新托福考试听力特训 CD1-Track17

CD1-track17

Journalism¹: Newspapers and Journalists

1. What is the lecture mainly about?

A Freedom of speech and newspapers.

B Journalism and freedom of the press.

C How the media distorts the truth.

D The history of journalism.

(B)

2. According to the lecture, why is “prizemanship” mainly problematic?

A Journalists may distort the truth.

B Journalists can be invading some privacy.

C Newspapers feel humiliated² when their journalists do not win the prize.

D The truth must always be found and never interpreted.

(A)

听力原文：

CD1-track17

Journalism: Newspapers and Journalists

“In the US constitution it is stated that the congress shall make no law abridging³ the

freedom of speech of the press. This puts forth⁴ the foundation of journalism in the

United States. The government and the press are 2 separate entities⁵. The people who

wrote the 1st amendment⁶ understood that journalists are human beings and that they

can make mistakes. The press even though it is not perfect was to take on the job of

government critic with its responsibility to the citizens of America not to the

government. At the core of the way in which the press operates is independence.

Newspaper owners may support a particular party, but it is becoming more common

for a newspaper and its journalists to be totally independent in every way.

Unfortunately sometimes this is a goal to work towards and not a description which

shows the truth. Staff and the newspaper they represent should show freedom of

thought and action. A newspaper must not print stories for the sole purpose of

promoting people who support it. Journalists cannot receive money, holidays, or gifts

from special groups for favorable news coverage⁷. If a newspaper were corrupt⁸ it

could not criticize the government for being corrupt. Sometimes things like a free

meal or sports tickets are acceptable though, but this is not practice written in stone.

There are not really any rewards for the type or amount of freedom that the press

enjoys, maybe devotion of the readers in trust. With freedom of the press a newspaper

can still report a story in the way it wished. However, it must still adhere to the laws

of libel. The basic idea is that there must be truth to what the newspaper prints and

the newspaper must be able to show that they are being truthful⁹. It is common for a

newspaper to separate its ideas and beliefs from the objective presentation of truth.

The news is presented with sources identified when possible. It is only on the editorial page that the newspaper gives its and other staff members or syndicated writers

personal opinions. For a newspaper to not sound one sided or closed minded to

others it often has a section devoted¹⁰ to letters that people write to the newspaper

about how the news is being reported and other versions of the truth if one or several

happen to exist. The newspapers reserve the right to edit as necessary so that there is

fair presentation. A newspaper must also be sure to remain responsible if it does make

a mistake. Correction should be printed in the same part of the newspaper all the time

so they are easier to be found. A newspaper must also know when to draw the line

when they have crossed the boundary of invading somebody’s private life. It is at this

point that the newspaper must look at what it is saying and doing and re-evaluate the

situation. Journalists must follow the same laws as does everybody else but must be

extremely enthusiastic in uncovering the truth. In doing this they become a type of

supervisor¹¹ or watchdog. Newspapers must be careful of becoming caught up in

something called prizeman-ship, presenting stories in a certain way with the sole

purpose of the newspaper or the journalist winning a prize. This has happened before.

A journalist made up the story and ended up winning the Pulitzer Prize. In the end the

journalists revealed the truth and quit her job. The newspaper gave the award back

with great humiliation¹². It is okay for newspapers and journalists to receive prizes, but

they should be from people or groups who have no connection to the recipient¹³ and

they should be without the recipient knowing it. There is the temptation to exaggerate

the facts but this must always be avoided. Journalists must always remember this last

rule in being a journalist. Above all one must be aware of the possibility that he or

she might be wrong, that a mistake has been made. There can be many viewpoints

which distort the truth. Journalists must remember when an error is made there is

always somebody who is going to be hurt. It is for this that the truth must always be

found and never interpreted.”

1 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

2 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

3 abridging   

节略( abridge的现在分词 )； 减少； 缩短； 剥夺（某人的）权利（或特权等）

参考例句：

• He's currently abridging his book. 他正在对他的书进行删节。
• First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech." （美国宪法）第一修正案规定议会不应该通过减损（公民）言论自由的法律。

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

6 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

7 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

8 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

9 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

10 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

11 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

12 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

13 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。