Why do so manyAmericans distrust what they read in their newspapers? The American Society ofNewspaper Editors is trying to answer this painful question. The organizationis deep into a long self-analysis known as the journalism credibility project。

Sad to say, this project has turned out to be mostly low-levelfindings about factual errors and spelling and grammar mistakes, combined withlots of head-scratching puzzlement about what in the world those readers reallywant。

But the sources of distrust go way deeper. Most journalists learnto see the world through a set of standard templates (patterns) into which theyplug each day’s events. In other words, there is a conventional story line inthe newsroom culture that provides a backbone and a ready-made narrativestructure for otherwise confusing news。

There exists a social and cultural disconnect between journalistsand their readers, which helps explain why the "standard templates"of the newsroom seem alien to many readers. In a recent survey, questionnaireswere sent to reporters in five middle-size cities around the country, plus onelarge metropolitan area. Then residents in these communities were phoned atrandom and asked the same questions。

Replies show that compared with other Americans, journalists aremore likely to live in upscale neighborhoods, have maids, own Mercedeses, andtrade stocks, and they’re less likely to go to church, do volunteer work, orput down roots in a community。

Reporters tend to be part of a broadly defined social and culturalelite, so their work tends to reflect the conventional values of this elite.The astonishing distrust of the news media isn’t rooted in inaccuracy or poorreportorial skills but in the daily clash of world views between reporters and theirreaders。

This is an explosive situation for any industry, particularly adeclining one. Here is a troubled business that keeps hiring employees whoseattitudes vastly annoy the customers. Then it sponsors lots of symposiums and acredibility project dedicated to wondering why customers are annoyed andfleeing in large numbers. But it never seems to get around to noticing thecultural and class biases that so many former buyers are complaining about. Ifit did, it would open up its diversity program, now focused narrowly on raceand gender, and look for reporters who differ broadly by outlook, values,education, and class。

1. What is the passage mainly about?

[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

2. The results of the journalism credibility project turned out tobe 。

[A]quite trustworthy

[B]somewhat contradictory

[C]very illuminating

[D]rather superficial

3. The basic problem of journalists as pointed out by the writerlies in their _________。

[A]working attitude

[B]conventional lifestyle

[C]world outlook

[D]educational background

4. Despite its efforts, the newspaper industry still cannotsatisfy the readers owing to its_________。

[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

名师解析

1. What is the passage mainly about? 本文主要讲的是什么?

[A]Needs of the readers all over the world. 全世界读者的需要。

[B]Causes of the public disappointment about newspapers. 造成公众对报纸失望的原因。

[C]Origins of the declining newspaper industry. 新闻业衰败的根源。

[D]Aims of a journalism credibility project. 新闻可信度项目的目标。

【答案】 B

【考点】 文章主旨题。

【分析】 文章的第一句就提出了本文旨在说明的问题“为什么那么多的美国人不相信自己在报纸上读到的内容呢?”从第二段、第三段的内容来看，作者都在试图寻找造成公众对报纸失望的一个真正的根本性的原因。因此可以判断[B]为正确答案。[A]不正确，是因为它仅仅是新闻界的调查项目得到的一个结果而已。[C]和[A]相比较，还是[A]来得比较确切。[C]已经从文章主旨引申到别的项目上去了。[D]仅仅是为了查明原因而进行的一个调查项目而已。

2. The results of the journalism credibility project turned out tobe 。

新闻可信度项目的结果是 。

[A]quite trustworthy 相当可信

[B]somewhat contradictory 有点矛盾

[C]very illuminating 非常有启发性

[D]rather superficial 相当肤浅

【答案】 D

【考点】 事实细节题。

【分析】 根据本题题干可以定位到第二段，文中指出“该项目最终所发现的原因大都是新闻报道中的事实错误，拼写或语法错误，以及许多关于读者到底想读些什么令人挠头的困惑”，在作者看来，这些发现大都是“低级的”(low-level)，而真正的原因没有这么表面“go way deeper”(第三段首句中)。因此可以判定是答案是[D]选项。

3. The basic problem of journalists as pointed out by the writerlies in their _____。

作者描述的新闻记者的基本问题存在于他们的_____。

[A]working attitude 工作态度

[B]conventional lifestyle 传统的生活方式

[C]world outlook 世界观

[D]educational background 教育背景

【答案】 C

【考点】 事实细节题。

【分析】 文章的解题点在文章的倒数第二段中“对新闻媒体的这种令人震惊的不信任的根源不在于报道失实或低下的报道技巧，而在于记者与读者的世界观每天都发生着碰撞”这句话。也就是说，作者的基本问题是“世界观”的问题。另外三个选项都不是最基本的问题。

4. Despite its efforts, the newspaper industry still cannotsatisfy the readers owing to its _________。

尽管很努力，新闻行业仍然不能满足读者的需要是因为其_______。

[A]failure to realize its real problem 不能够认识到真正的问题

[B]tendency to hire annoying reporters 倾向于雇佣那些恼人的记者

[C]likeliness to do inaccurate reporting 可能作出不准确的报道

[D]prejudice in matters of race and gender 在种族和性别方面的歧视

【答案】 A

【考点】 事实细节题。

【分析】 本题的解题点可以确定到最后一段。文中说他们“又举办许多研讨会，搞什么可信度项目，试图了解读者为什么对他们不满意，为什么大量流失。但是，对于那么多原来的顾客所不满的文化和阶级偏见，他们似乎就是没有看见”。由此我们可以看出，真正的原因是他们不能够意识到真正的问题所在，因此正确答案是[A]。

难句解析：

1. Sad to say, this project has turned out to be mostly low-levelfindings about factual errors and spelling and grammar mistakes, combined withlots of head-scratching puzzlement about what in the world those readers reallywant。

【结构分析】 本句主干是“this projecthas turned out to be…findings”，“mostly low-level”是“findings”的定语。“about factual errors and spelling and grammar mistakes”是介宾短语做定语。“combinedwith lots of head-scratching puzzlement about what in the world those readersreally want”是一个过去分词引导的伴随状语，其中“about what in the world those readers really want”是“puzzlement”的定语。

2. There exists a social and cultural disconnect betweenjournalists and their readers, which helps explain why the“standardtemplates”of the newsroom seem alien to many readers。

【结构分析】 主句是“there+系表结构”。“which”引导一个非限定性定语从句，该词指代前面一句话。而在这个定语从句“which helps explain why the ‘standard templates’of thenewsroom seem alien to many readers”中，又出现一个“why”引导的宾语从句。

3. If it did, it would open up its diversity program, now focusednarrowly on race and gender, and look for reporters who differ broadly byoutlook, values, education, and class。

【结构分析】 本句的主句中，“it”代表上文提到的“atroubled business”，即“备受困扰的新闻界”。“now focused narrowly on race and gender”是插入语，也是修饰“program”的定语。后面有两个并列谓语“would open up”和“(would)look for”。这里需要注意的就是一个意思上的问题，那就是“虽然报业也有多样性项目，招收不同的人当记者，但是这样的多样性仅仅局限于性别和种族，而报业需要多招收那些具有不同的人生观、教育以及来自于不同阶级的人”。

全文翻译：

为什么那么多美国人不相信自己在报纸上所读的东西?美国新闻编辑协会正试图回答这个令人痛苦的问题。该组织正在深入开展一个名为“新闻可信度项目”的长期自我剖析工程。

遗憾的是，这次项目只获得了一些肤浅的发现，诸如新闻报道中的事实错误，拼写或语法错误，以及许多关于读者到底想读些什么这样的令人挠头的困惑。

但这种不信任有更深刻的根源。多数新闻记者都学会用一套标准的模式去看待世界，并把每天发生的事件套入这种模式。换言之，在新闻采编室文化中存在着一套惯常的写作套路，为纷繁复杂的新闻报道提供了一个主干框架和一个现成的故事叙述结构。

新闻记者和读者之间存在着社会和文化方面的脱节，这有助于解释为什么新闻采编室的“标准模式”让众多读者看上去很陌生的原因。在最近一次调查中，问卷被送到了全国五座中等城市及一座大都市的记者手中，然后随机地给这些城市的居民打电话，询问他们同样的问题。

人们的回答表明，与其他美国人相比，新闻记者更有可能居住在高级社区，有女佣，有奔驰车，炒股，而去教堂，参加自愿服务，扎根某个社区的可能性却很小。

记者们往往属于广义的社会文化精英的一个部分，因此他们的工作往往反映了这些精英传统的价值观。对新闻媒体的这种令人震惊的不信任的根源不在于报道失实或低下的报道技巧，而在于记者与读者的世界观每天都发生着碰撞。

这对任何一个工业产业来说都算是爆炸性的形势，对于一个正在衰落的行业来说尤其如此。这是一个备受困扰的行业，偏偏不停雇用那些因为其态度而极大惹恼客户的员工。然后它又出资组织许多研讨会和可信度调查项目，去探究为什么顾客们发火了，为什么会有那么多顾客流失了。但它似乎从来就没有时间去注意那么多老顾客所抱怨的文化和阶级偏见。如果它能注意这个问题的话，就应该进一步开放其多样化项目(这个项目现在还仅仅局限于不同种族和性别)，进一步寻找那些世界观、价值观、教育水平和社会阶层各不相同的各种记者。