Part II

Listen to the following passages and then choose the best answer to each question by blackening the corresponding circle. You may need to scribble a few notes in order to answer the questions satisfactorily. There are three passages in this part, each with five questions. And each question carries two points. You will hear the passages only once.

Passage One

My daughter and I had been searching for the origins of my grandfather, Alfred Denny, for several years. We had nothing definite except that he married Minerva Ann Hamilton in Michigan in 1860.

When I was a small child, my father had given me the address of his “Aunt Maggie,” Mrs. William Rarick of Everson, Washington. She and I exchanged letters for about three years while I was still a youngster. My father died without giving any further information about his relatives.

About eighty-five years after my correspondence with Aunt Maggie, I decided to see if I could pick up the trail and find out exactly how she fit into the family puzzle. By then I was in my nineties so I knew the odds were not on my side, but I called the telephone operator for a number of anybody by the name of Rarick in the town of Everson, Washington. She told me they have a Charles Rarick and an L. Rarick. I asked her to ring Charles, but there was no answer so I asked her to try L. Rarick.

A woman answered and I said, “Hello, this is Carleton Denny. I am trying to locate relatives of Margaret Rarick.”

The lady on the telephone took a long breath and hesitantly said, “She was my grandmother.”

I learned that Aunt Maggie was my grandfather’s half sister. The “L” stood for Luella, who still used her maiden name. I had found my family.  

21. Where and when was my grandfather married?

22. When did I decide to find out about “Aunt Maggie”?

23. How did I find L. Rarick?

24. When I reached L. Rarick, she was ___________.

25. Which of the following is not true about “Aunt Maggie”? 

Passage Two

The history of American newspapers has paralleled the history of our culture. As our society has changed, so have its newspapers.

Early colonial newspapers were designed for the elite – those who were interested in political and business information. With the advent of new technology, compulsory education and the major cultural changes brought on by industrialization and urbanization, newspapers moved into the popular culture with the advent of the penny press.

The significant changes in our society as the United States was transformed into a truly industrial nation between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the 20th century brought about many changes in American journalism, including the era of sensationalism, or yellow journalism.

Twentieth-century newspapers, for the most part, have attempted to blend objectivity and social responsibility. This era also has seen the development of electronic news media, interpretative reporting, investigative reporting, advocacy journalism, “new journalism” and specialized newspapers.

Wire services play an important role in gathering news and information for the mass media. The two largest American wire services are the Associated Press and United Press International. The other dominant worldwide news sources are AFP, Reuters and Tass, headquartered in Paris, London and Moscow, respectively.

Individual biases and other problems play a role in making mass communication a complex activity. Although the various functions of the media – to inform, entertain, influence, advertise and transmit culture – are criticized, the most severely criticized is the function to inform. Reasons for this are that people (1) tend to blame the messenger for unpleasant information, (2) fail to understand the watchdog function of the media, (3) believe the myth that the mass media dwell only on bad news and (4) bring their own biases into the information-sharing process.

26. What kind of people were early colonial newspapers designed for?

27. Which of the following did not contribute to the popularization of newspapers?

28. When was the United States transformed into a truly industrial country?

29. Which of the following are the two largest American wire services?

30. According to the passage, which of the following is the most severely criticized function of the mass media?