A survey has shown that people have stopped believing both the media and politicians. A similar survey carried out 5 years ago showed that 50% of people thought that what politicians said was usually not true, and that 35% of people thought that what they saw on the television or read in newspapers was not true. Now both those figures have increased sharply, to 80% of people not believing politicians and 70% not believing the television or newspapers. Experts think that these figures are not going to come down in the near future.

Stories about politicians and journalists taking money from businessmen have caused the public to stop trusting them. Also politicians keep making promises that they do not keep. Mr Smith of York said, ‘When the politicians make new laws, they only help their friends, not people like me’. Mrs Marley of Leeds said, ‘The newspapers and television are not interested in what is true; they are only interested in money for advertising’.

It has got worse recently as more people can get news from the Internet and learn if the journalists and politicians are telling the truth or not. What can our politicians and journalists do? The only answer is to be more honest.

1.The number of people believing politicians and journalists has __________.

A.increased

B.not changed

C.decreased

2.Experts think this problem ____________.

A.will get better soon

B.will not get better soon

C.will get worse soon

3.Stories say businessmen give money to _______.

A.politicians

B.politicians and journalists

C.journalists

4.Mr Smith thinks politicians make laws __________.

A.to help their friends

B.to help him

C.to help everybody

5.People can now check stories using _________.

A.the newspapers

B.the television

C.the Internet