2023考研英语一阅读3：书店和出版商之争
今日无瓜，我们一起来看看2023考研英语一阅读Text 3，讲述的是英国图书出版商和书店之间的纷争。感兴趣的可以做一做题。
无注释原文：
No one wins in the war between bookshops and publishers – not even the Duchess of Sussex
From: The Telegraph
4 June 2021
If you’re heading for your nearest branch of Waterstones in search of the Duchess of Sussex’s new children’s book The Bench, you might have to be prepared to hunt around a bit; the same may be true of The President's Daughter, the new thriller by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. Both of these books are published next week by Penguin Random House, a company currently involved in a stand-off with Waterstones.
The problem began late last year, when Penguin Random House confirmed that it had introduced a credit limit with Waterstones “at a very significant level”. The trade magazine The Bookseller reported that Waterstones branch managers were being told to remove PRH books from prominent areas such as tables, display spaces and windows, and were “quietly retiring them to their relevant sections”.
PRH declined to comment on the issue, but a spokesperson for Waterstones told me: “Waterstones are currently operating with reduced credit terms from PRH, the only publisher in the UK to place any limitations on our ability to trade. We are not boycotting PRH titles but we are doing our utmost to ensure that availability for customers remains good despite the lower overall levels of stock. We do this generally by giving their titles less prominent positioning within our bookshops.”
“We are hopeful with our shops now open again that normality will return and that we will be allowed to buy appropriately. Certainly, our shops are exceptionally busy and book sales are very strong. The sales for our May Books of the Month surpassed any month since 2018.”
In the meantime, PRH authors have been the losers - as have customers, who might expect the new titles from the country’s biggest publisher to be prominently displayed by its biggest book retailer. Big-name PRH authors may suffer a bit, but it’s those mid-list authors, who normally rely on Waterstones staff’s passion for promoting books by lesser-known writers, who will be praying for an end to the dispute.
It comes at a time when authors are already worried about the consequences of the proposed merger between PRH and another big publisher, Simon & Schuster - the reduction in the number of unaligned UK publishers is likely to lead to fewer bidding wars, lower advances, and more conformity in terms of what is published. And one wonders if PRH would have been confident enough to deal with Waterstones in the way it has if it weren’t quite such a big company (it was formed with the merger of Penguin and Random House in 2013) and likely to get bigger.
“This is all part of a wider change towards concentration of power and cartels. Literary agencies are getting bigger to have the clout to negotiate better terms with publishers, publishers consolidating to deal with Amazon,” says Lownie. “The publishing industry talks about diversity in terms of authors and staff but it also needs a plurality of ways of delivering intellectual contact, choice and different voices. After all, many of the most interesting books in recent years have come from small publishers.”
We shall see whether that plurality is a casualty of the current need among publishers to be big enough to take on all-comers.
31. The author mentions two books in Paragraph 1 to present ____.
[A] an ongoing conflict.
[B] an intellectual concept.
[C] a prevailing sentiment.
[D] a literary phenomenon.
32. Why did Waterstones shops retire PRH books to their relevant sections?
[A] To make them easily noticeable.
[B] To comply with PRH's requirement.
[C] To respond to PRH's business move.
[D] To arrange them in a systematic way.
33. What message does the spokesperson of Waterstones seem to convey?
[A] Their customers remain loyal.
[B] The credit limit will be removed.
[C] Their stock is underestimated.
[D] The book market is rather slack.
34. What can be one consequence of the current dispute?
[A] Sales of books by mid-list PRH writers fall off considerably.
[B] Lesser-known PRH writers become the target of criticism.
[C] Waterstones staff hesitate to promote big-name authors' books.
[D] Waterstones branches suffer a severe reduction in revenue.
35. Which of the following statements best represents Lownie's view?
[A] Small publishers ought to stick together.
[B] Big publishers will lose their dominance.
[C] The publishing industry is having a hard time.
[D] The merger of publishers is a worrying trend.
注：中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考
含注释全文：
No one wins in the war between bookshops and publishers – not even the Duchess of Sussex
From: The Telegraph
4 June 2021
If you’re heading for your nearest branch of Waterstones in search of the Duchess of Sussex’s new children’s book The Bench, you might have to be prepared to hunt around a bit; the same may be true of The President's Daughter, the new thriller by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. Both of these books are published next week by Penguin Random House, a company currently involved in a stand-off with Waterstones.
如果你正在前往最近的一家Waterstones门店寻找苏塞克斯公爵夫人的新儿童读物《The Bench》，你可能必须做好四处寻找的准备；比尔·克林顿（Bill Clinton）和詹姆斯·帕特森（James Patterson）的新惊悚小说《总统的女儿》（The President's Daughter）可能也是如此。这两本书都将于下周由企鹅兰登书屋（Penguin Random House，PRH）出版，而该公司目前正与书店Waterstones发生纠纷。
hunt
hunt /hʌnt/ 也可以表示“搜寻，寻找”，英文解释为“to try to find something or someone”举个🌰：
I've hunted all over the place, but I can't find that book. 我把这个地方找了个遍，也没有找到那本书。
thriller
thriller /ˈθrɪlə/ 表示“（尤指关于罪案或间谍的）惊险小说（或戏剧、电影）”，英文解释为“a book, play or film/movie with an exciting story, especially one about crime or spying”。
stand-off
表示“（双方）僵持局面；对峙；僵局”，英文解释为“a situation in which no agreement can be reached”
The problem began late last year, when Penguin Random House confirmed that it had introduced a credit limit with Waterstones “at a very significant level”. The trade magazine The Bookseller reported that Waterstones branch managers were being told to remove PRH books from prominent areas such as tables, display spaces and windows, and were “quietly retiring them to their relevant sections”.
这个问题始于去年末。当时，企鹅兰登书屋证实，它已对Waterstones引入了“非常高”的信贷限额。行业杂志《书商》（The Bookseller）报道称，Waterstones分店经理被告知，要将企鹅兰登书屋书籍从桌子、展示空间和橱窗等显眼区域撤下，并“悄悄地将它们退到相关区域”。
credit limit
credit limit /ˈkred.ɪt ˌlɪm.ɪt/ 表示“信用额度（可以用信用卡进行消费的最高限额）”，英文解释为“the largest amount of money that a bank allows you to spend using a credit card”
prominent
PRH declined to comment on the issue, but a spokesperson for Waterstones told me: “Waterstones are currently operating with reduced credit terms from PRH, the only publisher in the UK to place any limitations on our ability to trade. We are not boycotting PRH titles but we are doing our utmost to ensure that availability for customers remains good despite the lower overall levels of stock. We do this generally by giving their titles less prominent positioning within our bookshops.”
企鹅兰登书屋拒绝就此事置评，但Waterstones的一名发言人告诉我：“Waterstones目前在企鹅兰登书屋降低信贷限额的情况下运营，企鹅兰登书屋是英国唯一一家对我们的交易能力设定了限制的出版商。我们没有抵制企鹅兰登书屋的图书，尽管库存总量较少，但我们正在尽最大努力为顾客保障供应。我们通常将图书摆放在书店中不太突出的位置来做到这一点。”
boycott
boycott /ˈbɔɪkɒt/ 在类似新闻报道中多次出现，比如韩国小姐集体拒绝赴日比赛一文中的Korea to boycott Miss International 2019；
boycott可作动词也可作名词，意思是“抵制，排斥，拒绝参加”，港澳台地区常说的“杯葛”一词即为boycott的音译，英文解释为“to refuse to buy, use or take part in sth as a way of protesting”举个🌰：
We boycott all products tested on animals. 我们抵制所有拿动物做试验的产品。
title
stock
1）表示“（商店的）库存，存货”，英文解释为“the total amount of goods or the amount of a particular type of goods available in a shop”
2）表示“股份；股票”，英文解释为“part of the ownership of a company that can be bought by members of the public”举个🌰：
Stock prices fell yesterday in heavy trading. 股价昨日放量下跌。
类似的：
📍share作名词，表示“股份，股票”，英文解释为“any of the units of equal value into which a company is divided and sold to raise money. People who own shares receive part of the company's profits.”
“We are hopeful with our shops now open again that normality will return and that we will be allowed to buy appropriately. Certainly, our shops are exceptionally busy and book sales are very strong. The sales for our May Books of the Month surpassed any month since 2018.”
“我们希望，随着我们的商店重新开业时能恢复正常，并能够适当地购买。当然，我们的商店异常繁忙，图书销售非常强劲。我们5月份的月度图书销量超过了2018年以来的任何一个月。”
surpass
surpass表示“优于；超过”，英文解释为“If one person or thing surpasses another, the first is better than, or has more of a particular quality than, the second.”举个🌰：
He was determined to surpass the achievements of his older brothers. 他决心超过他的几位哥哥的成就。
In the meantime, PRH authors have been the losers - as have customers, who might expect the new titles from the country’s biggest publisher to be prominently displayed by its biggest book retailer. Big-name PRH authors may suffer a bit, but it’s those mid-list authors, who normally rely on Waterstones staff’s passion for promoting books by lesser-known writers, who will be praying for an end to the dispute.
与此同时，企鹅兰登书屋的作者们一直是输家——顾客也是，他们可能会期待该国最大出版商的新书会在最大的图书零售商的醒目位置摆放。企鹅兰登书屋的知名作者可能会受到一些影响，但那些通常依靠Waterstones员工的热情来推广书的腰部作者，才会祈求这场纷争的结束。
big name
表示“名人；重要人物；大名鼎鼎的”，英文解释为“a famous or important person”举个🌰：
Are there any big names in the movie? 这部电影里有大明星吗？
It comes at a time when authors are already worried about the consequences of the proposed merger between PRH and another big publisher, Simon & Schuster - the reduction in the number of unaligned UK publishers is likely to lead to fewer bidding wars, lower advances, and more conformity in terms of what is published. And one wonders if PRH would have been confident enough to deal with Waterstones in the way it has if it weren’t quite such a big company (it was formed with the merger of Penguin and Random House in 2013) and likely to get bigger.
此时，作者们已经在担心企鹅兰登书屋和另一家大型出版商西蒙&舒斯特（Simon & Schuster）拟合并所带来的后果——不结盟的英国出版商数量的减少可能会导致竞买战减少、预付款降低以及出版内容更加一致。人们不禁要问，如果企鹅兰登书屋不是一家如此大的公司（它是在2013年企鹅和兰登书屋合并后成立的），并且可能会变得更大，它是否有足够的信心像现在这样和Waterstones打交道。
merger
表示“（公司、企业等的）合并”，英文解释为“an occasion when two or more companies join together to make one larger company”举个🌰：
She's an attorney who advises companies about mergers and takeovers. 她是位律师，提供公司合并、收购方面的咨询服务。
unaligned
表示“不（未）结盟的”，英文解释为“not allied with or giving support to a particular organization or cause”
bidding war
bidding war /ˈbɪd.ɪŋ ˌwɔːr/ 表示“竞买大战”，英文解释为“the situation in which two or more companies or people compete against each other in order to buy something”举个🌰：
British distributors are currently involved in a bidding war for the movie. 英国发行商目前加入了这部影片的竞买大战。
advance
advance /ədˈvɑːns/ 熟词僻义，作动词，表示“勾引；挑逗；追求”，英文解释为“an attempt to start a sexual or romantic relationship with someone”举个🌰：
She rejected his unwelcome advances. 她拒绝了他的勾引，让他碰了一鼻子灰。
作名词，表示“预付的款项”，英文解释为“money paid to someone before the regular time”举个🌰：
She asked for a £300 advance on her salary. 她要求预付她300英镑薪水。
conformity
1）表示“（对社会规则的）遵从，遵守；从众”，英文解释为“behaviour that follows the usual standards that are expected by a group or society”举个🌰：
It's depressing how much conformity there is in such young children. 这么小的孩子就唯唯诺诺，真是令人沮丧。
2）表示“（商品生产的）符合，符合度，一致性”，英文解释为“the process of a product being made as it was designed, without mistakes or faults”举个🌰：
Our goal is to improve conformity with customer requirements. 我们的目标是让产品更加符合顾客的需要。
“This is all part of a wider change towards concentration of power and cartels. Literary agencies are getting bigger to have the clout to negotiate better terms with publishers, publishers consolidating to deal with Amazon,” says Lownie. “The publishing industry talks about diversity in terms of authors and staff but it also needs a plurality of ways of delivering intellectual contact, choice and different voices. After all, many of the most interesting books in recent years have come from small publishers.”
“这都是权力集中和垄断利益集团卡特尔更广泛变化的一部分。文学机构正变得越来越大，以便有影响力与出版商协商更好的条款，出版商正在合并以对抗亚马逊，”洛尼（Lownie）说。“出版业在作者和员工方面谈论多样性，但它也需要多元的方式来提供知识交流、选择和不同的声音。毕竟，近年来许多最有趣的书籍都来自小型出版商。”
cartel
cartel /kɑːˈtel/ 表示“（多家公司为控制价格和限制竞争联合组成的）卡特尔，同业联盟”，英文解释为“a group of similar independent companies who join together to control prices and limit competition”如：an oil cartel 石油卡特尔。
📍2023年英语一挺有意思，Text 3和Text 4都出现了这个词，甚至Text 4的重点就是这个词。
literary
表示“文学的，与文学相关的”，英文解释为“connected with literature”如：a literary style 文学风格。
clout
clout /klaʊt/ 表示“权势；影响力”，英文解释为“power and influence over other people or events”举个🌰：
The Queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout. 女王可以享有特权，但没有真正的政治权力。
diversity
表示“多样性，多样化”，英文解释为“the fact of many different types of things or people being included in something; a range of different things or people”举个🌰：
Does television adequately reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of the country? 电视节目能充分反映出这个国家民族和文化的多样性吗？
plurality
plurality /plʊəˈræl.ə.ti/ 1）表示“众多，大量”，英文解释为“a large number of different types of something”举个🌰：
There was a marked plurality of opinions/views among the people attending the meeting. 与会者明显意见/看法不一。
2）表示英语中的“复数；复数形式”，英文解释为“the state of being plural”
We shall see whether that plurality is a casualty of the current need among publishers to be big enough to take on all-comers.
我们将看到，在当前出版商需要足够大来对抗所有竞争者的情况下，这种多元化是否会成为牺牲品。
casualty
casualty /ˈkæʒjʊəltɪ/ 1）表示“死伤者”，英文解释为“A casualty is a person who is injured or killed in a war or in an accident.”
2）表示“受害者，遇难者；毁坏物”，英文解释为“A casualty of a particular event or situation is a person or a thing that has suffered badly as a result of that event or situation.”举个🌰：
The car industry has been one of the greatest casualties of the recession. 汽车工业是经济不景气最大的受害者之一。
take sb on
表示“同…较量（或争斗）”，英文解释为“to compete against or fight someone”举个🌰：
I pretended to agree because I really didn't want to take him on. 我假装同意，因为我真的不想和他较量。
- 今日盘点 -
hunt、thriller、stand-off、credit limit、prominent、boycott、title、stock、surpass、big name、merger、unaligned、bidding war、advance、conformity、cartel、literary、clout、diversity、plurality、casualty、take sb on
- 推荐阅读 -
- END -
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