Poll reveals TV news too negative
A recent Time/CNN poll in the USA has discovered that 75% of people agreed that the news media is "sensationalist", 63% found it "too negative" and 73% said they are " (1)____
the accuracy" of the news they are receiving.
Local news programmes in the USA are so dominated by stories of violence and crime (2)____
other topics like government, education and the environment are left with little airtime. Network broadcaster John Walters claimed, “This lack of information has (3)____
negative feelings towards the media.”
Crime reports, which often serve (4)____
lead stories, make up an average of 30.2% of news time on local TV news programmes in the USA. Media researcher Bob Smith reported, “53% of crime reports are about murder, but it is one of the least frequently (5)____
crimes.” Another media study revealed that 42% of all local TV news broadcasts are stories about crime, disaster and war.
One possible reason (6)____
this is that local television news is ratings driven. Some market research suggests that viewers like to see stories of crime and violence, (7)____
increases the ratings of newscasts. Higher ratings mean higher advertising revenues. Mike Adams, a television executive, explained, "The increase in crime reports is because, (8)____
, almost half the money a local station makes comes from news."
Many experts believe a steady diet of violence-oriented news broadcasts has serious effects. A spokesman for the National Television Violence Committee stated, “There are three main risks associated (9)____
viewing media violence. People learn aggressive behaviour. They become desensitised (10)____
real-world violence. These lead to an increased fear of being a victim of violence, resulting in mistrust of others.”
1. A. sure about B. doubt about C. sceptical about D. interested in
2. A. what B. that C. which D. –
3. A. resulted from B. been caused by C. leaded to D. resulted in
4. A. as B. with C. in D. –
5. A. commit B. committing C. committed D. to commit
6. A. with B. for C. in D. at
7. A. that B. what C. which D. –
8. A. in average B. on general C. in the whole D. on average
9. A. to B. with C. at D. and
10. A. to B. with C.at D. in

答案
正确答案:
1.答案应选C。
根据前文的too negative可以初步判断此处需要填的是表示贬义的词语,因此可以排除A(sure about)和D(interested in),答案只能从B和C中选,由于此处需要填的是形容词,因此只能选C。注意be skeptical about=be doubtful about。
2.答案应选B。
这是固定结构,so…that意思是“如此……以至于”。
3.答案应选D。
根据上下文判断此处说的是由于缺少教育、环境等方面的信息导致了人们对于媒体的否定态度,因此应该选D。注意result in =lead to=cause。注意C选项短语是合适的,但是由于has后面需要跟动词的过去分词形式,如果换成led to就对了。
4.答案应选A。
serve as 是固定短语,意思是“起……作用,充当”。
5.答案应选C。
commit当触犯讲是个及物动词,一般要说commit a crime。此处修饰crime需要用commit的过去分词形式做定语。
6.答案应选B。
the reason for sth为固定用法,表示“某事的原因”。
7.答案应选C。
此处非限制性定语从句的引导词只能用which。注意此处which指代的是前面整个分句,即viewers like to see stories of crime and violence。
8.答案应选D。
on average 为固定短语,意思是“通常”。注意on average=in general=on the whole。
9.答案应选B。
associate with意思是“使有联系”,常用作被动语态,例如illnesses associated with old age意思是“老年病”。
10.答案应选A。
be desensitised to sth是固定用法,意思是“对……麻木不仁”。