2024年3月22日发(作者：吾文林)
可锐教育官网
2018年可锐考研英语阅读真题范文（七）
Don’t shoot the messenger
They poison the mind and corrupt the morals of the young, who waste their time sitting on sofas
immersed in dangerous fantasy worlds. That, at least, was the charge levelled against novels
during the 18th century by critics worried about the impact of a new medium on young people.
Today the idea that novels can harm people sounds daft. And that is surely how history will judge
modern criticism of video games, which are accused of turning young people into violent
criminals. This week European justice ministers met to discuss how best to restrict the sale of
violent games to children. Some countries, such as Germany, believe the answer is to ban some
games altogether. That is going too far. Criticism of games is merely the latest example of
a tendency to demonise new and unfamiliar forms of entertainment. In 1816 waltzing was
condemned as a fatal contagion that encouraged promiscuity; in 1910 films were denounced as
an evil pure and simple, destructive of social interchange in the 1950s rock ’n’ roll music was
said to turn young people into devil worshippers and comic books were accused of turning
children into drug addicts and criminals. In each case the pattern is the same: young people
adopt a new form of entertainment, older people are spooked by its unfamiliarity and condemn
it, but eventually the young grow up and the new medium becomes accepted-at which point
another example appears and the cycle begins again. The opposition to video games is
founded on the mistaken belief that most gamers are children. In fact, twothirds of gamers are
over 18 and the average gamer is around 30. But the assumption that gamers are mostly children
leads to a double standard. Violent films are permitted and the notion that some films are
unsuitable for children is generally understood. Yet different rules are applied to games.
Aren’t games different because they are interactive? It is true that video games can make people
feel excited or aggressive, but so do many sports. There is no evidence that videogaming causes
longterm aggression. Games ought to be agerated, just as films are, and retailers should
not sell adultrated games to children any more than they should sell them adultrated films.
Ratings schemes are already in place, and in some countries restrictions on the sale of adultrated
games to minors have the force of law. Oddly enough, Hillary Clinton, one of the
politicians who has led the criticism of the gaming industry in America, has recently come round
to this view. Last month she emphasised the need for parents to pay more attention to game
ratings and called on the industry, retailers and parents to work together. But this week some
European politicians seemed to be moving in the other direction: the Netherlands may follow
Germany, for example, in banning some games outright. Not all adults wish to play violent games,
just as not all of them enjoy violent movies. But they should be free to do so if they wish.
二．
Doughnut adjust your set
HAVE you ever seen anything on television that made you shout or shake your fist in anger
at the screen? Televisions are, of course, unable to respond to such reactions. But that could be
可锐教育官网
about to change. Controlling your television and other home entertainment devices using voice
commands or gestures is starting to become possible thanks to a new generation of controllers.
Consider, for example, the controller that went on sale last month with Nintendo’s Wii
games console. In place of the usual combination of buttons and joysticks, the Wii has a
motionsensitive controller. The console can determine how the controller is moving in space and
what it is pointing at, and uses that information to control what is happening on screen.
Depending on the game, the controller becomes a warrior’s sword or a golf club.
For some games, the controller connects up via a cable to a second, smaller handset called
the Nunchuk after the weapon favoured by Bruce Lee in his martial arts movies . It is then
possible to use one controller for movement, and the other to fire weapons or use items. The
number of buttons on both controllers has been reduced to a minimum, as Nintendo hopes to
draw in new customers who find existing games consoles too complicated. But whether the Wii
will introduce a generation of grandmothers to the joys of karate games remains to be seen.
This living room overload is likely to get worse as telecoms operators launch a new
generation of television over broadband services, using a technology called IPTV. This will make
possible thousands of channels, downloadable programs and films, plus messaging, internet
access and games. It will also involve the biggest and most complicated controllers ever seen. The
experience isn’t as good as it could be, says Michael Cai of Parks Associates, a consultancy. So
some companies believe a new approach is needed.
Other companies have looked at using speech based controllers in the living room. One firm,
Promptu, developed a voice control system for American cable operators and tested it in
conjunction with Motorola, which makes set top boxes. But it has now decided to reposition the
technology as a voice based navigation system for mobile phones. A simpler approach is taken by
the In Voca voice activated remote control. It is a universal remote control that can recognise 50
separate commands spoken by up to four separate users, from lower volume to Cartoon
Network .
A recent entry to the field is Apple Computer, a firm renowned for designing elegant, easy to
use products. In 2007 it will launch a new device, called the iTV, that acts as a bridge between a
television and a computer. It has a deliberately simple remote control that, like Apple’s iconic
iPod music player, involves just one button and one wheel. Steve Jobs, the company’s boss,
boasts that it is very Apple . Might his company be the one to solve the remote control
confusion?
三．
Behind the bleeding edge
2024年3月22日发(作者：吾文林)
可锐教育官网
2018年可锐考研英语阅读真题范文（七）
Don’t shoot the messenger
They poison the mind and corrupt the morals of the young, who waste their time sitting on sofas
immersed in dangerous fantasy worlds. That, at least, was the charge levelled against novels
during the 18th century by critics worried about the impact of a new medium on young people.
Today the idea that novels can harm people sounds daft. And that is surely how history will judge
modern criticism of video games, which are accused of turning young people into violent
criminals. This week European justice ministers met to discuss how best to restrict the sale of
violent games to children. Some countries, such as Germany, believe the answer is to ban some
games altogether. That is going too far. Criticism of games is merely the latest example of
a tendency to demonise new and unfamiliar forms of entertainment. In 1816 waltzing was
condemned as a fatal contagion that encouraged promiscuity; in 1910 films were denounced as
an evil pure and simple, destructive of social interchange in the 1950s rock ’n’ roll music was
said to turn young people into devil worshippers and comic books were accused of turning
children into drug addicts and criminals. In each case the pattern is the same: young people
adopt a new form of entertainment, older people are spooked by its unfamiliarity and condemn
it, but eventually the young grow up and the new medium becomes accepted-at which point
another example appears and the cycle begins again. The opposition to video games is
founded on the mistaken belief that most gamers are children. In fact, twothirds of gamers are
over 18 and the average gamer is around 30. But the assumption that gamers are mostly children
leads to a double standard. Violent films are permitted and the notion that some films are
unsuitable for children is generally understood. Yet different rules are applied to games.
Aren’t games different because they are interactive? It is true that video games can make people
feel excited or aggressive, but so do many sports. There is no evidence that videogaming causes
longterm aggression. Games ought to be agerated, just as films are, and retailers should
not sell adultrated games to children any more than they should sell them adultrated films.
Ratings schemes are already in place, and in some countries restrictions on the sale of adultrated
games to minors have the force of law. Oddly enough, Hillary Clinton, one of the
politicians who has led the criticism of the gaming industry in America, has recently come round
to this view. Last month she emphasised the need for parents to pay more attention to game
ratings and called on the industry, retailers and parents to work together. But this week some
European politicians seemed to be moving in the other direction: the Netherlands may follow
Germany, for example, in banning some games outright. Not all adults wish to play violent games,
just as not all of them enjoy violent movies. But they should be free to do so if they wish.
二．
Doughnut adjust your set
HAVE you ever seen anything on television that made you shout or shake your fist in anger
at the screen? Televisions are, of course, unable to respond to such reactions. But that could be
可锐教育官网
about to change. Controlling your television and other home entertainment devices using voice
commands or gestures is starting to become possible thanks to a new generation of controllers.
Consider, for example, the controller that went on sale last month with Nintendo’s Wii
games console. In place of the usual combination of buttons and joysticks, the Wii has a
motionsensitive controller. The console can determine how the controller is moving in space and
what it is pointing at, and uses that information to control what is happening on screen.
Depending on the game, the controller becomes a warrior’s sword or a golf club.
For some games, the controller connects up via a cable to a second, smaller handset called
the Nunchuk after the weapon favoured by Bruce Lee in his martial arts movies . It is then
possible to use one controller for movement, and the other to fire weapons or use items. The
number of buttons on both controllers has been reduced to a minimum, as Nintendo hopes to
draw in new customers who find existing games consoles too complicated. But whether the Wii
will introduce a generation of grandmothers to the joys of karate games remains to be seen.
This living room overload is likely to get worse as telecoms operators launch a new
generation of television over broadband services, using a technology called IPTV. This will make
possible thousands of channels, downloadable programs and films, plus messaging, internet
access and games. It will also involve the biggest and most complicated controllers ever seen. The
experience isn’t as good as it could be, says Michael Cai of Parks Associates, a consultancy. So
some companies believe a new approach is needed.
Other companies have looked at using speech based controllers in the living room. One firm,
Promptu, developed a voice control system for American cable operators and tested it in
conjunction with Motorola, which makes set top boxes. But it has now decided to reposition the
technology as a voice based navigation system for mobile phones. A simpler approach is taken by
the In Voca voice activated remote control. It is a universal remote control that can recognise 50
separate commands spoken by up to four separate users, from lower volume to Cartoon
Network .
A recent entry to the field is Apple Computer, a firm renowned for designing elegant, easy to
use products. In 2007 it will launch a new device, called the iTV, that acts as a bridge between a
television and a computer. It has a deliberately simple remote control that, like Apple’s iconic
iPod music player, involves just one button and one wheel. Steve Jobs, the company’s boss,
boasts that it is very Apple . Might his company be the one to solve the remote control
confusion?
三．
Behind the bleeding edge