2000年英语专八考试阅读真题:text I
TEXT I
First read the following questions.
35. In ___, the table of contents of the magazine was placed on its back cover.
A. 1922
B. 1948
C. the 1930s
D. the 1960s
36. The magazine was criticized for failing to ___.
A. appeal to the young
B. attract old people
C. interest readers aged 47
D. captivate rea ders in their 50s
Now go through TEXT I quickly and answer questions 35 and 36.
New York-Reader’s Digest, the most widely read magazine in the world, will get a new look in a bid to attract younger readers, Reader’ Digest Association Inc. announced on March 29. Beginning with the May issue, the world’s largest- circulation magazine will move its table of contents off the front cover to mode rnize its look and make it easier for readers to navigate, editor in chief Chris top her Willcox said. “When you have the table of contents on the cover, it limits w hat you can say about what’s in the magazine, ”Willcox said. The magazine’s f ami liar table of contents will be replaced with a photograph. The small size and fo cus of the editorial content will be unchanged, publisher Gregory Coleman said. “It will be a much more visual magazine, with more photography and less illustr ation,”he said in an interview.
Reader’s digest was first published in 1922, with line drawings on the c o vers, and in the 1930s began listing the contents on the front. For a couple of years in the 1960s, Willcox said,the table of contents was shifted to the back c over. The May issue will feature a cover photo of a woman firefighter in San Fra ncisco for an except from a new book,“ Fighting Fire. ”The names of a few arti cl es are listed on the cover, but the full table of contents will be on papes 2 an d 3. The issue began reaching subscribers on April 10 and will be on newsstands two weeks later. All 48 of the Digest’s worldwide editions—27 million copies in 19 languages—are making the change. Publisher Gregory Coleman said he expe cted the redesign to boost advertising sales. “We’ve done a lot of research, a nd have tested the concept in the US, Sweden, and New Zealand,”Coleman said.
The move comes as Reader’s Digest Association Inc. has struggled to boost profits. But industry analysts said its problems stretch beyond changes that wer e needed at the magazine. Publishing industry executives and Wall Street analyst s have criticized the magazine for failing to attract the next generation of rea ders. The company says its average reader is about 47,the same as the age for th e weekly new magazines, “They’ve been looking for ways to make the magazine a li ttle bit more the ’90s than the ’50s,” said Doug Arthur at Morgan Stanley Dea n W itter & Co. “The company has to be addressing the response rate on its direct m a rketing campaign, ”where its main problems lie. The company earned USD 133.5 mi l lion on sales of USD 2.8 billion in the year which ended last June. But it said, when it reported results, that profits would fall in the current year.
In answer to a question, Coleman said the redesign was not done because of advertisers, although they were enthusiastic about the changes. “This is being done from a reader-driven standpoint, ”he said.