阅读理解100-22

阿邱

Thousands of writers in Los Angeles and New York went on strike this week, risking their incomes and careers. They want more money for their work when it is used online than Hollywood studios are willing to pay. Because the strike is over matters of principle, not just dollars and cents, it could last for months. The immediate effect was to shut down late-night talk shows, including “Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”. If the last writers' strike, in 1988, is any guide, the talk shows will stay silent for a couple of months before going back on air without scripts. Soaps will be next to go, in a week or two; then prime-time dramas, a few weeks later. Some say the film business is safe, because studios have stockpiled scripts. But scripts often need tweaking by writers at the last minute.

Media companies argue that the market has become increasingly competitive and uncertain for many reasons, including internet piracy and tumbling box-office receipts. They want to cut writers' income from “residuals”, which are payments made when a TV show is re-used. The writers are determined not to repeat the mistake they made in 1985, when they listened to the studios' plea that home video was an unproven new market and agreed to a residual payment of 0.3%, which translates into about four cents for each sale of a DVD—or one-tenth of what DVD-box manufacturers get. The writers now want a residual payment of 2.5% for re-use of material online and on mobile phones.

The studios say that internet delivery is the same as home video, so the old rate still applies. And they refuse to pay anything to writers when content is streamed over the internet free to viewers, supported by ads, because this is merely “promotion”. Both sides made last-minute concessions on traditional-media payments. But because new-media rights are so critical to the future earnings of writers and studios, neither was willing to compromise.

Who will suffer the most? “The strike won't affect most studios unless the writers stay out three to five months,” says a senior executive at a media conglomerate. Because writers on reality and animation programmes are not unionised, the networks will be able to switch to other forms of programming; sport will fill the gaps, too. But Moody's, a credit-rating agency, reckons that a strike lasting into late 2008 would have a serious financial impact. Broadcast networks and premium-cable channels would be hurt most, because they rely most on first-run scripted shows.

Some writers, of course, are wealthy. “I'm walking the picket line with some guys who are worth millions,” says Lou DiMaggio, a reality- and game-show writer who won an Emmy award for “Win Ben Stein's Money”. But the vast majority of writers, he says, earn about $50,000-75,000 a year. Mr DiMaggio says he backed out of buying a house because of the strike; junior writers may have to go back to waiting tables. Luckily for Hollywood, however, most scribes are too devoted to their calling to be put off. Gary Goldman, a writer picketing outside Fox Studios who has worked on science-fiction thrillers such as “Minority Report”, says that many writers will spend their free time working on screenplays that they hope to sell to the studios on spec.

1.
Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the strike?

[A] The mere aim of this strike is to increase writers’ income in general.
[B] The strike is mainly relevant the issue of scripts used on TV show and primary dramas.
[C] The strike will be effective only if it last for a long time.
[D] Whether the film industry will be affected by the strike or not is open to question.

2.
The writers made a mistake in the strike of 1985 because_____

[A] the studio’s offer of payment increase was satisfactory.

[B] they readily believed the studios’ excuse out of a false judgment.
[C] the union failed to unite the majority of the writers.
[D] the market prospect of home video was not so competitive and uncertain.
3. In the end the writers and the studios made a compromise on_____
[A] the TV show payments.

[B] the payments of the online drama shows.
[C] the payments of the mobile phone shows.
[D] the payments of internet shows.
4. The word “unionised” (Line 3, Paragraph 4) most probably means_____
[A] united.

[B]organized.

[C] established.
[D] arranged.

5. The screenplays are written by the writers in their free time will be sold to the studios_____

[A] on a special offer.

[B] with no guarantee of profit.

[C] on special occasions.

[D] as a speculation.

阿邱

文章剖析：
这篇文章介绍了目前美国编剧罢工的一些情况。第一段讲述罢工可能带来的后果；第二段讲述罢工的编剧们所提出的要求；第三段讲述目前达成的协议；第四段讲述制片商可能会受到的损失；第五段讲述编剧可能会受到的损失。
词汇注释：
script n. 剧本        tweak v. 调整
residual n. 电视片每次重映给演员[作者]的报酬
unionise v. 联合, 组合
难句突破：
(1)        The writers are determined not to repeat the mistake they made in 1985, when they listened to the studios' plea that home video was an unproven new market and agreed to a residual payment of 0.3%, which translates into about four cents for each sale of a DVD—or one-tenth of what DVD-box manufacturers get.
[主体句式] The writers are determined  not to repeat…
[结构分析] 这是一个复合句。宾语the mistake 后面跟着一个定语从句，该从句中的时间状语in 1985后跟着一个以when引导的定语从句，该定语从句为一个并列结构，在该从句中a residual payment of 0.3%，后面跟着以which引导的非限定性定语从句。
[句子译文] 而编剧们决心这次不再犯他们1985年犯过的错误了，当时他们听信了制片商的借口，说家庭录像还是一个未知的新市场，于是最终同意收取0.3%的重映费，这相当于每卖出一张DVD他们只能得4美分，这是DVD制造商所得的1/10。
(2) Gary Goldman, a writer picketing outside Fox Studios who has worked on science-fiction thrillers such as “Minority Report”, says that many writers will spend their free time working on screenplays that they hope to sell to the studios on spec.
[主体句式] Gary Goldman says that…
[结构分析] 这是一个复合句，主语带有一个同位语a writer…，该同位语中有一个以who引导的定语从句修饰a writer；在宾语从句中有一个以that引导的定语从句修饰screenplays。
[句子译文] Gary Goldman是在福克斯公司外工作的编剧，他曾经为科幻惊恐电影如“少数人报告”中工作过，他说许多编剧都会在业余时间里写电影剧本，他们希望可以碰碰运气看能否出售给制片商。

题目分析：
1. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the strike?        1. 关于这次罢工，下列哪个陈述是正确的？
[A] The mere aim of this strike is to increase writers’ income in general.        [A]这次罢工唯一的目的就是要普遍提高编剧的收入。
[B] The strike is mainly relevant the issue of scripts used on TV show and primary dramas.        [B]这次罢工主要是针对用于电视节目和主要戏剧的剧本。
[C] The strike will  be effective only if it last for a long time.        [C] 这次罢工只有坚持很长时间才能有效。
[D] Whether the film industry will be affected by the strike or not is open to question.        [D] 这次罢工是否对于电影业有影响仍然是一个问题。
[答案]C
[难度分析] ☆☆☆
[分析] 细节题。选项A，在第一段有这么一句，这次罢工不仅仅是为了美元，而且更重要的是为了一些原则。因此，A不正确。B，从全文可以看出，这次罢工主要是为编剧争取作品在网上使用时能有较高的回报，而不是电视上，因此该选项于文章不符；C，根据第四段，罢工只有延续几个月才能对制片商有一定影响，改选项符合题意。选项D,第一段最后一句提到，剧本还是需要编剧来做修改的，因此，该选项也不符合题意。正确答案为C。
2. The writers made a mistake in the strike of 1985 because_____        2.编剧们在1985年的罢工中犯了一个错误因为_____
[A] the studio’s offer of payment increase was satisfactory.        [A] 制片商提出的工资上涨幅度非常令人满意。
[B] they readily believed the studios’ excuse out of a false judgment.        [B] 他们由于错误的判断而轻信了制片商的借口。
[C] the union failed to unite the majority of the writers.        [C] 工会没有能够团结大部分编剧。
[D] the market prospect of home videos was not so competitive and uncertain.        [D] 家庭录像的市场前景并不具有竞争力，反而相当不确定。
[答案]B
[难度分析] ☆☆☆
[分析] 细节题。文章第二段提到，他们不会再犯1985年罢工的那次错误。那次罢工中，编剧听信了制片商的借口说家庭录像是个新市场，有待试验。最终他们同意只拿取很小的一部分利润。因此，这次错误的原因就在于他们听信了制片商的借口，B最为符合题意。A显然与原文意思相反，C选项在原文中没有提及，而D选项显然与该题无关。
3. Finally the writers and the studios made a compromise on_____        3.最后，编剧和制片商在_____上达成了协议。
[A] the TV show payments.        [A] 电视节目的报酬
[B] the payments of the online drama shows.        [B] 在线电视剧节目的报酬
[C] the payments of the mobile phone shows.        [C] 手机节目的报酬
[D] the payments of internet shows.        [D] 因特网节目的报酬
[答案] A
[难度分析] ☆☆☆
[分析]细节题。文章第三段提到他们就传统媒体节目报酬已经达成了最后的协议，而新的媒体节目报酬还没有达成。从文中其他的地方可以看出，所谓新的媒体就是指网络、手机等，传统的是电视节目，因此，选项A为正确答案。
4. The word “unionised” (Line 3, Paragraph 4) most probably means_____        4.“unionised”这个词（第四段第三行）最有可能的意思是____
[A] united.        [A] 联合。
[B] organized.        [B] 有组织的。
[C] established.        [C] 建立。
[D] arranged.        [D] 安排。
[答案]A
[难度分析] ☆
[分析]猜词题。根据上下文意思，因为实景剧和动画片的编剧不会组织成工会，广播公司可以转向其他形式的节目，体育也可以填补空白。选项A最为切合。
5． The screenplays are written by the writers in their free time will be sold to the studios_____        3.        编剧在业余时间写的电影剧本将会____卖给制片商。
[A] on a special offer.        [A] 特价
[B] with no guarantee of profit.        [B] 对盈利没有保证
[C] on special occasions.        [C] 特殊情形
[D] as a speculation.        [D] 作为投机
[答案]B
[难度分析] ☆☆
[分析] 猜词题。这个题关键在于理解“on spec”这个词组的意思，该词组意思为“碰运气地，对盈利没有把握地”。再者，可以从文章来推理，现在编剧罢工，没有收入，只能利用业余时间编剧本撞撞运气。因此，答案为B选项。

阿邱

参考译文：
洛杉矶、纽约成千上万的编剧不惜以他们的工资和职业作为赌注于这周举行了游行。他们希望自己作品在网上使用时，得到的报酬比好莱坞制片商愿意支付的更多一些。因为这次罢工事关原则问题，而不仅仅是金钱问题，因此可能会持续几个月。罢工的直接效应就是暂停了夜间的谈话节目，包括“David Letterman晚间谈话”和“Jay Leno夜间谈话”。如果之前那次的编剧罢工（1988年）有点示范作用的话，那么这些谈话节目得沉寂几个月才会重新回到屏幕、但却没有剧本，接下来肥皂剧会在一两周内恢复，之后几周内黄金时间剧作才会回归。有人认为电影行业是安全的，因为制片商有成堆的剧本。但是在紧要关头剧本总是需要编剧做些调整。
媒体公司认为市场竞争越来越激烈，而且因为许多原因变得更加扑朔迷离，比如因特网盗版和票房收入的下降。他们想要从给作者的电视片重映报酬中卡掉一些。而编剧们决心这次不再犯他们1985年犯过的错误了，当时他们听信了制片商的借口，说家庭录像还是一个未知的新市场，于是最终同意收取0.3%的重映费，这相当于每卖出一张DVD他们只能得4美分，这是DVD制造商所得的1/10。现在编剧希望如果在网上或移动电话上使用这些材料的话，可以支付2.5%的重映费。
   制片商称因特网的传播和家庭录像是一样的，因此将执行原来的比率。如果相关内容放在网上免费给观众收看，那么他们不会向编剧支付任何费用，因为这些是靠广告支撑的，只是一种“宣传”。双方在传统媒体支付上都做出了最后的让步，但是由于新型媒体的权利对于编剧和制片商未来的收入都至关重要，因此双方都不肯做出妥协。
   那么谁会损失最多？“对于制片商，这次罢工不会有什么影响，除非编剧可以离开三到五个月，” 一家媒体集团的首席执行官这样说。因为实景剧和动画片的编剧不会组织成工会，广播公司可以转向其他形式的节目，体育也可以填补空白。但是一家信贷评级机构Moody's认为如果罢工一直持续到2008年末的话，经济就会受到严峻冲击。广播网和付费频道损失最大，因为它们依赖的就是原稿节目的首轮放映。
   当然有一些剧作家是很富有的。“跟我一起沿着警戒线走的是一些身价值百万的家伙们，” 实景、游戏编剧Lou DiMaggio这样说，他曾因“赢掉本•斯坦的钱”而获得了艾美奖。但是他说大部分的编剧年薪为5万到7万五千美元。DiMaggio说他就是因为这次罢工打消了买房子的主意。而级别低的编剧可能得回到搁置名单中了。但是，好莱坞是幸运的，因为大多编剧都愿意响应他们的号召，不会推迟。Gary Goldman是在福克斯公司外工作的编剧，他曾经为科幻惊恐电影如“少数人报告”中工作过，他说许多编剧都会在业余时间里写电影剧本，他们希望可以碰碰运气看能否出售给制片商。