Questions 56 to 60 are based on the followingpassage.

　　Terry Wolfisch Cole may seem like an ordinary40-year-old mom, but her neighbors know the truth:She's one of the "Pod People." At the supermarketshe wanders the aisles in a self-contained bubble,thanks to her iPod digital music player. Through those little white ear buds, Wolfisch Cole listensto a playlist mixed by her favorite disc presenter-herself.

　　At home, when the kids are tucked away, Wolfisch Cole often escapes to another solomedia pod- but in this one, she's transmitting instead of just receiving. On her computer weblog, or "blog", she types an online journal chronicling daily news of her life, then shares it allwith the Web.

　　Wolfisch Cole-who also gets her daily news customized off the Internet and whose digitalvideo recorder (DVR)scans through the television wasteland to find and record shows that suither tastes-is part of a new breed of people who are filtering, shaping and even creating mediafor themselves. They are increasingly turning their backs on the established system of massmedia that has provided news and entertainment for the past half-century. They've joined theexploding "iMedia" revolution, putting the power of media in the hands of ordinary people.

　　The tools of the movement consist of a bubbling stew of new technologies that includeiPods, blogs, podcasts, DVRs, customized online newspapers, and satellite radio.

　　Devotees of iMedia run the gamut (范围)from the 89-year-old New York grandmother,known as Bubby, who has taken up blogging to share her worldly advice, to 11-year-old DylanVerdi of Texas, who has started broadcasting her own homemade TV show or "vlog', for videoweb log. In between are countless iMedia enthusiasts like Rogier van Bakel, 44, of Maine, whoblogs at night, reads a Web- customized news page in the morning, travels with his fully loadediPod and comes home to watch whatever the DVR has chosen for him.

　　If the old media model was broadcasting, this new phenomenon might" be called ego-casting, says Christine Rosen, a fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The term fits,she says, because the trend is all about me-me-media -" the idea is to get exactly what youwant, when and where you want it."

　　Rosen and others trace the beginnings of the iMedia revolution to the invention of the TVremote, which marked the first subtle shift of media control away from broadcasters and intothe hands of the average couch potato. It enabled viewers to vote with their thumbs-making iteasier to abandon dull programs and avoid commercials. With the proliferation (激增)of cableTV channels in the late 1980s followed by the mid-1990s arrival of the Internet, controllingmedia input wasn't just a luxury. "Control has become a necessity," says Bill Rose, "Withoutit, there's no way to sort through all the options that are becoming available."

　　56. Who is Terry Wolfisch Cole probably according to the passage?

　　A.A middle-aged housewife.

　　B.A saleswoman in the supermarket.

　　C.A disc presenter.

　　D.An online news writer.

　　57. Which of the following is the characteristic of the new breed of people according to thepassage ?

　　A.They provide news and entertainment for the public.

　　B.They have started the iMedia revolution.

　　C.They have helped ordinary people control media.

　　D.They choose what to listen to or watch by themselves.

　　58. What can be learned about the devotees of iMedia from the passage?

　　A.They are either very old or very young.

　　B.They consist of people of all ages.

　　C.They are located in New York, Texas and Maine.

　　D.They share the same interests.

　　59. According to the passage, Christine Rosen calls the iMedia revolution ego-castingbecause _________

　　A.people show themselves in the media

　　B.people get their needs for media met

　　C.people can watch whatever they like

　　D.it is the invention of an individual

　　60. Why was the invention of the TV remote important according to the passage?

　　A.Because it enabled ordinary people to control media to some extent.

　　B.Because it made more cable TV channels available to people.

　　C.Because it led to the invention of Internet in the 1990s.

　　D.Because it made life easier for couch potatoes.

　　参考答案

　　56.A)。据第一段的内容可知此段最后一句中提到的discpresenter只是一个比喻，而并不是她的真实身份，故排除C);第二段最后一句确实提到她会把自己日常生活中发生的事情放到网上与大家分享，但是真正的新闻作家 不可能只写自己的日常生活，由此可以排除D)。

　　57.D)。本题考查对段落的理解。第三段第一句指出：沃尔费什.科尔是一个新的人群中的一员。这个人群为自己过滤、修改甚至创作媒体。D)“他们自己选择听什么或者看什么”与此相符、故为答案。

　　58.B)。本题考查对段落的正确理解。第五段分别选择了老、中、青三个年龄阶段的典型人物来说明iMedia的拥护者包括了从老到少各个年龄阶段的人，故答案为B)。

　　59.B)。本题考查对句子的理解。第六段第一句指出：这一新的现象可以被称为“自我播放”，紧接着说这个词很贴切，因为这一趋势全是关于我一我一媒体——“出发点就是你到底想要什么，你在何时、何地想得到你想要的东西”。

　　60.A)。本题考查对段落的理解。最后一段第一句指出，电视遥控器标志着媒体的掌控权从广播者手里转移到普通电视迷手里的第一个微小改变，由此不难推断出电视遥控的出现使人们或多或少地拥有了媒体的掌控权，A)与此相符，故为答案。