No country in the world has more daily newspapers than the USA. There are almost 2,000 of them, as compared with 180 in Japan, 164 in Argentina and 111 in Britain. The quality of some American papers is extremely high and their views are quoted all over the world. Famous dailies like the Washington Post or the New York Times have a powerful influence all over the country. However, they are not national newspapers in the sense that The Times is in Britain or Le Monde is in France, since each American city has its own daily newspaper. The best of these present detailed description of national and international news, but many tend to limit themselves to state or city news.

　Like the press in most other countries, American newspapers range from the “sensational” which feature crime and gossip(閑談), to the “serious”, which focus on factual news and the analysis of world events. But with few exceptions, American newspapers try to entertain as well as give information, for they have to compete with the attraction of television.

 Just as American newspapers satisfy all tastes, so do they also try to attract readers of all political parties. A few newspapers support extremist(極端主義的) groups on the far right and on the far left, but most daily newspapers try to attract middle-of-the-road Americans who are moderate(中立的). Many of these papers print columns by well-known journalists of different political and social views, in order to present a balanced picture.

As in other countries, American newspapers can be either responsible or irresponsible, but it is generally accepted that the American press serves its country well and that it has more than once courageously exposed political scandals(丑聞) or crimes, for instance, the Watergate Affair(水門(mén)事件). The Newspapers drew the attention of the public to the horrors of the Vietnam War.

There are fewer national newspapers in          .

　　A. Britain than in the USA.    B. France than in Britain

　　C. the USA than in Britain or France

　　D. France than in the USA or Britain

Most American newspapers try hard to entertain their readers because

                   .　　

       A. they have to keep up a good relation with them

　　B. they have to compete with television

　　C. they have to write about crime and gossip

　　D. they have to give factual news in an interesting way

Many American newspapers attract readers of different political preference by          .

　　A. supporting extremist groups from time to time

　　B. inviting middle-of-the-road Americans to write articles for them

　　C. avoiding carrying articles about extremists

　　D. printing articles representing different political viewpoints

The passage is mainly about             .

　　A. the characteristics of American newspapers

　　B. the development of American newspapers

　　C. the functions of American newspapers

　　D. the advantages and disadvantages of American newspapers

閱讀理解

　　The New York Institute for Special Education (NYISE) used to be a school for the blind. It was established in 1831, and it was one of the first places in the USA to offer education to blind children. Today NYISE's students are blind or learning disabled and aged between 3 and 21. they can attend school as day students or they can board on a weekly basis.

　　Another special institution is Gallaudet University in Washington D. C.. This is the only university in the world that is exclusively for the deaf and hearing-impaired. It was founded in the 1850s, but it was only permitted to award degrees to its graduates after 1863．

　　Some special schools cater for people with particular skills. Established in 1984 for students with artistic or musical talent, La Gauardia High School of Music and Performing Arts in Mew York was the first public school of this type. The school has an excellent reputation both in the United States and internationally.

　　When they are 14 or 15 years old, students living in New York can take the Specialized High Schools Examination. If they pass, they are allowed to study at one of the city's special high schools. The Bronx High School of Science is one of these institutions. Bronx Science had only 300 pupils when it was founded in 1938. the school used to exclusively for boys, but today it has over 3,000 male and female students specializing in science.

　　Today, when a man steps on to the moon, or something new and important happens, the world learns about it immediately. What did the newspapers say about that first flight in 1903? Strangely enough, they said hardly anything about it at all. There were only a few reports about it in the papers. These reports said very little. Some of the things they said were not even correct.

　　In 1904 the Wrights built a second machine. They called it "Flyer No. Two". They invited some reporters to a field near Dayton to watch them fly. Unfortunately there was some mechanical （機(jī)械的）trouble with the plane and it did not fly at all that day. The newspapermen went away. They were disappointed and did not come back. The Wrights went on with their work. In 1905, they built an even better machine, "Flyer No. Three". They were able to stay upon the air for half an hour and more in the machine and they were able to turn and climb in the air. Farmers and travelers on the road around Dayton often saw them flying. But when these people told newspapermen about it, they refused to believe them.

　　The Wrights offered "Flyer No. Three" to the United States govern ment. The government was not interested. They seemed to think the Wrights wanted money in order to build a plane. They did not understand the Wrights had already done this, and flown it as well. Experts were still saying that mechanical flight was impossible. At the end of 1905, the two brothers took their plane to pieces. The parts were put into a huge wooden box. It seemed nobody was interested.

　　1．The reports about the first flight________

　　　　A. were not carried in any newspaper

　　　　B. said nothing

　　　　C. were quite different from the fact

　　　　D. were not quite correct

　　

　　2．Newspapermen didn't believe what farmers and travelers said because_______

　　　　A. they didn't see "Flyer No. Three" flying

　　　　B. they saw the Wrights failed to fly "Flyer No. Two"

　　　　C. they had never seen a machine that can fly

　　　　D. all the above

　　

　　3．The U. S. government could not understand that __________

　　　　A. the Wrights had already built a machine that could fly

　　　　B. experts still thought flight was impossible

　　　　C. the Wrights wanted more money to build an airplane

　　　　D. "Flyer No. Three" was then in a woken case

　　

　　4．The Wrights took their plane to pieces because ________.

　　　　A. they planned to leave for Europe

　　　　B. nobody was interested

　　　　C. the government didn't give them any money

　　　　D. the newspapermen didn't report their flights