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　　The Power Of Harry Potter

　　As if by magic, virtually all British parents have suddenly picked up the habit of reading to their children. A poll commissioned by UK electricity utility1 Powergen found that Harry Potter, as well as older classics, had created a veritable bedtime reading revolution. Ninety percent of British parents now read to their children, up from only 40 percent in 2000. Powergen claimed the rise was due to the popularity of what it called“ kid-ult2 ” books, which appeal to children and adults alike .“With the current revival of children's classics like the Lord of the Rings3 at the cinema, parents are rediscovering books they read when they were younger or are feeling inspired to read them for the first time, ”a Powergen statement quoted psychologist Aric Sigman as saying.“ Just as both parents and children can enjoy escapism and fantasy4 these stories also raise important issues that they can talk about together. This sharing of ideas and opinions is critical to the emotional and creative development of children. ”

　　Barry Cunningham still laughs about that moment in 1997, when he told a single mother with a knack for fantasy storytelling to find herself a day job, because writing children's books did not pay.

　　He could not have known then that his decision to publish a book about a boy wizard would start an international publishing phenomenon, or that within six years the first-time children's book writer in question would be richer than the Queen of England. The“find a day job ” blunder has become part of the legend of Harry Potter, as has Mr Cunningham's role in picking up the book on behalf of Bloomsbury, its publisher in the UK, after other longer-established companies had turned it down.

　　But the cheerful 51-year-old's story does not end with the career-making move of signing、 J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter's creator. In fact, the former marketing director left Bloomsbury weeks before the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first instalment5 of the boy wizard's adventures. Today, he is running his own boutique children's book publisher —The Chicken House — and, once again, being credited with turning little -known storytellers into bigtime bestsellers.“I did not see any direct financial benefits ( from signing J. K. Rowling) but it has given me a huge reputation — and the intangible thing is the confidence it gave me in my own judgment. ”

　　Word of mouth about his eye for talent even prompted executives at Scholastic, the largest publisher of children's books in the world, to approach Mr Cunningham in 2001 after reading in a trade publication that the man who discovered Harry was looking for a distributor for his new publishing company. “We thought greatly of his talent and we knew his taste. We felt he had a sense for looking for new voices ( combined with ) a commercial sense, ”says Barbara Marcus, the president of Scholastic children's books and distribution.

　　“ It's odd to say a 50-year-old man knows what a 13-year-old wants to read, but I do, ”says Mr Cunningham.

　　練習(xí)題：

　�、�. Translate the followin g Chin ese e xp res sio ns into En glish e quiva le nts acco rding to the passage:

　　1. 由于, 因?yàn)?/P>

　　2. 復(fù)活, 重生, 重新出現(xiàn)

　　3. 經(jīng)典作品, 古典作品

　　4. 民意調(diào)查

　　Ⅱ. Questions :

　　1. Which country buy the most gold to make jewelry?

　　2. What are“reserved currencies”?

　　答案：

　�、�. 1. due to 2. revival 3. classic 4 . poll

　　Ⅱ. 1. Lord of the Rings 2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

　　譯文：

　　哈里·波特的威力

　　如同中了魔法一般, 幾乎所有的英國家長都突然撿起了念書給孩子聽的習(xí)慣。英國電力公司委托組織的一次調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),《哈里·波特》系列以及一些更早的經(jīng)典著作已經(jīng)掀起了一場真正的睡前閱讀革命: 現(xiàn)在有90% 的英國家長念書給孩子聽, 而在2000年這一比例只有40% 。調(diào)查認(rèn)為這種增長是由于所謂的“大小人”書的流行, 這樣的書對大人和孩子有同樣的吸引力�！� 隨著現(xiàn)時像《指環(huán)王》這樣的兒童經(jīng)典著作在電影院中的復(fù)興, 家長們對自己兒時讀過的書籍產(chǎn)生了新的興趣, 或者說是第一次有了去讀它們的愿望,”調(diào)查的一份聲明中援引心理學(xué)家埃里克·西格曼的話說,“正如家長和孩子都可以從空想和幻想中得到樂趣一樣, 這些小說也為家長和孩子提出了可以一起討論的重要問題。與家長分享意見和看法對孩子情感和創(chuàng)造力的發(fā)展是至關(guān)重要的�！�

　　提起1997年那件事時, 巴里·坎寧安依然覺得好笑。當(dāng)時, 他勸一位一心要寫幻想故事的單身母親找一份日常工作, 因?yàn)閷憙和瘯�的收入甚微�?/P>

　　那時他并不知道, 他決定出版那本關(guān)于巫術(shù)男孩的書竟會在國際出版界創(chuàng)造一個奇跡。他也沒料到, 6年時間內(nèi), 這位首次出兒童書且受爭議的作者竟比英國女王還富有。“找份工作”這句蠢話成了《哈利·波特》傳奇的一部分。在一些歷史更悠久的出版社拒絕出版該書后, 坎寧安先生代表英國出版商布盧姆斯伯里買下該書的出版權(quán), 這也成為此傳奇的一部分。

　　對生性開朗的51歲的坎寧安先生而言, 簽下《哈利·波特》作者J. K.羅琳絕非事業(yè)的尾聲。事實(shí)上, 在巫術(shù)男孩系列冒險小說第一部《哈利·波特與魔法石》出版前數(shù)周,他辭去布盧姆斯伯里營銷總監(jiān)一職,離開了出版社。如今, 他經(jīng)營自己創(chuàng)辦的“小雞書屋”———一間精品兒童書籍出版社。他繼續(xù)幫助默默無聞的作者成為暢銷書作者, 廣受人們的贊譽(yù)�！�( 簽下羅琳) 并沒有給我?guī)�來任何直接的�?jīng)濟(jì)利益, 但這使我名聲大噪, 并且還有一個無形的益處: 我對自己的判斷力有了信心。”

　　坎寧安先生慧眼識才的能力就此傳開。甚至在2001年, 世界上最大的兒童書出版商學(xué)究出版社的高級職員在業(yè)界出版物上讀到一則消息:發(fā)現(xiàn)哈利·波特的人正為自己的新出版社尋找分銷商, 隨即便與他聯(lián)系。學(xué)究出版社兒童出版及分銷總裁芭芭拉·馬庫斯說:“ 我們看中他的才能, 并且了解他的品味。我們覺得, 他有發(fā)現(xiàn)新人的能力, 同時又有商業(yè)意識�！�

　　坎寧安先生說:“說一個50歲的人竟然知道13歲孩子想要讀什么書,這很奇怪, 但我確實(shí)知道。”

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