Print publications have lots of advantages. Paper is pleasant to handle, ready to read, and very portable: you can read it almost anywhere. On the other hand, print has its weaknesses. Paper is expensive, and articles are often cut to fit the space available. Printing and distributing paper is expensive and takes time. Printed materials are expensive to store and almost impossible to search. Electronic publishing offers solutions to all these problems.
Suppose a publisher makes the electronic copy of a newspaper or magazine available from the net, perhaps on the Internet's World Wide Web. No paper is used and disc space is cheap, so Internet publishing costs very little. Articles don't have to be cut. Internet publishing is fast, and readers can access material as soon as it becomes available: within minutes, instead of the next day, next week or next month. Internet publishing goes beyond geographical boundaries: the humblest local paper can be read everywhere from New York to London to Delhi to Tokyo. Delivery costs are low because there are no newsagents to pay, and no postal charges: readers pick up the hills for their on-line sessions. Also, eomputer-based publications axe simple to store and every word can be searched electronically.
At the moment, newspapers and magazines, TV and radio stations, news agencies and book publishers are making content freely available on the Web because they are competing for "mindshare". Perhaps they want to find out if they can attract and hold an audience on line, or perhaps they're afraid of missing out because "everyone else is doing it". 13ut don't count on things staying that way. Polishers are not in business to lose money.
What does the author probably foresee?
A. Readers will have more accesses.
Books and newspapers will be kept as computer files.
C. It will not make any sense to keep the printed versions.
D. Electronic publications will replace printed ones.
SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. At the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.
听力原文: Exit polls in Israel show that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon' s unilateral disengagement plan from some Palestinian areas has been firmly rejected by his Liked Party. While Mr. Sharon has acknowledged defeat in Sunday's referendum, he says he has no intention of resigning.
The exit polls broadcast late Sunday showed that between 58 and 62 percent of Likud members voted against the prime minister's plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
Observers say opponents of the plan were more motivated than Mr. Sharon's supporters. The Liked Central Elections Committee says that only about 40 percent of the nearly 200,000 members eligible to take part in the referendum actually cast ballots.
Besides Low-voter turnout, another factor that appeared to weigh against the prime minister was the killing on Sunday of a pregnant Israeli woman and her four daughters in an ambush by Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip.
It is believed the killings prompted many previously undecided Liked voters to reject the plan.
What percentage of Likud voted against the Prime Minister's plan?
About 60 percent.
B. About 40 percent.
C. About 64 percent.
D. 75 percent.
What is the main idea of the (last three paragraphs)?
A. DNA's future tendencies.
B. DNA's controversy.
C. DNA's potentials.
DNA's social issues.
Since about 1950, public transportation in the U.S. has had to struggle to survive. The growth of private automobile ownership, the change in cities with accelerated urban sprawl, and the immense highway construction program have added to transit problems. Moreover, changes in life-style. have contributed to reduced transit use, which has resulted in lower revenues from fares at a time when costs for operations have increased greatly.
As private transit systems were taken over by local government and the cost of operations continued to increase, pressure was exerted for federal participation in urban public transportation. The 1964 Urban Mass Transportation Act established this commitment. The legislation limited federal assistance to g0 percent of the capital expenditure for buses, rail cars, and fixed facilities. In 1974 the federal government added operating assistance to its program. Because passenger fares account for only about one-third of the average system' s operating funds, demand for federal subsidies escalated rapidly. In the early 1980s a Change in federal transportation policy resulted in relaxation of the rigid standards governing the way federal aid is used, imposing requirements for private sector participation and increased state, regional, and local funding. By the
end of the 1980s state and local operating assistance amounted to about 2 percent of the funds needed to operate U.S. transit systems; fare box and other revenues accounted for 43 percent, and federal assistance, 5 percent.
Private sector initiatives in public transportation include transit services provided by private operators under competitively bid contracts, and innovative public-private projects such as a joint development of transit stations.
It is estimated that 8 million people in the U.S. (5 percent of the urban population) have physical handicaps that prevent them from using conventional transportation services. With the aging of the population, more than one-fifth 0fthe people living in the U.S. will be over 65 in the year 2030. Many of the people in these groups are dependent on public transportation. In 1990 Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, which will virtually require all transit services to be accessible to the disabled.
In the short run, existing transit modes will be improved. Cities with such systems will extend their lines, while others will plan and construct new ones, including rapid transit, buses, and light rail transit. The lower-cost alternatives will have a better chance of adoption. There is also a strong interest in commuter rail. Part of the appeal of this mode of transportation is that many cities have unused and underused rail corridors that can provide rights-of-way at low cost.
Because of major environmental concerns, electric trolley buses and methanol-powered and other alter- native fuel-powered buses will replace diesel engine buses.
An enormous range of new technology exists in the area of intelligent vehicle systems. For example, a commuter will be able to get real-time information on home computers as to when the next bus will arrive at the nearest bus stop. Information for trip planning will be available as well. Transit agencies will use advanced technologies for traffic and fleet management of their vehicles. Vehicle control systems that will guide buses along prescribed corridors and routes are being researched to reduce vehicle delay, increase capacity, and improve safety.
Automation through new technology can provide a means for reducing labor while providing performance and safety. A number of automated guideway transit systems operate in airports, shopping centers, college campuses, and amusement parks. Their applicability to a more diverse use is continually evaluated. Research is under way on magnetically levitated and air-supported vehicles. Directional control, spacing, switching, and lateral control are among
A. the public transportation problems since the World War Ⅱ
B. private transit systems were replaced by local government
C. why in the 1964 Urban Mass Transportation Act established
D. how to solve the public transportation revenue