shimbun.
C．The Guardian.	D．China Daily.

2. How many copies does The Washington Post circulate every Sunday?

A．About 3,000.

B．About 474,000.

C．About 500,000.

D．About 830,000.

3. What do the four newspapers have in common?

A．They have sister newspapers.

B．They are daily newspapers.

C．They are published for English learners.

D．They were founded in the 19th century.