Question

【题目】In June 2014, two leading media in America reported that three-year-old Victoria Wilcher, who suffered facial scarring, was kicked out of a KFC because she was a frightening customer. Later, KFC announced that no evidence had been found to support the story. This phenomenon is largely a product of the increasing pressure in newsrooms that care more about traffic figures.

Brooke Binkowski, an editor, says that she has seen a shift towards less responsibility in newsrooms. “Clickbait is king, so newsrooms will uncritically print something unreal. Not all newsrooms are like this, but a lot of them are.”

Asked what the driving factor was, a journalist said, “You’ve a strict editor and you’ve to meet your targets. And some young journalists are inexperienced and will not do those checks. So much news reported online happens online. There is no need to get out and knock on someone’s door. You just sit at your desk and do it.”

Another journalist says, “More clicks equal more money. At my former employer in particular, the pressure was due to the limited resources. That made the environment quite horrible to work in.”

In a Feb. 2015 report for Digital Journalism, Craig Silverman wrote, “Today the bar for what is worth giving attention to seems to be much lower. Within minutes or hours, a badly sourced report can be changed into a story that is repeated by dozens of news websites, resulting in tens of thousands of shares. The rumor becomes true for readers simply by virtue of its ubiquity.”

And, despite the direction that some newsrooms seem to be heading in, a critical eye is becoming more, not less important, according to the New York Times’ public editor, Margaret Sullivan. “Reporters and editors have to be more careful than ever before. It’s extremely important to question and to prove before publication.” Yet those working in newsrooms talk of doubtful stories being tolerated. In the words of some senior editors, “a click is a click, regardless of the advantage of a story”. And, “if the story does turn out to be false, it’s simply a chance for another bite at the cherry.”

【1】According to Brooke Binkowski, newsrooms produce false news because _________.

A. clicks count a lot B. resources are limited

C. budgets are tight D. journalists lack experience

【2】What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 probably mean?

A. Lies can’t sell without something related to the truth.

B. Rumors are like a flame blown by the wind.

C. Most people are easy to cheat by the false news online.

D. A lie will end up as truth, if repeated often enough.

【3】What’s Margaret Sullivan’s attitude towards false news online?

A. Negative. B. Supportive.

C. Skeptical. D. Neutral.

【4】What is the best title of the passage?

A. Spread of false stories.

B. Causes of online false news.

C. Duties of journalists.

D. Relative laws needed to regulate the online news.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】D

【3】A

【4】B

【解析】作者根据一段虚假新闻的实例分析了造成这种现象的原因及人们对此的态度。

【1】A

推理判断题。根据第二段Brooke Binkowski说的“Clickbait is king, so newsrooms will uncritically print something unreal. Not all newsrooms are like this, but a lot of them are.”

可知Brooke Binkowski认为文章的标题和点击率是虚假新闻产生的重要原因，故选A.

【2】D

句意猜测题。划线句意：谣言由于它的普遍传播就会变成真的，即说的人多了谣言就变成真的了。与D项A lie will end up as truth, if repeated often enough.同义，故选D.

【3】A

推理判断题。根据最后一段Margaret Sullivan 说的“Reporters and editors have to be more careful than ever before. It’s extremely important to question and to prove before publication.”可知Margaret Sullivan认为编辑一定要更细心，在发表之前要认真审核证实。由此可见他对网络虚假新闻是反对的，故选A.

【4】B

主旨大意题。作者根据一段虚假新闻的实例分析了造成这种现象的原因及人们对此的态度。B项：网络虚假新闻的原因，概括了全文意思适合作为标题，故选B.