2012年雅思阅读考试考前冲刺试题（20）_第2页

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