在2014年6月15日的托福閱讀考試中有這樣一道題：歐洲報紙的發展。針對這道托福考題，新東方謝真真老師來為大家普及一下關于歐洲報紙發展的背景知識，這樣有助于考生在面對這類題目時方便作答。

　　托福閱讀真題再現：
　　版本一：
　　第三個 關于歐洲報業發展的原因 報紙開始于荷蘭 然后第二段的意思：由于荷蘭征服管的比較松 所以荷蘭報業就NB了 法國開始有了政府贊助的報紙 雖然對加速了報業的發展 但是有的報紙都是政府的觀點(這里有一道題) 往下提到了促進報紙發展的幾個因素 我還記得一個：就是商業和經濟的發展接著 商人們需要報紙上的信息 當時文章中提到了一堆地名LONDON LIVERPOOL啥的 大概意思就是對商人做生意有好處 在往下 提到了報紙的主要市場在英國 英國的國會中很多人喜歡報紙 因為可以利用報紙的社會輿論使得政治上的競爭對手compromise(原詞 而且有題) 再往下是郵政系統的發展讓報紙NB了 接著 說城里城外很多郵筒(好像是啊)然后各種CAFE什么的就都有了 然后跟著給了一個法國的什么報紙貌似是例子 這個例子除了一個提 最后說報紙變得大眾化了 說報紙有什么影響 有一個是加強community之間的交流 這里除了一個非真實信息題 EXCEPT 最后說一句 這個文章有7段 這篇我就記得這么多了
　　版本二：
　　講歐洲報紙的發展
　　第一段background information說報紙是很有用的傳遞信息的工具啊什么的。
　　第二段講最早的報紙是英國的xxx報紙，同時還有一個公司成立。這倆的關系記不太清了。
　　第三段講政府開始干涉報紙的發展了。首先必須有政府的批準(license)，是為了control who publish the news。然后政府開始資助一些公司，報紙上會有一些關于政府的事件，類似于決策之類的吧。這些上發生的大事(應該是怕影響到他們的交易)。隨著報紙的發展，能把報紙運到各種偏遠的地方。
　　第五段講報紙更加大眾化。針對的人群頁變成了老百姓們。報紙上會報道各種strange event，百姓能更好的接受。其次也能讓百姓覺得自己是社會的一部分。最后，報紙上有了可以讓百姓自己寫評論的地方。
　　新東方謝真真解析：
　　本文是歷史性題材，涉及到歐洲報紙發展的原因，之前的考試中有涉及到美國報業的發展，差別不大。本文是同學們讀起來不太陌生的背景知識，在閱讀過程中同學們需要重點看出來發展的原因是什么，以及發揮了什么作用，最后一題重點根據發展的原因來分角度選擇答案。
　　參考閱讀
　　The term newspaper became common in the 17th century. However, in Germany, publications that we would today consider to be newspaper publications, were appearing as early as the 16th century. They were discernibly newspapers for the following reasons: they were printed, dated, appeared at regular and frequent publication intervals, and included a variety of news items (unlike single item news mentioned above). The first newspaper however was said to be the Strasbourg Relation, in the early 17th century. German newspapers, like avisis, were organized by the location from which they came, and by date. They differed from avisis in the following manners: they employed a distinct and highly illustrated title page, and they applied an overall date to each issue.
　　The emergence of the new media branch in the 17th century has to be seen in close connection with the spread of the printing press from which the publishing press derives it name.
　　During the 17th century, there were many kinds of publications, that told both news and rumours. Among these were pamphlets, posters, ballads etc. Even when the news periodicals emerged, many of these co-existed with them. A news periodical differs from these mainly because of its periodicity. The definition for 17th century newsbooks and newspapers is that they are published at least once a week. Johann Carolus' Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, published in Strassburg in 1605, is usually regarded as the first news periodical.
　　In the beginning of the 17th century, the right to print was strictly controlled in England. This was probably the reason why the first newspaper in English language was printed in Amsterdam by Joris Veseler around 1620. This followed the style established by Veseler's earlier Dutch paper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. However, when the English started printing their own papers in London, they reverted to the pamphlet format used by contemporary books. The publication of these newsbooks was suspended between 1632 and 1638 by order of The Star Chamber. After they resumed publication, the era of these newsbooks lasted until the publication of the Oxford Gazette in 1665.
　　The control over printing relaxed greatly after the abolition of the Star Chamber in 1641. The Civil War escalated the demand for news. News pamphlets or books reported the war, often supporting one side or the other. Following the Restoration there arose a number of publications, including the London Gazette (first published on 16 November 1665 as the Oxford Gazette),[2] the first official journal of record and the newspaper of the Crown. Publication was controlled under the Licensing Act of 1662, but the Act's lapses from 1679–1685 and from 1695 onwards encouraged a number of new titles.