Imax中國(guó)借力小“妖怪”

Imax中國(guó)借力小“妖怪”

盡管國(guó)內(nèi)還不能玩到這一風(fēng)靡的游戲，但萬達(dá)集團(tuán)的子公司已贏得相關(guān)權(quán)利，制作一部基于《口袋妖怪》角色“皮卡丘”的大電影。

測(cè)試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識(shí)：

subsidiary 子公司[s?b's?d??r?]

film distribution 影片發(fā)行

blockbuster 大片；一鳴驚人者['bl?kb?st?]

segment 分割['segm(?)nt]

閱讀馬上開始，建議您計(jì)算一下閱讀整篇文章所用的時(shí)間，對(duì)照下方的參考值就可以評(píng)估出您的英文閱讀水平。

如果您讀完全文用時(shí)為： 那么，您的閱讀速度相當(dāng)于 每分鐘閱讀的英文單詞數(shù)

2分47秒 母語(yǔ)為英語(yǔ)者的朗讀速度 140

1分7秒 母語(yǔ)為英語(yǔ)的中學(xué)生的閱讀速度 250

0分31秒 母語(yǔ)為英語(yǔ)的大學(xué)生的閱讀速度 350

0分31秒 母語(yǔ)為英語(yǔ)的速讀高手 1000

Imax China: monster screens（319 words）

-----------------------------------------------------

Gotta catch ’em all. Imax China, the Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of the US cinema technology group, is the latest company caught up in the hype about Pokémon Go. On Wednesday Legendary Entertainment, a subsidiary of Wanda Group, reportedly won the rights to make a feature film based on Pokémon character Pikachu. Shares in Imax China — for whom Wanda is a big customer — rose as much as one-tenth and closed up 4 per cent.

There was much more to the rise, however, than a monster craze. Also on Thursday, Imax China announced its first set of interim results since listing in September. This registered a turnround to net profit after losses in the prior first half, on revenues that are up a quarter. The figures suggest more upside lies ahead.

Superficially, the numbers were not encouraging. Imax China makes money by selling and maintaining screens, film distribution and revenue-sharing. Box office revenues rose a mere 3 per cent, within which the take per screen fell nearly one-quarter. But much of that decline was due to a tough comparison base: Fast and Furious 7 screened in the first half of 2015. Encouragingly for the full year, the box office for June 2016 was up more than a half as blockbusters including Warcraft were released.

Screen sales also sent a mixed signal. Orders for 79 new theatre systems in the first half exceeded the prior year’s total. The company revised its forecast for full-year screen installations from 100 to 115. Yet the segment was a drag, with two system upgrades depressing margins. It is the third category that looks most promising, however. An increasing proportion of the company’s installed theatres operate under revenue-sharing agreements, which cover maintenance and film distribution and enjoy higher margins. Those segments will expand with the growing network.

Pikachu’s advent to the large screen may be exciting. Next to Imax China’s strong outlook, it is merely a sideshow.

請(qǐng)根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測(cè)題目：

1. Where did Imax China come to market?

A. HK

B. UK

C. US

D. Beijing

2. How is Imax China’s financial status in the prior first half?

A. loss of net profits

B. turnround to net profit after losses

C. profits began to spiral up

D. not mentioned

3. Which one is not mentioned as the company’s source of income?

A. selling and maintaining screens

B. patent royalty of Imax

C. film distribution

D. revenue-sharing

4. What is author's attitude towards Imax China?

A. hesitating

B. anxious

C. resentful

D. looking good

[1] 答案 A. HK

解釋：這家公司在香港上市。

[2] 答案 B. turnround to net profit after losses

解釋：文章提到繼上半年出現(xiàn)虧損后，凈利潤(rùn)在營(yíng)收增長(zhǎng)四分之一基礎(chǔ)上實(shí)現(xiàn)扭虧為盈。故上半年是虧損狀態(tài)。

[3] 答案 D. revenue-sharing

解釋：Imax中國(guó)的盈利來自出售和維護(hù)大銀幕、電影發(fā)行和收入分成。

[4] 答案 D. looking good

解釋：文章最后一段再次強(qiáng)調(diào)：皮卡丘登上大銀幕也許令人興奮。但比起Imax中國(guó)的強(qiáng)勁前景，這只是一個(gè)小插曲。