PassageOne
Questions 46 to 50 arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
EffectiveFriday, ScreenActorsGuild-AmericanFederationofTelevisionandRadioArtists ( SAG-AFTRA) hasdeclaredastrikeagainst 11 videogamepublishersovergamesthatwentintoproductionafterFeb.17, 2015. Thecompaniesincludesomeoftheheavyweightsoftheindustry, likeElectronicArtsProductions, InsomniacGames, ActivisionandDisney.
Thestrikecomesinlightofanunsuccessful 19 monthsofnegotiationsaftertheexistinglaborcontractknownastheInteractiveMediaAgreementexpiredinlate 2014. Overall, thestrikeisanefforttoprovidemoresecondarycompensationalongwithotherconcerns, suchastransparencyuponhiringtalentandon-set (制作中) safetyprecautions.
Thevideogamingindustryhasballoonedinrecentyears. TheLosAngelesTimesreportsthattheindustryisinthemidstofanintenseincreaseincashflow. In 2015, gamingproduced $ 23.5 billionindomesticrevenue.
ButSAG-AFTRAsaysvoiceactorsdon'treceiveresiduals (追加酬金) fortheirgamingwork. Instead, theyreceiveafixedrate, whichistypicallyabout $ 825 forastandardfour-hourvocalsession. Sothevoiceactorsarepushingfortheideaofsecondarycompensation- -aperformancebonuseverytimeagamesells 2 millioncopiesordownloads, orreaches 2 millionsubscribers, withacapat 8 million.
"It'saverysmallnumberofgamesthatwouldtriggerthissecondarycompensationissue," saidvoiceactorCrispinFreeman, who'samemberoftheunion'snegotiatingcommittee. "Thisisanimportantaspectofwhatitmeanstobeafreelance (从事自由职业的) performer , whoisn'tregularlyemployedeverysingledayworkingonprojects."
Anothermajorcomplaintfromtheactorsisthesecrecyoftheindustry. " Ican'timagineifthere'sanyotheractingjobintheworldwhereyoudon'tknowwhatshowyou'rein, whenyou'rehired," saysvoiceactorKeytheFarley, whochairstheSAG-AFTRAnegotiatingcommittee.
"Andyetthathappenseverydayinthevideogameworld," FarleytoldreportersduringapressconferenceFriday. "IwasamaincharacterinFallout 4, acharacterbythenameofKellogg, andIneverknewthatIwasdoingvocalrecordingforthatgamethroughouttheyearandahalf.
ScottWitlin, thelawyerrepresentingthevideogamecompanies, saysvoiceactors "representlessthanonetenthof 1 percentoftheworkthatgoesintomakingavideogame." So "eventhoughthey'rethetopcraftsmenintheirfield," Witlinsays, "ifwepaythemunderavastlydifferentsystemthanthepeoplewhodothe 99.9 percentofthework, that'sgoingtocreatefarmoreproblemsforthevideogamecompanies."
46. WhydidSAG-AFTRAdeclareastrikeagainstsomevideogamepublishers?
A) Thelaborcontractbetweenthemhadbeenviolated.
B) Itsappealtorenegotiatethecontracthadbeenrejected.
C) Ithadbeencheatedrepeatedlyinthe 19 monthsoftalks.
D) Thenegotiationsbetweenthemhadbrokendown.
47. Whatdowelearnfromthepassageaboutthevideogamingindustry?
A) Ithasreapedhugeprofitsinrecentyears.
B) Ithasbecomemoreopenandtransparent.
C) Ithasattractedmanyfamousvoiceactors.
D) Ithasinvestedalotinitsdomesticmarket.
48. Whatarethevoiceactorsdemanding?
A) Moreregularemployment.
B) Anon-discriminatorycontract.
C) Extrapaybasedonsalesrevenues.
D) Alimitonthemaximumworkhours.
49. WhatdoesKeytheFarleysayaboutvoiceactors?
A) Theyarekeptinthedarkaboutmanydetailsoftheirjob.
B) Theyarediscriminatedagainstinthegamingindustry.
C) Theyarenotpaidonaregularbasis.
D) Theyarenotemployedfull-time.
50. WhatistheargumentoflawyerScottWitlin?
A) Voiceactorsshouldhaveapayraiseiftheyprovetobetopcraftsmen.
B) Changingthepaysystemwouldcausetheindustrymoreproblems.
C) Voiceactorsaremerecraftsmen, notprofessionalperformers.
D) Payingvoiceactorsonanhourlybasisisinlinewiththelaw.
PassageTwo
Questions 51 to 55 arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
OfficialsattheWhiteHouseannouncedanewspacepolicyfocusedonmanagingtheincreasingnumberofsatellitesthatcompaniesandgovernmentsarelaunchingintospace. SpacePolicyDirective-3 laysoutgeneralguidelinesfortheUnitedStatestomitigate (缓解) theeffectsofspacedebrisandtrackandmanagetrafficinspace.
ThispolicysetsthestagefortheDepartmentofCommercetotakeoverthemanagementoftrafficinspace. Thedepartmentwillmakesurethatnewlylaunchedsatellitesdon'tuseradiofrequenciesthatwouldinterferewithexistingsatellites, andschedulewhensuchnewsatellitescanbelaunched. ThisonlyappliestoAmericanspaceactivities, butthehopeisthatitwillhelpstandardizeasetofnormsinthedawningcommercialspaceflightindustrythroughouttheworld.
Space, especiallythespacedirectlyaroundourplanet, isgettingmorecrowdedasmoregovernmentsandcompanieslaunchsatellites. Oneimpetusforthepolicyisthatcompaniesarealreadystartingtobuildmassiveconstellations (星座)，comprisinghundredsorthousandsofsatelliteswithmanymovingpartsamongthem. Withsomuchstuffinspace, andalimitedareaaroundourplanet, thegovernmentwantstoreducethechancesofacollision. Twoormoresatellitesslammingintoeachothercouldcreatemanymoreout-of-controlbitsthatwouldposeevenmorehazardstothegrowingcollectionofsatellitesinspace.
Andit'snotlikethishasn'thappenedbefore. In 2009 anoldRussiancraftslammedintoacommunicationssatellite, creatingacloudofhundredsofpiecesofdebrisandputtingotherhardwareatrisk. JournalistSarahScolesreportsthatNASAcurrentlytracksabout 24,000 objectsinspace, andin 2016 theAirForcehadtoissue 3 ,995 ,874 warningstosatelliteownersalertingthemtoapotentialnearbythreatfromanothersatelliteorbitofdebris.
That'swhythisnewpolicyalsoincludesdirectionstoupdatethecurrentU. S. GovernmentOrbitalDebrisMitigationStandardPractices, whichalreadyrequireanyentitythatlaunchesasatelliteorspacecrafttovigorouslyanalyzethelikelihoodthatanyoftheiractions , fromanunexpectedfailureornormaloperations, willcreatemorespacedebris. Itincludesaccountingforanypieceofdebristheyplantoreleaseover 5mmthatmightstayinorbitfor 25 yearsormore. Itmightseemsurprisingtothinkaboutanitemstayinginspaceforthatlong, buttheoldestsatellitestillinorbit- Vanguard 1- turned 60 in 2018.
Agenciesandcompaniesthroughouttheworldareworkingondevelopingtechnologythatwoulddisposeoforcapturespacedebrisbeforeitcausesseriousdamage. Butfornow, theU. S. governmentismorefocusedonpreventingnewdebrisfromformingthantakingthetrashoutoforbit.
51. WhatisthepurposeofthenewU. S. spacepolicy?
A) Tolayoutgeneralguidelinesforspaceexploration.
B) Toencouragecompaniestojoininspaceprograms.
C) Tomakethebestuseofsatellitesinspace.
D) Toimprovetrafficconditionsinspace.
52. WhatistheDepartmentofCommerceexpectedtodounderthenewpolicy?
A) Reducedebrisinspace.
B) Monitorsatelliteoperations.
C) Regulatethelaunchingofnewsatellites.
D) Updatesatellitecommunicationstechnology.
53. WhatdoestheU. S. governmenthopetodowiththenewspacepolicy?
A) Setinternationalstandardsforthespacefightindustry.
B) Monopolizespaceindustrybydevelopingasetofnorms.
C) Facilitatecommercialspaceflightsthroughouttheworld.
D) Promoteinternationalcollaborationinspaceexploration.
54. WhatisaspacevehiclelaunchingentityrequiredtodoaccordingtothecurrentU. S. GovernmentOrbitalDebrisMitigationStandardPractices?
A) Giveanestimateofhowlongitsdebriswillstayinspace.
B) Accountforthedebrisithasreleasedintospaceatanytime.
C) Provideadetailedplanformanagingthespacedebrisitcreates.
D) Makeathoroughanalysisofanypossibleadditiontospacedebris.
55. Whatarespaceagenciesandcompaniesaimingtodoatpresent?
A) Recycleusedspacevehiclesbeforetheyturnintodebris.
B) Developtechnologytoaddressthespacedebrisproblem.
C) Limittheamountofdebrisenteringspace.
D) Cooperatecloselytoretrievespacedebris.