59.
It
can be inferred from the passage that the March family had ______.
A.
both happiness and sadness B. wealthy neighbors
C.
more girls than boys
D. a lot of rich relatives
B
As De Witt Wallace lay in bed recovering from injuries that he
unfortunately came by in World War I, he found there was a wealth of
interesting information to read. Realizing few people would have the time to
get through all this information, he knew exactly what to do. In 1920, this
young American gave a sample magazine containing shortened articles to
publishers across America.
However, all turned him down.
De Witt and his new bride Lila Bell Acheson published the first issue of
Reader’s Digest in February 1922. Working from home, the Wallaces
printed 5,000 copies, which were sold by mail to 1,500 people and priced at 25
cents. From these humble(简单的)beginnings grew the world’s most widely-read magazine.
The magazine became popular and, by 1935, sales topped one million. In
1938, the first international edition was published in the United Kingdom. During World War
II, editions were published for the first time in Latin America and Sweden.
After the war Reader’s Digest moved into Australia,
Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany,
Italy, Norway, South
Africa and Switzerland. In 1950, Reader’s
Digest published its shortened Books(now known as Select Editions in Australia).In 1959, music, the first non-print product line, was introduced. In 1962,
Reader’s Digest revolutionized direct mail by introducing easy-to-enter
Sweepstakes and a year later the first Reader’s Digest general book was published.
In 1986, video was added to the Reader’s Digest product line.
In 1973, the Wallaces gave up active management
of Reader’s Digest. De Witt died in 1981, aged 91; Lila in 1984, aged 94. With
no heirs to the Wallace empire to take control, Reader’s Digest became a public
company in the early 1990s and is now headed by a Chief Executive Office and
Chairman of the Board.
