It seems obvious that you don't give away your product for free but this is exactly what indie rock group The Crimea did earlier this year. The band's reasoning goes like this: more people will download the free album than would pay for it. Therefore more people will hear The Crimea's music. These people will then pay money for concerts by the band and perhaps buy a T-shirt or other merchandise. If the band play regular concerts to crowds of 200 or 300 people they can make more money than they would from sales of a CD. There will always be some people who want something they can hold in their hands so they will release the CD into the shops too—but making money through sales of their music isn't the top priority.
The story illustrates the creative thinking going on in the music business in response to dramatic changes over the last few years in the way that people buy music. Sales of music digitally—to computer, phones and MP3 players rose to$2 billion in 2006—an increase of almost 100 percent on the previous year—yet overall record company sales are down. People are simply not buying CDs in record shops in anything like the numbers they used to.
This trend looks set to continue, so the big question for the music industry is whether they can successfully manage the move to being primarily a digital industry without profits falling to unacceptable levels.
There are both positive and negative signs. On the plus side, more and more people are buying music on mobile phones, which allows people to make impulse purchases—they can buy a song as soon as they hear it. Research by the UK mobile operator 3 suggested that 75 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds wanted to buy a track they liked as soon as they heard it. With so much competition for people's disposable income, a product that you can sell immediately is a big advantage.
The bad news for record companies, however, is the amount of music that is downloaded illegally. Piracy—usually in the form of cheaply copied CD—has long been an issue for the music business but the Internet means music can be copied and distributed freely through file-sharing sites on a larger scale than ever before.
It is this situation that leads bands to start giving away their music for free and promises to make the next few years a very interesting time in the music business.
問題：
1. What is unusual about the Crimea's business plan?
A.Their business was given away free on the Internet.
B.They gave CDs away free in shops.
C.They played free concerts.
D.They charged more for their CDs.
【參考答案】A
[考點]事實細節(jié)題
【精析】A 題干的大意是：關于克里米亞樂隊的商業(yè)計劃不尋常之處是什么?根據第一段第一、二句可知，該樂隊讓人們在網上免費下載自己的歌曲，而一般人不會免費贈送自己的產品的，所以選項A正確。
2.The Crimea hope to make money____ .
A.through CD sales
B.by giving concerts and selling T-shirts and other merchandise
C.by selling merchandise on the Internet
D.through sales of merchandise in shops
【參考答案】B
[考點]事實細節(jié)題
【精析】B 題干的大意是：克里米亞樂隊希望通過掙錢。根據第一段第四句可知，克里米亞樂隊希望通過演唱會，還有賣T恤和其他商品掙錢，所以選項B正確。
3.The Crimea also released CDs for sale in shops because_____ .
A.people who attend their concerts need them
B.they want to make extra money
C.there are still people who prefer CDs to other formats
D.people who fail to attend their concerts need them
【參考答案】C
[考點]事實細節(jié)題
【精析】C 題干的大意是：克里米亞樂隊也在商店銷售CD因為。根據第一段最后一句“There will always be some people who want something they can hold in their hands…”可知，克里米亞樂隊在商店銷售CD是因為還有人比起別的東西，更喜歡擁有實實在在的CD，所以選項C正確。
4.What is true about sales of music over the last year?
A.Overall, sales are up last year.
B.Overall, sales are down last year.
C.There is no change compared to previous sales.
D.It is not mentioned in the passage.
【參考答案】B
[考點]事實細節(jié)題
【精析】B 題干的大意是：關于在過去一年間的音樂銷售哪一項描述是正確的?根據第二段第二句“…yet overall record company sales are down.”可知，選項B正確。
5.What effect has the Internet had on music piracy?
A.It has made it easier to fight piracy.
B.It has increased the number of pirate CDs available.
C.It has made it easier to illegally copy music.
D.It has reduced the number of pirate CDs available.
【參考答案】C
[考點]推理判斷題
【精析】C 題干的大意是：互聯(lián)網對音樂盜版有什么影響?根據第五段第二句“…the Internet means music can be copied and distributed freely through file-sharing sites on a larger scale than ever before.”可推知，互聯(lián)網使得非法拷貝音樂更容易。故選C。
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