【英语语言学习】保证你会笑

 RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

After over 50 years of trade embargoes² against Cuba, the country has been starved of a lot of things. But when it comes to TV and movies, Cubans have been watching pretty much the same stuff as the rest of us. Nick Miroff is The Washington Post Latin America correspondent. He joins us from Havana. Hi, Nick. Thanks for being with us.

NICK MIROFF: My pleasure. Good to be with you, Rachel.

MARTIN: How is it that Cubans have been able to watch shows like "Friends," "Seinfeld," all kinds of TV shows that we in the U.S. have been watching for decades? How are they getting access to these shows?

MIROFF: Well, it's pretty simple. They just rip them off blatantly³.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

MIROFF: You know, their attitude is that if the United States is going to put a trade embargo¹ on the country and make almost all forms of commerce impossible, then they're just going to help themselves to as much free American media as they want. So the result is that Cuban state television shows American movies and American programming without paying any royalties⁴. And that, I think, it's - you know, in some ways, contributed to a broader culture of piracy⁵ and bootlegging. So on the streets of Havana and other Cuban cities, you can get bootleg copies of movies, DVDs, music, video games - that sort of thing.

MARTIN: But we find black markets like this in all kinds of developing countries around the world. But you're saying this is government-sanctioned. It's the government that's putting out these shows sometimes on TV?

MIROFF: That's right 'cause the government controls the airwaves. And at some point, they realized that if they wanted to get Cubans to watch their programming and absorb some of the political messages that are a big part of what's on state TV, then they have to show stuff that people really wanted to watch.

MARTIN: So is this something that U.S. officials are OK with?

MIROFF: No, it's not something they're OK with, but it's not a priority either. So when the commerce secretary, Penny Pritzker, was here a couple weeks ago, I asked her if this is one of the things she brought up with them. And she said, no, but that it was on their broader agenda. Cuba has its own complaints about U.S.-patented trademark⁶ violation⁷ having to do with the appropriation⁸ of Cuban tobacco and Havana Club, which is Cuba's most famous rum brand. So the dispute goes both ways. And it's one of these things that's going to have to be worked out as the two countries restore and normalize relations.

MARTIN: Is it in some way to the U.S. government's advantage to turn a blind eye because essentially⁹ it's kind of an exercise in soft power, that Cubans are absorbing Western culture? And maybe from an American perspective, that's not a bad thing?

MIROFF: Yeah, I mean, I think you could make the argument that an episode of "Friends," you know, that shows, you know, happy Americans living prosperous lives and, you know, not looking like somebody who be your enemy, I think that also - you know, that has a very profound psychological and cultural impact, right? So probably, you know, in the long term, that may be one of the reasons why the U.S. doesn't view it as such of a threat. And not to mention the fact that Cuba's such a tiny, relatively¹⁰ small market for, you know, this type of export.

MARTIN: Nick Miroff of The Washington Post joining us on the line from Havana. Thanks so much.

MIROFF: Good to be with you, Rachel.

1 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

2 embargoes   

贸易禁运令，禁运( embargo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Britain, France and the United States refused to lift their embargoes. 英、法和美国都拒绝取消禁运。
• Its public position is that it abides by all UN arms embargoes. 其公开立场是，他们遵守所有联合国的武器禁运命令。

3 blatantly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• Safety guidelines had been blatantly ignored. 安全规章被公然置之不顾。
• They walked grandly through the lobby, blatantly arm in arm, pretending they were not defeated. 他们大大方方地穿过门厅，故意炫耀地挎着胳膊，假装他们没有被打败。

4 royalties   

特许权使用费

参考例句：

• I lived on about £3,000 a year from the royalties on my book. 我靠着写书得来的每年约3，000英镑的版税生活。 来自辞典例句
• Payments shall generally be made in the form of royalties. 一般应采取提成方式支付。 来自经济法规部分

5 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。

6 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

7 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

8 appropriation   

n.拨款，批准支出

参考例句：

• Our government made an appropriation for the project.我们的政府为那个工程拨出一笔款项。
• The council could note an annual appropriation for this service.议会可以为这项服务表决给他一笔常年经费。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。