VOA慢速英语2021--艺术爱好者以660万美元购买数字作品

When a painting by a famous artist like Vincent Van Gogh sells for millions of dollars, it makes headlines. But what about a digital work made by a current artist? Would you expect it to sell for $6.6 million?

That is exactly what happened last week, with a 10-second video made by the artist known as BEEPLE.

Last year, an art collector from Florida bought Beeple's video for about $67,000. Last week, the collector sold the video for $6.6 million.

The video artwork shows former U.S. President Donald Trump¹ on the ground, with his body covered in slogans – phrases used by groups to gain attention.

The marketplace for digital work is growing quickly. Thanks to software that guarantees a digital file is unique, such art buys are becoming more common. The software is called blockchain. It acts as a "digital signature" and proves that an item that may only exist virtually³ is one-of-a-kind.

Beeple's real name is Mike Winkelmann. He has another digital work of art that is being sold by Christie's, a famous auction⁴ company. The artwork is a collection of 5,000 photos. So far, offers have reached $3 million.

When the auction ends, Christie's will accept payment⁵ in traditional money or in the virtual² currency known as Ether.

Noah Davis works⁶ for Christie's. He said, "We are in unknown territory."

It's not just artwork that is being sold this way.

For many years, people have traded sports cards -- thick pieces of paper that had pictures of sports stars. Eventually, some of those sports cards became valuable and would sell for many thousands of dollars.

Sports cards are still popular, but some sports leagues are moving into the digital world, as well.

For example, the National Basketball Association⁷ has a new marketplace for trading short videos, called Top Shot.

Short videos of big moments from games, like a dunk by LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, are selling for thousands of dollars. The largest sale on the site so far came in February, when a user⁸ bought the dunk by James for $208,000.

One Top Shot user told the Reuters news agency⁹ he had bought items on the marketplace for about $1 million and re-sold them for almost $5 million.

Experts in the business of buying and selling digital items say people are getting more used to the idea of owning something they cannot touch.

Andrew Steinwold runs an investment¹⁰ fund¹¹ that buys and then re-sells these digital files. The fund started in January with a value of $6 million.

While he said he warns investors¹² to be careful with their money, he also thinks there is the possibility for the market for digital files to increase over time.

"I think it's going to reach into the trillions of dollars one day," he said.

Words in This Story

digital –n. using or characterized¹³ by computer technology

unique –adj. belonging to or connected with only one particular thing, place, or person

signature –n. a person's name written in that person's handwriting

virtual –adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet

auction –n. a public sale at which things are sold to the people who offer to pay the most

dunk –n. the act of jumping high in the air and pushing (the ball) down through the basket

fund –n. an amount of money that is used for a special purpose

item –n. an individual thing

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

3 virtually   

adv.实际上，事实上

参考例句：

• The job was virtually completed by the end of the week.到周末时这项工作差不多完成了。
• He was virtually a prisoner.他实际上是个囚犯。

4 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

5 payment   

n.付款，支付，偿还，偿还，报应

参考例句：

• I gave ten pounds in payment for the goods I bought.我买那些东西付了10英镑。
• This last payment will wipe out your debt to me.这最后一笔付款将了结你欠我的债务。

6 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

7 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

8 user   

n.用户，使用者

参考例句：

• The company is the biggest user of oil.该公司是最大的石油用户。
• The umbrella keeps the rains off the user.雨伞使撑伞人免受雨淋。

9 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

10 investment   

n.投资，投资额；(时间、精力等的)投入

参考例句：

• It took two years before I recouped my investment.我用了两年时间才收回投资。
• The success of the project pivots on investment from abroad.这个工程的成功主要依靠外来投资。

11 fund   

n.基金，资金，存款，财源，贮藏；vt.提供资金，积累

参考例句：

• They decided to set up a fund for this purpose.他们决定为此专立一项基金。
• This fund may not be drawn on without permission.这笔钱非经批准不得动用。

12 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

13 characterized   

adj.[医]具有特征的v.是…的特征( characterize的过去式和过去分词 )；以…为特征；描述（人或物）的特性；使…具有特点（或最引人注目的特征）

参考例句：

• Mozart's music is characterized by its naivety and clarity. 莫扎特的音乐特色是纯朴兴清澈。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The world situation is characterized by turbulence and intranquility. 世界局势动荡不安。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》