阅读试题

Sports account for a growing amount of income made on the sales of commercial time by television companies.Many television companies have used sports to attract viewers from particular sections of the general public, and then they have sold audiences to advertisers.

An attraction of sport programs for the major U.S. media companies is that events are often held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons—the slowest time periods of the week for general television viewing. Sport events are the most popular weekend programs, especially among male viewers who may not watch much television at other times during the week. This means the television networks are able to sell advertising time at relatively high prices during what normally would be dead time for programming.

Media corporations also use sports to attract commercial sponsors that might take their advertising dollars elsewhere if television stations did not report certain sports. The people in the advertising departments of major corporations realize that sports attract male viewers. They also realize that most business travelers are men and that many men make family decisions on the purchases of computers, cars and life insurance.

Golf and tennis are special cases for television programming. These sports attract few viewers, and the ratings (收视率) are unusually low. However, the audience for these sports is attractive to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, including many lawyers and business managers. This is why television reporting of golf and tennis is sponsored by companies selling high-priced cars, business and personal computer, and holiday trips. This is also why the networks continue to carry these programs regardless of low ratings. Advertisers are willing to pay high fees to reach high-income consumers and those managers who make decisions to buy thousands of "company cars" and computer. With such viewers, these programs don't need high ratings to stay on the air.

阅读试题

41. Television sport programs on weekend afternoons 　 .

A. result in more sport event

B. get more viewers to play sports

C. make more people interested in television

D. bring more money to the television networks

42. Why would weekend afternoons become dead time without sport programs?

A. Because there would be few viewers

B. Because the advertisers would be off work

C. Because television programs would go slowly

D. Because viewers would pay less for watching television

43. In many families, men make decision on 　 .

A. holiday trips

B. sports viewing

C. television shopping

D. expensive purchases

44. The ratings are not important for golf and tennis programs because 　　 .

A. their advertisers are carmakers

B. their viewers are attracted by sports

C. their advertisers target at rich people

D. their viewers can afford expensive cars

45. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Television ratings are determined by male viewers

B. Rich viewers contribute most to television companies

C. Sports are gaining importance in advertising on television

D. Commercial advertisers are the major sponsors of sport events

参考译文

运动节目是电视公司出售广告时间所得收入不断增长的原因。许多电视公司利用运动节目吸引普通大众中的特殊观众，然后再把观众“卖给”广告公司。

美国主要传媒公司的一项引人注目的运动节目是经常在星期六和星期天下午举行的体育赛事，对于普通电视观众来说，这本是过得最慢的一段时间。体育赛事是最受欢迎的周末节目，特别是那些在一周的其他时间里不怎么看电视的男性观众。这就意味着在节目安排的“死穴”里，电视网能够以相对较高的价格出售广告时间。

传媒公司也利用运动节目来吸引商业赞助，假如电视台不报道一定量的体育赛事的话，赞助商就会将广告资金投向其他地方。大公司的广告部人员意识到运动节目吸引男性观众。他们也意识到大部分的商务旅行者都是男性，而且许多男性在家庭购买电脑、汽车及人生保险上起决定作用。

对于电视节目而言，高尔夫和网球是特殊的赛事。这些运动吸引的观众很少，而且收视率也是不同寻常地低。但是这些运动的观众对某些广告商很有吸引力。这些人是美国的高收入群体，包括律师和商务经理。这就是为什么高尔夫和网球的电视报道是由出售高价汽车、商务电脑和个人电脑以及假日旅行的人赞助的。这也就是为什么尽管收视率低，电视网也要继续播出这些节目。广告商愿意支付高额费用来引起高收入消费者和那些决定大量购买公司汽车和电脑的管理者们的注意。有了这样的观众，这些节目不需要收视率依然可以保持正常播放。

答案解析

41. D 考查细节理解。根据文章第二段最后一句"This means the television networks are able to sell advertisingtime at relatively high prices..."可知，D项正确。

42. A 考查推理判断。根据文章第二段中的"the slowest time periods of the week for general television viewing"可推知，A项正确。

43. D 考查细节理解。根据第三段的最后一句中的"that many men make family decisions on the purchases of computers, cars and life insurance"可知，家中一些昂贵物品的购买是由男性来决定的。故选D项。

44. C 考查细节理解。根据第四段的内容知，广告商不在乎收视率地在高尔夫，网球这些运动项目中投放广告是因为这些运动项目的潜在观众是美国高收人人群。故选C项。

45. C 考查主旨大意。根据文章第一段及全文内容可知，本文主要说明了运动节目在吸引电视广告商方面变得越来越重要。故最佳答案应该是C项。