Many now have been breathing hot flames at our industry and so I thought it would be time to say my piece this week, after all, we in the business cannot deny that it has been a rough spring for news paper editors and reporters.’’ Ethical scandals great and small have soiled newsrooms from coast to coast. Everyone knows about the profound deceits of Jayson Blair at The New York Times, and the "Writergate" controversy involving Rick Bragg, which led to the departure of the two top editors at the paper. Other misdeeds have ranged from two reporters at The Salt Lake Tribune selling information to The National Enquirer, to a food writer for The Hartford Courant fired for plagiarizing recipes. Are newspaper standards going to pot Some say ethics are worse than ever or are they The past is filled with people running photos of wrestlers in the sports section in exchange for money. In fact, ethical breaches may be less of a problem than 20 years ago. A 1,t of newspapers are cutting corners, but the standards in the business have improved. There were things going on in the past such as reporters writing speeches for politicians they covered and taking bribes from lobbyists -- but people back then were quietly moved out or they left on their own. There was no public ’’display. The industry as a whole is in trouble because, due to media concentration, people at the top are taking out too much money and driving the profits up. The perception is that the real customers are not those who read the paper but those who buy the stock, which damages the profession. Some of this is about resource pressure. Copydesks are overloaded and there is not enough time and more reporters are having to report by phone. The larger the size of newspapers, the less communication between divisions there tends to be. Reporters don’’t climb the stairs anymore, they are highly trained people who sit in their offices and write term papers and won’’t sully themselves going to a greasy housing project or stand out in the rain for a few hours. The economics of journalism along with technological changes has created an atmosphere of trying to get enormous amounts of information as rapidly as possible. The important thing is to make sure the ownership understands the value of a news organization with integrity and every paper needs to slow down and remind ourselves that we have nothing to Sell if the readers don’’t believe us. The main idea of the first paragraph is that ______.
A. newsrooms are suffering from a decline in standards
B. there are too many ethical scandals going on in newspapers
C. there is a perception that newspapers should do more to correct mistakes
D. this has been a rough time for newspapers and many are wondering what is wrong
Questions 5 to 7 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation, you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions. Now, listen to the conversation. What does the conversation suggest be the most effective way of burning calories
A. Having the fidgets.
B. Doing more physical exercises.
C. Eating law calory food.
D. None of these.
Questions 27 to 29 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions. Now, listen to the news. What was Arab nations’ attitude toward the U. S. plan of sending more troops to Iraq
A. Wrathful.
B. Indifferent.
C. Supportive.
D. Not mentioned.
TEXT C The most effective attacks against globalization are usually not those related to economies. Instead, they are social, ethical and, above all, cultural. These arguments surfaced amid the protests in Seattle in 1999 and more recently in Davos, Bangkok and Prague. They say this: the disappearance of national borders and the establishment of a world interconnected by markets will deal a death blow to regional and national cultures, and to the traditions, customs, myths and mores that determine each country’s or region’s cultural identity. Since most of the world is incapable of resisting the invasion of cultural products from developed countries that inevitably trails the great transnational corporations, North American culture will ultimately impose itself, standardizing the world and annihilating its richness of diverse cultures. In this manner, all other peoples, and not just the small and weak ones, will lose their identity, their soul, and will become no more than 21st-eentury colonies modeled after the cultural norms of a new imperialism that, in addition to ruling over the planet with its capital, military might and scientific knowledge, will impose on others its language and its ways of thinking, believing, enjoying and dreaming. Even though I believe this cultural argument against globalization is unacceptable, we should recognize that deep within it lies an unquestionable truth. This century, the world in which we will live will be less picturesque and filled with less local color than the one we left behind. The festivals, attire, customs, ceremonies, rites and beliefs that in the past gave humanity its culturally and racially variety are progressively disappearing or confining themselves to minority sectors, while the bulk of society abandons them and adopts others more suited to the reality of our time. All countries of the earth experience this process, some more quickly than others, but it is not due to globalization. Rather, it is due to modernization, of which the former is effect, not cause. It is possible to lament, certainly, that this process occurs, and to feel nostalgia for the past ways of life that, particularly from our comfortable vantage point of the present, seem full of amusement, originality and color. But this process is unavoidable. In theory, perhaps, a country could keep this identity, but only if — like certain remote tribes in Africa or the Amazon — it decides to live in total isolation, cutting off all exchange with other nations and practicing self sufficiency. A cultural identity preserved in this form would take that society back to prehistoric standards of living. It is true that modernization makes many forms of traditional life disappear. But at the same time, it opens opportunities and constitutes an important step forward for a society as a whole. That is why, when given the option to choose freely, peoples, sometimes counter to what their leaders or intellectual traditionalists would like, opt for modernization without the slightest ambiguity. According to the author, an unquestionable truth is ______.
A. we will live and dress in the exactly same way in the near future
B. we will be confined to a small region in the world
C. our world will become culturally less diversified
D. our world will become more practical and adaptable