【外刊】
今日导读
超级英雄的影迷们曾经设想过这样一个画面：如果蜘蛛侠、钢铁侠、蚁人和死侍这四个话痨坐在一起，会产生什么样的化学反应？现在这个设想变为现实的概率大大增加了！上周，迪士尼收购福克斯的交易正式生效，福克斯的电影部门、电视部门、以及包括国家地理栏目在内的国际电视业务全部并入迪士尼的版图。那迪士尼吞下福克斯之后，它的发展方向和重心会有所转变吗？今天《纽约时报》的这篇新闻就解答了这个问题。
新闻原文
Disney moves from behemoth to colossus with closing of Fox deal
“Everything the light touches is our kingdom.”
It’s a line from Disney’s “The Lion King, ” spoken by Mufasa to young Simba as they sit atop Pride Rock. And on Wednesday morning, just after midnight on the East Coast, it seemed to describe the Walt Disney Co. itself, as the conglomerate closed its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets. It is now an entertainment colossus the size of which the world has never seen.
“This deal definitely reshapes the landscape, ” said Michael Nathanson, a leading media analyst.
The acquisition is the largest in Disney’s 96-year history, dwarfing even the 1995 purchase of Capital Cities/ABC.
Disney had been a mere behemoth, dominating sports television through ESPN, controlling the global theme park business and running Hollywood’s No. 1 movie operation, with studios that include Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm. But the company decided it needed to bulk up even more as the tech giants aggressively moved into Hollywood. The competition now includes Apple, which is scheduled to unveil its television and movie plans on Monday.
Disney is trying to become less dependent on cable channels like ESPN, which are in slow, steady decline owing to cord-cutting. Instead, Disney has decided to move into the rapidly growing realm of online video, a direct-to-consumer business defined by Netflix. Robert Iger, Disney’s chief executive, believes the Fox assets will enhance that plan, which includes a streaming service called Disney+ later this year.
“This is an extraordinary and historic moment for us, ” Iger said in a statement Tuesday.
带着问题看讲解
behemoth 和 colossus 有什么区别？
如何理解 cord-cutting？
现在迪士尼的业务重心有什么样的转变？
新闻正文
Disney moves from behemoth to colossuswith closing of Fox deal
收购福克斯生效，迪士尼从行业巨头跃升为娱乐业巨无霸
“Everything the light touches is our kingdom.”
“阳光所及之处，皆为吾之领土。”
It’s a line from Disney’s “The Lion King”, spoken by Mufasa to young Simba as they sit atop Pride Rock. And on Wednesday morning, just after midnight on the East Coast, it seemed to describe the Walt Disney Co. itself, as the conglomerateclosed its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets. It is now an entertainment colossus the size of which the world has never seen.
这是迪士尼电影《狮子王》里的一句台词，是老狮子王木法沙对小狮子王辛巴所说的一句话，当时它们正坐在荣耀石上。现在这句话似乎在形容华特迪士尼公司自己。周三凌晨，美国东海岸午夜刚过，该集团以 713 亿美元收购 21 世纪福克斯资产的交易案告一段落。如今，迪士尼已成为世界上规模空前的娱乐业巨无霸。
“This deal definitely reshapes the landscape,” said Michael Nathanson, a leading media analyst.
顶尖媒体分析师迈克尔·纳桑森表示：“这笔交易肯定会重塑整个格局。”
The acquisition is the largest in Disney’s 96-year history, dwarfingeven the 1995 purchase of Capital Cities/ABC.
这是迪士尼 96 年历史中规模最大的一笔收购。就连该公司 1995 年对大都会通讯公司/美国广播公司的收购，也相形见绌。
Disney had been a mere behemoth, dominating sports television through ESPN, controlling the global theme park business and running Hollywood’s No. 1 movie operation, with studios that include Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm. But the company decided it needed to bulk up even more as the tech giants aggressively moved into Hollywood. The competition now includes Apple, which is scheduled to unveilits television and movie plans on Monday.
迪士尼曾经也只不过是业界巨头，通过 ESPN（娱乐与体育节目电视网）支配了体育电视，掌控着全球的主题公园业务，并且还经营着好莱坞最大的电影集团，旗下电影公司包括漫威、皮克斯以及卢卡斯影业。但随着科技巨头们大举进军好莱坞，该公司决定要进一步扩大规模。苹果公司现在也加入了这场竞赛，它计划在周一公布其电视和电影计划。
Disney is trying to become less dependent on cable channels like ESPN, which are in slow, steady decline owing to cord-cutting. Instead, Disney has decided to move into the rapidly growing realm of online video, a direct-to-consumer business defined by Netflix. Robert Iger, Disney’s chief executive, believes the Fox assets will enhance that plan, which includes a streaming service called Disney+ later this year.
迪士尼在努力减少对像 ESPN 这样的有线电视频道的依赖。由于用户相继取消订阅，这些频道正处于缓慢且持续衰落的状态。迪士尼已决定转而进军快速增长的在线视频领域，这是一个由 Netflix 定义的直接面向消费者的业务。迪士尼首席执行官罗伯特·艾格认为福克斯的资产将推进这一计划，其中包括在今年晚些时候推出的名为 Disney+的流媒体服务。
“This is an extraordinary and historic moment for us,” Iger said in a statement Tuesday.
艾格在周二的一则声明中表示：“对我们而言，这是一个非凡的历史性时刻。”
重点词汇
补充词汇知识
asset
n. 资产，财产
deal
n.（尤指商业上的）协议，交易
reshape
v. 重塑
leading
adj. 主要的；顶尖的
mere
adj. 仅仅的
theme park
n. 主题公园
operation
n. 企业，集团
giant
n. 巨头，大公司
aggressively
adv. 好斗地，雄心勃勃地
词义辨析
behemoth, colossus
两个词都可以表示“庞然大物”，经常用来形容一家强大的公司。behemoth 强调的是 sth. that is extremely powerful，很强大的事物，而 colossus 强调的主体不仅能力超群，而且还极具影响力，a person or thing that is extremely important。
长难句解析
Disney had been a mere behemoth, dominating sports television through ESPN, controlling the global theme park business and running Hollywood’s No. 1 movie operation, with studios that include Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm.
迪士尼曾经也只不过是业界巨头，通过 ESPN（娱乐与体育节目电视网）支配了体育电视，掌控着全球的主题公园业务，并且还经营着好莱坞最大的电影集团，旗下电影公司包括漫威、皮克斯以及卢卡斯影业。
这是个排比句，主句是 Disney had been a mere behemoth，后面的伴随状语部分用了三个词：dominating、controlling 和 running，引出了迪士尼经营的业务。句子最后的尾巴：with studios that include Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm，是主句中 behemoth 的后置定语，对迪士尼旗下的电影公司具体有哪些作了补充。
拓展阅读
ESPN（娱乐与体育节目电视网）
ESPN 的全名是 Entertainment and Sports Programming Network，是美国一家拥有 24 小时播放体育节目的有线电视联播网，以直播全球范围内的精彩体育赛事而享誉美国。ESPN 现已发展成为全球最大的体育电视网，卫星网络覆盖 160 个国家，节目使用 21 种语言，全球收视观众超过 2.1 亿人。
ESPN 网络和经营权由华特迪士尼公司（80%股份）和 Hearst Corporation（20%股份）共同拥有。公司业务范围涉及体育网络、电视广播、互联网站、体育杂志和商品发行。ESPN 也有中文官网 ESPN STAR Sports，这是专门为中国大陆观众和网民设置的综合性体育网站；同时，腾讯是 ESPN 中国独家数字合作伙伴，中国观众也可以在腾讯体育上同步观看。
2012 年，ESPN 曾因其移动平台首页上、《体育中心》节目中、以及纽约 ESPN 电台里三次出现侮辱和攻击林书豪的字眼而陷入丑闻，ESPN 后致歉称三起事件相互独立，且相关人员已被解雇或停职。