Scott Porter, principal program manager for Xbox Music, said many music fans today relied on a variety of services like those, along with more traditional sellers of songs like iTunes, to satisfy all their musical needs. This approach, though, can be tedious. “The dilemma is that music has become work,” he said. “Our vision for Xbox Music is that it shouldn’t have to be work.” Xbox Music incorporates elements of all of those services. There is an option to buy songs, so a music fan can own them permanently with minimal restrictions. There are Pandora-like radio stations built around songs and similar-sounding music.

注（1）：本文选自The New York Times；

注（2）：本文习题模仿对象：习题第1、2、3、4题模仿2010年真题Text 2的第4、2、3、5题，第5题模仿2011年真题Text 1的第5题。



1. From the first paragraph, we can learn that ______.

A) music fans do not like Microsoft any longer

B) Zune was substituted by other services

C) Windows and the Xbox are Microsoft’s only powerful brands

D) Microsoft plans to regain success in digital music with its powerful brands

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?

A) The service provides consumers with songs on computers, tablets and Xbox console with no charge.

B) Microsoft won’t restrict the amount of the music download as time goes by.

C) Microsoft is sure that the service can beat Apple and Google.

D) Windows 8 and its Windows Phone and its first Microsoft-designed computer will release simultaneously.

3. The word “toehold”（Line 3, Paragraph 3）most probably means ______.

A) insistence

B) support

C) success

D) patience

4. Which of the following would be the topic of the text?

A) Microsoft introduces its powerful service: Windows and Xbox.

B) Microsoft turns to Windows and Xbox instead of its traditional style.

C) Microsoft’s Zune service was obsolete.

D) With the help of Windows and Xbox, Microsoft attempts to win victory in the field of music.

5. From the text we can see that the writer seems ______.

A) positive

B) negative

C) doubtful

D) objective





篇章剖析


本文是一篇说明文，主要讲述了微软想利用Windows和Xbox在数字音乐领域重振雄风。第一段主要讲微软原有品牌Zune已不复存在，为了在数字音乐领域增加胜算，微软集结了Windows和Xbox；第二段详细介绍Xbox Music的特点和上市时间；第三段接着指出，微软试图在数字音乐领域立足表明拥有强大的音乐服务对小型应用程序领域的商家十分重要；第四段通过与传统听歌模式的对比，突出了Xbox Music的高端性，强调它做得更加面面俱到。





词汇注释


facsimile /fækˈsɪməli/ n. 复制品；传真机

marshal /ˈmɑːʃl/ v. 整顿；集合

console /kənˈsəʊl/ n. 控制台，操纵台

flagship /ˈflægʃɪp/ n. 王牌产品；旗舰；佼佼者

antitrust /ˌæntiˈtrʌst/ adj. 反垄断的

toehold /ˈtəʊhəʊld/ n. 立足点

prerequisite /ˌpriːˈrekwəzɪt/ n. 先决条件，前提

gadget /ˈgædʒɪt / n. 小型应用程序；小配件

incorporate /ɪnˈkɔːpəreɪt/ v. 包含；合并





难句突破


In addition to Windows 8, a major new version of its flagship operating system that will start shipping on Oct. 26, the company is close to releasing a new version of its Windows Phone operating system for mobile phones and its first Microsoft-designed computer, a tablet device called Surface.

主体句式：The company is close to releasing a new version of...and its first...computer...

结构分析：这个长句看上去结构复杂，主要是因为其中有很多的修饰成分（前置定语和后置定语）。a major new version of...作Windows 8的同位语，起补充说明的作用，其中包含一个that引导的定语从句，进一步补充说明Windows 8的发售时间，而后面由and连接的两个并列短语作releasing的宾语，介绍Windows移动电话操作系统和平板电脑也即将发售。

句子译文：除了即将在10月26号发售的新一代王牌操作系统Windows 8，一款专门为手机用户研发的Windows移动电话操作系统和微软首次自主设计的平板电脑Surface，也即将推出。





题目分析


1. D 推理题。文章中提到：Now that the Zune brand is dead, Microsoft is once again in search of a hit in digital music. But this time, to improve its odds of success, it is marshaling some of its most powerful brands as never before: Windows and the Xbox. 由此可见，微软是想重振雄风。A、B和C选项表述都不准确，只有D选项是基于第一段内容可以推出的结论，故为答案。

2. A 细节题。原文对应信息是The service will let consumers listen free to any song on computers and tablets running the latest version of its Windows software, as well as on the Xbox console. 由此可知，这项服务能让用户免费听任何歌曲，故A选项正确。B、C、D选项与原文意思不符。

3. C 语义题。toehold本身拆开来是toe和hold，字面意思是“用脚趾头站立”，意译是“站得住脚”。由The arrangement could awaken antitrust concerns about Microsoft’s use of Windows to gain toeholds in new markets. 可知，微软利用Windows操作系统试图在新市场中赢得toeholds。根据常识可知，赢得的一般都是积极的、好的东西，而且全文一直说的都是微软想赢得新的胜利。因此，toehold在这里有“成功”的意思。

4. D 推断题。纵观全文，本文主要是介绍微软为了在数字音乐领域重振雄风，决定用自身强有力的品牌Windows和Xbox来增加其胜算的筹码。A、B和C选项皆是文章中的部分内容，不能以偏概全作为文章的主题。

5. D 情感态度题。本文作者自始至终都从非常客观的角度介绍微软的计划——希望在数字音乐领域重振雄风。作者没有加入任何个人观点，即使是对该计划取得的一些成果的表述也不是作者自己的看法，而是引用的事实或他人的评价。





参考译文


音乐迷们通常会把微软看做是一个糟透了的翻唱乐队，其音乐播放器和音乐服务Zune一直都在模仿苹果系统里的iPod和iTunes软件。如今，Zune品牌已不复存在，但是微软还想在数字音乐领域大出风头。但是这次，为了增加胜算，它前所未有地集结了几个自身最具影响力的品牌：Windows和Xbox。

周一，微软公司计划公布一种新的音乐服务，名为Xbox Music，它能为用户提供全球约3000万首歌曲。只要用户的电脑或平板电脑上安装了Windows软件的最新版本，在电脑或者在Xbox的操控面板上该服务允许用户免费收听任何歌曲。微软在最初将不限制音乐流量，但将来说不定。今年秋季，微软重拳出击，志在收复输给竞争对手尤其是苹果和谷歌的失地，这项服务的推出是微软一系列反击举措的一部分。除了即将在10月26号发售的新一代王牌操作系统Windows 8，一款专门为手机用户研发的Windows移动电话操作系统和微软首次自主设计的平板电脑Surface，也即将推出。

为了积极吸引更多的用户来使用这项服务，微软将把Xbox Music软件预装到Windows 8系统里。针对微软利用Windows操作系统试图在新市场立足这一事态，可能会引起新一轮的反垄断担忧。微软在这一市场的卷土重来说明，对于小型应用程序商业领域的任何一位严肃的商家来说，拥有一项强大的音乐服务是何等的重要。苹果公司最先演示了如何实现这一策略，它利用从iTunes Store里购买歌曲的便利性卖掉了更多的iPod。谷歌和亚马逊也有同样的举措，分别在它们的安卓和Kindle设备里安装了音乐商店软件。除了与这些大公司相抗衡，Xbox Music踏入了充斥着各种独立音乐服务的战场，这些服务带给用户不同的听觉体验。比如，Spotify为用户提供海量音乐点播，而潘多拉音乐电台则专门为满足用户的个人品位而设。

Xbox Music的项目经理斯科特·波特说，如今的音乐迷都依赖诸如Spotify和潘多拉音乐电台，以及像iTunes这种较传统的出售音乐的平台来满足他们所有听歌的需求。这些方式迟早会令人乏味。斯科特说：“这些方式的窘境在于只着重于音乐本身，而我们对Xbox Music的理解则是它是一个音乐播放平台。”Xbox音乐包含了以上所有的服务项目。你可以在Xbox里购买歌曲，这样你就能最大自由地永久收藏它们。Xbox Music也有类似于潘多拉的基于歌曲和类似音乐的广播电台。





Unit 43


DOTCOMS may be moribund, but inside companies, the Internet is still finding cost-saving new uses. “B2E—business-to-employee—didn’t have a crash,” says Bipin Patel, in charge of developing the potential of the corporate intranet at the Ford Motor Company. “It’s still growing.”

Ford has gone further than most companies to get its employees online: it offered its American employees personal computers, and 90% of them accepted. Ford hopes that the free PCs will save its own and its employees’ time by moving services online. General Motors, Ford’s great rival, considered a similar scheme but found that most employees willing to use PCs already had them. It is helping staff to pay for high-bandwidth connections instead.

At Ford, the human-resources department has pioneered a scheme to provide up-to-the-minute information to employees about pay and benefits. In the past, employees sometimes found that it took weeks to get a copy of the pay information they needed to do their tax returns, and the department’s staff spent mind-numbing hours answering the same questions from hundreds of different employees. Now employees can look at a password-protected site that displays their payslips over the previous 18 months. They can see all deductions, and the hours they worked. All this information was on the human-resources database: displaying it to employees has saved staff time.

“People want more and more of this self-service information, which they can manage themselves,” observes Mr Patel. “There is no such thing as information overload here, because it’s their information.” Even training seems to work better online: Ford employees can now download a range of courses, including one on “Listening and Handling Tough Situations”, all designed for digestion in 10- or 15-minute gobbets. The company claims to have cut training costs by $2m during the past six months, as fewer people leave their desks to learn.

The company also uses its intranet to communicate with its staff around the world. Jacques Nasser, Ford’s boss, sends out “Let’s chat” notes once a week. In fact, Mr Nasser does most of the chatting. He gets hundreds of e-mails in reply, but the communication is basically a one-way flow. The company also runs chatrooms, in which employees can question various inhouse experts and outside analysts live on the corporate intranet.

In time, thinks Mr Patel, communications technology will reshape corporate behaviour. It will encourage collaboration and team-working. Already, the Internet is causing disintermediation within companies, he argues, just as it did in e-commerce: the human-resources department does much less administration once the benefits system is more self-service, but rather more advising and consulting. One day, working in human resources might even be fun.

注（1）：本文选自Economist；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象：2004年真题Text 1。（其中个别题目顺序做了部分调整。）



1. How does the author introduce his topic?

A) Posing a contrast.

B) Justifying an assumption.

C) Explaining a phenomenon.

D) Making a comparison.

2. Why did Ford and GM intend to provide their employees with PCs?

A) PCs can help them save a lot.

B) B2E is a growing thing.

C) The employees prefer to use PCs.

D) Proving PCs is a way of competition.

3. Which of the following is NOT the advantage of Internet?

A) It can save time.

B) It can save cost.

C) It encourages collaboration and team-working.

D) It makes human-resources department an easy job.

4. The expression “a one-way flow”（Line 3, Paragraph 5）most probably means ______.

A) not encouraging open answers

B) only one side asking questions

C) only yes or no questions

D) the topics lacking variety

5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A) The Internet can help DOTCOMS come back to life.

B) The courses downloaded are practical, but time-consuming.

C) The Internet makes the work of human-resources department more direct and interesting.

D) The employees can manage all the information by themselves.





篇章剖析


本文介绍了某些公司借助国际互联网提高公司效率、节省开支的情况。文章第一段指出电子商务形式B2E（“企业对职员”）仍然处于发展阶段；第二段指出福特和通用公司类似的做法，希望电脑设施能为他们节省时间；第三段至第五段指出互联网在福特公司的具体应用；最后一段指出互联网对公司行为模式的影响。





词汇注释


moribund /ˈmɒrɪbʌnd;(US)ˈnɔːrɪ-/ adj. 即将结束的，濒临死亡的，即将灭亡的

tax returns 纳税申报表

mind-numbing /ˈmaɪndˈnʌmɪŋ/ adj. 令人麻木的

payslip /ˈpeɪslɪp/ n. 工资单

gobbet /ˈgɒbɪt/ n. 一片，一块（尤指生肉）；一点，少量；片段，引文

disintermediation /dɪsˌɪntəmiːdɪˈeɪʃən/ n. 不干预，脱媒（非中介化）（一般是指在进行交易时跳过所有中间人而直接在供需双方间进行）





背景注释


B2E即“企业对职员”，它强调的是职员，而不是客户或者企业。B2E解决日益突出的IT人才短缺状况。从某种程度上来说，它使企业调动一切可能的因素来吸引和挽留高素质的IT人才，比如：大胆的创新理念、优厚的待遇、深造机会、灵活的上班时间、丰厚的奖金以及职员授权策略等。





难句突破


Already, the Internet is causing disintermediation within companies, he argues, just as it did in e-commerce: the human-resources department does much less administration once the benefits system is more self-service, but rather more advising and consulting.

主体句式：The Internet is causing disintermediation within companies.

结构分析：本句的主句是the Internet is causing disintermediation within companies，he argues是插入语，连词as的意思是“如同，正如”，did指代的是cause disintermediation；冒号后的内容是对just as it did in e-commerce的解释说明。

句子译文：他论述说，正如电子商务中发生的脱媒现象一样——一旦津贴制度变得更加自助化，人力资源部所做的行政管理方面的工作会少得多，他们更多的是提供建议和咨询——互联网也正在导致公司之间的脱媒（非中介化）现象。





题目分析


1. C 细节题。本文通过阐述一种现象来引入话题。

2. A 细节题。文章第一段指出网络公司（DOTCOMS）也许即将灭亡，但是在公司内部，因特网仍然是节省成本的新办法。第二段指出福特公司希望把一些服务性信息放到网上，能够节省公司及其员工的时间，通用汽车公司也效仿这一做法。由此我们可以看出节约时间、节约开支是这两个公司想要给其员工配备电脑的原因。

3. D 细节题。文章中提到“the human-resources department does much less administration once the benefits system is more self-service”，但这并不意味着人力资源部的工作会有所减轻，只是工作形式有所改变，人力资源部将把更多的工作重心放在建议和咨询方面。

4. B 语义题。文章中提到多数情况下都是纳赛尔先生在聊天。虽然他收到回复的电子邮件有几百封，但基本上都是由他发问，别人来回答这种形式，因此这种交流是单向的。

5. C 细节题。原文对应信息是“One day, working in human resources might even be fun.”。选项A在文中对应的信息是“DOTCOMS may be moribund”；选项B对应的信息是“all designed for digestion in 10- or 15-minute gobbets”，它的意思是“所有这些课程的设计保证学员能在10至15分钟内消化理解”；选项D对应的信息是“People want more and more of this self-service information, which they can manage themselves”，我们无法确定是否所有这些信息员工都能自行管理。





参考译文


网络公司（DOTCOMS）也许即将灭亡，但是在公司内部，互联网仍然是节省成本的新办法。“B2E（企业对职员）并没有失败。”福特汽车公司负责开发企业内部网潜力的拜平·帕特尔说，“相反，它仍然在发展。”

在员工上网工程建设方面，福特比多数公司做得都要多：它给每个美国员工提供个人电脑，而90%的员工都接受了。福特把一些服务性信息放到网上，意在节省公司及其员工的时间。福特公司的主要竞争对手通用汽车公司也已考虑实施相似的计划，但发现多数愿意使用个人电脑的员工已经有了电脑。因此，它正在帮助职员支付高速宽带连接费用。

在福特公司，人力资源部新制定了一项计划，为员工提供有关薪水和津贴的最新信息。在过去，员工有时发现，他们要等上好几个星期才能得到一张用于纳税的薪水信息的复印件，而人力资源部的职员却不得不晕头晕脑地花好几个小时来回答几百个不同员工提出的同一个问题。现在，职员们可以在密码保护的网站上查看他们过去18个月的工资单。他们可查看所有的扣除额和工作时间等信息。所有这些信息都放在人力资源部的数据库里：公布这些信息节省了员工的时间。

“人们越来越多地需要这类自助信息，这些信息能够帮助他们进行自我管理，”帕特尔先生说，“这里根本没有所谓的信息超载一说，因为这是他们需要的信息。”在线培训的效果甚至更好：现在，福特的员工可以从网上下载系列课程，其中包括一个有关“倾听和处理棘手情况”的课程。所有这些课程的设计保证学员能在10至15分钟内消化理解。公司声称，在过去的半年里，培训费用减少了200万美元，因为几乎没有人丢下他们的工作去学习。

公司还用公司的内部网与世界各地的员工进行通信联络。福特公司的老板雅克·纳赛尔每周发一个“让我们聊天”的帖子。实际上，多数情况都是纳赛尔先生在聊天。他收到回复的电子邮件有几百封，但交流基本上是单向的。福特公司还经营聊天室。员工们可在聊天室向在线做客的公司内部专家和公司外的分析人员提各种各样的问题。

帕特尔认为，通信技术最终将再造公司的行为方式。它将鼓励合作和团队精神。他论述说，正如电子商务中发生的脱媒现象一样——一旦津贴制度变得更加自助化，人力资源部所做的行政管理方面的工作会少得多，他们更多的是提供建议和咨询——互联网也正在导致公司之间的脱媒（非中介化）现象。总有一天，人力资源部的工作甚至会充满乐趣。





Unit 44


Just over 20 years ago, IBM introduced the PC jr. Derided as awkward and underpowered, the PC jr. never caught on with kids or parents. But then again, IBM didn’t have the Mouse behind it.

Backed by a posse of Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto, the Walt Disney Co. is looking to do what IBM never could: successfully market a computer system designed specifically for kids. The Disney Dream Desk PC（$600）and its complementary big-eared, 14.1-inch monitor（$300）are aimed at kids ranging from 6 to 12 years old. But even though the system is embellished with images of Mickey and software featuring Donald Duck and Goofy, the Dream Desk is more than a toy.

Using Microsoft Windows XP, the Disney system is based on an Intel Celeron D processor and comes with a 40-gigabyte hard drive plus a combination CD burner and DVD player—serious enough hardware to manage games or homework. As an added feature, there’s a stylus that sits in a cradle built into the keyboard. The stylus is a more comfortable pointing device than a mouse for little hands, and it also lets children create their own digital sketches.