2007年研究生入学考试英语模拟试题

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Having failed to crush down digital piracy, can the record industry merge its way out of trouble? That question has been around since late last year when EMI, the world’s biggest independent record company, is said to have begun talks to revive two old merger ideas. In time, some expect the five big companies to become three.
Piracy remains the biggest headache. The record industry has squashed Napster in the courts, but other online music-swapping services have sprung up in its place. The industry is suing this and other file-sharing services, but new ones emerge as fast as old ones are shut down. Little wonder that sales of recorded music dropped in 2002 by an estimated 9%.
In this shrinking market, the savings that might be squeezed from a merger offer a lifeline. However, consolidation is but one of three strategies that the industry hopes will help it survive as it works out how to beat the pirates. A second is a renewed effort to rely less on instant stars and more on long-term talent. Overnight stars can fade as fast as they are born. Hear’Say, a British band assembled by a TV talent show two years ago and signed to Vivendi Universal’s Polydor, went straight to number one with its first album; now the band has split up.
A third idea is to transform narrowly defined record firms into broader music companies. Revenues from touring, concerts, and sponsorship added about 40% to global sales of recorded music in 2001, making the global music industry worth $47.6 billion, according to a recent report by Music Week. Some new sorts of music revenues are emerging: sales of snatches of songs to use as mobile-phone ring-tones raised $ 71m last year for artists, according to Informa Media, a research group — small, but 58% up on 2001.
For a true star, the extra pot is far bigger: record companies get only 15% of all revenues generated by such an artist, although they have made the star’s name and marketed his brand. The rest goes to the singer, agent, manager, producer and assorted other hangers-on.
Even if the industry buys itself time through consolidation and other strategies, its long-term health requires a solution to piracy. Investing in musicians is ultimately about building a back catalogue of hits that provide an ongoing source of revenues. But what is the point of a back catalogue if pirates are helping themselves to its tracks for nothing? If that is the outcome, the winners from today’s merger talks could simply be the sellers.

31. Digital piracy is something
[A] the record industry must fight against.
[B] getting more pervasive since last year.
[C] merger companies are responsible for.
[D] incurred in EMI’s merger strategies.

32. The statement “the extra pot” (Line 1, 5) implies that
[A] selling song snatches bring in big revenues.
[B] stars’ records are best-sellers in a shrinking markets.
[C] some stars might reap earnings extravagantly.
[D] many musicians are underpaid by their companies.

33. It can be inferred from the text that pirates
[A] threaten to do more harm than good.
[B] are insensitive to the emergence of stars.
[C] crush down the initiative of investors.
[D] are likely to pose a real challenge.

34. Which of the following is true according to the text?
[A] A combination of different strategies paves the way for further expansion.
[B] The record industry is desperately seeking a way out of its problems.
[C] The short-term consolidation proves to be best solution to digital piracy.
[D] There would be awkward negotiations between mergers and pirates.

35. From the text we can see that the writer seems
[A] indifferent.
[B] confident.
[C] apprehensive.
[D] pessimistic.