礼节美语 Business Etiquette 134 Piracy (2)
Benny买了便宜的盗版影碟，他室友Carl觉得这样做无异于盗窃。Benny争辩说，
B: Come on. If you steal, it means you hurt someone, right? When I buy fake 1 DVDs, who am I hurting?
C: Actually, lots of people. Movie and software companies all over the world have lots of employees performing all kinds of jobs. There are designers, lighting 2 people, make-up people and many, many more. If the company doesn't make money, these people lose their jobs.
买盗版影碟，会伤害到很多人。另外，盗版影碟质量也不好。
C: Besides, isn't the quality of pirated DVDs really terrible?
B: Some of them are pretty bad. Sometimes you can barely 3 hear the dialogue because the audio 4 is so poor.
C: Then why not really enjoy the movie by renting a legal copy? You don't usually watch films again anyway. They just sit on your shelf taking up space!
B: (Laughs) That's true. I have 1000 of these things just lying around. OK, I can sort of see your point. But originals are still way too expensive!
盗版影碟质量差，有时连对话都听不清楚。况且，Carl说，一部电影也不会反复看，无非是放在架子上占地儿。Benny承认，I have 1000 of these things just lying around. 他确实有很多盗版影碟放在那里。可他又说，正版实在是太贵了。Originals are way too expensive. 这里的way起到了强调的效果。
C: Yes, I agree, but I think that will begin to change soon. Pretty soon everything will be digital and you'll be able go online and cheaply buy a legal copy to download. Prices should start to go down soon.
B: It's already happened for music. I can now buy single songs online legally for a very cheap price. Before I had to buy the whole CD, but usually I only liked a couple of the songs on it.
Carl说，用不了多久，电影也会数字化，可以很便宜地合法下载。Benny表示同意，因为他现在已经可以上网付费下载单曲，而不用象从前那样买整盘CD了。
C: Also, don't forget that buying original copies helps pay the salaries of your favorite movie stars. You're a big Jackie Chan fan, right?
B: Yeah! Jackie Chan is the best! Nobody can do stunts 5 like Chan!
C: But how can the movie studios pay Jackie Chan millions of dollars to star in the films if everybody buys fake copies of his movies?
B: Ok, Ok I get it! ...I'll give up pirated movies. ....Now what am I going to do tonight?
C: Want to play chess?
B: Sure!
Carl知道Benny是成龙的影迷，他继续劝Benny说，如果大家都买盗版，谁还付得起几百万美元请成龙拍电影呢？Benny这才终于表示，Ok I get it! I'll give up pirated movies. 意思是，好了，我明白了，以后不买盗版了。
- He can tell a fake from the original.他能分辨出赝品和真品。
- You can easily fake up an excuse to avoid going out with him.你可以很容易地编造一个借口而不与他一同外出。
- The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
- The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。
- The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
- He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。