Internet radio sounds like a great idea, especially for those of us whose musical heroes don't march in the Top 40 hit parade. I love the idea of being able to log on to the Web and choose from 10000 sites “broadcasting”niche music through my computer speakers in every conceivable genre, from Big Band jazz to island reggae. 

　　But there are some problems. The one that hit the news last week is the fee structure. Many of these “stations” are geeky momandpop operations that dont charge for their music and dont pay for it either, and arrangement the record labels are trying to rectify by imposing a royalty of fourteenhundredths of a cent per song per listener. That may not sound like much, but it's enough to drive the small guys out of business. On the 1st of May a few hundred of them tried to draw attention to their plight by going silent for a day.

　　A bigger problem with internet radio is that it often doesn't work. Even if you can find the music you want and the software you need to play it, it's a rare song that makes it to the end without pausing a few times to rebuffer the stream, whatever that means.

　　But an idea as good as this one is worth fighting for. So for those of you who care enough about music to put up with some fearsome technological hurdles, here's a primer on how to find your favourite tunes on the Internet and how to play them.

　　First, get yourself a computer with a decent sound card (builtin on all Macs and most new PCs) and a fast Internet connection. Cable or DSL is best. In a pinch you can use modems as slow as 56K or even 28.8K.

　　Then make sure you have a working media player. The two most popular programs, Real Network's Real Player and Microsoft's Windows Media Player, are free, but you have to keep checking their websites for updates, Apple's I Tunes, also free, comes with a builtin internet radio player (preloaded with more than 250 stations), but it's strictly for Macs.

　　Finally, you have to find the music. The media players usually come with selected links preset, but they're not always current or complete. If you are feeling adventurous or starved for the latest Zingy Marley and the Melody Makers — head for one of the big web cast directories. My favourites: radiotower.com. When you find the station you want, the music should launch automatically on the media player you have already loaded.

　　Unfortunately, things rarely run that smoothly. Even if the stations are set up properly，many things from site overcrowd and peak hour congestion are general Web flakiness.

1. The passage is most probably from
A. newspaper.
B. magazine.
C. students book.
D. science book.

2. What doe's ‘momandpop’ operations mean?
A. a couple are in charge of operation.
B. two people cooperate in business.
C. a group of people cooperate in business.
D. pop stars operate their own business.

3. What is author's attitude towards this new idea?
A. approval
B. disapproval
C. neutral
D. indifferent

4. Which of the following is NOT true？
A. On the first of May, a few hundred of them have stopped running for one day in order to protest charging royalty.
B. Most of the songs will pause a few times during playing.
C. Mac is a kind of media player.
D. Both Real networks Realplayer and Microsoft’’s windows media player are free.

5. What does“a big if”mean？
A. the most important prerequisite.
B. necessary condition.
C. possible condition.
D. unnecessary condition.

答案：
1.【B】这篇文章主要在介绍一种新的创意，故选B。
2.【A】“momandpop operation”是美国的一个习惯用法，意思是夫妻合作经营。
3.【A】从文中第四段第一句“But an idea as good as this one is worth fighting for”，可知作者的态度是同意的。
4.【C】从文中第六段最后一句可知Mac是用来配置调制解调器的，它不是一种调制解调器，故选答案C。
5.【A】联系上下文可知电台设置是一个最重要的前提条件，故选 A。