1996年Passage 2

　　With the start of BBC World Service Television, millions of viewers in Asia and America can now watch the Corporation's news coverage, as well as listen to it. And of course in Britain listeners and viewers can tune in to two BBC television channels, five BBC national radio services and dozens of local radio station. They are brought sport, comedy, drama, music, news and current affairs, education, religion, parliamentary coverage, children's pragrammes and films for an annual license fee of 83 pounds per household.

　　It is a remarkable record, stretching back over 70 years--yet the BBC's future is now in doubt. The Corporation will survive as a publicly-funded broadcasting organization, at least for the time being, but its role, its size and its programmes are now the subject of a nation-wide debate in Britain.

　　The debate was launched by the Government, which invited anyone with an opinion of the BBC-including ordinary listeners and viewers--to say what was good or bad about the Corporation, and even whether they thought it was worth keeping. The reason for its inquiry is that the BBC's royal charter runs out in 1996 and it must decide whether to keep the organization as it is, or to make changes.

　　Defenders of the Corporation-of whom there are many---are fond of quoting the American slogan "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The BBC "ain't broke", they say, by which they mean it is not broken (as distinct from the word ‘broke', meaning having no money), so why bother to change it?

　　Yet the BBC will have to change, because the broadcasting world around it is changing. The commercial TV channels---TV and Channel 4-were required by the Thatcher Government's Broadcasting Act to become more commercial, competing with each other for advertisers, and cutting costs and jobs. But it is the arrival of new satellite channels--funded partly by advertising and partly by viewers' subscriptions-which will bring about the biggest changes in the long term.

　　57. The BBC`s "royal charter" (Line 4, Paragraph 3) stands for__

　　[A] the financial support from the royal family

　　[B] the privileges granted by the Queen

　　[C] a contract with the Queen

　　[D] a unique relationship with the royal family

　　[答案] C

　　[解題思路]

　　文章第三段的最后一句話指出"The reason for its inquiry is that the BBC's royal charter runs out in 1996 and it must decide whether to keep the organization as it is, or to make changes"(這樣征求民意的原因在于BBC持有的皇家許可證到了1996年就會到期，政府必須決定繼續使公司維持現狀，抑或做出一些改變)，royal charter即皇家協議，也就是指BBC與英國女王簽訂的合約或協議，C選項符合題意。A和B選項都與原文無關，而D選項意思含糊，沒有傳達出charter的含義，因此也是錯誤的。事實上royal charter指的是與女王簽訂的規定一個組織享有的權利、義務和目標等的協議。

　　[題目譯文]

　　BBC的"royal charter"(第四段第三行)代表的意思是 。

　　[A] 皇室的經濟資助

　　[B] 女王授予的權利

　　[C] 與女王簽訂的合同

　　[D] 與皇室的獨特關系