The history of newspapers is an often-dramatic chapter of the human experience going back some six centuries.In Renaissance Europe handwritten newsletters circulated(发行) privately among merchants,passing along information about everything from wars and economic conditions to social customs and “human interest” features.The first printed newspaper appeared in Germany in the late 1400s in the form of news pamphlets(小册子) or broadsides.
In the English-speaking world,the earliest predecessors(前身) of the newspaper were corantos,small news pamphlets produced only when some event worthy of notice occurred.The first successively published title was The Weekly News of 1622.The first true newspaper in English was the London Gazette of 1666.
In America the first newspaper appeared in Boston in 1690,entitled Public Occurrences.Published without official permission,it was immediately suppressed(查禁).Its publisher was arrested,and all copies were destroyed.The first successful newspaper was the Boston News-Letter,begun by postmaster John Campbell in 1704.By the eve of the Revolutionary War,some two dozen papers were issued at all the colonies.At the war’s end in 1783 there were forty-three newspapers in print. The Bill of Rights in 1791 at last guaranteed freedom of the press,and America’s newspapers began to take on a central role in national affairs.By 1814 there were 346 newspapers.
In the 1830s,advances in printing and papermaking technology led to an explosion of newspaper growth—the emergence(出现) of the “Penny Press”;it was now possible to produce a newspaper that could be sold for just a cent a copy.The cheap newspaper helped people to get more interesting reading materials easily.In 1850,there were 2526 different papers.By the 1910s,all the basic features of the modern newspaper had emerged.
小题1:Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Handwritten newsletters came out publicly in Renaissance Europe.
B．The first printed newspaper was seen about six hundred years ago.
C．The first successively published newspaper in the English-speaking world was corantos.
D．In America the first newspaper was successful as soon as it appeared.小题2:What does the underlined phrase “Penny Press” in the last paragraph mean?
A．People can press pennies easily.
B．People can produce newspapers with little cost.
C．It is a penny factory.
D．The name of the press owner is Penny.小题3:What is the main reason for newspapers in the USA increasing so fast in the 1830s?
A．The pass of the Bill of Rights in 1791.
B．Newspapers began to take on a central role in national affairs.
C．Advances in printing and papermaking technology.
D．All the basic features of the modern newspaper had emerged小题4:Which of the following is NOT a newspaper?
A．Public Occurrences.
B．The Boston News-Letter.
C．The Bill of Rights.
D．The London Gazette.
