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  3. How stupid does one need to be to get a job reading the television news? Is it actually beneficial for TV newsreaders to have, i

How stupid does one need to be to get a job reading the television news? Is it actually beneficial for TV newsreaders to have, i

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问题     How stupid does one need to be to get a job reading the television news? Is it actually beneficial for TV newsreaders to have, instead of a brain, a plate of lemon jelly? Last week the debate was raging once again about the controversial and important point as to whether the newsreaders write their own copy, read someone else’s or simply make it up as they go along. AngelaRippon reckoned that she had never heard of a newsreader writing stuff, but her modern counterpart, the beautiful Sophie Raworth, claims that they do the writing and adds that she has a postgraduate degree in journalism.
    This is the core of the issue: what on earth is there to learn about journalism at postgraduate level? The point and purpose of our lowly, occasionally useful, trade could be scribbled on the back of a postage stamp and would easily be comprehended by a 14-year-old boy with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Who has decided that it must be dignified with a doctoral thesis?
    Nor is reading the news even what one might call "journalism". It is an even simpler business called "reading". All that the BBC demands of its female newsreaders is an ability to read in an impartial way words like "Israel has murdered more Lebanese children again today" from the teleprompter without belching or lisping. It helps if they have the eminently presentable manner of a girl guide leader from Esher. They are forbidden to express an opinion. They are not required to go undercover, analyze the news or add witty asides. They are required to be that which they are known as in the trade—"a gob on a stick". A penetrating intelligence is not merely unnecessary, it is counterproductive.
    Newsreaders who are too intelligent soon stop being newsreaders, much as John Humphrys did, stifled by the commonplace of their duties. Or they give the game away by doing what that German newsreader did and end the programme, shaking their heads sadly, muttering, "it’s all lies, all lies".
    Which is not to say BBC newsreaders are bad at their jobs: quite the reverse. But we should not confuse competence with intelligence. Newsreaders believe that because they are reading out serious stuff and everybody is listening to them, they must therefore be creatures possessed of a high IQ. They are confusing the message with the medium.
What does the author mean by saying "a gob on a stick" (Line 7, Paragraph 3)?
选项 A、A newsreader is like a magician with a magic stick.
B、A newsreader only says what he/she is directed to say.
C、A newsreader possesses penetrating intelligence.
D、A newsreader does not usually express his/her opinion.
答案B
解析 词义理解题。解题关键是利用语境推断词义。前面说到BBC女播音员只需要按照要求读出讲词提示机上的文字，不需要做其他的事情，然后归纳说她们被要求做业界的“a gob on a stick”。可见，B项中“只说该说的话”意义最接近。
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