单选题 2009 was the worst year for the record labels in a decade. (31) was 2008, and before that 2007 and 2006. In fact, industry revenues have been (32) for the past 10 years. Digital sales are growing, but not as fast as traditional sales are falling.
Maybe that's because illegal downloads are so easy. People have been (33) intellectual property for centuries, but it used to be a time-consuming way to generate markedly (34) copies. These days, high-quality copies are (35) . According to the Pew Internet project, people use file-sharing software more often than they do iTunes and other legal shops.
I'd like to believe, as many of my friends seem to, that this practice won't do much harm. But even as I've heard over the past decade that things weren't (36) bad, that the music industry was moving to a new, better business model, each year's numbers have been worse. Maybe it's time to admit that we may never find a way to (37) consumers who want free entertainment with creators who want to get paid.
(38) on this problem, the computational neuroscientist Anders Sandberg recently noted that although we have strong instinctive feelings about ownership, intellectual property doesn't always (39) that framework. The harm done by individual acts of piracy is too small and too abstract. "The nature of intellectual property," he wrote, "makes it hard to maintain the social and empathic (40) that keep(s) us from taking each other's things. /

单选题 A. As B. Same C. Thus D. So
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 空格所在句子大意为:对唱片公司来说,2009年是过去十年最糟糕的一年。2008年、之前的2007年和2006年亦是如此。此处考查so的固定用法,“so+助动词/情态动词/be动词”表示“也是,也一样”。
单选题 A. stagnating B. declining C. increasing D. stultifying
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 空格所在句子大意为:事实上,行业收入在过去十年一直在下降。A项stagnating“(使)淤塞,(使)停滞,(使)沉滞,(使)变萧条”;B项declining“下倾,下降,下垂”;C项increasing“增加,加大”;D项stultifying“使显得愚笨,使变无效,使成为徒劳”。B项符合文意。
单选题 A. taking B. robbing C. stealing D. pirating
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 空格所在句子大意为:几个世纪以来,一直有人在盗用知识产权,不过,生产明显低劣的复制品曾经是耗费时间的方式。A项taking“拿走,取,占领,获得”;B项robbing“抢夺,抢掠,剥夺”;C项stealing“偷,窃取,偷窃,偷盗”;D项pirating“盗印,盗版,掠夺,翻印”。D项符合文意。
单选题 A. upgraded B. inferior C. ineffective D. preferable
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 空格所在句子大意参考第33题。A项upgraded“使升级,提升,改良品种”;B项inferior“下等的,差的,卑的”;C项ineffective“无效的,(指人)工作效率低的”;D项preferable“更可取的,更好的,更优越的”。B项符合文意。
单选题 A. numerous B. ubiquitous C. accessible D. effortless
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 空格所在句子大意为:如今,制作高品质的复制品已经是轻而易举的事情了。A项numerous“众多的,许多的,无数的”;B项ubiquitous“到处存在的,(同时)普遍存在的”;C项accessible“易接近的,可到达的,易受影响的,可理解的”;D项effortless“容易的,不费力气的”。D项符合文意。
单选题 A. so B. this C. that D. much
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 空格所在句子大意为:正如我在过去十年内听说的那样,形势并没有那么糟糕,音乐行业正转向一个新的更好的商业模式,不过每年的数量优势却越来越差。这里用“that”代替上段提到的一种情况。
单选题 A. satisfy B. help C. reconcile D. equate
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 空格所在句子大意为:也许是时候承认,我们永远也无法找到一种方式,把需要免费娱乐的消费者和希望得到报酬的创作者协调起来。A项satisfy“满足,使满意,说服,使相信”;B项help“帮助,助长,接济”;C项reconcile“使和解,使和谐,使顺从”;D项equate“使相等”。所选词语构成“______sb. with sb.”的结构,只有C项正确。
单选题 A. Based B. Capitalizing C. Reflecting D. Drawing
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 空格所在句子大意为:最近,计算机神经科学家安德斯·桑贝格反思了这个问题。A项Based(on)“基于”;B项Capitalizing(on)“利用”;C项Reflecting(on)“思考,反省,怀疑,导致,责备”;D项Drawing(on)“戴上,吸收,利用,引诱”。C项符合文意。
单选题 A. match up with B. fill in
C. fit into D. set up
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 空格所在句子大意为:他指出,虽然我们对所有权有强烈的本能感觉,但是,知识产权并不总是符合那种框架。A项match up with“和……相配”;B项fill in“填充,填写,填满,替代”;C项fit into“适合”;D项set up“设立,竖立,架起,升起”。C项符合文意。
单选题 A. constraints B. consciousness
C. norm D. etiquette
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 空格所在句子大意为:知识产权的本质使它很难保持社会和移情限制,阻止我们相互使用彼此的作品。A项constraints“约束,强制,局促”;B项consciousness“意识,知觉,自觉,觉悟,个人思想”;C项norm“标准,规范”;D项etiquette“礼节”。A项符合文意。