Selling Digital Music without Copy-protection Makes Sense
A. It was uncharacteristically low-key for the industry’s greatest showman. But the essay published this week by Steve Jobs, the boss of Apple, on his firm’s website under the unassuming title “Thoughts on Music” has nonetheless provoked a vigorous debate about the future of digital music, which Apple dominates with its iPod music-player and iTunes music-store. At issue is “digital rights management” (DRM)—the technology guarding downloaded music against theft. Since there is no common standard for DRM, it also has the side-effect that songs purchased for one type of music-player may not work on another. Apple’s DRM system, called FairPlay, is the most widespread. So it came as a surprise when Mr. Jobs called for DRM for digital music to be abolished.
B. This is a change of tack for Apple. It has come under fire from European regulators who claim that its refusal to license FairPlay to other firms has “locked in” customers. Since music from the iTunes store cannot be played on non-iPod music-players (at least not without a lot of fiddling), any iTunes buyer will be deterred from switching to a device made by a rival firm, such as Sony or Microsoft. When French lawmakers drafted a bill last year compelling Apple to open up FairPlay to rivals, the company warned of “state-sponsored piracy”. Only DRM, it implied, could keep the pirates at bay.
C. This week Mr. Jobs gave another explanation for his former defence of DRM: the record companies made him do it. They would make their music available to the iTunes store only if Apple agreed to protect it using DRM. They can still withdraw their catalogues if the DRM system is compromised. Apple cannot license FairPlay to others, says Mr Jobs, because it would depend on them to produce security fixes promptly. All DRM does is restrict consumer choice and provide a barrier to entry, says Mr Jobs; without it there would be far more stores and players, and far more innovation. So, he suggests, why not do away with DRM and sell music unprotected? “This is clearly the best alternative for consumers,” he declares, “and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat.”
D. Why the sudden change of heart? Mr Jobs seems chiefly concerned with getting Europe’s regulators off his back. Rather than complaining to Apple about its use of DRM, he suggests, “those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free.” Two and a half of the four big record companies, he helpfully points out, are European-owned. Mr Jobs also hopes to paint himself as a consumer champion. Apple resents accusations that it has become the Microsoft of digital music.
E. Apple can afford to embrace open competition in music players and online stores. Consumers would gravitate to the best player and the best store, and at the moment that still means Apple’s. Mr Jobs is evidently unfazed by rivals to the iPod. Since only 3% of the music in a typical iTunes library is protected, most of it can already be used on other players today, he notes. (And even the protected tracks can be burned onto a CD and then re-ripped.) So Apple’s dominance evidently depends far more on branding and ease of use than DRM-related “lock in”.
F. The music giants are trying DRM-free downloads. Lots of smaller labels already sell music that way. Having seen which way the wind is blowing, Mr Jobs now wants to be seen not as DRM’s defender, but as a consumer champion who helped in its downfall. Wouldn’t it lead to a surge in piracy? No, because most music is still sold unprotected on CDs, people wishing to steal music already can do so. Indeed, scrapping DRM would probably increase online-music sales by reducing confusion and incompatibility. With the leading online store, Apple would benefit most. Mr Jobs’s argument, in short, is transparently self-serving. It also happens to be right.
Notes to Reading Passage 1
1. low-key:
抑制的，受约束的，屈服的
2. showman:
开展览会的人, 出风头的人物
3. unassuming:
谦逊的, 不夸耀的, 不装腔作势的
4. iPod：
(苹果公司出产的)音乐播放器
5. iTunes store：
(苹果公司出产的)在线音乐商店
6. get off person’s back:
不再找某人的麻烦，摆脱某人的纠缠
7. gravitate:
受吸引，倾向于
8. unfazed:
不再担忧，不被打扰
Questions 1-7
Do the following statemets reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1?
Write your answer in Boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.
TRUE if the statement reflets the claims of the writer
FALSE if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossbile to say what the writer thinks about this
1. Apple enjoys a controlling position in digital music market with its iPod music-player and iTunes music-store.
2. DRM is a government decree issued with a purpose to protect downloaded music from theft by consumers.
3. Lack of standardization in DRM makes songs bought for one kind of music player may not function on another.
4. Apple has been criticized by European regulators since it has refused to grant a license FairPlay to other firms.
5. All music can be easily played on non-iPod music devices from Sony or Microsoft without too much fiddling.
6. Apple depends far more on DRM rather than branding for its dominance of the digital music devices.
7. If DRM was cancelled, Sony would certainly dominate the international digital music market.
Questions 8-10
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 8-10 on your answe sheet.
8. Which of the following statements about Mr. Jobs’ idea of DRM is NOT TRUE?
A. DRM places restrictions on consumer’ choice of digital music products available.
B. DRM comples iTunes buyers to switch to a device made by Sony or Microsoft.
C. DRM constitutes a barrier for potential consumers to enter digital music markets.
D. DRM hinders development of more stores and players and technical innovation.
9. The word “unfazed” in line 3 of paragraph E, means___________.
A. refused
B. welcomed
C. not bothered
D. not well received
10. Which of the following statements is TRUE if DRM was scapped?
A. Sony would gain the most profit.
B. More customers would be “locked in”.
C. A sudden increase in piracy would occur.
D. Online-music sales would probably decrease.
Questions 11-14
Complete the notes below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Reading Passage 1 for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.
Mr. Steve Jobs, the boss of Apple, explains the reason why he used to defend DRM, saying that the company was forced to do so: the record companies would make their music accessible to …11...only if they agreed to protect it using DRM; they can still…12…if the DRM system is compromised. He also provides the reason why Apple did not license FairPlay to others: the company relies on them to …13….But now he changes his mind with a possible expectation that Europe’s regulators would not trouble him any more in the future. He proposes that those who are unsatisfactory with the current situation in digital music market should …14… towards persuade the music companies to sell their music DRM-free.
更新时间:2024-11-16 08:45:351. TRUE
See the second sentence in Paragraph A “… the future of digital music, which Apple dominates with its iPod music-player and iTunes music-store.”
2. FALSE
See the third sentence in Paragraph A “…At issue is “digital rights management” (DRM)—the technology guarding downloaded music against theft.”
3. TRUE
See the fourth sentence in Paragraph A “Since there is no common standard for DRM, it also has the side-effect that songs purchased for one type of music-player may not work on another.”
4. TRUE
See the second sentence in Paragraph B “It has come under fire from European regulators who claim that its refusal to license FairPlay to other firms has “locked in” customers.”
5. NOT GIVEN
The third sentence in Paragaph B only mentions music from the iTunes store, nothing about that of Sony or Microsoft. “Since music from the iTunes store cannot be played on non-iPod music-players (at least not without a lot of fiddling).”
6. FALSE
See the last sentence in Paragraph E “So Apple’s dominance evidently depends far more on branding and ease of use than DRM-related “lock in”.
7. NOT GIVEN
See the fourth sentence in Paragraph F only mentions music generally, no particular information about business prospect of Sony “Indeed, scrapping DRM would probably increase online-music sales by reducing confusion and incompatibility.”
8. B
See the fourth sentence of Paragraph C “All DRM does is restrict consumer choice and provide a barrier to entry, says Mr Jobs; without it there would be far more stores and players, and far more innovation.”
9. C
See the third sentence of Paragraph E and the context “Mr Jobs is evidently unfazed by rivals to the iPod. Since only 3% of the music in a typical iTunes library is protected, most of it can already be used on other players today.”
10. A
See the last four sentences of Paragraph F “Wouldn’t it lead to a surge in piracy? No, because most music is still sold unprotected on CDs, people wishing to steal music already can do so. Indeed, scrapping DRM would probably increase online-music sales by reducing confusion and incompatibility. With the leading online store, Apple would benefit most.”
11. the iTunes store
See the second sentence of Paragraph C “They would make their music available to the iTunes store only if Apple agreed to protect it using DRM.”
12. withdraw their catalogues
See the third sentence of Paragraph C “They can still withdraw their catalogues if the DRM system is compromised.”
13. produce security fixes
See the fourth sentence of Paragraph C “Apple cannot license FairPlay to others, says Mr Jobs, because it would depend on them to produce security fixes promptly.”
14. redirect their energies
See the second sentence of Paragraph D “Rather than complaining to Apple about its use of DRM, he suggests, “those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free.”
暂无解析
1. A European spacecraft took off today to spearhead the search for another "Earth" among the stars.
2. The Corot space telescope blasted off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan shortly after 2.20pm.
3. Corot, short for convection rotation and planetary transits, is the first instrument capable of finding small rocky planets beyond the solar system. Any such planet situated in the right orbit stands a good chance of having liquid water on its surface, and quite possibly life, although a leading scientist involved in the project said it was unlikely to find "any little green men".
4. Developed by the French space agency, CNES, and partnered by the European Space Agency (ESA), Austria, Belgium, Germany, Brazil and Spain, Corot will monitor around 120,000 stars with its 27cm telescope from a polar orbit 514 miles above the Earth. Over two and a half years, it will focus on five to six different areas of the sky, measuring the brightness of about 10,000 stars every 512 seconds.
5. "At the present moment we are hoping to find out more about the nature of planets around stars which are potential habitats. We are looking at habitable planets, not inhabited planets. We are not going to find any little green men," Professor Ian Roxburgh, an ESA scientist who has been involved with Corot since its inception, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
6. Prof Roxburgh said it was hoped Corot would find "rocky planets that could develop an atmosphere and, if they are the right distance from their parent star, they could have water".
7. To search for planets, the telescope will look for the dimming of starlight caused when an object passes in front of a star, known as a "transit". Although it will take more sophisticated space telescopes planned in the next 10 years to confirm the presence of an Earth-like planet with oxygen and liquid water, Corot will let scientists know where to point their lenses.
8. Measurements of minute changes in brightness will enable scientists to detect giant Jupiter-like gas planets as well as small rocky ones. It is the rocky planets - that could be no bigger than about twice the size of the Earth - which will cause the most excitement. Scientists expect to find between 10 and 40 of these smaller planets.
9. Corot will also probe into stellar interiors by studying the acoustic waves that ripple across the surface of stars, a technique called "asteroseismology".
10. The nature of the ripples allows astronomers to calculate a star’s precise mass, age and chemical composition.
11. "A planet passing in front of a star can be detected by the fall in light from that star. Small oscillations of the star also produce changes in the light emitted, which reveal what the star is made of and how they are structured internally. This data will provide a major boost to our understanding of how stars form and evolve," Prof Roxburgh said.
12. Since the discovery in 1995 of the first "exoplanet" - a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun - more than 200 others have been found by ground-based observatories.
13. Until now the usual method of finding exoplanets has been to detect the "wobble" their gravity imparts on parent stars. But only giant gaseous planets bigger than Jupiter can be found this way, and they are unlikely to harbour life.
14. In the 2010s, ESA plans to launch Darwin, a fleet of four or five interlinked space telescopes that will not only spot small rocky planets, but analyse their atmospheres for signs of biological activity.
15. At around the same time, the US space agency, Nasa, will launch Terrestrial Planet Finder, another space telescope designed to locate Earth-like planets.
Choose the appropriate letter from A-D for question 1.
1. Corot is an instrument which
(A) can help to search for certain planets
(B) is used to find planets in the orbit
(C) can locate planets with human beings
(D) can spot any planets with water.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? For questions 2-5 write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contraicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this in the passage
2. Scientists are trying to find out about the planets that can be inhabited.
3. BBC Radio 4 recently focuses on the broadcasting of Corot.
4. Passing objects might cause a fall in light.
5. Corot can tell whether there is another Earth-like planet.
Based on your reading of the passage, complete the sentences below with words taken from the passage. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
With measurements, scientists will be able to search for some gaseous and rocky planets. They will be extremely excited if they can discover some small 6. __________, the expected number of which could be up to 7. __________ .
Corot will enable scientists to study the 8. __________ of stars. In this way, a star’s mass, age and chemical composition can be calculated.
According to Prof Roxburgh, changes in light can be caused by passing planets or star 9. __________. The related statistics can gain us a better 10. __________ of the star formation and evolvement.
Observatories have found many exoplanets, which are 11. __________ other stars than the Sun. The common way used in finding exoplanets can only detect huge gas planets, which do not 12. ___________ .
With the launching of Darwin, astronomers will be able to analyse whether those rocky planets have 13. __________ for life.
-----Dad，lookatthebuilding.Itisonfire.
-----Call119____________mobilephonerightnow
-----Wouldyoumindmyusingyourpen?
-----_______________.
Dadwenttobuysome__________as__________formycousin.
1.AEuropeanspacecrafttookofftodaytospearheadthesearchforanother"Earth"amongthestars.
2.TheCorotspacetelescopeblastedoffaboardaRussianSoyuzrocketfromtheBaikonurcosmodromeinKazakhstanshortlyafter2.20pm.
3.Corot,shortforconvectionrotationandplanetarytransits,isthefirstinstrumentcapableoffindingsmallrockyplanetsbeyondthesolarsystem.Anysuchplanetsituatedintherightorbitstandsagoodchanceofhavingliquidwateronitssurface,andquitepossiblylife,althoughaleadingscientistinvolvedintheprojectsaiditwasunlikelytofind"anylittlegreenmen".
4.DevelopedbytheFrenchspaceagency,CNES,andpartneredbytheEuropeanSpaceAgency(ESA),Austria,Belgium,Germany,BrazilandSpain,Corotwillmonitoraround120,000starswithits27cmtelescopefromapolarorbit514milesabovetheEarth.Overtwoandahalfyears,itwillfocusonfivetosixdifferentareasofthesky,measuringthebrightnessofabout10,000starsevery512seconds.
5."Atthepresentmomentwearehopingtofindoutmoreaboutthenatureofplanetsaroundstarswhicharepotentialhabitats.Wearelookingathabitableplanets,notinhabitedplanets.Wearenotgoingtofindanylittlegreenmen,"ProfessorIanRoxburgh,anESAscientistwhohasbeeninvolvedwithCorotsinceitsinception,toldtheBBCRadio4Todayprogramme.
6.ProfRoxburghsaiditwashopedCorotwouldfind"rockyplanetsthatcoulddevelopanatmosphereand,iftheyaretherightdistancefromtheirparentstar,theycouldhavewater".
7.Tosearchforplanets,thetelescopewilllookforthedimmingofstarlightcausedwhenanobjectpassesinfrontofastar,knownasa"transit".Althoughitwilltakemoresophisticatedspacetelescopesplannedinthenext10yearstoconfirmthepresenceofanEarth-likeplanetwithoxygenandliquidwater,Corotwillletscientistsknowwheretopointtheirlenses.
8.MeasurementsofminutechangesinbrightnesswillenablescientiststodetectgiantJupiter-likegasplanetsaswellassmallrockyones.Itistherockyplanets-thatcouldbenobiggerthanabouttwicethesizeoftheEarth-whichwillcausethemostexcitement.Scientistsexpecttofindbetween10and40ofthesesmallerplanets.
9.Corotwillalsoprobeintostellarinteriorsbystudyingtheacousticwavesthatrippleacrossthesurfaceofstars,atechniquecalled"asteroseismology".
10.Thenatureoftheripplesallowsastronomerstocalculateastar’sprecisemass,ageandchemicalcomposition.
11."Aplanetpassinginfrontofastarcanbedetectedbythefallinlightfromthatstar.Smalloscillationsofthestaralsoproducechangesinthelightemitted,whichrevealwhatthestarismadeofandhowtheyarestructuredinternally.Thisdatawillprovideamajorboosttoourunderstandingofhowstarsformandevolve,"ProfRoxburghsaid.
12.Sincethediscoveryin1995ofthefirst"exoplanet"-aplanetorbitingastarotherthantheSun-morethan200othershavebeenfoundbyground-basedobservatories.
13.Untilnowtheusualmethodoffindingexoplanetshasbeentodetectthe"wobble"theirgravityimpartsonparentstars.ButonlygiantgaseousplanetsbiggerthanJupitercanbefoundthisway,andtheyareunlikelytoharbourlife.
14.Inthe2010s,ESAplanstolaunchDarwin,afleetoffourorfiveinterlinkedspacetelescopesthatwillnotonlyspotsmallrockyplanets,butanalysetheiratmospheresforsignsofbiologicalactivity.
15.Ataroundthesametime,theUSspaceagency,Nasa,willlaunchTerrestrialPlanetFinder,anotherspacetelescopedesignedtolocateEarth-likeplanets.
ChoosetheappropriateletterfromA-Dforquestion1.
1.Corotisaninstrumentwhich
(A)canhelptosearchforcertainplanets
(B)isusedtofindplanetsintheorbit
(C)canlocateplanetswithhumanbeings
(D)canspotanyplanetswithwater.
Dothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninthereadingpassage?Forquestions2-5write
TRUEifthestatementagreeswiththeinformation
FALSEifthestatementcontraictstheinformation
NOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationonthisinthepassage
2.Scientistsaretryingtofindoutabouttheplanetsthatcanbeinhabited.
3.BBCRadio4recentlyfocusesonthebroadcastingofCorot.
4.Passingobjectsmightcauseafallinlight.
5.CorotcantellwhetherthereisanotherEarth-likeplanet.
Basedonyourreadingofthepassage,completethesentencesbelowwithwordstakenfromthepassage.UseNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.
Withmeasurements,scientistswillbeabletosearchforsomegaseousandrockyplanets.Theywillbeextremelyexcitediftheycandiscoversomesmall6.__________,theexpectednumberofwhichcouldbeupto7.__________.
Corotwillenablescientiststostudythe8.__________ofstars.Inthisway,astar’smass,ageandchemicalcompositioncanbecalculated.
AccordingtoProfRoxburgh,changesinlightcanbecausedbypassingplanetsorstar9.__________.Therelatedstatisticscangainusabetter10.__________ofthestarformationandevolvement.
Observatorieshavefoundmanyexoplanets,whichare11.__________otherstarsthantheSun.Thecommonwayusedinfindingexoplanetscanonlydetecthugegasplanets,whichdonot12.___________.
WiththelaunchingofDarwin,astronomerswillbeabletoanalysewhetherthoserockyplanetshave13.__________forlife.
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