It is not easy to talk about the role of the mass media in this overwhelmingly significant phase in European history. History and news become confused, and one’s impressions tend to be a mixture of skepticism and optimism. (46)Television is one of the means by which these feelings are created and conveyed-and perhaps never before has it served as much to connect different peoples and nations as is the recent events in Europe. The Europe that is now forming cannot be anything other than its peoples, their cultures and national identities. With this in mind we can begin to analyze the European television scene. (47) In Europe, as elsewhere multi-media groups have been increasingly successful groups which bring together television, radio newspapers, magazines and publishing houses that work in relation to one another. One Italian example would be the Berlusconi group while abroad Maxwell and Murdoch come to mind.

　　Clearly, only the biggest and most flexible television companies are going to be able to compete complete in such a rich and hotly-contested market. (48) This alone demonstrates that the television business is not an easy world to survive in a fact underlined by statistics that show that out of eighty European television networks no less than 50% took a loss in 1989.

　　Moreover, the integration of the European community will oblige television companies to cooperate more closely in terms of both production and distribution.

　　(49) Creating a “European identity” that respects the different cultures and traditions which go to make up the connecting fabric of the Old continent is no easy task and demands a strategic choice - that of producing programs in Europe for Europe. This entails reducing our dependence on the North American market, whose programs relate to experiences and cultural traditions which are different from our own.

　　In order to achieve these objectives, we must concentrate more on co-productions, the exchange of news, documentary services and training. This also involves the agreements between European countries for the creation of a European bank will handle the finances necessary for production costs. (50) In dealing with a challenge on such a scale, it is no exaggeration to say “Unity we stand, divided we fall” -and if I had to choose a slogan it would be “Unity in our diversity.” A unity of objectives that nonetheless respect the varied peculiarities of each country.

　　重點詞匯：

　　phase / feiz / n. 1 階段, 狀態(tài) 2 相, 相位 v. 定相

　　[例] pass through three phases 經(jīng)歷三個階段

　　[同義] aspect, stage, state

　　flexible / 5fleksEbl / adj. 柔韌性, 易曲的, 靈活的, 柔軟的, 能變形的, 可通融的

　　[例] We can visit your company on Monday or Tuesday; our plans are fairly flexible.

　　"我們可以在星期一或星期二到你們公司來,我們的計劃是相當靈活的。"

　　[同義]variable, adjustable

　　[反義] inflexible / in5fleksEbl / / adj. 不屈的, 不屈撓的, 頑固的

　　[派生] flexibility / 7fleksE5biliti / n. 彈性, 適應(yīng)性, 機動性, 撓性

　　demonstrate / 5demEnstreit / vt. 1 示范 2 證明, 論證 vi. 示威

　　[例] He demonstrated how to use the new machine.

　　他演示怎樣使用這臺新機器。

　　[同義] clarify, display, illustrate ,show

　　[派生] demonstration / 7demEns5treiFEn / n. 示范, 實證

　　survive / sE5vaiv / v. 幸免于, 幸存, 生還

　　[例] Few survived after the flood. 洪水過后，生還者極少。

　　[同義] continue, outlast, outlive, remain

　　[派生] survival / sE5vaivEl / n. 1 生存, 幸存, 殘存2 幸存者, 殘存物

　　underline / 7QndE5lain / vt. 1 在...下面劃線 2 作...的襯里 3 強調(diào)

　　n. 下劃線

　　[例] Words with single underline are to be set in italics.

　　字下面有一條底線的字排斜體。

　　[派生] underling / 5QndEliN / n. 部下, 下僚, 下屬, 走卒

　　fabric / 5fAbrik / n. 1 織品, 織物, 布2 結(jié)構(gòu), 建筑物, 構(gòu)造

　　[例] She bought some fabric to make shirts from.

　　她買了做襯衫的布。

　　[同義] cloth ,goods, material, textile

　　[派生] fabricable / `fAbrIkEbl / adj. 能加工成形的

　　entail / in5teil / vt. 1 使必需;使蒙受, 使承擔 2 遺傳給 n. [建]限定繼承權(quán)

　　[例] Writing a history book entails a lot of work.

　　寫一本歷史書需要下很大功夫。

　　[同義]require, demand ,call for

　　[派生] entailment / in5teilmEnt / n. [律](不動產(chǎn))繼承人之限制

　　[固定搭配] entail ... on sb. 使某人負擔...; 把...遺留給某人;entail ... upon sb.

　　使某人負擔...;把...遺留給某人

　　handle / 5hAndl / n. 1 柄, 把手, 把柄 2 口實3手感 vt. 1 觸摸 2 運用3買賣 4 處理, 操作 vi. 1搬運 2 易于

　　操縱 n. [計]句柄

　　[例] She handled a difficult argument skillfully.

　　她巧妙地應(yīng)付了一場艱難的辯論。

　　[同義] carry on, deal in, direct, feel, finger, govern, manage ,manipulate, regulate

　　[派生] handler / 5hAndlE / n. 處理者, 管理者, 訓(xùn)練者, (尤指拳擊)教練(或助手), (犬馬等的)訓(xùn)練者

　　scale / skeil / n. 1刻度,衡量2比例,數(shù)值范圍,比例3天平,等級 vt. 依比例決定,攀登,測量 vi. 1剝落2生水

　　垢 3 攀登3衡量

　　[例] This ruler has one scale in centimeters and another in inches.

　　這把尺子上有厘米和英寸二種刻度。

　　[同義]degree, graduation, proportion , ratio, layer, plate