2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 19
Unit 19
Lately DreamWorks SKG has been a wandering tribe. The would-be studio, which made films such as “American Beauty” and “War of the Worlds”, sold itself to Paramount in 2005. When that arrangement fell apart it found new partners in Reliance Big Entertainment, a Bollywood outfit, and Universal Studios. Then it fell out with Universal. So it was rather a surprise when, on February 9th, DreamWorks abruptly found itself in the promised land. Disney, the world’s foremost purveyor of wholesome entertainment, lent it money and agreed to market and distribute its films.
It is a good illustration of how the economic downturn is affecting Hollywood. Until recently executives were boasting that the film business was resistant, perhaps even immune, to recession. The number of cinema tickets sold actually increased during three out of the past four recessions. Box-office receipts so far this year are higher than last year. Admittedly, the share prices of media companies have tumbled—but that is because of the collapse in television and print advertising, and has little to do with Tinseltown.
Yet the downturn has profoundly affected the art of dealmaking. Although the breakdown of negotiations between DreamWorks and Universal has been followed by a storm of recriminations, the heart of the problem was that DreamWorks was finding it unexpectedly hard to raise debt. It is hardly alone in that. Two years ago investors were lubricating all sorts of strange alliances and start-ups—Tom Cruise wants to resurrect United Artists? Why not? But now the outside money has all but disappeared. The big studios, the primacy of which was never exactly threatened during the boom years, are now almost the only game in town.
The alliance with DreamWorks is something of an about-turn for Disney. Under Bob Iger, who took over as chief executive in 2005, Disney has culled films that are a less than perfect fit for its family-friendly brand and has concentrated on turning those that are into amusement-park rides, lunch boxes and other spin-offs. This week’s deal will add as many as six films a year to Disney’s pipeline, swelling it by about half. The surge will not happen at once, however: DreamWorks will have to raise more money before it is capable of producing that many.
These days DreamWorks is largely Steven Spielberg’s outfit. Jeffrey Katzenberg （the “K” in SKG） runs DreamWorks Animation, a separate, publicly owned company. David Geffen （the “G”） has retired from the studio. The remaining founder spoke warmly of Disney this week, calling it the “birthplace of imagination”. He is said to be looking forward to making more family films. Perhaps, but he still looks a little out of place in the magic kingdom.
Mr. Spielberg became America’s best-known, and perhaps best, film director by fusing blockbuster spectacle with an unflinching take on family life. The households even in his PG-rated films are almost uniformly dysfunctional. Think of Richard Dreyfuss flinging plants through the window in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, Frances O’Connor abandoning her adopted robot son by the roadside in “A.I.” or the defeated, self-deluding Christopher Walken in “Catch Me If You Can”. It is hard to imagine any of them donning Mickey Mouse ears.
注（1）：本文選自Economist；
注（2）：本文習題命題模仿對象為2004年真題Text 4。
1. Why is DreamWorks SKG described at the beginning of the article as a wandering tribe?
A) Because it has recently made some movies about different ancient tribes.
B) Because it has recently moved from Hollywood to Bollywood for development.
C) Because it lately has seen many ups and downs when cooperating with peer companies.
D) Because it eventually reached its promised land of partnership with Disneyland.
2. According to the text, which is the influence of economic downturn on Hollywood’s entertainment business?
A) Companies’ operation and other business activities are profoundly affected.
B) Hollywood provides the services that are resistant to economic crisis.
C) The recession has promoted the movie industry as more people watch movies.
D) Most movie companies are sunk in debt crisis because of the economic recession.
3. Bob Iger’s strategy for Disneyland centers on ______.
A) adding more movies to the company’s pipeline
B) switching from movie-making to amusement park
C) raising more money to expand the size of the company
D) further clarifying the company’s brand
4. Steven Spielberg, according to the text, is said to be ______.
A) the founder of DreamWorks
B) good at combing grand scenes with details in reality
C) the best director in American movie history
D) a major advocator of family movies
5. What does the author think of the partnership between Disneyland and DreamWorks?
A) It will result in Spielberg’s concentration shift onto more family movies.
B) They will add cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse to real-life movies.
C) The combination looks somewhat weird and the prospect is not cheerful.
D) The two companies will definitely find themselves incompatible with each others.
篇章剖析
本文討論了好萊塢電影公司夢工廠的歸屬和前途。第一段簡單介紹了夢工廠近來的沉浮，以及與迪士尼公司新近達成的合作；第二段和第三段說明了經(jīng)濟危機對好萊塢娛樂業(yè)的影響；第四至六段介紹了迪士尼和夢工廠的現(xiàn)狀，初步分析了合作前景。
詞匯注釋
purveyor /p??ve??/ n. 提供者，承辦者
wholesome /?h??ls?m/ adj. 有益于身心健康的
tumble /?t?mbl/ v. （價格等）暴跌；倒塌
recrimination /r??kr?m??ne???n/ n. 相互指責
lubricate /?lu?br?ke?t/ v. 加潤滑油，行賄，收買
alliance /??la??ns/ n. 聯(lián)盟，結盟
cull /k?l/ v. 挑出，剔除
spin-off /?spin?f/ n. 副產(chǎn)品；意外收獲
pipeline /?pa?pla?n/ n. 管道，在準備中
blockbuster /?bl?kb?st?/ n. 大轟動，大片
unflinching /?n?fl?nt???/ adj. 不畏縮的
dysfunctional /d?s?f??k??nl/ adj. 不正常的，機能失調(diào)的
delude /d??lu?d/ v. 欺騙，迷惑
don /d?n/ v. 穿上，披上
難句突破
Under Bob Iger, who took over as chief executive in 2005, Disney has culled films that are a less than perfect fit for its family-friendly brand and has concentrated on turning those that are into amusement-park rides, lunch boxes and other spin-offs.
主體句式：Disney has culled films that... and has concentrated on...
結構分析：本句主語為Disney，由under引導的介賓短語充當句子的狀語，其中還包含了一個由who引導的定語從句來修飾under的賓語Bob Iger。主句的謂語為兩個并列結構，以and連接。并列結構的后半部分中又包含了一個由that引導的定語從句。
句子譯文：自從2005年Bob Iger就任迪士尼公司總裁之后，公司就開始篩除與其面向家庭的品牌形象不符的影片，集中力量把符合要求的影片融入游樂園的騎坐設施、午餐盒和其他周邊產(chǎn)品。
題目分析
1. C 推理題。文章第一句話指出夢工廠最近就像是一個到處流浪的部落，細讀第一段就可以發(fā)現(xiàn)作者的意思是夢工廠近來一直歸屬未定，多次合作都陸續(xù)失敗，因此C是最佳答案。選項A對文章首句理解錯誤，B的錯誤在于與寶萊塢合作并不意味著夢工廠搬到了寶萊塢。D雖然在文中有所提及，但與題目并不相符。
2. A 推理題。第二段指出業(yè)界人士稱從過去的經(jīng)驗看娛樂業(yè)對經(jīng)濟危機有抵抗力，但B的說法太絕對，因此不正確。盡管該段還指出今年的票房很高，但在文中沒有分析其原因，因此C的判斷過于武斷。第三段中指出經(jīng)濟危機曾使夢工廠陷入危機，但并沒有說大多數(shù)公司都遭遇了債務危機，因此D也不正確。第三段開頭指出“然而經(jīng)濟滑坡卻已經(jīng)對電影業(yè)的交易產(chǎn)生了深遠的影響。”通過下文可以推斷出，這些影響涉及公司的正常運營和各種商業(yè)活動，因此A正確。
3. D 細節(jié)題。文中第四段指出Bob Iger就任后迪士尼“就開始篩除與其面向家庭的品牌形象不符的影片，集中力量把符合要求的影片融入游樂園的騎坐設施、午餐盒和其他周邊產(chǎn)品?！币簿褪钦f公司要進一步明確自己的品牌形象，故選D。B和C都屬于無中生有。A只是與夢工廠合作的結果，并不是Bob Iger的目標。
4. B 細節(jié)題。根據(jù)文意可知，斯皮爾伯格并不是夢工廠唯一的創(chuàng)始人，而A選項錯誤地使用了定冠詞the，因此不能入選。最后一段提到“斯皮爾伯格大膽拍攝家庭生活，將其與波瀾壯闊的大場面相融合，成為了美國最有名的，也許是最優(yōu)秀的電影導演。”因此B選項“大場面和現(xiàn)實細節(jié)的結合”很好地概括了斯皮爾伯格的風格，是正確選項。文中只說斯皮爾伯格“也許”是歷史上最優(yōu)秀的，因此C不正確。斯皮爾伯格拍攝了許多與家庭有關的電影，但文中沒有說他是家庭電影的主要推崇者，所以D不正確。
5. C 細節(jié)題。文章最后一段說“很難想象他們戴上米老鼠的耳朵會是什么樣子”，也就是說夢工廠與迪斯尼的傳統(tǒng)電影風格并不相符，也就是說這種合作有點奇怪，前景難以預料，因此C最好地概括了這種情況。A只提到斯皮爾伯格，而且這種說法在文中也找不到依據(jù)，因此不正確。B是無中生有的選項。而D的說法過于絕對和悲觀，與文中的表述不符。
參考譯文
近來，夢工廠電影公司一直歸屬未定。這家曾制作出《美國麗人》和《世界大戰(zhàn)》等電影的公司在2005年出售給了派拉蒙公司。與派拉蒙的合作失敗后，夢工廠又與信實娛樂——一家寶萊塢大型娛樂公司——和環(huán)球影視公司結成了新的伙伴關系。但它與環(huán)球影視的合作也未能成功。因此，在2月9日，夢工廠突然發(fā)現(xiàn)自己“身在樂土”，令人大感驚訝：迪士尼，這個全球健康娛樂的最主要提供者出借資金給夢工廠，并同意推廣和發(fā)行夢工廠的電影。
這是經(jīng)濟滑坡正在影響好萊塢的有力佐證。就在不久前，電影界的高層人物還在夸耀電影業(yè)能夠抵御經(jīng)濟危機，甚至是完全不受影響。在過去的四次經(jīng)濟衰退中，有三次影院的售票量都增加了。到目前為止，今年的票房收入要高于去年。傳媒公司的股價的確大幅下跌，但這是由于電視與平面媒體廣告業(yè)務遭受重創(chuàng)，與好萊塢幾乎毫無關系。
然而經(jīng)濟滑坡卻已經(jīng)對電影業(yè)的交易產(chǎn)生了深遠影響。夢工廠與環(huán)球影視公司的談判破裂引起了激烈的指責，但核心問題是夢工廠沒有料到借貸資金會如此艱難。面臨如此困境的遠不止夢工廠一家。兩年前，投資者將資金像加潤滑油一樣源源不斷地注入各路同盟和新興企業(yè)——湯姆·克魯斯要重振聯(lián)美公司了？為什么不呢？但現(xiàn)在，幾乎所有的外部資金都消失了。首屈一指的大型電影制片公司在經(jīng)濟繁榮時期從未受到威脅，與它們合作幾乎成了目前唯一的選擇。
與夢工廠的合作對于迪士尼來說是一個重大轉變。自從2005年鮑勃·艾格就任迪士尼公司總裁之后，公司就開始篩除與其面向家庭的品牌形象不符的影片，集中力量把符合要求的影片融入游樂園的騎坐設施、午餐盒和其他周邊產(chǎn)品。本周的這項合同將使迪士尼的電影年產(chǎn)量增加6部，增長了近一半。但這一增長不會立刻實現(xiàn)，因為夢工廠還必須籌集更多資金才能達到這種制片規(guī)模。
近來夢工廠主要是由斯皮爾伯格掌管。杰弗里·卡森伯格（SKG中的“K”）負責獨立運營上市公司夢工廠動畫公司。而大衛(wèi)·格芬（SKG中的“G”）已經(jīng)從制片廠退休。夢工廠僅剩的創(chuàng)始人本周熱情贊揚了迪士尼公司，稱之為“想象的誕生地”。據(jù)說他還期望今后能夠制作更多家庭電影。這或許能實現(xiàn)，但他在這個魔幻王國里依然顯得有些格格不入。
斯皮爾伯格大膽拍攝家庭生活，將其與波瀾壯闊的大場面相融合，成為了美國最有名的，也許是最優(yōu)秀的電影導演。即使在PG級影片中，他展現(xiàn)的也幾乎都是病態(tài)的家庭。想想《第三類接觸》中理查德·德賴弗斯將花草從窗戶中拋出，《人工智能》中弗朗西斯·奧康納將她收養(yǎng)的機器人兒子遺棄在路邊，或者《逍遙法外》中克里斯托弗·沃爾肯被擊垮后的自欺欺人。很難想象他們戴上米老鼠的耳朵會是什么樣子。
