2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 37

Unit 37

Ten years ago this week a black box was demonstrated at a broadcasters’ convention in Las Vegas. TiVo’s digital video recorder（DVR）was expensive: the cheapest model cost $499. But it was hailed as revolutionary. It was much more flexible and easier to programme than a videocassette recorder. It allowed people to record and play back at the same time, so they could start watching a programme 20 minutes after it had started and fast-forward through all the advertisements. Experts forecast a severe, perhaps fatal, blow to advertising-supported television. Yet DVRs turn out to have done little damage. Indeed, DVRs may even have protected television and made it more conservative.

As prices fell and cable and satellite firms began to bundle DVRs with other services, their popularity soared. According to Nielsen, a media-research outfit, 29% of American homes now have one. The boxes are in a higher proportion of the households advertisers most care about. Jack Wakshlag of Turner Broadcasting, a cable company, calculates that DVR-owning households earn about $20,000 more than average. Yet those households do not use them nearly as much as one might expect. Families with DVRs seem to spend 15-20% of their viewing time watching pre-recorded shows, and skip only about half of all advertisements. This means only about 5% of television is time-shifted and less than 3% of all advertisements are skipped. Mitigating that loss, people with DVRs watch more television.

Just because technology enables people to do something does not mean they will, particularly when it comes to a medium as indolence-inducing as television. And people have become lazier. Early adopters of DVRs used them a lot—not surprisingly, since they paid so much for them. Later adopters use them much less（about two-thirds less, according to a recent study）. David Poltrack, head of research and planning at CBS, another broadcast network, reckons the networks have already felt most of the DVR’s effects.

Advertisers and television networks have pushed back even against this puny threat. They have developed relatively static advertisements that get a message across even at high speed. They put snippets of programming in the middle of ad breaks. One trick, described by Todd Juenger of TiVo as “closer to a silver bullet”, is to run advertisements that resemble programmes—in some cases featuring stars from the show people are trying to watch.

Far from being revolutionary, in some ways DVR has made television more stable. With the exception of live events it is broadly true that the most popular programmes are recorded the most. Mr Wakshlag describes it as “a hit-saving machine”. Broadcast television receives a bigger boost from DVR playback than cable television. The device has made it harder to introduce a new television programme, particularly at 10pm when people are likely to be playing back shows they recorded at 8pm or 9pm.

One reason television executives have calmed down about DVRs is that they have something else to worry about. Hulu and other video-streaming websites, which are becoming more popular, give a great deal of control to consumers and are thought to pose a threat to advertising-supported television. Does that sound familiar?

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象：第1、4、5題分別模仿2002年真題Text 4第1題和Text 3第4、5題，第2題模仿2001年真題Text 2第2題，第3題模仿2004年真題Text 1第3題。

1. From the second paragraph we learn that ______.

A) the development of DVR is just like what was predicted

B) the households owning DVRs are relatively rich

C) DVR is frequently used by the households that advertisers most care about

D) owners of DVR use it to skip most of all advertisements

2. David Poltrack’s comment in paragraph three probably means that ______.

A) DVR’s influence on television is relatively small

B) people do not always make use of advantages brought by technology

C) technology sometimes make people become lazier

D) the networks survive thanks to the indolence of later DVR adopters

3. The phrase “silver bullet”（Line 4, Paragraph 4）most probably means ______.

A) a bullet made of silver

B) a method with much financial input

C) an economical approach

D) an extremely effective solution

4. In the last sentence of the article, the author implies that ______.

A) the result of fear about video-steaming website may turn out to be similar as that of DVR

B) video-streaming websites are posing a serious threat to television as DVR did

C) video-steaming websites give consumers much controlling power just as DVR did

D) television executive worry about video-steaming websites as they did about DVR

5. The author’s viewpoint towards the prospect of television industry seems to be ______.

A) critical

B) positive

C) biased

D) objective

篇章剖析

本文主要講述了DVR對電視產(chǎn)業(yè)造成的影響。開篇講述了DVR誕生之初被認(rèn)為將帶來電視產(chǎn)業(yè)的滅亡，最終結(jié)果卻出乎預(yù)料：DVR影響甚微，有可能還保護(hù)了電視產(chǎn)業(yè)；第二、三段分析了此現(xiàn)象背后的種種原因，引用了若干研究調(diào)查的結(jié)果；第四段指出廣告商和電視公司仍然針對DVR采取了一些策略；第五段進(jìn)一步描述了DVR對電視產(chǎn)業(yè)的積極影響；最后一段則指出，電視產(chǎn)業(yè)正面臨著新的挑戰(zhàn)，但很可能也不會構(gòu)成嚴(yán)重威脅。

詞匯注釋

convention /k?n?ven??n/ n. 會議，大會

hail /he?l/ v. 贊揚(yáng)，稱頌為…

videocassette /?v?d???k??set/ n. 盒式錄像帶

conservative /k?n?s??v?t?v/ adj. 保守的，傳統(tǒng)的

bundle /?b?ndl/ v. 捆，把…扎成一包

soar /s??/ v. 猛增，暴漲

indolence /??nd?l?ns/ n. 懶散，懶惰

puny /?pju?ni/ adj. 微小的，次要的

snippet /?sn?p?t/ n. 碎片，斷片

resemble /r??zembl/ v. 相似，類似

難句突破

One trick, described by Todd Juenger of TiVo as “closer to a silver bullet”, is to run advertisements that resemble programmes—in some cases featuring stars from the show people are trying to watch.

主體句式：One trick is to run advertisements.

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句中主句的主語one trick之后插入了一個分詞短語，補(bǔ)充說明主語。that resemble programmes為定語從句，修飾先行詞advertisements。破折號之后的部分進(jìn)一步補(bǔ)充說明advertisements，其中the show后面還帶了一個省略that的定語從句。

句子譯文：其中一個技巧，據(jù)TiVo的托德·榮格爾說“簡直就是制勝之道”，就是使廣告與節(jié)目相似——在某些情況下，出演廣告的明星正是來自觀眾想收看的節(jié)目。

題目分析

1. B 推理題。作者在第二段中指出，“擁有DVR的家庭的收入大約超出平均水平兩萬美元”，因此選項B正確。盡管該段開頭說預(yù)測從某種程度上來說是正確的，但段落中間的一個Yet筆鋒一轉(zhuǎn)，引出DVR的使用情況并不像人們預(yù)期的那樣，可見A選項是不正確的。既然DVR的使用沒有預(yù)期的那么頻繁，所以C不正確。該段還指出“只有不到3%的廣告被跳過”，可見D也不正確。

2. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。雖然David Poltrack的話出現(xiàn)在第三段，但其實與第四段的關(guān)系更加緊密。David Poltrack指出，廣播電視網(wǎng)絡(luò)已經(jīng)經(jīng)受了DVR的大部分影響。第四段開頭緊接著指出DVR的威脅是微不足道的，因此A是最佳選擇。B和C的信息雖然在第四段中有所提及，但都與題干中的問題無關(guān)。而D選項表述的因果關(guān)系在文中并沒有明確描述，因此也不正確。

3. D 語義題。根據(jù)文章第四段，“其中一個技巧…是使廣告與節(jié)目相似——在某些情況下，出演廣告的明星正是來自觀眾想收看的節(jié)目”。可見這是一個非常好的方法，就像銀色子彈一樣，因此選D。而選項B所說的資金投入和選項C所說的經(jīng)濟(jì)實惠都沒有體現(xiàn)。

4. A 推理題。根據(jù)上一句“Hulu和其他的流媒體網(wǎng)站變得越來越流行，給予了消費者極大的主導(dǎo)權(quán)，被認(rèn)為威脅到了靠廣告支持的電視產(chǎn)業(yè)”，似乎選項B和C都符合文章的意思。但是最后一句話其實呼應(yīng)了開頭，因為十年前人們擔(dān)心DVR會導(dǎo)致電視產(chǎn)業(yè)衰落，但事實上DVR反而進(jìn)一步鞏固了后者的發(fā)展。現(xiàn)在人們又開始擔(dān)心流媒體網(wǎng)站會取代電視產(chǎn)業(yè)，可以推斷作者認(rèn)為這種擔(dān)心很可能也是多余的，因此A最符合這個意思。

5. B 情感態(tài)度題。作者全篇都使用了客觀的口吻。但從整篇文章來看，作者一直不斷地說明DVR反而保護(hù)了電視產(chǎn)業(yè)。通過最后一段也可以看出，作者認(rèn)為新技術(shù)的出現(xiàn)不會對電視產(chǎn)業(yè)構(gòu)成實質(zhì)性的威脅，所以作者對電視產(chǎn)業(yè)的前景還是持樂觀態(tài)度的。

參考譯文

十年前的這一周，在拉斯維加斯舉辦的廣播會展上展示了一個黑盒子。這就是TiVo數(shù)字錄像機(jī)（簡稱DVR），它價格昂貴，最便宜的型號都標(biāo)價499美元。但它卻被譽(yù)為一項革命性的發(fā)明。DVR比卡帶錄像機(jī)更加靈活，更易于編制視頻。人們用DVR就可以一邊錄像一邊回放，所以人們可以在節(jié)目開始20分鐘后觀看，并且快進(jìn)跳過所有廣告。專家預(yù)言DVR將嚴(yán)重甚至致命打擊靠廣告支持的電視產(chǎn)業(yè)。但結(jié)果DVR并沒有造成什么損害。事實上，DVR甚至可能保護(hù)了電視產(chǎn)業(yè)并使之更加保守。

隨著價格下降以及有線電視和衛(wèi)星廣播公司開始把DVR和其他服務(wù)捆綁銷售，DVR的普及程度直線上升。媒體研究機(jī)構(gòu)Nielsen的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，現(xiàn)在29%的美國家庭擁有DVR。在廣告商最關(guān)注的那些美國家庭中，DVR的比例更高。來自有線電視公司Turner廣播公司的杰克·瓦克施萊格估計，擁有DVR的家庭的收入大約超出平均水平兩萬美元。然而那些家庭并沒有像人們想象的那樣頻繁使用DVR。擁有DVR的家庭觀看事先錄好的節(jié)目的時間，大概占觀看電視時間的15~20%，而且跳過了約3%的廣告。DVR的用戶看了更多的電視，從而減輕了廣告損失。

科技使得人們有能力做某些事情，但這并不意味著他們就會去做那些事情，尤其是涉及電視這種讓人變得懶惰的媒介時。而現(xiàn)在的人們確實越來越懶了。早期的用戶經(jīng)常使用DVR——這并不奇怪，因為這是他們花高價購買的。后來的用戶就用得少多了（根據(jù)最近的研究，使用頻率約降低了2/3）。另一家廣播公司CBS的研究及策劃組組長戴維·波特克認(rèn)為，DVR對其電視網(wǎng)絡(luò)的沖擊也就到這種程度。

即使面對如此微小的威脅，廣告商和電視廣播公司也采取了應(yīng)對措施。他們開發(fā)出了相對靜態(tài)的廣告，使得即使在快進(jìn)中也能看到信息。他們把節(jié)目片段插在廣告時段的中間。其中一個技巧，據(jù)TiVo的托德·榮格爾說“簡直就是制勝之道”，就是使廣告與節(jié)目相似——在某些情況下，出演廣告的明星正是來自觀眾想收看的節(jié)目。

DVR不但沒有掀起革命，從某些方面來說反而使電視產(chǎn)業(yè)更加穩(wěn)固。除了現(xiàn)場直播，大體上來說最流行的節(jié)目被錄制的頻率最高。瓦克施萊格先生將DVR描述為“熱門節(jié)目儲藏機(jī)”。相比有線電視，DVR的回放功能對廣播電視的推動作用最大。DVR使得推廣新的電視節(jié)目變得更加困難，尤其是晚間10點檔，這個時候人們可能正在回放晚上8點或9點錄好的節(jié)目。

電視主管現(xiàn)在不那么緊張DVR的原因之一是他們有其他事情需要擔(dān)心。Hulu和其他的流媒體網(wǎng)站變得越來越流行，給予了消費者極大的主導(dǎo)權(quán)，被認(rèn)為威脅到了靠廣告支持的電視產(chǎn)業(yè)。是不是聽起來有點耳熟呢？