1997年考研英语阅读第四篇—本文是一篇关于大众传媒题材的文章
原文+翻译：
No company likes to be told it is contributing to the moral decline of a nation.
没有一家公司乐意听到别人说自己引起了社会的道德败坏。
“Is this what you intended to accomplish with your careers?” Senator Robert Dole asked Time Warner executives last week. “You have sold your souls, but must you corrupt our nation and threaten our children as well?”
参议员罗伯特·多尔上星期质问时代—华纳公司管理人员时说：“难道这就是你们要成就的事业吗？你们已经出卖了自己的灵魂，难道还非要败坏我们的国家、威胁我们的孩子不成？”
At Time Warner, however, such questions are simply the latest manifestation of the soul-searching that has involved the company ever since the company was born in 1990.
不过，对于成立于1990年的时代—华纳而言，这样的质问仅仅是公司进行反思的最新表现，
It’s a self-examination that has, at various times, involved issues of responsibility, creative freedom and the corporate bottom line.
是一种自我反省，在不同时代已涉及到责任、创作自由和公司底线等不同问题。
At the core of this debate is chairman Gerald Levin, 56, who took over for the late Steve Ross in 1992. On the financial front, Levin is under pressure to raise the stock price and reduce the company’s mountainous debt,
56岁的现任董事长杰拉德·列文是争论的焦点人物，他于1992年接替已故董事长斯蒂夫·罗斯。财政方面，他承受着使股价升值，减少公司巨额债务的压力。
which will increase to $17.3 billion after two new cable deals close. He has promised to sell off some of the property and restructure the company, but investors are waiting impatiently.
在两笔新的有线电视交易谈妥后，公司债务将达到173亿美元。他也允诺出售部分资产并对公司进行重组，但现在投资者们仍在焦急地等待着。
The flap over rap is not making life any easier for him.
人们对说唱音乐的焦虑并没使他的日子好过一些。
Levin has consistently defended the company’s rap music on the grounds of expression.
列文一向以表现方式为理由来捍卫公司的说唱音乐。
In 1992, when Time Warner was under fire for releasing Ice-T’s violent rap song Cop Killer, Levin described rap as a lawful expression of street culture, which deserves an outlet.
1992年公司因出品Ice-T乐队暴力的说唱歌曲《警察杀手》后倍受谴责时，列文却将说唱音乐描述为街头文化的合法表达方式，并说它应该有自己的宣泄途径。
“The test of any democratic society,” he wrote in a Wall Street Journal column, “lies not in how well it can control expression but in whether it gives freedom of thought and expression the widest possible latitude, however disputable or irritating the results may sometimes be. We won’t retreat in the face of any threats.”
他在《华尔街日报》一篇专栏文章中写道：“对任何一个民主社会的检验，不在于它能多有效的控制情感的表达，而在于是否给予了人们最广泛的思考和表达自由，尽管有时这种结果会引起争论和愤怒。我们不会在任何威胁面前退却。”
Levin would not comment on the debate last week, but there were signs that the chairman was backing off his hard-line stand, at least to some extent.
列文不愿对上周的辩论做任何评论，但有迹象表明，这位懂事长至少在某种程度上放弃了自己强硬的立场。
During the discussion of rock singing verses at last month’s stockholders’ meeting, Levin asserted that “music is not the cause of society’s ills” and even cited his son, a teacher in the Bronx, New York, who uses rap to communicate with students.
在上个月就摇滚乐的歌词进行讨论的股东会议上，列文宣称“音乐不是社会问题的病因”，他甚至还以自己的儿子为例，他儿子是纽约州布朗克斯的一名教师，上课时用说唱的形式与学生进行交流。
But he talked as well about the “balanced struggle” between creative freedom and social responsibility, and he announced that the company would launch a drive to develop standards for distribution and labeling of potentially objectionable music.
但他也谈到了创作自由和社会责任之间要“保持平衡”的问题，还宣布对一些可能令人反感的音乐，公司将致力于制定一套发行和标识的标准。
The 15-member Time Warner board is generally supportive of Levin and his corporate strategy.
一般来说，时代—华纳公司的15位董事是支持列文和他为公司制定的经营策略的。
But insiders say several of them have shown their concerns in this matter.
但内部人士透露其中几位对此事表示担忧。
“Some of us have known for many, many years that the freedoms under the First Amendment are not totally unlimited,” says Luce. “I think it is perhaps the case that some people associated with the company have only recently come to realize this.”
“我们中的一些人多年来一直知道，《宪法》第一修正案所规定的自由并非毫无限制”，鲁斯说，“我认为与公司有关系的一些人可能最近才意识到这一点”。
试题：
51. Senator Robert Dole criticized Time Warner for.
[A] its raising of the corporate stock price
[B] its self-examination of soul
[C] its neglect of social responsibility
[D] its emphasis on creative freedom
52. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
[A] Luce is a spokesman of Time Warner.
[B] Gerald Levin is liable to compromise.
[C] Time Warner is united as one in the face of the debate.
[D] Steve Ross is no longer alive.
53. In face of the recent attacks on the company, the chairman.
[A] stuck to a strong stand to defend freedom of expression
[B] softened his tone and adopted some new policy
[C] changed his attitude and yielded to objection
[D] received more support from the 15-member board
54. The best title for this passage could be.
[A] A Company under Fire
[B] A Debate on Moral Decline
[C] A Lawful Outlet of Street Culture
[D] A Form of Creative Freedom
答案：CDBA