原标题：【考研英语】题源外刊第72期：游戏业的成功

原文期刊：经济学人////

why video games will be an enduring success

no.1

考研英语阅读话题—社会发展

电子游戏（video games，少部分学者使用electronic games）又称电玩游戏（简称电玩），是指所有依托于电子设备平台而运行的交互游戏。根据运行媒介的不同分为五类：主机游戏（狭义的，此处专指家用机游戏）、掌机游戏、街机游戏、电脑游戏及手机游戏。完善的电子游戏在20世纪末出现，改变了人类进行游戏的行为方式和对游戏一词的定义，属于一种随科技发展而诞生的文化活动。

原文总览

本文话题为电子游戏，文主要分析了视频游戏获得成功的原因，属于话题分析型文章，按照“引出话题——进行分析”的脉络展开论述。

原文

ⅰhalf a century after “nim” (the first video game)，video games have become the most exciting branch of the entertainment industry. they are a “killer app” that is helping to drive mobile-phone sales, and a key ingredient in the popularity of social-networking sites. should other media firms worry that games will take over? the numbers can look ominous. in revenue terms, video games already dwarf radio.

ⅱthe history of media technologies suggests that it is rare for any of them to be entirely superseded by others. long-playing records did not make live concerts obsolete. television did not kill radio. that is not to say that they will remain untouched. video games will influence other parts of the entertainment industry and in turn be influenced by them. but there is something fundamentally different about games that sets them apart from traditional media such as books and films. games developers say that technology is pushing back the frontiers of their business in a way that is simply not open to, say, books or radio. they point to improving graphics, better artificial intelligence and bigger worlds featured in their products. the more business-minded may argue that games offer better value for money than films do. some will say that it is a generational thing, and that people who use computers in every area of life will naturally expect to use them for entertainment as well.

ⅲthe main reason why games are different is that they marry the power of modern technology to the ins

atiable human desire for play. all these things are true. but the main reason why games are different is that, rather than being consumed passively like all the other media, they are interactive, marrying the power of modern technology to the human desire for play. the compulsion to play is hard-wired into the human race. it is the way people learn. organised play offers a (fairly) safe outlet for competitive impulses that might otherwise get out of hand. games, sports and contests feature in every documented human culture. people fill their leisure time with a dizzying variety of games, both sporty and brainy, and as participants as well as spectators.

ⅳwhat the video-games industry has done is to make much of this activity better and more convenient for the players. video games can offer anything from electronic versions of traditional pastimes, such as poker or rugby, to totally new experiences, such as abstract brain-teasers, simulations of warfare and intricate alternative realities. consoles provide a cinematic treat in the living room; mobile phones a quick fix on the move. thanks to the internet, opponents and team mates are never more than a few clicks away. ultimately the market for electronic games is limited only by the world’s appetite for fun and enjoyment.

词汇短语

1.*soothing /’su?e??/ a. 抚慰的；宽慰人心的

2.every bit 完全；从头至尾

3.*tab /t?b/ v. 给…贴标签

4.*afflict /?’fl?kt/ v. 折磨；使痛苦

5.spine-tingling a. 引起恐慌的；引起兴奋的

6.enclosed /?n?kl??zd/ a. 与世隔绝的

7.primitive /’pr?m?t?v/ a. 原始的

8.for one’s own good 对某人有利

9.speed to 快速驶向

10.*amygdala /?’m?gd?l?/ n. 杏仁核

11.*eon /’i??n/ n. 永世；无数的年代

12.forebear /’f??be?/ n. 祖先；祖宗

13.fight-or-flight response 战斗或逃跑反应

14.presumably /pr?’zju?m?bl?/ adv. 大概；推测起来

15.*aversion /?’v???(?)n/ n. 厌恶

16.*arachnophobia n. 蜘蛛恐惧症

17.*trypophobia n. 密集恐惧症

18.*atavistic /,?t?’v?st?k/ a. 隔代遗传的；返祖现象的

19.sort out 清理；挑选出

20.spin out 消磨；拖延时间

21.*imperil /?m’per?l/ v. 危及；使陷于危险

22.hazard /’h?z?d/ n. 危险

23.in the wake of 随着…而来

24.*plummet /’pl?m?t/ v.（价格、水平等）骤然下跌

25.*discomfit /d?s’k?mf?t/ v. 挫败，扰乱

（注:标*号为超纲词）

长难句语法点拨

but the main reason why games are different （定语从句） is that(其后表语从句）,rather than being consumed passively like all the other media, they are interactive, marrying the power of modern technology to the human desire for play.（现在分词短语作伴随方式状语）

本句主干是but the main reason is that ……，that引导表语从句，表语从句中，rather than 是介词，“而不是……”，从句用现在分词短语作伴随方式状语，说明如何interactive。

写作句型借鉴

there is something fundamentally different about xx that sets them apart from yy such as ……

xx与yy如……等存在着一些最根本的区别

原文例句：but there is something fundamentally different about games that sets them apart from traditional media such as books and films.但是，游戏与传统媒体如书籍和电影等存在着一些最根本的区别

the main reason why xx are different is that they marry aa to bb.

xx与众不同的主要原因是xx将aa与bb结合起来。

原文例句：the main reason why games are different is that they marry the power of modern technology to the insatiable human desire for play. 游戏与众不同的主要原因是他们将现代技术的力量与人类对玩乐永不满足的欲望结合起来。

people fill their leisure time with a dizzying variety of games, both sporty and brainy, and as participants as well as spectators. 人们将闲暇时间花在了不计其数的游戏之上，既有拼体力的，也有拼脑力的，人们既是参与者，也是观众。

这句话可以直接背诵应用，也可以仿写（后半段both sporty and brainy, and as participants as well as spectators）

本篇逐段翻译点评、逻辑梳理、关键词等

《120篇题源外刊赏读》

阅读全程班直降80元！

真题阅读20年精讲+核心短语+黄皮书阅读80篇配套课

三维突破扫荡式讲解 —无死角攻克20年真题阅读

历年真题核心短语及经典搭配 —阅读之浓缩精华，写作之高分素材

黄皮书阅读80篇配套 —阅读加餐，高分拿来！

活动时间7月29日-8月3日中午12点

扫描二维码返回搜狐，查看更多

责任编辑：