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英語(yǔ)課外閱讀1
Cory Wilbur, a 25-year-old software engineer in Boston, never used to read much. He barelycracked a book in college and would read one or two a year on vacation, at most.
25歲的波士頓軟件工程師科里•威爾伯(Cory Wilbur)之前閱讀量一直不大。上大學(xué)時(shí)就很少翻書，一年最多也就在放假時(shí)讀上一兩本。
But in the past year, he's finished 10 books, including Dan Brown's 'Inferno,' Walter Isaacson'sbiography of Steve Jobs and George R.R. Martin's fantasy series 'A Song of Ice and Fire.' Helistens to audio books in snippets throughout the day on his iPhone during his morning workout, on his 20-minute commute to work, and while he's cooking dinner or cleaning up. Before hefalls asleep, he switches to an e-book of the same story on his Kindle, and starts reading rightwhere the narrator left off.
但在過(guò)去一年，他“讀”完了10本書，包括丹•布朗(Dan Brown)的《煉獄》(Inferno)，瓦爾特•艾薩克森(Walter Isaacson)為史蒂夫•喬布斯(Steve Jobs)寫的傳記，還有喬治•馬丁(George R.R. Martin)的系列奇幻小說(shuō)《冰與火之歌》(A Song of Ice and Fire)。早上鍛煉的時(shí)候，20分鐘的上班路上，做晚飯或打掃衛(wèi)生的時(shí)候，他一小段一小段地聽iPhone上的有聲書。入睡前，他改看同一個(gè)故事在Kindle上的電子書，從朗讀者停下來(lái)的地方接著開始閱讀。
'I fly through a lot more books than I used to,' Mr. Wilbur said.
威爾伯說(shuō)：“我瀏覽的書比過(guò)去多多了。”
The digital revolution may have dealt a heavy blow to print, but it is boosting literacy in otherunexpected ways by fueling the explosive growth of audio books.
數(shù)字革命或許已給印刷業(yè)造成了沉重的打擊，但它推進(jìn)有聲書的爆發(fā)式增長(zhǎng)，通過(guò)其他意想不到的方式提高了人們的文化水平。
Once a static niche for aficionados renting clunky cassettes or CDs for their commutes, audiobooks have gone mass-market. Sales have jumped by double digits in recent years. Shifts indigital technology have broadened the pool of potential listeners to include anyone with asmartphone.
有聲書曾經(jīng)是一種靜態(tài)、小眾的東西，供發(fā)燒友們租借笨重的磁帶或CD在上下班通勤時(shí)聽?，F(xiàn)在它已經(jīng)變得大眾化。近幾年其銷量實(shí)現(xiàn)了兩位數(shù)增長(zhǎng)。數(shù)字技術(shù)的變化擴(kuò)大了潛在聽眾群體，任何人只要有一部智能手機(jī)，都是這個(gè)群體的一員。
At the same time, publishers are investing six-figure sums in splashy productions with dozensof narrators. Using the Netflix model, some audio book producers have even startedexperimenting with original works written exclusively as audio productions, ranging from full-cast dramatizations in the style of old school radio plays, complete with music and soundeffects, to young adult novels, thrillers and multipart science fiction epics.
與此同時(shí)，出版商投入六位數(shù)的資金制作由數(shù)十位朗誦者誦讀的豪華作品。一些有聲書制作商借助Netflix的模式，已經(jīng)開始試驗(yàn)專為制作有聲作品而寫的原創(chuàng)作品，既有演員齊全(full-cast)、帶音樂(lè)和音效、按老式廣播劇風(fēng)格制作的改編劇，也有青少年小說(shuō)、驚險(xiǎn)小說(shuō)、科幻史詩(shī)系列等。
'It's one of the few times in history that technology has reinvigorated an art form rather thancrushing it,' said Max Brooks, author of the zombie novel 'World War Z,' which was released inMay ahead of the Brad Pitt movie in an elaborate new audio edition with 40 cast members, including Alan Alda, John Turturro, and Martin Scorsese. It sold 60,000 CDs and digital-audiocopies. 'Now, because there is such demand and the production value is so inexpensive, itopens the door for more creative storytelling.' he said.
僵尸小說(shuō)《末日之戰(zhàn)》(World War Z)作者馬克斯•布魯克斯(Max Brooks)說(shuō)：“技術(shù)非但沒有毀滅、反倒是復(fù)興了一種藝術(shù)形式，這在歷史上并不多見，有聲書便是其一。”今年5月，《末日之戰(zhàn)》在布拉德•皮特(BradPitt)主演的同名電影之前發(fā)布了一個(gè)精雕細(xì)琢的有聲版，演員達(dá)40位，有艾倫•艾爾達(dá)(Alan Alda)、約翰•圖爾圖羅(John Turturro)、馬丁•西科塞斯(Martin Scorsese)等。這個(gè)版本賣出了6萬(wàn)份CD和數(shù)字音頻。布魯克斯說(shuō)：“現(xiàn)在有這種需求，生產(chǎn)成本又如此便宜，這就為更多故事的創(chuàng)作創(chuàng)造了條件。”
Digital innovation isn't just changing the way audio books are created, packaged and sold. It'sstarting to reshape the way readers consume literature, creating a new breed of literaryomnivores who see narrated books and text as interchangeable. Last year, the audio bookproducer and retailer Audible unveiled a long-awaited syncing feature that allows book lovers toswitch seamlessly between an e-book and a digital audio book, picking up the story at preciselythe same sentence.
數(shù)字創(chuàng)新改變的不只是有聲書的創(chuàng)作、包裝和出售方式，它也開始改變讀者消費(fèi)文學(xué)的方式，培育了一批新的文學(xué)愛好者。在這些愛好者看來(lái)，朗誦圖書和文本圖書是互通的。去年，制作并零售有聲書的Audible公司發(fā)布了人們期待已久的一項(xiàng)同步功能。利用這一功能，愛書人可以在電子書和數(shù)字有聲書之間無(wú)縫切換，撿起同一句話繼續(xù)閱讀，不差分毫。
So far, Audible, which is owned by Amazon, has paired some 26,000 ebooks with professionalnarrations. The company is adding more than 1,000 titles a month and aims to eventuallybring the number to close to 100,000.
到目前為止，身為亞馬遜(Amazon)旗下公司的Audible已將大約2.6萬(wàn)種電子書搭配了專業(yè)朗誦。該公司一個(gè)月新推有聲書1,000多種，最終目標(biāo)是推出接近10萬(wàn)種。
'We're moving toward a media-agnostic consumer who doesn't think of the difference betweentextual and visual and auditory experience,' says Don Katz, Audible's founder and CEO. 'It's thestory, and it is there for you in the way you want it.'
Audible創(chuàng)始人、CEO唐•卡茨(Don Katz)說(shuō)：“我們?cè)诮咏蝗簾o(wú)視介質(zhì)、不去考慮文本、視覺、聽覺體驗(yàn)之區(qū)別的消費(fèi)者。”他說(shuō)：“他們關(guān)心的是故事，而故事就在那里，你想它是什么樣子它就是什么樣子。”
Audio books have ballooned into a class="main">
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有聲書已經(jīng)從1997年4.8億的零售額膨脹為一個(gè)12億美元的產(chǎn)業(yè)。據(jù)有聲出版機(jī)構(gòu)聯(lián)合會(huì)(Audio PublishersAssociation)數(shù)據(jù)，2011年網(wǎng)絡(luò)下載有聲書銷售量較2010年增長(zhǎng)了近30%?，F(xiàn)在點(diǎn)一下手指就可以把有聲書下載到智能手機(jī)上，價(jià)格常常跟電子書一樣。
Recorded books date back to the 1930s, when the Library of Congress created a 'talking books'program for the blind. The proliferation of the cassette deck in autos boosted their popularityin the 1980s. CDs followed, but sales plateaued as audio books failed to keep pace with otherforms of digital entertainment.
錄音圖書可上溯至20世紀(jì)30年代國(guó)會(huì)圖書館(Library of Congress)為盲人群體制作的一檔名叫“會(huì)說(shuō)話的書”的節(jié)目。80年代汽車卡式磁帶座的繁盛促進(jìn)了錄音書的流行。接下來(lái)是CD，但由于有聲書沒有能夠趕上其他數(shù)字娛樂(lè)形式的步伐，其銷量一直停滯不前。
These narrated books typically cost or more (0 for Stephen King's lengthy 'TheStand'), so devotees borrowed them from the library or rented them from mail-order serviceslike Books on Tape, which still exists as a unit of Random House and emphasizes unabridgedtitles for libraries and schools.
這些朗誦圖書的價(jià)格一般在50美元或以上(史蒂芬•金(Stephen King)的長(zhǎng)篇作品《末日逼近》(The Stand)售價(jià)100美元)，所以愛好者從圖書館借，或者從Books on Tape這樣的郵購(gòu)服務(wù)提供商那里租。Books onTape仍然作為蘭登書屋(Random House)旗下公司而存在，側(cè)重于為圖書館和學(xué)校提供無(wú)刪節(jié)的版本。
Prices are much lower now, as production costs have plunged and demand has risen. Audiobooks can be bundled with an e-book for just a few dollars, downloaded as part of a monthlysubscription plan or bought individually for as low as class="main">
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隨著制作成本下降、需求上升，現(xiàn)在有聲書的價(jià)格已經(jīng)下降了很多。有聲書可以按幾美元的價(jià)格跟著電子書一塊兒購(gòu)買，可以根據(jù)按月訂閱計(jì)劃下載，也可以單獨(dú)購(gòu)買，便宜的1.99美元(短篇，約合人民幣12元)，貴的69.99美元(如《圣經(jīng)》，約合人民幣430元)?？上螺d有聲書的價(jià)格一般為接近20美元(約合人民幣123元)。
'Everybody has an audio book player in their pocket at this point,' says Anthony Goff, vicepresident of Hachette Audio, where sales have jumped by 31% this spring over last. 'It makesthat much easier for the masses to try it.' Downloadable books made up some 60% of totalaudio unit sales in 2011, dwarfing CDs.
Hachette Audio今年春季的銷售額同比增長(zhǎng)了31%。副總裁安東尼•戈夫(Anthony Goff)說(shuō)：“現(xiàn)在誰(shuí)的口袋里都有一臺(tái)有聲書播放器。這使大眾嘗試有聲書容易多了。”2011年有聲書總銷售量里面，可下載有聲書占了60%左右，CD銷量相形見絀。
Audio book producers have been dramatically increasing their output. 13,255 titles came out in 2012, up from 4,602 in 2009, according to the Audio Publishers Association.
有聲書制作商一直在大幅度增產(chǎn)。據(jù)有聲制作機(jī)構(gòu)聯(lián)合會(huì)數(shù)據(jù)，2012年出產(chǎn)的有聲書有13,255種，相比之下2009年的產(chǎn)量為4,602種。
Audio books are no longer viewed as just an ancillary product to print. Some audio publishersare now attempting to rebrand narrated books as a distinct medium from print, labeling themas 'audio entertainment.' A handful of such publishers have started dabbling in originalaudio content, hoping to demonstrate that recorded narratives can hold their own as originalworks of art.
有聲書不再被視為印刷書的輔助產(chǎn)品?，F(xiàn)在部分有聲書出版商正在試嘗將朗誦圖書包裝成一種不同于印刷圖書的媒介，把它定性為“有聲娛樂(lè)”。這些出版商里面，有幾家已經(jīng)在開始試水原創(chuàng)有聲內(nèi)容，希望以此證明，錄音書也可以作為原創(chuàng)藝術(shù)作品而獨(dú)立存在。
In the past five years, AudioGo has produced about 25 works exclusively for audio, including'Baseball Forever,' a remix of radio broadcasts of some of the top moments in the history ofbaseball, 'Dreadtime Stories,' a collection of original horror stories, and a series ofapocalyptic zombie stories. The company has also produced 10 full-cast productions thatresemble old fashioned radio plays, a nearly extinct art form. They hired actor Val Kilmer toplay Zorro in an audio dramatization titled 'The Mark of Zorro,' and recruited Stacy Keach, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer on TV, to voice the detective in an original Mike Hammeraudio book.
在過(guò)去五年，AudioGo制作了大約25種純音頻的作品，其中有棒球史上部分巔峰時(shí)刻的廣播解說(shuō)串燒《永遠(yuǎn)棒球》(Baseball Forever);原創(chuàng)恐怖小說(shuō)集《恐怖故事》(Dreadtime Stories)，以及一系列的末日僵尸小說(shuō)。該公司還制作了10部演員齊全的作品，類似老式廣播劇這種幾乎滅絕的藝術(shù)形式。他們聘請(qǐng)演員瓦爾•基爾默(Val Kilmer)在一部名為“佐羅的面具”(The Mark of Zorro)的有聲改編劇里面扮演佐羅，還聘請(qǐng)?jiān)陔娨晞 睹灼?bull;斯皮蘭版邁克•漢默》(Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer)里面飾演男主角的斯塔西•基奇(StacyKeach)在一本邁克•漢默題材的原創(chuàng)有聲書里面飾演漢默偵探。
Audible, the country's largest audio book producer and retailer, has been investing in originalworks as a way to showcase the dramatic potential of the form, and to provide exclusivecontent as HBO, Showtime and Netflix do in television. Audible has produced nearly 20 originalaudio books, mainly in fast-growing categories like mystery and science fiction. Audible, whichAmazon bought in 2008, runs a subscription service for millions of members, who listen to anaverage of 18 books a year. Plans range from .95 a month, for one book a month, to 9.50 a year, for 24 books a year. The pipeline needs to keep flowing.
Audible是全國(guó)最大有聲書制作商與零售商。它投資原創(chuàng)作品是為了展示這種形式的極大潛力，并像電視界的HBO、Showtime和Netflix那樣提供專屬內(nèi)容。Netflix制作的原創(chuàng)有聲書已經(jīng)接近20種，主要是懸疑、科幻等增長(zhǎng)較快的類別。2008年被亞馬遜收購(gòu)的Audible為數(shù)百萬(wàn)會(huì)員開通了一項(xiàng)訂閱服務(wù)，這些會(huì)員一年平均聽書18本。訂閱計(jì)劃既有每月14.95美元(約合人民幣92元)、一月一本書，也有每年229.50美元(約合人民幣1,400元)、一年24本書。品種必須源源不斷地更新。
'If you run out of mysteries, people quit,' Mr. Katz said.
卡茨說(shuō)：“如果懸念沒了，人們就會(huì)撤退。”
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