Unit 12

Task 1:

【答案】

I.

A. 1960s，a vast wasteland

B. sound，pictures，use our imaginations，the essence of creativity

C. violent behavior，acceptable within society

D. desire，need，afford

E. folk and ethnic cultures

II.

A. expands the world

B. entertainer，informer

C. homes，common experiences

III.

Individual development，social change，political life，the evolution of a democratic society

【原文】

Television has always been a controversial factor in US life. Newton Minow, chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the early 1960s, called television % vast wasteland". Critics have argued that television provides not only sound, but also pictures in our heads and that those images destroy our ability to use our imaginations, which is the essence of creativity. Others have long worded that television presents violent behavior as acceptable within society. Some believe that television advertising creates a desire for products and services that people may not need and cannot afford. Some believe that television is replacing the vitality and diversity of folk and ethnic cultures with a bland, homogeneous, consumer culture.

Television has a positive side as well. It expands the world of people who have limited opportunities to experience faraway places and events. For many, television is the great entertainer and informer. Television also brings the world to our homes and can create common experiences among Americans. These range from entertaining spectacles such as the Super Bowl to tragedies such as the shooting at Columbine High School.

Changing technologies affect how people watch television as well as what they watch. At times, programming pushes cultural boundaries; at other times, it reinforces the status quo. But television content and the amount of television being watched remain concerns for people who are interested in individual development, social change, political life, and the evolution of a democratic society.

 

Task 2:

【答案】

A.

3500BC，2500BC，western Asia，Egyptians，1800BC，the firs century BC，the sixth century AD China，600 AD，Korea，1234，Germany，1455

B.

1) The portability of books and their wider distribution after the development of printing gave rise to the earliest form of mass media.

2) Copying and illustrating books by hand was extremely time consuming, and creating parchment was expensive, so books were generally not widespread up to and throughout the Middle Ages.

3) The publication of the Gutenberg Bible in 1455 is considered the beginning of mechanical printing.

4) The combination of a printing press and existing technology such as book binding made it possible to begin the mass production of books at a fraction of the time and cost it took to produce an equal number of hand-copied books.

C．

1) T

2) F

【原文】

Since the Sumerians of 3500 BC pressed marks into wet clay tablets to create what some scholars consider the first form of books, authors have been writing long-form text narratives to record and convey their ideas in packages more portable than clay tablets. By 2500 BC writers in western Asia were using animal skins to publish books in scroll form. The ancient Egyptians wrote the Book of the Dead in 1800 BC on papyrus. Between the first century BC and the 6th century AD the codex, or manuscript made of bound individual pages, began replacing the scroll-form book and established the modern book form. Book publishing continued to evolve, with paper and block printing being invented in China by 600 AD; movable type, a copper-alloy type, invented in Korea in 1234; and the Western world's first mechanical printing press in Germany in 1455. The portability of books and their wider distribution after the development of printing gave rise to the earliest form of mass media. They have had profound effects on culture and society in disseminating new ideas and building a common body of knowledge that can be shared across generations.

Until the invention of printing, books had to be laboriously hand-copied In thc Middle Ages, this work was done by specially trained monks called scribes, who copied religious and classical works. Many of the books published in the Middle Ages were written in bcautiful calligraphy and are richly illustrated.

Early books were published in scroll format, but eventually the codex, or bound manuscript, replaced scrolls. Until paper arrived from China via the Middle East in the later Middle Ages, scribes wrote on parchment or specially treated hides of either goats, sheep, or calves. Copying and illustrating books by hand was extremely time consuming, and creating parchment was expensive, so books were generally not widespread up to and throughout the Middle Ages.

As the Christian church grew in Europe, the need for religious texts grew as well. It was out of this need that Johannes Gutenberg found his inspiration for the invention of printing with lead, using movable type in 1455 AD in Mainz, Germany. Gutenberg's invention employed oil-based ink on paper using a converted wine press. The publication of the Gutenberg Bible in i455 is considered the beginning of mechanical printing.

In the early years of printing, illustrators would embellish printed pages with drawings and artistic flourishes in order to more accurately represent handwritten manuscripts. By combining printing press with existing technology such as book binding, it was possible to begin the mass production of books at a fraction of the time and cost it took to produce an equal number of hand-copied books. The printing press spread rapidly after the conquest of the city of Maine by Adolf of Nassau in 1462 and was initially met with enthusiastic reception by the Church and in the culture throughout Europe.

 

Task 3:

【答案】

A.

Column 1                      Column 2                  Column 3

New England Primer               1836             A reaction to the textbooks imported

from England

A Grammatical Institute

of the English Language        1783              Standard reading books for schoolchildren throughout the 19th century

 

McGuffey Readers                 1690             One of the first textbooks published in America

 

B.

1) c

2) b

3) c

4) c

C.

One way is to publish a book that many people want to buy and read, which usually means publishing books that entertain people.

Another way is to make the book affordable enough for many people to buy. The invention of the dime novel and later the creation of mass-market paperbacks satisfied both these criteria.

 

【原文】

The printing press had an important role in the growth of Renaissance culture, the sharing of scientific discoveries, and the spread of religious beliefs--some of which challenged the authority the Catholic Church. Greater numbers of books and other printed materials helped increase literacy among the populace and laid the foundation for the rise of mass communication in the Western world. Many books, especially scientific works, were printed in Latin, which effectively reduced readership to elites educated in the classics. Books and other material such as broadsheets printed in the local vernacular usually found a much wider audience. They had entered the bustling commercial world of: printmakers and the average person.

Despite a greater number of books and printed materials from the Renaissance onward, large numbers of Europeans and Americans remained illiterate until the 19th century. In the American colonies and early years of the United States, education was largely available only to the wealthy, who could afford to hire and house private tutors for their children. Increased public education in the early 1800s helped reduce illiteracy among the general populace, and textbooks played a crucial ro1e in the public education system.

One of the first textbooks published in America was the New England Primer, published initially in about 1690 by Benjamin Harris. The textbook introduced children to the English alphabet, the rudiments of reading, and basic Christian religious values.

Noah Webster, known today for his Webster’s Dictionary, wrote his 1783 textbook, A Grammatical Institute of the English Language, as a reaction to the textbooks imported from England that were commonly used and that taught English cultural values. Known popularly as the "Blueback Speller", Webster's textbook provided tutorials on language, religion, morals, and domestic economy. McGuffey Readers, first published in 1836, became standard reading books for schoolchildren throughout the 19th century.

Textbooks of the 1800s often reflected the power structure of contemporary society, just as modem textbooks do. In order to appeal to the widest cross-section of society, textbooks generally avoid controversial subjects and embrace perspectives and bodies of knowledge in which there is general agreement among members of the dominant group.

Changes in technology since Gutenberg's time have radically altered the production and printing of books. However, the very same forces that helped drive the invention of the printing press—wider distribution of printed materials and lower cost to produce books  have confinucd to play, major roles in successful publishing ever since 1455. To some extent, books entering the digital realm can be seen as a continuation of the same historical forces on publishing.

One way to make money from publishing is to publish a book that many people want to buy and read, which usually means publishing books that entertain people. Another way is to make the book affordable enough for many people to buy. The invention of the dime novel and later the creation of mass-market paperbacks satisfied both these criteria.

The dime novel was the first paperback book form and, as its name suggests, sold for ten cents. This made it accessible even to tile poor. Introduced in 1860 by Irwin P. Beadle & Company, the dime novel initially featured stories of Indians and pioneer tales that were often nationalistic in tone. The 1870s saw an expansion of dime novels to include melodramatic fiction, adventures, detective stories, romances, and rags-to-riches tales.

Mass-market paperbacks were introduced in the United States in 1939 by Robert de Graft's company, Pocket Books. Pocket Books published a line of books priced at 25 cents each that were mall enough to be carried in a back pocket. It ushered in the paperback revolution by offering the public an alternative mass distribution network, as the books were sold in places like drugstores and supermarkets. Among Pocket Books' early successes were paperback editions of The Good Earth and Emily Bronte's classic, Wuthering Heights.

 

Task 4:

【答案】

A.

Technology，the last half of the 20th century

I.

A. a change to a largely suburban society，increased use of automobiles

B. radio，television，ease of use，entertainment value，afternoon papers，the second half of the 20th century

II.

news，advertising

A. selecting newsworthy topics marketing polls focus groups content tone

C. online news operations，geographical，political，cultural，linguistic，October 24, 2001，The New York Times

 

B.

1) Brightly colored photos and graphics can help readers digest the news more easily when they are done properly. However, when done poorly they can trivialize the news and at worst be confusing or misleading.

2) In the late 1970s, the Toronto Globe and Mail allowed public access to their news database. Most of these early efforts were not very successful, however, as many people at the time did not have computers or Internet access and the state of technology with screens made reading text on the computer tiring.

 

【原文】

Just as improvements in technology helped in driving the rise of newspapers as a mass medium technology has also played a role in the decline and transformation of newspapers m the last half of the 20th century. A combination of sociological forces in post-World War I I America, including a change to a largely suburban society and increased use of automobiles, along with electronic media such as radio and later television, helped draw audiences away from newspapers as their primary sources of news.

Television's ease of use and entertainment value contributed to the continuing decrease of American newspapers, especially afternoon papers, in the second half of the 20th century. Where previously cities usually had two or more competing daily newspapers, now many cities have only one newspaper or a morning and evening paper, which are ostensibly competitors operating under a joint operating arrangement that leaves virtually monopolistic control over the circulation area.

Modem newspapers are still undergoing significant changes, including marked change in their news and advertising content. As newspaper circulation numbers become more important in an increasingly competitive market, even leading newspapers are more likely to pander to popular taste. Departing from the established editorial tradition of selecting newsworthy topics regardless of general appeal, many newspapers are deferring to marketing polls and focus groups when setting standards for content, tone, and layout.

Brightly colored photos and graphics like those pioneered in USA Today, created to emulate TV viewing, can actually help readers digest the news more easily when they are done properly. However, when done poorly they can trivialize the news and at worst be confusing or misleading.

How newspapers reach the reader is changing dramatically, especially with the rise of the Internet. Newspapers have been in the forefront of experimenting with the electronic delivery of news to news consumers since the late 1970s, when newspapers like the Toronto Globe and Mail allowed public access to their news database. Most of these early efforts were not very successful, however, as many people at the time did not have computers or Internet access and the state of technology with screens made reading text on the computer tiring,

As. the Internet has grown as a medium of public communication, most daily newspapers have launched online news operations and have increasingly used this new medium as a vehicle for serving an audience no longer limited to or defined by geographical, political, or even cultural or linguistic boundaries.

One of the most interesting developments occurred on October 24, 2001, when The New York Times began delivering its electronic edition. The New York Times electronic edition is an exact digital replica of the printed paper, but it is delivered to readers via the Internet and downloaded onto their computers. It uses what is called the NewsStand Reader, which includes keyword searching of the full text, zooming in for closer views of photos, one-click jumping on article continuations, and saving of past issues for easy reference. Importantly for the business of The New York Times, the electronic edition costs 65 cents a copy, raising revenue to support the enterprise.

 

Task 5:

【答案】

A.

1) c

2) b

B.

1) NPR debuted on April 19, 1971, with live coverage of the Senate Vietnam hearings.

2) NPR first broadcast "All Things Considered" on May, 1971. This established NPR as an important provider of news and information programming.

 

【原文】

National Public Radio (NPR) was incorporated in 1970 and is a not-for-profit membership organization with 490 member public radio stations nationwide and a weekly audience of 17 million. It produces and distributes news, cultural, and informational programs for public radio in the United States, linking the nation's noncommercial radio stations into a national network. Public Radio Inter-national (PRI) produces and distributes additional public radio programming, such as "Marketplace" and Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" to nearly 600 affiliate stations in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Guam, as well as international programs including the BBC World Service.

NPR debuted on April 19, 1971, with live coverage of the Senate Vietnam hearings and a month later first broadcast "All Things Considered", establishing NPR as an important provider of news and information programming. Today, NPR broadcasts 100 hours of original programming each week.

Public radio distinguishes itself from commercial radio in a number of ways, including more extensive, impartial, and original audio news, especially long-form audio reporting, as is featured on "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered". Also defining NPR's coverage is its in-depth cover-age of the arts and commercial-free programming. NPR also offers extensive music programming in classical and folk music, jazz, and opera, featuring a variety of live transmissions of the performing arts in theaters and concert halls, as well as radio dramas.

 

Task 6:

【答案】

A.

1) a

2) c

3) b

4) c

5) b

B.

Some people believe that splashy, high-tech videos emphasize style over substance and that videos have increased the special effects on concert tours. And this downplays the music in favor of visuals.

 

【原文】

Music Television (MTV) changed television in 1981 when it initiated the first 24-hour music channel. The mission was simple: to capture cable viewers between the ages of 12 and 135 by adding video to music. The result was a form of television that spread throughout the world and continues to make money and to influence world culture.

The idea of combining video and music existed long before MTV. Rock 'n' roll .joined television early with dance programs such as Dick Clark's "American Bandstand". Later, documentaries about musicians combined video and music. Frank Zappa's 1971 movie 200 Motels visually represented his surreal music, and other short videos were used to promote music. However, MTV changed the music industry by widely distributing promotional videos through satellite and cable transmission.

Within six years, MTV was creating channels to provide music to the world outside the United States. MTV, now owned by Viacom, provides music television to Australia, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Dozens of competing music satellite networks are available around the world.

Initially, MTV's ratings rose quickly. In 1986, however, they started to fall, and the network added nonmusic programming. The strategy worked. Even though MTV only averages about a million households at any given time, some programs, such as "Real World VIII", regularly drew more than 4 million households in 1999. As a result, MTV became the most profitable cable network, and its ratings are growing. The greatest growth in profits was a result of its international business.

The movement toward more nonmusic programming did not reduce MTV's influence on recording sales. "Total Request Live" has become the equivalent to the 1960s "American Bandstand" in its influence.

MTV exerts this type of power around the world. MTV Latin America increased its emphasis on local programming during 1999 by creating production units in Argentina and Mexico. This allows MTV to take advantage of music trends in both the United States and Latin America

Some music observers criticize the impact of video promotion. They argue that splashy, high-tech videos emphasize style over substance and that videos have increased the special effects on concert tours. This, they contend, downplays the music in favor of visuals.

 

Task 7:

【答案】

1) The World Wide Web allows the convergence of text, visual, and audio content on demand within the home, instead of just the combination of visual and audio content.

2) A central issue shaping the future of digital information is how active the consumer will be in using technology.

3) Participation and interactivity.

 

【原文】

Four decades ago, families gathered around radios to listen, over the snap, crackle, and pop of f static, to Comedians such as Jack Benny, George Bums, and Gracie Allan. That audio center for family entertainment eventually faded as television allowed the convergence of visuals and audio within the home. Now, television faces just as radical a change. The World Wide Web allows the convergence of text, visual, and audio content on demand within the home. A person can go to any one of more than 200 web sites devoted to the Canadian rock group Bare Naked Ladies to download music, see videos, read about the group's music, and look at photographs.

A central issue shaping the future of digital information is how active the consumer will be in using technology. Will people delight in simply watching movies if they have greater choice of con-tent and viewing times? Will they use digital technology to access video games or communicate with others?

Media involvement requires varying levels of activity. If you are seeing, touching, feeling, smelling, thinking, or listening, you are participating in an activity. Watching Adam Sandier may not require as much thought as watching Kenneth Branagh perform Shakespeare on screen, but all media use requires some mental processing,

A second level of activity--interactivity--represents two-way communication. A computer game is interactive because you must continually manipulate computer games. You must respond in order for the game to continue.

In the future, people will be able to make choices about the levels of media involvement the want. The evolution of technology, therefore, has not only to do with invention but also with how people express what they want and need. Technology may continue along anticipated lines, or different forms may arise somewhat spontaneously.

 

Task 8:

【答案】

A.

1) d

2) a

3) b

4) b

B.

1) T

2) F

 

【原文】

Americans get some of their news and entertainment from public television and radio. These public media receive money to operate from private citizens, organizations and government. Many of their programs are educational.
    But most of the American media are run by businesses for profit. These privately owned media have changed greatly in recent years. Newspapers, magazines and traditional broadcast television organizations have lost some of their popularity. At the same time, online, cable and satellite media have increased in numbers and strength. So have media that serve ethnic groups and those communicating in foreign languages.

In general, more media than ever now provide Americans with news and entertainment. At the same time, fewer owners control them. Huge companies have many holdings. In some areas, one company controls much of the media.

One dramatic change in American media is the increased success of cable television. It comes into most homes over wires. It does not use the public airwaves, as broadcast television does. Like broadcast television, most cable television programs include sales messages. This is true although people must pay to see cable television in their homes.

Thirty years ago, few people had cable. Today, about sixty-eight percent of American homes have cable television. Television by satellite also is gaining popularity.

Over the years, traditional broadcast organizations have tried to appeal to as many watchers as possible. Many cable companies, however, present programs for one special group of viewers. For example, there are stations for people who like books, cooking, travel, golf or comedy.

Some cable channels also launched programs with sexual material or language that could not be used on broadcast television. American law considers that the broadcast airwaves belong to the public. So broadcast networks traditionally guarded against offensive content. But the networks have reacted to the popularity of cable by also showing more suggestive material.

In the past few years, "reality" television programs have become extremely popular. They show situations as they happen, without a written story. They cost less to produce than other kinds of programs.

In the United States, CBS Television started reality programs in two-thousand with "Survivor." Sixteen people who did not know each other lived together on an unpopulated island for thirty-nine days. They had few supplies. They formed alliances. They also plotted against one another.

The cameras recorded the action as they competed to stay on the island. Each week the group voted one of the people off the island. The last one to remain took home one million dollars.

 

Task 9:

【答案】

A.

1) c

2) c

3) a

4) c

B.

1) F

2) T

3) F

4) F

5) F

【原文】

The computer has also changed American media. By 2000, the government said more than half of American homes had computers. At least one person used the Internet in more than eighty percent of these homes. Other people use the Internet in schools, at work and at libraries.

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released a study of Internet use. The center's Internet and American Life Project found that forty-four percent of Internet users share their thoughts on the Internet. Some write commentaries about politics and other issues on Web logs, or blogs.

The Pew Center says some young people today learn about politics in another non-traditional way. Earlier this year, the center questioned more than one thousand five hundred people. One in five who were younger than thirty said they usually get political information from television comedy programs. That is two times as many as four years ago. They watch programs like "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

The studies also show that thirty-three percent of both young and older people said they sometimes learn about politics on the Internet. Their answers showed a nine percent increase in Internet use for this purpose since the last presidential election.

The Internet is also playing a financial part in political campaigns. For example, the candidates for president have received millions of dollars in gifts over the Internet. The Project for Excellence in Journalism says almost forty-one million Americans watched nightly network news in 1994. By last November, that had dropped below thirty million. Tom Brokaw of NBC, Peter Jennings of ABC and Dan Rather of CBS are the main reporters, or anchors, on these shows. Mister Brokaw, however, plans to leave the position after the presidential election.

And just last week, CBS launched an independent investigation into a report on another news program on which Dan Rather appears. The recent report added to questions about President Bush's military service during the time of the Vietnam War.

Dan Rather presented some documents given to CBS News. Last week, however, he apologized. He said he could no longer trust that the documents were real.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism reports that eleven percent fewer people buy daily newspapers than in 1999. It also says many people no longer believe what they read in the newspapers. The project says that in 1985, eighty percent of readers trusted newspapers. In 2002, only fifty-nine percent said they believed what they read.

In May of last year, a reporter was forced to leave The New YorkTimes. Jayson Blair invented facts in some stories or copied from other newspapers. And in January of this year, a top reporter at USA Today, Jack Kelly, resigned for similar reasons.

More recently The New York Times apologized for some of its reporting before the Iraqi war. It said it depended too much on information from unidentified officials and Iraqi exiles. Also, the Washington Post found weaknesses in its own reporting.

Another media story recently has involved some newspapers that lied about their circulation. The Chicago Sun-Times admitted misrepresenting its number of readers during the past two years. Inaddition, The Tribune Company reported that two of its publications had overstated the number of copies they sell.

It is natural for owners and investors to expect to make a profit, though some media owners say they would be happy just not to lose money. They say they are operating a newspaper or radio station mainly as a public service. But media organizations usually depend on money from businesses that advertise their products and services.

Reporters often express concern about pressure from media owners. Reporters sometimes say they cannot write some stories for fear of loss of advertising. But there are also many examples of aggressive reporting that serves the public interest.

Many people, though, say they do not believe they are always getting fair reporting. They often accuse journalists of supporting only one set of political beliefs.

The Pew Center reports that about twelve percent of local reporters, editors and media officials questioned say they are conservatives. This compares with thirty-four percent who identify themselves as liberals. The difference found between conservatives and liberals is even wider on the national level. But most journalists say they do not let personal opinion interfere with their reporting.

In the United States, newspapers serving ethnic groups and speakers of foreign languages are doing better than many others. Their popularity demonstrates America's big gains of people of foreign ancestry, especially Hispanics and Asians. These groups are also watching and listening to an increasing number of television and radio stations in their own languages.