Of all the changes that have taken place in English-language newspapers during the past quarter-century, perhaps the most far-reaching has been the inexorable decline in the scope and seriousness of their arts coverage.

过去的25年，在英文报纸发生的所有变化中，或许最具有深远意义的变化就是这些报纸的文艺报道范围不断缩小，严肃性不断减弱，这是个无法逆转的必然趋势。

It is difficult to the point of impossibility for the average reader under the age of forty to imagine a time when high-quality arts criticism could be found in most big-city newspapers. Yet a considerable number of the most significant collections of criticism published in the 20^th century consisted in large part of newspaper reviews. To read such books today is to marvel at the fact that their learned contents were once deemed suitable for publication in general-circulation dailies.

对于年龄低于40岁的普通读者来讲，让他们想象一下当年可以在许多大城市报纸上读到精品的文艺评论简直几乎是天方夜谭。然而，在20世纪出版的最重要的文艺评论集中，人们读到的大部分评论文章都是从报纸上收集而来。现在，如果读到这些集子，人们肯定会惊诧，当年这般渊博深奥的内容竟然被认为适合发表在大众日报中。

We are even farther removed from the unfocused newspaper reviews published in England between the turn of the 20^th century and the eve of World War Ⅱ, at a time when newsprint was dirt-cheap and stylish arts criticism was considered an ornament to the publications in which it appeared. In those far-off days, it was taken for granted that the critics of major papers would write in detail and at length about the events they covered. Theirs was a serious business, and even those reviewers who wore their learning lightly, like George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Newman, could be trusted to know what they were about. These men believed in journalism as a calling, and were proud to be published in the daily press. “So few authors have brains enough or literary gift enough to keep their own end up in journalism,” Newman wrote, “that I am tempted to define ‘journalism’ as ‘a term of contempt applied by writers who are not read to writers who are’ .”

    从20世纪早期到二战以前，当时的英国报纸上的评论主题广泛，包罗万象，我们现在离此类报纸评论越来越远。当时的报纸极其便宜，人们把高雅时尚的文艺评论当作是所刊登报纸的一个亮点。在那些遥远的年代，各大报刊的评论家们都会不遗余力地详尽报道他们所报道的事情，这在当时被视为是理所当然的事情。他们的写作是件严肃的事情，人们相信：甚至那些博学低调不喜欢炫耀的评论家，比如George Bernard Shaw和Ernest Newman也知道自己在做什么（即他们的文章会高调出现在报纸上）。这些评论家们相信报刊评论是一项职业，并且对于他们的文章能够在报纸上发表感到很自豪。“鉴于几乎没有作家能拥有足够的智慧或文学天赋以保证他们能在新闻报纸写作中坚持不懈”， Newman曾写道，“以至于我非常想把‘新闻写作’定义为不受读者欢迎的作家用来嘲讽受读者欢迎的作家的一个 ‘轻蔑之词’ ”

注：tempted to do sth的意思是：To cause to be strongly inclined:很想做：使很倾向于，所以可以翻译为“很想做某事，很倾向于做某事”。另外，keep one's end up的英文解释为：(Brit infml) continue to be cheerful and play one's part despite difficulties （不顾困难）仍乐观而尽本分, 不泄气。

Unfortunately, these critics are virtually forgotten. Neville Cardus, who wrote for the Manchester Guardian from 1917 until shortly before his death in 1975, is now known solely as a writer of essays on the game of cricket. During his lifetime, though, he was also one of England’s foremost classical-music critics, and a stylist so widely admired that his Autobiography (1947) became a best-seller. He was knighted in 1967, the first music critic to be so honored. Yet only one of his books is now in print, and his vast body of writings on music is unknown save to specialists.

不幸的是，这些评论家们现在实际上已被人们遗忘。从1917年开始一直到1975年去世不久前还在为曼彻斯特《卫报》写文章的Neville Cardus，如今仅仅作为一个撰写关于板球比赛文章的作家被人们所知。但是，在他的一生当中，他也是英国首屈一指的古典音乐评论家之一。他也是一位深受读者青睐的文体家，所以1947年他的《自传》一书就成为热销读物。 1967年他被授予爵士称号，也是第一位获此殊荣的音乐评论家。然而，他的书现在只有一本可以在市面上买到。他大量的音乐评论，除了专门研究音乐评论的人以外，已鲜为人知。

Is there any chance that Cardus’s criticism will enjoy a revival? The prospect seems remote. Journalistic tastes had changed long before his death, and postmodern readers have little use for the richly upholstered Vicwardian prose in which he specialized. Moreover, the amateur tradition in music criticism has been in headlong retreat.

Cardus的评论有没有机会重新流行？前景似乎渺茫。在他去世之前，新闻业的品味早已改变很长时间了，而且他所擅长的措词华丽的维多利亚爱德华时期的散文风格对后现代的读者没有什么用处。何况，由业余爱好者作音乐评论的传统早已经成为昨日黄花了。

21. It is indicated in Paragraphs 1 and 2 that __________.

[A] arts criticism has disappeared from big-city newspapers.

[B] English-language .newspapers used to carry more arts reviews.

[C] high-quality newspapers retain a large body of readers.

[D] young readers doubt the suitability of criticism on dailies.

22. Newspaper reviews in England before World War Ⅱ were characterized by __________.

[A] free themes.

[B] casual style.

[C] elaborate layout.

[D] radical viewpoints.

23. Which of the following would Shaw and Newman most probably agree on?

[A] It is writers’ duty to fulfill journalistic goals.

[B] It is contemptible for writers to be journalists.

[C] Writers are likely to be tempted into journalism,

[D] Not all writers are capable of journalistic writing.

24. What can be learned about Cardus according to the last two paragraphs?

[A] His music criticism may not appeal to readers today.

[B] His reputation as a music critic has long been in dispute.

[C] His style caters largely to modern specialists.

[D] His writings fail to follow the amateur tradition.

25. What would be the best title for the text?

[A] Newspapers of the Good Old Days

[B] The Lost Horizon in Newspapers

[C] Mournful Decline of Journalism

[D] Prominent Critics in Memory