TXT A

 

　　The newspaper must provide for the reader the facts, unalloyed, unslanted, objectively selected facts. But in　these days of complex news it must provide more; it must supply interpretation, the meaning of the facts. This is the　most important assignment confronting American journalism--to make clear to the reader the problems of the day, to make international news as understandable as community news, to recognize that there is no longer any such　thing (with the possible exception of such scribbling as society and club news) as "local" news, because any event　in the international area has a local reaction in manpower draft, in economic strain, in terms, indeed, of our very way of life.

 

　　There is in journalism a widespread view that when you embark on interpretation, you are entering choppy and dangerous waters, the swirling tides of opinion. This is nonsense.

 

　　The opponents of interpretation insist that the writer and the editor shall confine themselves to the "facts". This insistence raises two questions: what are the facts? And: are the bare facts enough?

 

　　As to the first query, consider how a so-called "factual" story comes about. The reporter collects, say, fifty facts; out of these fifty, his space allotment being necessarily restricted, he selects the ten, which he considers most important. This is Judgment Number One. Then he or his editor decides which of these ten facts shall constitute the lead of the piece. This is important decision because many readers do not proceed beyond the first paragraph. This is Judgment Number Two. Then the night editor determines whether the article shall be presented on page one, where it has a large impact, or on page twenty-four, where it has little. Judgment Number Three.

 

　　Thus, in the presentation of a so-called "factual" or "objective" story, at least three judgments are involved. And they are judgments not at all unlike those involved in interpretation, in which reporter and editor, calling upon their general background, and their "news neutralism", arrive at a conclusion as to the significance of the news.

 

　　The two areas of judgment, presentation of the news and its interpretation, are both objective rather than subjective processes-as objective, that is, as any human being can be. (Note in. passing: even though complete objectivity can never be achieved, nevertheless the ideal must always be the beacon on the murky news channels. ) If an editor is intent on slanting the news, he can do it in other ways and more effectively than by interpretation. He can do it by the selection of those facts that prop up his particular plea. Or he can do it by the pay he gives a story-

 

　　promoting it to page one or demoting it to page thirty.

 

　　1. Readers expect all of the following from newspapers EXCEPT

 

　　A. how to interpret news

 

　　B. interpretations of news

 

　　C. community news

 

　　D. international news

 

　　2. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

 

　　A. news of local areas will no longer be reported

 

　　B. interpretation of news always involves editor's bias

 

　　C. American journalism is in lack of objectivity

 

　　D. there is a higher requirement for the content of news today

 

　　3. What can be inferred about the opponents of interpretation?

 

　　A. They have a higher requirement for the objectivity of news than supporters do.

 

　　B. They have a narrow understanding of what facts mean.

 

　　C. They doubt that news can be factual.

 

　　D. They don't believe in the validity of interpreted news.

 

　　4. In what way are presentation and interpretation of news alike?

 

　　A. They are both subjective.

 

　　B. They are both difficult to do.

 

　　C. They both involve judgments by reporters and editors.

 

　　D. They both help keep the objectivity of news.

 

　　5. The passage is mainly about _____.

 

　　A. how to select news

 

　　B. how to interpret news

 

　　C. requirements for news interpretation

 

　　D. the objectivity of news interpretation

 

    TXT B

 

　　The first performance of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, in St. Petersburg in 1892, was a flop. Wrote one critic the next day: "For dancers there is rather little in it; for art absolutely nothing, and for the artistic fate of our ballet, one more step downward." Two decades passed before another production was attempted.

 

　　A century later, the ballet constitutes the single biggest fine-arts moneymaker in the United States, which has claimed the ballet as its own. In 1996, box-office receipts for some 2,400 American performances of the work by more than 20,000 dancers totaled nearly U.S. $50 million. Despite the ballet's popularity, however, few Americans are aware of its history--or of some of the twists and turns of fate that have changed it from its original form.

 

　　Choreographer Maurice Petipa (known as the "father of classical ballet") prepared the first production for Tchaikovsky in 1892. He based his scenario not on the macabre 1816 short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann, which the composer had thought to use for his inspiration, but on Alexander Dumas's

 

　　more benign 1845 French adaptation. Petipa did use the Hoffmann version to name his characters, but mixed up some names because he could not read German.

 

　　In the original story the Mouse King had seven heads and terrified the seven-year-old Marie by foaming blood from all seven mouths and grinding and chattering all seven sets of teeth. These memorable characteristics, along with other sinister qualities in Hoffmann's story, are among those aspects of the original that have been removed in most modem adaptations.

 

　　Removed from the ballet altogether by Petipa is a vital plot-within-a-plot in the Hoffmann story. This is the fairytale related to Marie while she recovers from injuries sustained in the battle between the forces of the Nutcracker and the Mouse King. As a result, the storyline in the ballet does not really make sense.

 

　　In the fairytale, we learn that the Mouse King's desire for vengeance has its origins in his evil mother, the wily Madam Mouserinks, whose first seven sons have been executed by the royal court for eating all the fat from the royal family's sausages. In retribution, Madam Mouserinks has attacked the little Princess Pirlipat in her cradle, turning her into a misshapen creature whose beauty can be restored only if she eats a certain rare, difficult-to-crack nut called Krakatuk.

 

　　After many years the nut is finally located in Asia by the court clockmaker and wizard, Drosselmeyer, whose young nephew is identified as a prime candidate to crack it. The young man is already known as "the Nutcracker" for the gallantry he shows in cracking nuts for young ladies in his father's shop. As predicted, he alone is able to crack the hard nut. He offers it to the princess to eat, and her beauty is restored. At that moment, however, the Nutcracker chances to step backwards, trampling on none other than Madam Mouserinks. She is fatally injured, but manages to place a curse on the young man before she dies. He is transformed into a grotesque parody of his former self, with a monstrous head, a yawning mouth and a lever in the back by which his jaw may be moved up and down. Madam Mouserinks sentences him to battle her son, the Mouse King, whom she bore after the death of her seven previous sons, and who has their seven heads. The curse may be removed only when the Nutcracker is able to win the love ofa young lady in spite of his ugliness

 

　　Hoffmann, the author of the original Nutcracker story, was as peculiar as many of his characters. Small and wiry, with sunken eyes and dark bushy hair, he had nervous tics that caused his hands, feet and face to twitch constantly. He adored the music of Mozart, was subject to bouts of deep melancholy and was an alcoholic who sold the rights to his first book for a cellar of wine. He eventually died of a combination of liver disease and a neural illness that gradually paralyzed his body, starting with his feet.

 

　　Several of Hoffmann's stories provided the basis for operas and ballets. The French composer Jacques Offenbach, for example, used three of his short stories as the basis for The Tales of Hoffmann--a quite serious piece, breaking with Offenbach's earlier light-hearted style.

 

　　Tchaikovsky, composer of The Nutcracker, was invited to conduct his work but refused. He was terrified that if he were to mount the podium and try to conduct an orchestra his head might fall off. He died shortly after the first performance of The Nutcracker, during a cholera epidemic--it was supposed he had been drinking impure water, but a more recent theory suggests that he killed himself out of fear of exposure for a sexual scandal involving the Russian royal family.

 

　　The author and the composer may have had unusual characteristics, and the story of the Nutcracker itself may be bizarre, but its popularity endures. In recent years American choreographers have played with the formula to bring it up to date. Kirk Peterson's The American Nutcracker is set in the redwood forests of Northern California and replaces some of the characters with legendary or famous American names---notably 19th-century writer Mark Twain as a party guest.

 

　　Americans wanting to reclaim some of the psychology of the Hoffmann short story have been investigating choreographer Mark Morris's dark 1991 update since it became available on video. Set in the 1960s, Morris's visionary The Hard Nut probes many of the same moral issues as the Hoffmann original, most of which are lost in today's conventional versions.

 

　　6. The word "flop" in the first paragraph means __

 

　　A. failure

 

　　B. popularity

 

　　C. hit

 

　　D. criticism

 

　　7. According to the passage, The Nutcracker__

 

　　A. is America's biggest moneymaker

 

　　B. was originally a short story written by Alexander Duma

 

　　C. is America's most popular ballet

 

　　D. has been popular since 1892

 

　　8. Choreographer Maurice Petipa's The Nutcracker

 

　　A. was based on Hoffmann's short story

 

　　B. omitted an important plot in Hoffmann's story

 

　　C. was a misinterpretation of the original story

 

　　D. had a storyline clear and easy to follow

 

　　9. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT about Hoffmann's short stories?

 

　　A. Many of the characters in these stories were peculiar.

 

　　B. Several ballets were based on his stories.

 

　　C. There were operas adapted according to his stones.

 

　　D. Most of the stories were sinister in nature.

 

　　10. What can be concluded about Jacques Offenbach?

 

　　A. He was a French choreographer.

 

　　B. He preferred light-hearted music.

 

　　C. He produced works of more than one style.

 

　　D. He was interested in most of Hoffmann's stories.

 

　　11. According to the passage, the story of The Nutcracker is

 

　　A. tragic

 

　　B. amusing

 

　　C. weird

 

　　D. thought-provoking

 

2020年全國專業(yè)八級權(quán)威英語考試試題。如果問句是以圖表形式出現(xiàn)，那么圖表欄目中，應(yīng)標(biāo)有一些文字題目，這些詞/短語可用作關(guān)鍵詞語。所以在答題時應(yīng)細(xì)讀圖表中的詞/短語，從而清楚地知道是何種問題，怎樣回答。