四．阅读理解（每题4分，共20分）
British newspapers are among the oldest and most famous in the world. But recently big changes have seen these traditional publications try to fit the modern world. After 221 years, The Times (《泰晤士报》) has changed its size to become much smaller. In fact, the paper has cut its size in half from a broadsheet to tabloid.
In Britain the newspaper market is divided between the larger broadsheets and the smaller tabloids. These terms refer to the size of the papers’ pages, but there is also a clear difference in content. Broadsheets such as the Times, the Guardian (《卫报》) and Daily Telegraph (《每日电讯报》) are serious papers. They cover a broad range of political, economic and international issues. Their stories are also reasonably long and use quite formal language.
Tabloids have far more stories about less serious issues such as celebrities’（名人） love lives. Their stories are shorter and use more simple language. Tabloids often have bigger pictures. Britain’s best-selling newspaper, the Sun, is a tabloid and has a naked (裸体的) girl on page three every day.
By changing to the size of a tabloid, the Times is following in the footsteps of a less famous broadsheet paper the Independent (《独立报》). It changed to tabloid last year and saw its sales increase greatly. Although both papers have switched to the smaller size, the content of the papers has remained the same. They are both still serious papers.
The two papers claim that people find the smaller size easier to handle when they travel to work on the bus or the train in the morning. Instead of calling the new style of their paper tabloid, the paper says its new size is “compact” (紧凑型).
1. In which year was The Times born?
A. 1782 B. 1785 C. 1788 D. 1786
2. Which is the most correct statement?
A. Broadsheets are larger in size while tabloids are smaller.
B. Tabloids are less serious than broadsheets.
C. Broadsheets contain more news than tabloids.
D. They are different in size, content and the style of language.
3. In which of the following newspapers would you find more news about the personal life of the famous soccer star Beckham?
A. The Sun B. The Times C. The Independent D. The Guardian
4. According to the passage, we can infer the main reason for The Times' changing into the tabloid is that_____.
A. it wants to become convenient for people to carry.
B. it wants to increase its circulation (发行量).
C. it intends to copy what The Independent has done.
D. it is unlikely to stay in business if it does not change.
5. Which of the following statements is true according to the given information?
A. There are more tabloids than broadsheets in Britain at present.
B. After the change, there will be no differences between The Sun and The Times.
C. Although The Times has cut its size, it remains a serious paper.
D. All the papers will tend to have the same style in the future.
