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In the world of entertainment, TV talk shows have undoubtedly flooded every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one varies in style and format. But no two shows are more profoundly opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows.

Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of "trash talk（废话）". The topics on his show are as shocking as shocking can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show themes of love, sex, cheating, guilt, hate, conflict and morality to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is a display and exploitation of society's moral catastrophes（灾难）, yet people are willing to eat up the intriguing predicaments（困境）of other people 's lives.

Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its extreme, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show focuses on the improvement of society and an individual's quality of life. Topics range from teaching your children responsibility, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.

Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being dumped on society. Jerry ends every show with a "final word". He makes a small speech that sums up the entire moral of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.

Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show's main target audience are middle-class Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and stability to deal with life's tougher problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of an association with the young adults of society. These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life involve love, relationship, sex, money and peers. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned underneath the show's exploitation.

While the two shows are as different as night and day, both have ruled the talk show circuit for many years now. Each one caters to a different audience while both have a strong following from large groups of fans. Ironically, both could also be considered pioneers in the talk show world.

1.Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey are______.

A.more family-oriented　　C.relatively formal

B.more profound　　　　D.unusually popular

2.Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear distasteful, the audience______.

A.remain indifferent to them　　　　C.remain fascinated by them

B.are willing to get involved in them　D.are ready to face up to them

3.Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show?

A.Street violence.　　C.A new type of robot.

B.Racist hatred.　　　D.Family budget planning.

4.Despite their different approaches, the two talk shows are both______.

A.cynical　　B.instructive　　C.sensitive　　D.ironical

5.We can learn from the passage that the two talk shows______.

A.are targeted at different audiences　　　　B.appear at different times of the day

C.have monopolized the talk show circuit　　D.exploit the weaknesses in human nature

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1.【答案】D。

【解析】在本文的第一段中，作者指出各种talk show泛滥如潮，但是有两个talk show在内容上完全相反，同时与其他的talk show相比，受到观众不同寻常的欢迎，故答案D是对第一段的最好概括。

2.【答案】C。

【解析】本文第二段讲述了Jerry Springer的风格。它的话题惊世骇俗，集中展示和探求社会的道德灾难；尽管这像“倾倒给社会的毒药”，但是观众们还是接受了它们并且很着迷。正确回答本题的关键在于第二段的最后一句话。

3.【答案】D。

【解析】本文第三段提到，与Jerry SPringer相比，Oprah Winfrey将“talk show”带到另一个极端，其内容集中到社会进步和个人素质上，其话题从培养孩子的责任感到安排好自己的工作日程，以及认识你的邻居等。从以上可以看出，Oprah Winfrey最可能的话题应为D项“家庭预算”。

4.【答案】B。

【解析】本题考核考生在读完这篇文章之后，是否理解这两套节目内容上虽有天壤之别,但却都具有“教育意义”（选项B）。这两套节目之间的不同仅仅是：Oprah Winfrey从“正面”进行教育，Jerry Springer用“反面”材料进行教育。文章说，Jerry Springer在节目结束之前总要说上一段话，总结一下节目的道德含义，希望观众能从中获取深刻的教益（Hopefully，this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable）。D项“讽刺性的”、C项“神经质的”和A项“愤世嫉俗的”显然都不是答案。通过阅读，了解作者赞成什么、反对什么，这是阅读理解能力的一个重要组成部分。有46%的考生答对了本题，他们是成绩比较好的一部分考生。

5.【答案】A。

【解析】从整篇文章中可以看出，这两种talk show并不是面向每个人的。在第五段中作者指出Oprah Winfrey的节目面向美国的中产阶级，他们有时间、金钱、生活稳定，足以处理生活中的困难；Jerry Springer的节目是面向18~21岁的观众，他们在生活中的问题主要有爱、关系、性等等。因此两种talk show都有各自的目标观众群。