Language, broadly speaking, is a means of communication.

Messages from the Media

1. The weather forecast, a story about the candidates in an election, and movie reviews are examples of messages from the media. A communication medium, of which the plural form. is media, is a means of communicating a message. Examples of media are television, radio, newspapers and books, and telephone. The media that can reach many people at once are called mass media.

2. It is not difficult to think of other messages we receive through the mass media. Every day we get hundreds of them. Think about advertisements, for example, we see and hear these messages almost everywhere we go. Advertisements are important messages, even though they are sometimes annoying. They help us compare and evaluate products.

3. Most of us get more information from the media than from the classroom. Think for a moment, about how you learn about local news and events. Do you depend on other people or the media ？ What about international news ？ What is the most important source of information for you ？ People who are asked this question usually answer, "Television."

4. Think of all the messages you received today. Perhaps you read a newspaper during breakfast, or maybe you read advertisements on billboards (露天广告牌) on your way to school. Did you listen to a weather forecast or the sports news on the radio this morning ？ Right now you are getting information through a very important medium of mass communication--a book.

5. We use the information we get from radio, television, newspapers, and other media to make decisions and form. opinions. That is why the mass media are so important. Editorials and articles in newspapers help us decide how to vote, consumer reports on television help us decide how to spend our money, and international news on the radio makes us think and form. opinions about questions of war and peace.

Paragraph 2__________ 查看材料

A.Importance of Classroom Learning

B.Television——A Rich Source of Information

C.Advertisements are Important Messages from the Mass Media

D.Various Messages One May Receive Each Day

E.Media——Means to Communicate Messages

F.Importance of the Mass Media

The rise of multinational corporations (跨国公司), global marketing, new communications technologies, and shrinking cultural differences have led to an unparalleled increase in global public relations or PR.

Surprisingly, since modern PR was largely an American invention, the U. S. leadership in public relations is being threatened by PR efforts in other countries. Ten years ago, for example, the world's top five public relations agencies were American-owned. In 1991, only one was. The British in particular are becoming ore sophisticated and creative. A recent survey found that more than half of all British companies include PR as part of their corporate (公司的) planning activities, compared to about one-third of U. S. companies, It may not be long before London replaces New York as the capital of PR.

Why is America lagging behind in the global PR race? First, Americans as a whole tend to be fairly provincial and take more of an interest in local affairs. Knowledge of world geography, for example, has never been strong in this country. Secondly, Americans lag behind their European and Asian counterparts (相对应的人) in knowing a second language. Less than 5 percent of Burson-Marshall's U. S. employees know two languages. Ogilvy and Mather has about the same percentage conversely, some European firms have half or more of their employees fluent in a second language. Finally, people involved in PR abroad tend to keep a closer eye on international affairs. In the financial PR area, for instance, most Americans read the Wall Street Journal. Overseas, their counterparts read the Journal as well as the Financial Times of London and The Economist, publications not often read in this country.

Perhaps the PR industry might take a lesson from Ted Turner of CNN(Cable News Network). Turner recently announced that the word "foreign" would no longer be used on CNN news broadcasts. According to Turner, global communications have made the nations of the world so interdependent that there is no longer any such thing as foreign.

According to the passage, U. S. leadership in public relations is being threatened because ______ .

A．an unparalleled increase in the number of public relations companies

B．shrinking cultural differences and new communications technologies

C．the decreasing number of multinational corporations in the U. S.

D．increased efforts of other countries in public relations

A、voiceless

B、voiced

C、glottal

D、stops

A、vocal cavity

B、pharynx

C、glottis

D、uvula