大学体验英语第四册Unit8-Passage B

The Great Global DVD Divide
Parents all over the world complain these days that kids watch too much TV. Our solution, however, offers a paradox¹: Kids should watch even more TV. What's the catch? They should watch their favorite DVDs in a language other than their own. Since they already know Harry² Porter by heart in their native tongue, they could intuitively improve their comprehension of French, German, Spanish or Mandarin³ Chinese. To implement⁴ our solution, however, the movie industry will need to take a broader view of its own business logic⁵. 　
Whether you like it or detest⁶ it, Hollywood unites the world. People in every corner of the globe watch U.S. movies, many of them dubbed⁷ into their native languages. The faces of the same Hollywood stars grace the walls from Bangkok to Buenos Aires. And gossip magazines everywhere discuss their love lives and periodic nervous breakdowns⁸.

　 Kids' role models
That fascination⁹ runs even deeper among the world's children. Kids love watching movies, of course and they see their favorite ones over and over again. Soon, they know them by heart. Instead of dividing up the world with an electronic "Iron Curtain," Hollywood should move to a truly global product.　

　 In a globalized world, this could be a brilliant way of teaching them lots of foreign languages and do so while they are having fun. Especially since the DVD technology allows the same film to be viewed with soundtracks as well as subtitles¹⁰ in a variety of different tongues. However, there is a snag. The truth is that the U.S. movie industry divides the world technologically¹² even as it unites it culturally. It splits the world into regional markets. 　

?From the Iron Curtain to the DVD divide
In each market, the movie industry wants to release its films according to local movie-going seasons and at the convenience of the local distributor. This same "divide and rule" logic is also followed in the release of each movie on DVD. As a result, all DVD players sold around the world come with a region-coding function. Naturally, there are semi-official hackers¹³ who can help you get around the regional code. In fact, in Europe, modified DVD players that can play disks from every region of the world are pretty common. Some 64% of DVD players in European countries have the multiregional capacity. But in the United States, most DVD players remain locked in a single region variety. One reason is that the "Code 1" countries get the earliest releases of all the best movies. The built-in presumption¹⁴ is this: Only the movie buffs that love "art-house5" foreign flicks¹⁵ would need the multiregional function in America's market. 　

　 Yet, the United States, the pre-eminent global power, is also a country where the native population speaks fewest foreign languages. American kids, in fact, could benefit the most if they could watch their favorite movies in foreign languages. They may also be the ones who need a strong inducement to learn foreign languages and cultures.　
　 Myopic¹⁶ vision
Of course, the U.S. film industry would be up in arms against this idea. Why? It may no longer be able to maximize their profits if they didn't have the ability to stack up their release on DVDs. After all, the DVD market is rapidly becoming the most important money- making segment in the entertainment industry as DVD players become both cheap and widely diffused¹⁷.　

?Plenty of U.S. parents would probably buy DVDs as a learning tool for their children, if they could.　
However, this is surely a myopic vision. Globalization has been the secret of Hollywood's success. It has contributed to its creativity as directors, writers and even movie stars now hail from every corner of the globe. It is also part of its financial success, as 25% of America's exports are comprised of entertainment. Worldwide receipts on blockbuster movies routinely surpass sums earned in the U.S. market alone. Many films would never be made were it not for the built-in expectations of global receipts.
As a result, anything that promotes globalization such as better knowledge of foreign languages among kids worldwide ultimately benefits Hollywood. Alternatively, anything that detracts from it such as creating different technological¹¹ standards for DVD players is a long-term loss for Hollywood.

Therefore, Hollywood and the entire U.S. entertainment industry should wise up and drop its artificial way of dividing up the world with some new kind of electronic "Iron Curtain." Instead, it should move to a truly global product movie, DVDs, with wide pickings in alternate language tracks all as a part of the same package

1 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

2 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

3 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

4 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

5 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

6 detest   

vt.痛恨，憎恶

参考例句：

• I detest people who tell lies.我恨说谎的人。
• The workers detest his overbearing manner.工人们很讨厌他那盛气凌人的态度。

7 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

9 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

10 subtitles   

n.说明字幕，印在外国影片上的对白翻译字幕，译文对白字幕；小标题，副标题( subtitle的名词复数 )；（电影的）字幕

参考例句：

• subtitles for the deaf and the hard of hearing 为耳聋和听力不佳者打出的字幕
• a Polish film with English subtitles 附有英语字幕的波兰影片

11 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

12 technologically   

ad.技术上地

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
• Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。

13 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

14 presumption   

n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定

参考例句：

• Please pardon my presumption in writing to you.请原谅我很冒昧地写信给你。
• I don't think that's a false presumption.我认为那并不是错误的推测。

15 flicks   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的第三人称单数 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• 'I shall see it on the flicks, I suppose.' “电影上总归看得见。” 来自英汉文学
• Last night to the flicks. 昨晚看了场电影。 来自英汉文学

16 myopic   

adj.目光短浅的，缺乏远见的

参考例句：

• The Government still has a myopic attitude to spending.政府在开支问题上仍然目光短浅。
• Myopic views could be potentially damaging for us.目光短浅会给我们带来严重的后果。

17 diffused   

散布的，普及的，扩散的

参考例句：

• A drop of milk diffused in the water. 一滴牛奶在水中扩散开来。
• Gases and liquids diffused. 气体和液体慢慢混合了。