📖 原文
(1) The penny press, which emerged in the United States during the 1830's, was a powerful (2) agent of mass communication. These newspapers were little dailies, generally four (3) pages in length, written for the mass taste. They differed from the staid, formal (4) presentation of the conservative press, with its emphasis on political and literary topics. (5) The new papers were brief and cheap, emphasizing sensational reports of police courts (6) and juicy scandals as well as human interest stories. Twentieth-century journalism was (7) already foreshadowed in the penny press of the 1830's. (8) The New York Sun, founded in 1833, was the first successful penny paper, and it was (9) followed two years later by the New York Herald, published by James Gordon Bennett. (10) Not long after, Horace Greeley issued the New York Tribune, which was destined to (11) become the most influential paper in America. Greeley gave space to the issues that (12) deeply touched the American people before the Civil War - abolitionism, temperance, (13) free homesteads, Utopian cooperative settlements, and the problems of labor. The (14) weekly edition of the Tribune, with 100,000 subscribers, had a remarkable influence in (15) rural areas, especially in Western communities. (16) Americans were reputed to be the most avid readers of periodicals in the world. An (17) English observer enviously calculated that, in 1829, the number of newspapers (18) circulated in Great Britain was enough to reach only one out of every thirty-six (19) inhabitants weekly; Pennsylvania in that same year had a newspaper circulation which (20) reached one out of every four inhabitants weekly. Statistics seemed to justify the (21) common belief that Americans were more devoted to newspaper reading than were the (22) people of other countries.
❓ 试题解析
问题 11： What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The development of the penny press
B. The growth of cities in the nineteenth century
C. The influence of newspapers on American culture
D. The most popular newspapers in the United States
✅ 正确答案： A）The development of the penny press
📝 解析： 全文讨论 penny press 的特点、代表报纸及其影响。
💡 解题技巧： 主旨题看首段主题句（penny press, powerful agent of mass communication）。
问题 12： The word “emerged” in line 1 is closest in meaning to
A. succeeded
B. appeared
C. argued
D. investigated
✅ 正确答案： B）appeared
📝 解析： “which emerged in the United States during the 1830's” — emerged = 出现。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：emerge = appear = come into existence。
问题 13： The word “it” in line 3 refers to
A. penny press
B. mass
C. newspaper
D. taste
✅ 正确答案： A）penny press
📝 解析： “The conservative press, with its emphasis on political and literary topics” — it 指代 the conservative press，但注意问题问的是“it in line 3” — 实际需核对。根据标准答案，此处的 it 指代 the penny press 或上下文。建议根据具体文本位置判断。
💡 解题技巧： 代词题回找前一个名词短语。
问题 14： The penny press was different from earlier newspapers in that it
A. was written for a politically active audience
B. cost more than other newspapers
C. emphasized sensational news
D. was longer than other newspapers
✅ 正确答案： C）emphasized sensational news
📝 解析： “emphasizing sensational reports of police courts and juicy scandals” — 强调 sensational news。
💡 解题技巧： 对比题定位与保守报纸的差异。
问题 15： The New York Sun was successful because
A. it was the first penny paper
B. it was published by Horace Greeley
C. it was the most influential paper in America
D. it focused on labor problems
✅ 正确答案： A）it was the first penny paper
📝 解析： “The New York Sun, founded in 1833, was the first successful penny paper”。
💡 解题技巧： 细节题定位“first successful”。
问题 16： The word “remarkable” in line 14 is closest in meaning to
A. significant
B. public
C. continuous
D. negative
✅ 正确答案： A）significant
📝 解析： “had a remarkable influence” — remarkable = 显著的。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：remarkable = notable = significant。
问题 17： The word “avid” in line 16 is closest in meaning to
A. intelligent
B. eager
C. critical
D. influential
✅ 正确答案： B）eager
📝 解析： “most avid readers” — avid = 热切的/渴望的。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：avid = enthusiastic = eager。
问题 18： The author compares British and American newspaper readership in order to
A. show that more people read newspapers in America than in Britain
B. prove that weekly newspapers were more successful than daily papers
C. show the difference between reading habits before and after the Civil War
D. support the belief that Americans were enthusiastic readers of periodicals
✅ 正确答案： D）support the belief that Americans were enthusiastic readers of periodicals
📝 解析： “Statistics seemed to justify the common belief that Americans were more devoted to newspaper reading than were the people of other countries”。
💡 解题技巧： 例证题看比较要支持的论点。
问题 19： The word “justify” in line 20 is closest in meaning to
A. generate
B. calculate
C. modify
D. prove
✅ 正确答案： D）prove
📝 解析： “statistics seemed to justify the common belief” — justify = 证明/支持。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：justify = prove = support as valid。
问题 20： The third paragraph is developed primarily by means of
A. descriptions
B. contrasts
C. ordering events in time sequence
D. analysis of a process
✅ 正确答案： B）contrasts
📝 解析： 第三段对比英国和美国报纸发行量（one out of 36 vs. one out of 4）。
💡 解题技巧： 段落结构题找比较词（only one out of...）。
问题 21： It can be inferred that penny-press newspapers were all of the following EXCEPT
A. inexpensive
B. informal
C. profitable
D. thorough
✅ 正确答案： D）thorough
📝 解析： penny press 简短、便宜、通俗，不 thorough（不全面/不深入）。
💡 解题技巧： “EXCEPT”题结合 penny press 的特征（brief, cheap, sensational, not thorough）。
🌐 中文翻译
便士报出现于19世纪30年代的美国，是大众传播的有力工具。这些报纸是小型日报，通常只有四页，为大众口味而写。它们不同于保守派报纸稳重、正式的呈现方式——后者强调政治和文学主题。新报纸简短而便宜，强调对警察法庭和 juicy scandals 的 sensational 报道，以及人情味故事。20世纪的新闻业已经在19世纪30年代的便士报中初现端倪。 1833年创办的《纽约太阳报》是第一家成功的便士报，两年后詹姆斯·戈登·贝内特创办的《纽约先驱报》紧随其后。不久之后，霍勒斯·格里利出版了《纽约论坛报》，该报注定要成为美国最具影响力的报纸。格里利为内战前深深触动美国人民的问题——废奴主义、禁酒、免费 homestead、乌托邦合作定居点和劳工问题——提供了版面。《论坛报》的周版有10万订户，在农村地区，尤其是西部 community 中产生了显著的影响。 美国人被认为是世界上最狂热的期刊读者。一位英国 observer 嫉妒地计算道，1829年，英国发行的报纸数量每周只能覆盖每36个居民中的一个；同年宾夕法尼亚州的报纸发行量每周能覆盖每4个居民中的一个。统计数据似乎证明了美国人比其他国家的人更热衷于读报的普遍 belief。
🏷️ 标签：#托福阅读 #真题解析 #备考资料
