五、完形填空。
Are newspapers dying?
For years, it has been said that newspapers are at death’s door. Every year, more and more newspapers close down. But why is the situation so 1 for newspapers?

Newspapers have a long history. The first newspaper was printed in the 1600s. The industry witnessed its most successful periods in the early 20th century. With the rise of radio and TV, however, the newspaper circulation(发行量) began to 2. By the mid-20th century, the radio and TV had become so popular that people no longer had to 3 newspapers for news. That was especially true of breaking news.
Afternoon newspapers were the first to 4. People coming home from work increasingly turned on the TV instead of picking up a newspaper because TV could provide news that happened a short time 5. It was true that newspapers couldn’t compete with TV on 6, but they could provide in-depth reports that TV news could not.
But newspapers suffered another heavier blow(打击) in the 1990s. With the development of the Internet, large amounts of information became 7. Many newspaper readers realized that they could read news on the Internet 8 any cost. There seemed to be little reason to pay for a newspaper subscription(订阅). In this way, by reading news online, people could also 9 money.
So what does the future hold? Will newspapers die? Maybe not. Many newspapers are now making 10. Some are going digital. Some are adding more interesting topics like sports and 11 to attract young readers. Some are going farther and taking the industry to places it has never been to. After all, people still want the 12 and reliable news. And many agree that newspapers are still an important source of in-depth news, analyses and opinions. If newspapers 13 completely, there will be nothing to take their 14. So, while the road ahead is challenging, newspapers may not be 15 yet.
()1. A. exciting
B. terrible
C. important
D. bright
()2. A. grow
B. improve
C. raise
D. fall
()3. A. give up
B. live on
C. depend on
D. pick up
()4. A. survive
B. change
C. decline
D. appear
()5. A. ago
B. later
C. before
D. after
()6. A. speed
B. member
C. instruction
D. stress
()7. A. super
B. important
C. safe
D. free
()8. A. with
B. without
C. for
D. at
()9. A. waste
B. save
C. keep
D. lose
()10. A. mistakes
B. changes
C. advertisements
D. noises
()11. A. music
B. science
C. business
D. fashion
()12. A. latest
B. oldest
C. longest
D. shortest
()13. A. delay
B. leave
C. disappear
D. come
()14. A. place
B. time
C. way
D. turn
()15. A. alive
B. dead
C. active
D. alone

1. B 【点拨】根据语境可知,报纸的处境很糟糕。故选B。
2. D 【点拨】根据常识以及语境可知,无线电广播和电视出现后,报纸发行量减少。故选D。
3. C 【点拨】根据语境可知,人们不再依赖报纸。故选C。
4. C 【点拨】根据“People coming home from work increasingly turned on the TV instead of picking up a newspaper”可知,午报开始衰退。故选C。
5. A 【点拨】a short time ago不久前,符合电视新闻时效性的语境。故选A。
6. A 【点拨】根据常识可知,报纸在速度上不如电视。故选A。
7. D 【点拨】根据“There seemed to be little reason to pay for a newspaper subscription(订阅).”可知,人们可以在网上免费获取信息。故选D。
8. B 【点拨】without any cost免费。故选B。
9. B 【点拨】结合语境可知,是能省钱。故选B。
10. B 【点拨】根据语境可知,很多报纸在做出改变。故选B。
11. D 【点拨】运动和时尚是吸引年轻读者的常见话题。故选D。
12. A 【点拨】新闻的属性是追求时效性。故选A。
13. C 【点拨】句意:如果报纸完全消失了,没有什么东西可以取代它们。disappear消失。故选C。
14. A 【点拨】take one's place是固定短语。故选A。
15. B 【点拨】呼应标题“Are newspapers dying?”,此处表示报纸应该不会消亡。故选B。

【分析】
做完这篇完形填空，首先要先通读全文，抓住文章核心主题：本文围绕“报纸是否会消亡”展开，梳理了报纸从兴盛到受广播电视、互联网冲击的发展历程，最后介绍报纸做出的转型尝试，点明报纸不会完全消亡的观点。解题时每一个空都不能孤立判断，要结合前后文给出的线索、生活常识、英语固定搭配三个维度逐一排除错误选项，比如前文提到大量报纸倒闭，对应第一空的处境糟糕；后文提到不需要为报纸订阅付费，对应互联网信息免费的相关空，遇到固定搭配可以直接结合搭配判断，最后做完所有空后回读全文，验证整体行文逻辑通顺、没有矛盾即可。
【解析】
1. 前文提到“每年越来越多的报纸倒闭”，说明报纸的处境非常糟糕，exciting令人兴奋的、important重要的、bright光明的都不符合语境，选B.terrible。
2. 前文提到广播和电视兴起，根据常识报纸的发行量会下降，grow增长、improve提升、raise提高都不符合逻辑，选D.fall。
3. 广播和电视普及后，人们不需要再依赖报纸获取新闻，give up放弃、live on靠…生活、pick up捡起，都不符合语境，选C.depend on（依赖）。
4. 根据后文“下班回家的人越来越多打开电视而不是看报纸”，可知午报最先开始衰退，survive存活、change改变、appear出现都不符合，选C.decline（衰退）。
5. 电视可以提供不久前刚发生的新闻，a short time ago是固定表达，符合电视新闻时效性的特点，选A.ago。
6. 前文提到电视能快速播报刚发生的新闻，可知报纸在新闻播报的速度上比不过电视，member成员、instruction说明、stress压力都不符合，选A.speed。
7. 根据后文“人们几乎没有理由花钱订阅报纸”，可知互联网上的大量信息是免费的，super超级的、important重要的、safe安全的都不符合，选D.free。
8. 此处表达“无需任何成本就可以在网上读新闻”，without any cost是固定搭配，意为“免费”，选B.without。
9. 不需要花钱订阅报纸，自然可以省下钱，waste浪费、keep保留、lose失去都不符合语境，选B.save。
10. 根据后文“一些转向数字化，一些增加新的话题”，可知很多报纸正在做出改变，mistakes错误、advertisements广告、noises噪音都不符合，选B.changes。
11. 要吸引年轻读者，新增的常见热门话题除了运动就是时尚，music音乐、science科学、business商务都不是专门针对吸引年轻读者的新增典型板块，选D.fashion。
12. 新闻的核心属性之一就是时效性，人们始终想要最新的可靠新闻，oldest最旧的、longest最长的、shortest最短的都不符合，选A.latest。
13. 句意是如果报纸完全消失，没有事物可以替代它，delay拖延、leave离开、come到来都不符合，选C.disappear。
14. take one's place是固定短语，意为“取代、代替”，符合语境，选A.place。
15. 呼应文章开头“报纸正在走向死亡吗”的设问，最终结论是报纸可能还没有真正消亡，alive活着的、active活跃的、alone独自的都不符合，选B.dead。
【答案】
1-5 BDCCA 6-10 ADBBB 11-15 DACAB
【知识点】
完形语境推理，动词短语辨析，固定搭配识记
【点评】
这是一篇主题贴近现实生活的说明文类完形填空，整体行文逻辑清晰，考点以语境词义辨析和常用固定搭配为主，没有设置偏难怪的干扰项，既考察学生对上下文逻辑的梳理能力，也引导学生关注传统媒体在互联网时代的发展现状，做完题后可以积累相关主题的常用表达。
【难度系数】
0.7