US White House spokesman Tony Snow once sent journalists digging for their dictionaries. He called recent criticism by the forme

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问题     US White House spokesman Tony Snow once sent journalists digging for their dictionaries. He called recent criticism by the former President Bill Clinton "chutzpah (无耻)". With just one sentence, Snow managed to make headlines, a joke and a defense of President George W. Bush. Interestingly, this is how battles are fought and won in US politics — with carefully-worded one-liners (一行字幕新闻) made for TV which often lack substance and clarity (清晰度).
    "The amount of information that candidates attempt to communicate to people is actually getting smaller and smaller," said Mark Smith, a political science professor at Cedarville University. This has been accompanied by a changing media environment, Smith said. In 1968, the average TV or radio sound bite (a sound bite is a very brief broadcast statement, as by a politician during a news report) was 48 seconds, according to Smith. In 1996, the average sound bite had shrunk to 8 seconds. Thus, politicians wanting publicity try to make their public communication as quotable as possible.
    Campaigning politicians also use 30-second TV ads and clever campaign slogans to boost their messages. Republican presidential candidate John McCain rides to campaign stops in a bus named the "Straight Talk Express". McCain hopes the name will convince voters he plans to tell people the truth — whether it’s in fashion or not. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has chosen the campaign slogan "Let the conversation begin". She hopes it will help her appear open-minded and friendly.
    But one-liners, TV ads and campaign slogans all have a single key ingredient: something commonly called political "spin". Brooks Jackson, a former journalist and the current director of FactCheck.org, a website not supporting the ideas of any political party or group, calls "spin" just a polite word for "deceiving".
    "I do believe that very often politicians believe their own spin," said Jackson.
    "Strong partisans suffer from a universal human tendency: They ignore the evidence that would force them into the uncomfortable position of having to change their minds and admit that they were wrong."
The campaign slogan "Straight Talk Express" aims to______

选项 A、convince voters that the presidential candidate is honest
B、tell American people that McCain is in fashion
C、help McCain appear friendly and open-minded
D、promote the express buses by showing its convenience and speed

答案A

解析 文章第三段第二提到,共和党总统候选人John McCain乘坐一辆名为“直言快车”的公交车去竞选站。第三句说明使用这个名字的目的:他希望这个名字能使选民相信,他会对人们讲实话,无论是不是时髦话。A)“使选民相信总统候选人是诚实的”正是对该目的的同义转述,故为答案。文中提到的in fashion指的是McCain说的话,而非McCain很时髦,故排除B)。第三段末句提到,民主党候选人Hillary Clinton希望她的标语(即Let the conversation begin)能帮助她appear open-minded and friendly,而题干中的“Straight Talk Express”是John Me Cain使用的标语,故排除C)。D)是针对a bus named the“Straight Talk Express”设的干扰项,故排除。
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