2011年考研英语二阅读 Text 2 原文翻译及答案解析

Whatever happened to the death of newspapers? A year ago the end seemed near. The recession threatened to remove the advertising and readers that had not already fled to the internet. Newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle were chronicling their own doom. America's Federal Trade Commission launched a round of talks about how to save newspapers. Should they become charitable corporations? Should the state subsidize them? It will hold another meeting soon. But the discussions now seem out of date.

报纸之死究竟发生了什么？一年前，末日似乎近在眼前。经济衰退威胁着要夺走那些尚未逃向互联网的广告商和读者。像《旧金山纪事报》这样的报纸正在记录自己的厄运。美国联邦贸易委员会发起了一系列关于如何拯救报纸的讨论。它们应该成为慈善公司吗？国家应该补贴它们吗？它很快将举行另一次会议。但这些讨论现在似乎已经过时了。

In much of the world there is little sign of crisis. German and Brazilian papers have shrugged off the recession. Even American newspapers, which inhabit the most troubled corner of the global industry, have not only survived but often returned to profit. Not the 20% profit margins that were routine a few years ago, but profit all the same.

在世界大部分地区，几乎没有危机的迹象。德国和巴西的报纸已经摆脱了经济衰退的影响。即使是处于全球报业最困境中的美国报纸，不仅存活了下来，而且常常恢复了盈利。虽然不是几年前常见的20%利润率，但毕竟是盈利了。

It has not been much fun. Many papers stayed afloat by pushing journalists overboard. The American Society of News Editors reckons that 13,500 newsroom jobs have gone since 2007. Readers are paying more for slimmer products. Some papers even had the nerve to refuse delivery to distant suburbs. Yet these desperate measures have proved the right ones and, sadly for many journalists, they can be pushed further.

这并不那么有趣。许多报纸通过裁员来维持运营。美国新闻编辑协会估计，自2007年以来，已有13500个新闻编辑室职位消失。读者为更精简的产品支付更多费用。一些报纸甚至胆敢拒绝向远郊投递。然而，这些孤注一掷的措施被证明是正确的，而且对许多记者来说可悲的是，它们还可以进一步推进。

Newspapers are becoming more balanced businesses, with a healthier mix of revenues from readers and advertisers. American papers have long been highly unusual in their reliance on ads. Fully 87% of their revenues came from advertising in 2008, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). In Japan the proportion is 35%. Not surprisingly, Japanese newspapers are much more stable.

报纸正在成为更平衡的企业，来自读者和广告商的收入组合更加健康。美国报纸长期以来在依赖广告方面非常不寻常。根据经济合作与发展组织（OECD）的数据，2008年它们87%的收入来自广告。在日本，这一比例是35%。毫不奇怪，日本报纸稳定得多。

The whirlwind that swept through newsrooms harmed everybody, but much of the damage has been concentrated in areas where newspapers are least distinctive. Car and film reviewers have gone. So have science and general

席卷新闻编辑室的旋风伤害了每个人，但大部分损害集中在报纸最没有特色的领域。汽车和影评人消失了。科学和普通

business reporters. Foreign bureaus have been savagely cut off. Newspapers are less complete as a result. But completeness is no longer a virtue in the newspaper business.

商业记者也消失了。外国分社被残酷地裁减。因此，报纸不再完整。但完整性在报业中已不再是优点。

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