Part A: Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)
Text 3
Ever since taking on Netflix Inc. at its own game, old Hollywood has struggled to turn a profit in streaming, with the likes of Disney+, Peacock and Paramount+ losing billions of dollars each year, sparking concerns that the services will never be as profitable as cable once was. But the age of streaming has been a boon for some unintended winners: pirates that use software to rip a film or television show in seconds from legitimate online video platforms and host the titles on their own, illegitimate services, which rake in about $2 billion annually from ads and subscriptions.
With no video production costs, illegal streaming sites have achieved profit margins approaching 90%, according to the Motion Picture Association (MPA), a trade group representing Hollywood studios that’s working to crack down on the thousands of illegal platforms that have cropped up in recent years.
Initially the rise of legitimate online businesses such as Netflix actually helped curb digital piracy, which had largely been based on file uploads. But now piracy involving illegal streaming services as well as file-sharing costs the US economy about $30 billion in lost revenue a year and some 250,000 jobs, estimates the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center. The global impact is about $71 billion annually.
“The people who are stealing our movies and our television shows and operating piracy sites are not mom and pop operations,” says Charlie Rivkin, chief executive officer of the MPA. “This is organized crime.” Rivkin joined the MPA in 2017 after the organization failed five years earlier to build consensus between Hollywood and Silicon Valley to win passage of legislation in Congress aimed at stopping online piracy. In 2017 the association formed the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), an enforcement task force of about 100 detectives circling the globe to help local authorities arrest streaming pirates.
ACE says it’s helped shrink the number of illegal streaming services in North America to 126, from more than 1,400 in 2018, aided in part by the MPA’s support for a 2020 federal law that made large-scale streaming of copyright material a serious crime.
Consulting firm Parks Associates predicts that legitimate US streaming services’ cumulative loss from piracy since 2022 will reach $113 billion in the next two years. “While there is some optimism that emerging countermeasures and best practices may see piracy begin to plateau by 2027, there is no consensus among stakeholders as to when it may begin to decline,” says analyst Steve Hawley.
31. According to paragraph 1, legitimate streaming services
32. It can be learned that streamers like Netflix
33. It can be inferred from paragraph 4 that MPA
34. According to Hawley, digital piracy
35. Which of the following is emphasized in the text?
答案与解析 (Answers)
31. [D] are confronted with a real threat.
解析：第一段指出，正规流媒体（如Disney+, Peacock等）每年亏损数十亿，而盗版者却通过软件非法抓取内容并大量获利。这种对比说明正规流媒体正面临着来自盗版的“真实威胁（real threat）”。
32. [A] played a part in the fight against illegal file-sharing.
解析：第三段首句提到，“最初，Netflix 等正规在线业务的兴起实际上帮助遏制了数字盗版（helped curb digital piracy），当时的盗版主要基于文件上传”。这说明 Netflix 曾间接参与了打击非法文件共享的行动。
33. [A] was denied cooperation by Silicon Valley.
解析：第四段提到，Rivkin 加入 MPA 是在“该组织五年前未能与硅谷建立共识以赢得国会立法通过（failed... to build consensus between Hollywood and Silicon Valley）”之后。未能建立共识即意味着遭到了对方的拒绝或不配合，故选 A。
34. [C] is unlikely to diminish in the near future.
解析：最后一段中分析师 Hawley 指出，虽然盗版可能在2027年进入平台期，但“利益相关者对于盗版何时开始下降并没有共识（no consensus... as to when it may begin to decline）”。这表明盗版在短期内不太可能减少。
35. [D] The economic harm from illegal streaming.
解析：全文多次列举数据：盗版者每年赚取20亿美元（第一段）、利润率近90%（第二段）、给美国经济带来300亿美元收入损失和25万个就业岗位损失（第三段）、全球影响710亿美元、预计损失达1130亿美元（第六段）。文章的核心落脚点在于强调盗版带来的巨大“经济损害”。
核心长难句精解 (Highlighted Sentences)
1. 宾语从句与对比结构：
"Ever since taking on Netflix Inc. at its own game, old Hollywood has struggled to turn a profit in streaming..., sparking concerns that the services will never be as profitable as cable once was."
【解析】at its own game 是习语，意为“用某人擅长的方式竞争”。sparking concerns 是现在分词短语作结果状语。that 引导同位语从句解释 concerns 的内容。
【翻译】自从以其人之道还治其人之身地与奈飞公司竞争以来，传统好莱坞在流媒体领域一直难以盈利……引发了人们对于这些服务的盈利能力永远无法达到昔日有线电视水平的担忧。
"Ever since taking on Netflix Inc. at its own game, old Hollywood has struggled to turn a profit in streaming..., sparking concerns that the services will never be as profitable as cable once was."
【解析】at its own game 是习语，意为“用某人擅长的方式竞争”。sparking concerns 是现在分词短语作结果状语。that 引导同位语从句解释 concerns 的内容。
【翻译】自从以其人之道还治其人之身地与奈飞公司竞争以来，传统好莱坞在流媒体领域一直难以盈利……引发了人们对于这些服务的盈利能力永远无法达到昔日有线电视水平的担忧。
2. 关系代词引导的定语从句：
"...pirates that use software to rip a film or television show in seconds from legitimate online video platforms and host the titles on their own, illegitimate services, which rake in about $2 billion annually from ads and subscriptions."
【解析】that 引导定语从句修饰 pirates。从句中 use 和 host 是并列谓语。which 引导非限制性定语从句修饰 services，说明了其盈利情况。
【翻译】……盗版者利用软件在几秒钟内从合法的在线视频平台抓取电影或电视节目，并将其放在自己的非法服务网站上，这些网站每年通过广告和订阅赚取约20亿美元。
"...pirates that use software to rip a film or television show in seconds from legitimate online video platforms and host the titles on their own, illegitimate services, which rake in about $2 billion annually from ads and subscriptions."
【解析】that 引导定语从句修饰 pirates。从句中 use 和 host 是并列谓语。which 引导非限制性定语从句修饰 services，说明了其盈利情况。
【翻译】……盗版者利用软件在几秒钟内从合法的在线视频平台抓取电影或电视节目，并将其放在自己的非法服务网站上，这些网站每年通过广告和订阅赚取约20亿美元。
3. 让步状语从句与介词短语：
"While there is some optimism that emerging countermeasures and best practices may see piracy begin to plateau by 2027, there is no consensus among stakeholders as to when it may begin to decline."
【解析】While 引导让步状语从句。that 引导同位语从句。主句中 as to 是固定搭配，意为“关于”。when 引导宾语从句作 as to 的宾语。
【翻译】虽然人们对于新兴的反制措施和最佳实践可能使盗版在2027年进入平台期持乐观态度，但在利益相关者中，对于盗版何时可能开始下降尚未达成共识。
"While there is some optimism that emerging countermeasures and best practices may see piracy begin to plateau by 2027, there is no consensus among stakeholders as to when it may begin to decline."
【解析】While 引导让步状语从句。that 引导同位语从句。主句中 as to 是固定搭配，意为“关于”。when 引导宾语从句作 as to 的宾语。
【翻译】虽然人们对于新兴的反制措施和最佳实践可能使盗版在2027年进入平台期持乐观态度，但在利益相关者中，对于盗版何时可能开始下降尚未达成共识。