Part I Reading Comprehension [40 minutes / 40 points]
Directions: There are 4 passages in this section. Each followed by some questions. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D. You should decide on the best choice.
Passage 1

Newspapers, along with reporting the news, instruct, entertain, and give opinion. An important way for reading a large, big-city newspaper is knowing how to take it apart. Can you find these separate sections: world news, national and local news, sports, business, entertainment, opinions, classified ads? Does your paper have other sections?
News stories give facts, not the author’s opinions. Editorials do the opposite: you can expect an editorial to take sides. Some newspaper editorials have a by-line with the author’s name, but many newspapers have unsigned editorials. These reflect the opinions of the publisher or editor.
You can be a better reader if you know what to expect in a newspaper. For example, you can expect headlines to omit unnecessary words. You can expect to find the most important facts in the lead paragraph (the first paragraph) of a news story.
You can expect important news items to be on the front page. You can expect less important items to be on the inside pages.
Most of all, the more you know about the current news, the more you will understand what is in the newspaper; important stories are generally presented one day and followed up on following days. So, an important way for reading newspapers is reading one frequently.

1. To read a large newspaper, a good way is _________.
A. to find separate sections
B. to read it from cover to cover
C. to do some paper-cutting
D. to predict what is inside the newspaper
2. Which of the following statements about news stories is true?
A. News stories reflect the opinions of the editor.
B. News stories tell the facts without comments.
C. News stories contain both facts and opinions.
D. News stories express the writer’s point of view.
3. If you want to know less important news without any details, you can read _________.
A. the headlines on the inside pages
B. news stories on the front page
C. the lead paragraphs of the news on the front page
D. news items on the inside pages only
4. To follow the current news, the best way is to _________.
A. read extensively and thoroughly
B. read various newspapers skillfully
C. read a large big-city newspaper carefully
D. read one newspaper frequently
5. The main idea of this passage is _________.
A. how to read newspapers effectively
B. how to find important news stories
C. how to read stories and editorials
D. how to tell apart different news sections

---