Part V Cloze (15 minutes)

Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked [A], [B], [C] and [D] on the right side of the paper. You should choose the ONE that best fits into the passage. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

America’s most popular newspaper website today announced that the era of free online journalism is drawing to a close. The New York Times has become the biggest publisher yet to 62 plans for a paywall around its digital offering, 63 the accepted practice that internet users will not pay for news.

Struggling 64 an evaporation of advertising and a downward drift in street corner sales, The New York Times 65 to introduce a “metered” model at the beginning of 2011. Readers will be required to pay when they have 66 a set number of its online articles per month.

The decision puts the 159-year-old newspaper 67 the charging side of an increasingly wide chasm (鸿沟) in the media industry. But others, including the Guardian, have said they will not 68 internet readers, and certain papers, 69 London’s Evening Standard, have gone further in abandoning readership revenue by making their print editions 70 .

The New York Times’s publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, 71 that the move is a gamble: “This is a 72 , to a certain degree, in where we think the web is going.”

Boasting a print 73 of 995,000 on weekdays and 1.4 million on Sundays, The New York Times is the third bestselling American newspaper, 74 the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. 75 most US papers focus on a single city, The New York Times is among the few that can 76 national scope—as well as 16 bureaus in the New York area, it has 11 offices around the US and 77 26 bureaus elsewhere in the world.

But 78 many in the publishing industry, the paper is in the grip of a 79 financial crisis. Its parent company, the New York Times Company, has 15 papers, but 80 a loss of $70 million in the nine months to September and recently accepted a $250 million 81 from a Mexican billionaire, Carlos Slim, to strengthen its balance sheet.

62. [A] set in [C] carry over

[B] set out [D] carry away

63. [A] abusing [C] developing

[B] deducting [D] abandoning

64. [A] with [C] along

[B] beside [D] by

65. [A] engages [C] deliberates

[B] intends [D] signifies

66. [A] exceeded [C] assumed

[B] multiplied [D] revealed

67. [A] on [C] over

[B] of [D] up

68. [A] cost [C] expend

[B] consume [D] charge

69. [A] as for [C] such as

[B] far from [D] by far

70. [A] reliable [C] applicable

[B] free [D] easy

71. [A] resisted [C] acknowledged

[B] certified [D] appealed

72. [A] net [C] bet

[B] kit [D] pit

73. [A] evaluation [C] circulation

[B] expansion [D] dimension

74. [A] behind [C] before

[B] against [D] within

75. [A] If [C] Hence

[B] While [D] Because

76. [A] ascend [C] lengthen

[B] announce [D] claim

77. [A] contributes [C] maintains

[B] disposes [D] encounters

78. [A] like [C] from

[B] beyond [D] through

79. [A] heavy [C] rough

[B] crude [D] serious

80. [A] targeted [C] suffered

[B] suspended [D] tolerated

81. [A] asset [C] account

[B] bill [D] loan