Question

【题目】Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

It is usually a common practice that journal websites offer readers their free online editions of articles and other information. However, America’s most popular newspaper website announced that the era of free online journalism is drawing to a 【1】. The New York Times has become the biggest publisher yet to set out plans for a pay wall around its digital offering, 【2】 the accepted practice that Internet users will not pay for news.

Struggling with a decline of advertising and a downward 【3】in street corner sales, The New York Times intends to introduce a “metered” model at the beginning of 2011. Readers will be required to pay when they have exceeded (超过) a set number of its online articles per month.

The decision puts the 159-year-old newspaper on the 【4】 side of an increasingly wide chasm (鸿沟) in the media industry. But others, including the Guardian, have said they will not charge Internet readers.

The New York Time’s publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, 【5】 that the idea was a gamble. 【6】 a print circulation of 995,000 on weekdays and 1.4 million on Sundays, The New York Times is the third bestselling American newspaper, behind the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. While most US papers focus on a single city, The New York Times is among the few that can 【7】national scope—as well as 16 bureaus (办事处) in the New York area, it has 11 offices around the US and 【8】 26 bureaus elsewhere in the world.

But like many in the publishing industry,the paper is in the grip of a serious financial crisis. Its parent company,the New York Times Company, has 15 papers, but 【9】 a loss of $70 million in the nine months to September and recently accepted a $250 million loan from a Mexican billionaire, Carlos Slim, to 【10】 its balance sheet.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】I

【2】B

【3】F

【4】E

【5】G

【6】H

【7】D

【8】J

【9】A

【10】K

【解析】

本文是一篇新闻报道。美国最受欢迎的报纸网站《纽约时报》宣布，免费在线新闻时代即将结束，网站计划推出付费墙。当读者每月阅读超过一定数量的在线文章时，他们将被要求付费。但其他的报纸则表示，他们不会向网络读者收费。

【1】考查固定短语。句意：然而，美国最受欢迎的报纸网站宣布，免费在线新闻时代即将结束。短语draw to a close“渐近结束，告终”。符合句意。故选I项。

【2】考查现在分词。句意：《纽约时报》已经成为迄今为止最大的出版商，该报计划围绕其数字产品推出付费墙，摒弃了互联网用户不为新闻付费的惯例。abandon意为“放弃，丢弃”；此处abandoning是现在分词作结果状语，表示自然而然的结果。符合句意。故选B项。

【3】考查名词。句意：在广告量下降和街角销售量下降的趋势下，《纽约时报》打算在2011年初推出“计量”模式。a downward tendency意为“向下的趋势，下降的倾向”，符合句意。故选F项。

【4】考查现在分词。句意：这一决定将这份有着159年历史的报纸置于媒体行业日益扩大的鸿沟的收费这一边。charge意为：收费，指控，控告。在此处charging是现在分词作定语，charging side“收费的一边”。符合句意。故选E项。

【5】考查一般过去时。句意：《纽约时报》的出版商Arthur Sulzberger承认了这个想法是一场赌博。acknowledge意为：承认，认可。根据acknowledge后的宾语从句that the idea was a gamble中的时态可知，acknowledge是过去的动作，用一般过去时acknowledged。符合句意。故选G项。

【6】考查现在分词。句意：《纽约时报》自诩的发行量，工作日是995,000份，周日是140万份。boast意为：夸口说，自吹自擂地说，以有…而自豪。此处boasting 是现在分词作状语。符合句意。故选H项。

【7】考查动词。句意：《纽约时报》是少数几家能够宣称拥有全国性业务的报纸之一。

claim意为：声称，宣称。情态动词can后用动词原形，claim是动词原形。符合句意。故选D项。

【8】考查一般现在时。句意：它在美国各地设有11个办公处，并在世界其他地方还保持有26个办事处。maintain意为“维持，保持，维护”。根据上一句it has 11 offices…可知，说的是现在的情况，maintain用一般现在时, 主语为it，为第三人称。故选J项。

【9】考查一般过去时。句意：其母公司“纽约时报公司”拥有15份报纸，但在截至9月的9个月内亏损7000万美元。短语suffer a loss “遭受损失”。根据下一句…accepted a $250 million loan…可知，报纸亏损。时间状语in the nine months to September是过去的时间，suffer用一般过去时。符合句意。故选A项。

【10】考查动词不定式。句意：（纽约时报公司）最近接受了墨西哥亿万富翁 Carlos Slim 提供的2.5亿美元贷款，以强化其资产负债表。strengthen意为“使加强 ，巩固”。此处是不定式做目的状语，在不定式后用动词原形，符合句意。故选K项。