2. 外语
  3. Read the article below about video games move online and the questions on the opposite page. For each question(13-18), mark one

Read the article below about video games move online and the questions on the opposite page. For each question(13-18), mark one

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问题 Read the article below about video games move online and the questions on the opposite page.
For each question(13-18), mark one letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet.
                    Video Games Move Online
In the eyes of media executives, the Internet is a malevolent vacuum-cleaner, sucking in one business after another. Music, software and videos are all increasingly obtained online — often free of charge. Now it is the turn of video games. A combination of new technology and compelling economics means that many, if not most, of them will be played online soon.
Online gaming is not new. Since the early days of the Internet, netizens have indulged in "massively multiplayer role-playing online games" , a genre that, now completes with fancy graphics, is still very popular, particularly in Asia. Some console games can be played online.
There are several reasons to think, however, that video games have begun the transition from an industry primarily based on consoles and shrink-wrapped software to one in which online services dominate. Conventional gaming has not proved as resistant to the recession as many had expected.
Meanwhile alternatives are emerging quickly. Many personal computers are powerful enough to run fast-moving, graphics-heavy games just as well as consoles. As a result, firms are offering online games that can be played either through "client" software, which users download, or via a web browser.
These trends are dwarfed, however, by the explosion of "social" games, which have become all the rage on social networks such as Facebook. These are more about interaction than action: players either join their friends for an online game of poker or Scrabble, or to create and show off virtual pets, farms and mob families.
As gaming moves online, the economics of the industry are changing. Conventional games take years to develop and cost millions to market, and rely on big sales in their first few weeks of release to recoup the investment, making the launch of a new game a gamble akin to a Hollywood studio’s decision to produce a big-budget film. As a result, like Hollywood, big gamemakers focus on successful franchises with fancy effects and plenty of action — and have moved online only hesitantly.
Online games, in particular the social kind, are hard for firms steeped in this model to make, argues Kristian Segerstrale, the boss of Playfish, the number two in social gaming. Developing a new game takes only a few months and costs a few hundred thousand dollars. It can still be improved after its launch. Virtual distribution is far cheaper, and marketing tends to be too, since games often spread "virally" among friends on social networks.
The most important change will be in the way publishers earn money. Although some are charging subscription fees to players of online games or selling advertising, many of them make most of their money by managing an online economy, complete with virtual goods and a digital currency. Playing is free, but users can get ahead by buying extra bits and bobs.
Compared with the conventional games, the main difference of the online game is that
选项 A、it takes so long time to develop.
B、it costs so much money.
C、it can easily get back the cost.
D、virtual distribution is much cheaper.
答案D
解析 文中的第六段和第七段都提到了选项A，B和D是常规游戏的特点。所以由此可以看出答案D是线上游戏的特点。与第七段中的最后一句中提到“virtual distribution is farcheaper，and marketing tends to be too，sincegames often spread‘virally’among friends onsocial networks’。所以选项D符合题意。
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