Censorship is becoming more and more of a dirty word. So persuasive have been the arguments against it, put forward by intelligent, well-meaning and above all articulate (雄辩的) campaigners, that nowadays censorship is
hardly found in any state of the US. These people argued that the censorship which had prevailed
throughout most of history had resulted in needless interference with, and frustration of, the creative
talent of artists and writers.
So now we have the opposite situation. But are the effects of this change as beneficial as
expected? To put it bluntly, has the literary market been flooded with hitherto (到目前为止)suppressed masterpieces since censorship was eased? Oddly enough, rather the opposite is the case,
and moreover we now have a situation in which fornication (通奸) and homosexual rape can be
displayed on stage in the name of entertainment. The nook and magazine market is awash(覆盖，淹
没)with printed filth and the public flocks to buy it.
But perhaps I am wrong to be worried by this – maybe my disquiet, and that of others like
me, is just a hangover from the former more restrictive situation. Many people would argue against
us that books, plays and films do not have the power to corrupt.
Yet it’s clear that society does have some conscience about what its members do in the name
of entertainment. We would not, for example, allow someone to take his own life as part of a
television show (although a recent Hollywood movie was frighteningly realistic in its depiction of TV
producers promoting just this event to enhance their audience ratings ). We have made such
entertainment as bear-baiting, and cockfighting, criminal offenses, because we believe that watching
such things tends to deprave (使堕落) and corrupt spectators.
The type of censorship we need is, in my view, similar to the laws we have governing the use
of alcohol and tobacco.
Although we can trace the bad effects of smoking and drinking, we have not prohibited them,
but introduced laws which regulate their use, rather than repressing it altogether. In the case of
pornography (色情文学) , such registration would not run contrary to liberal principles and should
therefore be acceptable to even the most ardent civil libertarians. The rising tide of pornography
must be curbed, before it does irreparable damage to the quality of life in our country.
46. The people who oppose censorship assume that __________?
A. censorship is turning into a filthy word
B. censorship is rarely found in the U.S.
C. censorship prevents the original gift of artists and writers
D. censorship is put forward by intelligent campaigners
47. Censorship should become according to the author __________.
A. something like laws to regulate the pornography in the book and magazine market
B. more flexible as to tracing the bad effects of pornography
C. a relatively new method to control the corruption of plays and films
D. more effective to allow the publishing of books and magazines
48. Since censorship was eased, __________.
A. many literary masterpieces have papered
B. the amount of pornographic material has increased
C. more entertainment plays and television shows are produced
D. sale of pornographic material has come down
49. Which of the following statements is true?
A. The author believes pornography should be completely suppressed.
B. The society cares nothing about what its members do in the name of amusement.
C. There are legal precedents for the regulation of pornography.
D. The censorship has run throughout the whole history.
50. What’s the author’s attitude towards censorship?
A. opposition
B. objectivity
C. indifference
D. approval
