英语听力精选进阶版 6186

Shamed on the Web 网上受稀落

The illegal copying and distribution of software, or piracy¹, costs the video game industry billions of dollars each year, and even threatens the future of game production.

However, one British-based video game publisher, Eidos, has hit back at the pirates in a novel way by not only spoiling their game-playing, but also shaming them on the internet.

Pirates who are playing illegal copies of Batman: Arkham Asylum² find that crucial control functions in the game have been disabled, rendering³ the game unplayable.

Players using a ‘cracked’ version of the game discover that the glide⁴ function in the game does not work, causing the Batman character to fall to his death.

One such player complained about the so-called ‘bug⁵’ on the support forum⁶ pages of the developer’s website.

"I've got a problem when it's time to use Batman's glide in the game. When I hold, like it's said, to jump from one platform to another, Batman tries to open his wings again and again instead of gliding," complained the pirate.

But instead of receiving sympathy and support from other community users and the game’s development team, he received a stern ticking off from the forum’s community manager.

"The problem you have encountered is a hook in the copy protection, to catch out people who try and download cracked versions of the game for free," wrote the Eidos community manager.

"It's not a bug in the game's code; it's a bug in your moral code," he added.

It appears that the Caped⁷ Crusader’s war on crime extends beyond characters like the Joker to cheeky software pirates worldwide.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

piracy 盗版 

video game publisher 电脑游戏出版商 

hit back 反击 

novel 新颖的 

shaming 稀落，嘲讽 

crucial control functions 主控功能 

disabled 失灵的 

rendering 致使 

cracked 破解的 

glide function 滑行功能 

bug 病毒 

support forum 提供支持的网上论坛 

platform 平台 

community users 同社团的使用者 

stern ticking off 严厉的斥责 

copy protection 版权保护措施 

catch out 抓住 

moral code 道德准则 

Caped Crusader 披篷骑士 

cheeky 厚颜无耻的

1 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

2 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

3 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

4 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

5 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

6 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

7 caped   

披斗篷的

参考例句：