Question

The most noticeable trend among today's media companies is vertical integration (垂直統(tǒng)一管理) , an attempt(嘗試) to control several related aspects(方面) of the media business at once, each part helping the other. Besides publishing magazines and books, Time Warner, for example, owns Home Box Office ( HBO), Warner movie studios (攝影棚), various cable TV systems throughout the USA, and CNN as well. The Japanese company Matsushita Owns MCA. Records and Universal Studios and manufactures broadcast production equipment.

    To describe the financial status ( 財務狀態(tài) ) of today’s media is also to talk about acquisitions(獲得). The media are buying and selling each other in unprecedented(空前的) numbers and forming media groups to position themselves in the market place to maintain and increase their profits(利潤). In 1986, the first time a broadcast network had been sold, two networks were sold that year—ABC and NBC.

    Media acquisitions have skyrocketed(猛增) since 1980 for two reasons. The first is that most big corporations today are publicly traded companies, which means that their stock is traded on one of the nation’s stock exchanges (股票交易). This makes acquisitions relatively easy.

    A media company that wants to buy a publicly owned company can buy that company's stock when the stock becomes available(有用的). The open availabilities of stock in these companies means that anybody with enough money can invest in the American media Indus tries, which is exactly how Rupert Murdoch joined the media business.

The second reason for the increase in media alliances(聯(lián)合) is that beginning in 1980, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gradually deregulated (解除管制) the broadcast media. Before 1980, for example, the FCC allowed one company to own only five TV stations, five AM radio stations, and five FM radio stations; companies also were required to hold onto a station for three years before the station could be sold. The post-1980 FCC eliminated the three-year rule and raised the number of broadcast holdings allowed for one owner. This trend (傾向；趨勢) of media acquisitions is continuing throughout the 1990s,as changing technology expands the market for media products.

1. Which of the following is true of the media?

A. They used to sell and buy each other in great numbers.

B. They are trading each other in greater numbers today.

C. They used to be controlled by two networks—ABC and NBC.

D. They have stopped the trend of acquisitions in the 1990s.

2. According to the passage, what makes acquisitions easier?

A. The changing technology employed by the media.

B. The media's increasing profits in the marketplace.

C. The ever tougher regulations of the FCC on the media since 1980.

D. The availabilities of the media's stocks on stock exchanges.

3. What is the FCC’s new policy regarding media alliances?

B. It doesn't allow companies to sell their stocks publicly

C. It permits one company to own more media businesses at the same time.

D. It has eliminated all post 1980 companies.

4. The issue of media ownership is important because ____.

A. it affects the amount of money the stockholders will make

B. it decides whether we can have different aspects of the media

C. it concerns the channels through which to express opinions

D. it means that more and more people will hold onto only a few stations.

 

Answer 1

答案：B;D;C;C
提示：

1．通讀全文以后，我們可以排除ACD，故B 是正確答案。 2．第二段的The media are buying and selling each other in unprecedented(空前的) numbers and forming media groups to position themselves in the market place to maintain and increase their profits(利潤)，提示出正確答案為D。 3．最后一段，以及其中的例子都可以說明自從FCC解除了廣播媒體的管制以后，一家公司可以擁有更多的媒體分公司。 4．通過排除法，ABD都不正確，故選C。