While the influence of British magazines in shaping public opinion predates the nineteenth century, it was during the 1800s that mass distribution became possible and an explosion in periodical readership occurred, vastly increasing magazine’s opinion-shaping powers. The role of magazines as arbiters of nineteenth-century taste is seen in their depictions of the London theater. The magazines accorded some legitimacy to East End working-class theaters that mirrored the format of the fashionable West End theaters serving middle-and upper-class audiences. However, the magazines also depicted music halls—which competed for patronage with all theaters—as places where crass entertainment corrupted spectators’ s taste and morals. Finally, they suggested that popular demand for substandard fare created a market unfriendly to higher expressions of dramatic art.
20 the author of the passage mentions “East End working-class theaters” primarily in order to
A. illustrate a point about the ability of magazines to sway public opinion
B. contrast the kinds of entertainment presented in East End and West End theaters
C. make a point about how spectators’s tastes influenced the offerings at different kind of theaters
D. explain how magazine chose which kinds of entertainment to cover.
E. identify factors that helped make certain theaters fashionable
找到原文,然后找前一句:The role of magazines as arbiters of nineteenth-century taste is seen in their depictions of the London theater.
arbiter: 仲裁者。柯林斯词典:An arbiter of taste or style is someone who has a lot of influence in deciding what is fashionable or socially desirable. 这个和A选项中的sway public opinion是一个意思。
如果arbiter这个单词不会,也没关系,整篇文章的中心思想就是第一句中的“shaping public opinion ”
A选项紧扣文章主题