Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions from 17 to 24.
Newspapers can be traced back to 16th century Venice. In 1566, handwritten news sheets - called 'avis' or ‘gazette' – filled with information on wars and politics in Europe were distributed weekly in Venice. Similar news sheets soon started to appear in other European countries. By 1615, Germany and Austria were publishing weeklies. And in 1621, the first news sheets appeared in England.
At first, these news sheets only printed news which came from outside the country in which they were printed. Discussion of local or national issues was avoided. Europe’s governments did not tolerate anything negative being said about them as it could lead to national unrest.
Such censorship slowed the development of newspapers. Nevertheless, a belief in the importance of a 'free press’ slowly began to take hold in Europe. England was among the first countries to escape government control of the press. This occurred during the reign of King Charles I in the 17th century, when, during a period of breakdown in the king's authority, people began to publish what they wanted.
Eventually, free press had the right to criticize government and voice other ideas freely. In the middle of the 18th century, Sweden became the first country to make press freedom a part of its law.
In the 19th century, the newspaper industry was transformed by the invention of the telegraph. The telegraph was a communication system that allowed messages to be sent over long distances in a matter of minutes. It wasn’t long before newspapers became society's primary means of spreading and receiving information. In 1880, the first photographs appeared in newspapers and, by the end of the century, all the basic technical tools for the modern newspaper were in place.
The story of newspapers in the 20th century was one of adaptation to changing consumer and media markets. The invention of radio, TV, and later the Internet, repeatedly drove newspapers to re-invent themselves. Also, during the 20th century, mass-market advertising increased profitability for newspapers. This attracted large, publicly-owned corporations who began buying newspapers from the descendants of company founders.
Over the years, people have periodically predicted the extinction of newspapers. In fact, every time a new media has come into being, dire predictions have been made for existing forms (e.g. television was supposed to have replaced radio, radio was supposed to have replaced newspapers). Yet history has repeatedly shown that new media do not replace existing media. Instead, what happens is that media consumption grows, which creates the necessary space for the new media to become a part of the media landscape.
According to the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), each day more than 1.5 billion people around the world read a newspaper. The WAN has also estimated the total annual worth of the global newspaper industry and put it at just under 180 billion USD. Such statistics suggest the newspaper industry is healthier than at any other time in its history. Indeed, if the industry proves itself as capable of adapting to change as it has done in the past, it is unlikely that newspapers will be disappearing from newsstands anytime soon.
The extinction of newspapers _______
A. would probably have occurred if radio had been more popular
B. would allow for more media to become part of the media landscape
C. is a prediction unsupported by past evidence
D. was original predicted by the media itself
Kiến thức: Đọc hiểu
Giải thích:
Sự biến mất của báo chí ___
A. có lẽ đã xảy ra nếu đài phát thanh phổ biến hơn.
B. sẽ cho phép nhiều phương tiện truyền thông trở thành một phần của thị trường truyền thông.
C. là một dự đoán không được các bằng chứng trong quá khứ ủng hộ.
D. ban đầu được dự đoán bởi chính các phương tiện truyền thông.
Thông tin: Over the years, people have periodically predicted the extinction of newspapers. In fact, every time a new media has come into being, dire predictions have been made for existing forms (e.g. television was supposed to have replaced radio, radio was supposed to have replaced newspapers). Yet history has repeatedly shown that new media do not replace existing media. Instead, what happens is that media consumption grows, which creates the necessary space for the new media to become a part of the media landscape.
Tạm dịch: Trong những năm qua, mọi người đã định kỳ dự đoán sự biến mất của báo chí. Trên thực tế, mỗi khi một phương tiện truyền thông mới ra đời, những dự đoán tàn khốc đã được đưa ra cho các hình thức hiện có (ví dụ: truyền hình được cho là đã thay thế đài phát thanh, đài phát thanh được cho là đã thay thế báo chí). Tuy nhiên, lịch sử đã nhiều lần chỉ ra rằng phương tiện truyền thông mới không thay thế phương tiện hiện có. Thay vào đó, những gì xảy ra là lượng tiêu thụ phương tiện truyền thông phát triển, tạo ra không gian cần thiết cho phương tiện truyền thông mới trở thành một phần của thị trường truyền thông.
Chọn C