VOA慢速英语2013 智能手机会毁掉音乐体验吗?

 

AS IT IS 2013-09-07 Are Smarthphones Ruining the Concert Experience? 智能手机会毁掉音乐体验吗?

Hello again and welcome to As It Is. Im June Simms in Washington.

Pop star Madonna received the Top Touring Artist Award from Billboard¹ Magazine earlier this year. Those performances helped her make her one of the highest paid celebrities² in the world. Today we will tell you who else made Forbes latest list of top earners.

Also, music lovers often like to share pictures and videos from the concerts they attend. You can find many of these images on YouTube. But, as Christopher Cruise³ reports, not everyone is happy about it.

Are Smartphones Ruining Concerts?

Smartphones are ruining the concert-going experience. So says Andy Greene of Rolling Stone magazine. He says he realized what a problem smartphones were becoming during a concert by singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen.

Im in the first row of the balcony. And I look down at the orchestra⁴ and it was like looking at the stars; almost every seat was sort of lit up by a screen and people were staring at their screens. And I just wanted to scream Do you realize youre watching one of the greatest songwriters ever perform some of the greatest songs ever? And its just such a rare, unique treat, its a gift were all here experiencing this, and youre not even watching it. Youre all on your freaking cell phones! 

Andy Greene is not the only critic of smartphones. Maura Johnston writes for a blog on the Village Voice website. She listed Six Reasons Why Your Phone Is Probably Ruining Your Concert Experience (And Everyone Elses). Among her reasons, she says people filming a performance are not really listening to the music. And, she says they are not taking part in the social experience of being at a show.

Many bands are also unhappy about the use of smartphones at concerts. But, they do not want to anger concert-goers by banning the activity.

Classical pianist Krystian Zimerman recently stopped a performance when he saw someone in the theater filming him on a smartphone.

However, plenty of musicians accept such filming as a way to market their shows. Mark Katz says this is especially true for new artists. He wrote a book called Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music.

Someone records what was a truly amazing performance and posts it on YouTube and it starts to get attention. That could help the performer who might not have any other way of reaching out to such a broad audience.

Even some well-established groups support smartphone use and the social media revolution as a way to earn more money. But Rolling Stone Magazines Andy Greene sees no value in filming a concert.

You take horrible pictures. You produce horrible films on your phone that you never even watch. You distract⁵ yourself. You distract those around you. Theyre nothing but a liability⁶.

Im Christopher Cruise.

And Im June Simms. You are listening to As It Is, from VOA Learning English.

Material Girl Madonna is 2013s Highest Paid Celebrity⁷

The Queen of Pop is at the top of Forbes magazines 2013 list of the highest-paid celebrities. Madonna earned more money in the past year than any other celebrity in the world. In all, 14 performers made the top 10 list. When added together, they earned more than $1 billion. Today we have more on the business of show business.

The Material Girl has reason to smile.

Madonna earned $125 million between June of last year and this past June. She is in first place on Forbes list of the highest-paid celebrities of 2013. The longtime pop-star made most of the money from her latest concert tour.

John Simson is head of the Business and Entertainment program at American University in Washington. He says concerts are big money makers⁸.

Theres far more money being made in touring because of those high-priced tickets, people are willing to spend $200 to go to an event.

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg is second on Forbes list. His $100 million in earnings⁹ came mostly from hit films like E.T. and Jurassic Park.

Many of the top earners on the list are from, or based, in the United States. This does not surprise John Simson.

The United States just has always had this incredible¹⁰ ability to create stuff that the rest of the world consumes. You go around the world, in most countries, conservatively¹¹, 30 to 50 percent of the music youll hear is made here in the United States. And the same thing is true with a lot of motion pictures.

There was a three-way tie for third place. Media personalities¹² Simon Cowell and Howard Stern¹³ each earned $95 million. So did British writer E.L. James. Her bestselling book Fifty Shades of Grey also earned her a movie deal.

Writer James Patterson took the number four spot with $91 million in earnings, followed by television and radio personality Glen Beck with $90 million. Movie man Michael Bay made $82 million. He checks in at number six.

Further down at number 9 on Forbes list is Opray Winfrey, who was the top earner last year. Her earnings fell from $88 million in 2012 to $77 million for the recent 12-month period.

Pop star Lady Gaga moved up to seventh place on the list. She shares that position with Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Both earned $80 million in the past year.

Coming in at number eight, golf champion Tiger Woods was the only sports star on Forbes latest list of the highest paid celebrities. He shares that position with movie producer Tyler Perry.

And filling out the top 10 is Actor Robert Downey Jr. He sparked a cool $75 million during the recent rating¹⁴ period.

John Simson believes the entertainment industry will continue doing well. He says our captivation, or interest in personalities, is likely to keep the money flowing.

1 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

2 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

3 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

4 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

5 distract   

vt.分散注意力，转移注意力，使分心

参考例句：

• Don't distract my attention.不要分散我的注意力。
• It was all a ploy to distract attention from his real aims.那纯粹是障眼法,用以分散人们对他真正意图的注意力。

6 liability   

n.责任[pl.]负债，债务，不利条件

参考例句：

• Bad pronunciation is a liability in being a narrator.不良的发音是做解说员的不利条件。
• Because of his injury ,Tom was just a liability to the team.汤姆的伤使他成为全队的累赘。

7 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

8 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

11 conservatively   

adv.保守地

参考例句：

• It is conservatively estimated that not less than half a million people died in the famine. 据保守估计，死于这场饥荒的人数不少于50 万。
• He was conservatively dressed, very businessman, and with a hearty goodwill to match. 他的动作很稳健，很有商人的气魄，而且心地善良，待人热情。 来自教父部分

12 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

13 stern   

adj.严厉的，严格的，严峻的；n.船尾

参考例句：

• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。
• The headmaster ruled the school with a stern discipline.校长治校严谨。

14 rating   

n.级别，等级，额定值，责骂，收视率

参考例句：

• It is a ship with a rating of 500,000 tons.这是一艘五十万吨级的船。
• The opinion polls gave the president a high rating.民意测验显示人民对总统的支持率很高。