2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 24

Unit 24

As the music industry searches for a new model in the age of digital distribution and internet piracy, it is getting a helping hand from an unexpected quarter: video games such as “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band”, which let people play along to songs on simplified imitation instruments. “These games are revitalising the industry,” says Aram Sinnreich, an industry expert at New York University. “They’re helping as both a revenue and an advertising platform.”

The main impact of the games is to provide exposure. Inclusion of their music in these popular games has allowed previously obscure bands to achieve international fame, and veteran musicians to blast the ears of a new generation. According to Activision Blizzard, the video-game giant behind “Guitar Hero III”, bands whose songs are included in the game can expect online sales of their music to increase by an average of 300% as a result. “We’re definitely in demand—we’re constantly being pitched by artists and management,” says Paul DeGooyer, senior vice-president of games and music at MTV, which publishes “Rock Band”. As well as increasing sales, having a song in his game also boosts a band’s overall fame and popularity. “We’re providing a new outlet for people to experience music,” he says.

One beneficiary has been Dragonforce, a British speed-metal band that rose to fame after their song “Through the Fire and Flames” was included as the hardest track in “Guitar Hero III”. Its difficulty has inspired many players to post videos of themselves playing the song online. Chris Brown, who is in charge of the band’s marketing, says the track had sold 55,000 copies online before the game’s release in October 2007. “Now we’re up to 624,000. Guitar Hero has really opened up our music to the mainstream,” says Mr Brown.

Established artists are also using the games to promote their music. Bobby Kotick, Activision’s boss, says Aerosmith have made more money from “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith”, a version of the video-game that features the band, than from any of their albums. Mr Kotick has even suggested that rather than expecting games companies to pay to license their music, bands should pay to have their music included in games. Motley Crue released a new single via “Rock Band” in April, and in September Metallica’s new album “Death Magnetic” was made available as a download for “Guitar Hero” on the day of its release. （Fans have pointed out that the video-game version actually sounds better than the album.） Such in-game downloads are typically sold for $2 per song, twice as much as the music alone fetches on iTunes, the leading online-music store.

But will it last? Bob Lefsetz, a veteran industry figure, speculates that music games, which burst onto the scene in 2005, could burn out just as quickly. Teenagers already like classic rock anyway, he says, so the games will not greatly expand the market. “The music business is looking for any good news. These games aren’t going to save it.”

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習題命題模仿對象為2002年真題Text 3。

1. The main problem faced by the music industry is ______.

A) the unexpected competition from video games

B) it needs to find a new business model for long-term development

C) it is severely threatened by online piracy

D) it fails to catch up with the technological development of digital distribution

2. It can be inferred from the text that ______.

A) all the bands with their music included in video games can gain popularity

B) the major influence of video games on the music industry is increasing revenue

C) artists and managers try to find the best music bands from video games

D) inspiring interaction with game players can increase a band’s fame

3. Bobby Kotick, Activision’s boss, believes that ______.

A) he has already established a new business model for the music industry

B) music in video games should also be downloadable on the internet

C) there should be difference between the video-game and album versions of a song

D) video games should charge bands but not the other way around

4. We can draw a conclusion from the last paragraph that ______.

A) the collaboration between video games and the music industry might be a flash in the pan

B) the video game model is the last gasp of the deteriorating music industry

C) rock music is not exactly the reason why the bands succeed in video games

D) the music business is still looking for greater music

5. From the text we can see that the writer’s attitude toward the collaboration seems ______.

A) objective

B) positive

C) pessimistic

D) indifferent

篇章剖析

本文主要介紹了音樂產業(yè)的一種新經營模式——將搖滾樂與電子游戲相結合。文章第一段簡要介紹了這種新模式；第二段指出這種模式的優(yōu)點；第三段和第四段結合實例，具體介紹了樂隊是如何從游戲中獲益的；最后一段對這一經營模式的前景做了簡單討論。

詞匯注釋

revitalise /ri??va?t?la?z/ v. 使復活，使復興

obscure /?b?skj??/ adj. 無名的，微賤的

veteran /?vet?r?n/ n. 經驗豐富的人

pitch /p?t?/ v. 為…確定標準，定調

outlet /?a?tlet/ n. 途徑,方法

beneficiary /?ben??f???ri/ n. 受益人，受惠者

speculate /?spekj?le?t/ v. 推測，猜測

難句突破

As the music industry searches for a new model in the age of digital distribution and internet piracy, it is getting a helping hand from an unexpected quarter: video games such as “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band”, which let people play along to songs on simplified imitation instruments.

主體句式：it is getting a helping hand from an unexpected quarter.

結構分析：本句結構比較復雜。句子開頭是一個由as引導的狀語從句，其主體結構是the music industry searches for a new model。主句冒號后面的內容是對quarter的具體說明，而which引導的非限制性定語從句進一步說明了這些游戲的特點。

句子譯文：在當前這個數字發(fā)行和網絡盜版猖獗的時代，音樂行業(yè)正在探索新的經營模式，他們出乎意料地得到了電子游戲“吉他英雄”和“搖滾樂隊”的幫助。這類游戲可以讓人們使用簡化的模擬樂器來跟隨歌曲演奏。

題目分析

1. B 細節(jié)題。文章第一段第一句話指出“在當前這個數字發(fā)行和網絡盜版猖獗的時代，音樂行業(yè)正在探索新的經營模式”，可見問題在于音樂行業(yè)如何找到一個持續(xù)發(fā)展的新模式，因此B是最佳答案。A顯然與文意不符，是錯誤選項。C和D選項都是引起這一問題的原因之一，而不是問題本身。

2. D 推理題。本題的對應信息主要集中在文章第二段和第三段。雖然這兩段中舉了很多例子說明游戲如何使樂隊成名，但是并沒有說歌曲被編入游戲的所有樂隊都收到了同樣的效果，因此A不正確。第二段第一句就指出游戲對音樂的主要影響在于“exposure”，后文也說明了收入增加只是一方面，知名度提高也是重要影響，因此B也不正確。C選項中提到的關于音樂人和管理者的信息與原文并不吻合，因此C也是錯誤的。而文章第三段指出Dragonforce的一首高難度樂曲引起了在線玩家的興趣，從中可以推斷，這種知名度的提高來自于鼓勵和激發(fā)與游戲玩家的互動，因此D是正確選項。

3. D 細節(jié)題。文章第四段提到“科蒂克先生甚至提議，樂隊不應該指望游戲公司來購買音樂使用許可，而是應該主動付錢給游戲公司，使自己的音樂可以用于游戲中?！盌正好符合這一信息，是正確答案。A選項的表述在文章中沒有對應信息，即科蒂克先生沒有提到關于經營模式的問題。B和C選項則都與科蒂克無關。

4. A 推理題。從文章第五段介紹了鮑勃·拉弗塞特茲，他認為游戲并不能拯救音樂產業(yè)，也就是這兩個產業(yè)的合作不會有好前景，只會是曇花一現，因此A是正確答案。其他三個選項都沒有提及。

5. A 情感態(tài)度題。從全文看來，作者基本上沒有表露自己的觀點，較為客觀地陳述了整個事件。盡管文章最后態(tài)度較為悲觀，但也是在引用別人的觀點，并不是作者自己的態(tài)度。由此可見，作者對此問題持客觀態(tài)度，正確答案為A。

參考譯文

在當前這個數字發(fā)行和網絡盜版猖獗的時代，音樂行業(yè)正在探索新的經營模式，他們出乎意料地得到了電子游戲“吉他英雄”和“搖滾樂隊”的幫助。這類游戲可以讓人們使用簡化的模擬樂器來跟隨歌曲演奏。紐約大學音樂行業(yè)專家亞拉姆·辛萊赫指出：“這些游戲正在復興音樂行業(yè)，不僅能帶來收入，同時還是廣告宣傳的平臺?！?

這些游戲的主要影響就是能夠增加曝光率。流行游戲中的音樂能夠使之前不太出名的樂隊成為國際明星，也能使年輕一代對老牌樂手的歌耳熟能詳?！凹⑿跧II”的幕后電子游戲巨頭“動視暴雪”公司宣稱，如果哪個樂隊的歌曲被編入游戲，他們的在線銷量平均可增加3倍。發(fā)行“搖滾樂隊”游戲的MTV公司游戲與音樂部高級副總裁保羅·德古冶爾說：“毫無疑問，我們的銷路很好——我們總是由音樂人和管理者來不斷調整定位?！备枨痪幦胗螒虻臉逢牪粌H銷量增加，同時其知名度和流行程度也得到提升。他說：“我們正為人們提供一種體驗音樂的新途徑?！?

英國速度金屬樂隊“Dragonforce（龍的力量）”就是受益者之一，他們的《穿過燃燒與火焰》被列為“吉他英雄III”中最難的一首曲子，樂隊也因此聲名鵲起。在高難度的刺激下，許多玩家把自己演奏的視頻發(fā)到了網上。負責“Dragonforce”樂隊營銷的克里斯·布朗透露，游戲的發(fā)布時間是2007年10月，在此之前，這首單曲的在線銷量是55,000。他說：“而現在我們銷量攀升到了624,000。是吉他英雄把我們的音樂引入主流?！?

著名音樂人也用游戲來宣傳自己的作品。動視暴雪的總裁博比·科蒂克說，吉他英雄發(fā)行了空中鐵匠專版，樂隊從這版電子游戲中獲得的收入比從任何專輯賺到的都多。科蒂克先生甚至提議，樂隊不應該指望游戲公司來購買音樂使用許可，而是應該主動付錢給游戲公司，使自己的音樂可以用于游戲中。4月，克魯小丑樂隊通過“搖滾樂隊”游戲發(fā)布了一首新單曲，9月，金屬樂隊的新專輯《致命吸引力》在發(fā)布當天就可以在“吉他英雄”游戲上下載。（歌迷甚至說這首歌的電子游戲版本聽起來竟然比專輯版還要好。）這種游戲內下載的價格一般是每首歌2美元，比從在線音樂巨頭iTunes下載音樂要貴一倍。

但是這種情況會持續(xù)下去嗎？據經驗豐富的業(yè)內人士鮑勃·拉弗塞特茲推測，音樂游戲雖然在2005年異軍突起，但可能只是曇花一現。他說，青少年已經是經典搖滾的樂迷了，所以游戲不會大幅拓寬市場?！耙魳樊a業(yè)正在尋求希望。這些游戲并不能拯救它?！?