22.Henry Loomis served as director of the Voice of America for seven years starting in 1958.Mr.Loomis played an important role in creating the Special English service.
Henry Loomis was born in 1919 in Tuxedo Park,New York.His father was Alfred Lee Loomis,a well-off New York City businessman.In 1940,Henry Loomis dropped out of Harvard University to join the United States Navy.He was able to put to good use his knowledge of radar technology that he had learned about because of his father's work.After graduating at the top in his naval(海軍的)training class,Henry Loomis became a teacher at the Navy's radar training school in Hawaii.He left the Navy in 1946 and later finished his graduate studies.
Henry Loomis later moved to Washington,D.C.to begin another stage of his career in public service.He held positions in the Department of Defense and other agencies.In 1958,he became director of the Voice of America.
During his travels around the world,Mr.Loomis saw that English was becoming an important international language.He believed that it was important to make English easier to understand by listeners of VOA broadcasts whose native language was not English.So Mr.Loomis asked VOA program manager Barry Zorthian to develop a way to broadcast to listeners with a limited knowledge of English.
The first Voice of America broadcast in Special English took place on October 19th,1959.Critics at the time said the fund(資金)was limited,while the important matter was that Special English method of broadcasting at a slower speed with a limited vocabulary would never work.However,VOA began soon to receive hundreds of letters from listeners praising the program.Special English programs became some of the most popular on VOA.
(1)We know from the second paragraph that Henry Loomis
.
A.was born in a poor family
B.a(chǎn)chieved good grades in Harvard
C.received a master's degree
D.used to be a pilot in the army
(2)Henry used to be all the following EXCEPT
.
A.a(chǎn)n instructor at a school
B.the VOA program manager
C.a(chǎn)n official in the government
D.someone who quitted school
(3)Those who were against his ideas of Special English programs said
.
A.it was unnecessary to broadcast Special English programs
B.it would cost too much to make Special English programs
C.Special English wouldn't be very popular with listeners
D.Special English couldn't help listeners improve their English
(4)In which part of the VOA program will you probably find this story ?
A.People in America.
B.The Making of a Nation.
C.In the News.
D.Explorations.