考研英语阅读题源详解(5)The Apples Come Together1. The 30-year legal battle between the two companies known as Apple—the California maker of computers and iPods, and the London guardian of the musical legacy of the Beatles—has come to a close.Having fought intermittently over the appropriate way to divide the rights to the Apple name on each of its products, the two companies say they have reached an amicable settlement that will assign all trademarks to Apple Inc. (AAPL). The deal calls for certain trademarks to be licensed back to Apple Corps for continued use. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the two companies say each will pay its own legal fees, which have amounted to around $6 million.2. Rumors have been flying in recent weeks that a settlement of their latest legal spat may pave the way for the arrival of the Beatles’ musical catalog on Apple’s iTunes Store, but no details were released on whether that debut was imminent.During the trial, Neil Aspinall, head of Apple Corps, disclosed that the company was in the process of remastering the Beatles catalog for digital distribution. Apple’s iTunes would appear to be the most likely candidate to maximize sales. However, RealNetworks (RNWK) has secured the rights to distribute the solo works of John Lennon.But bringing the music to iTunes isn’t as clear a proposition as it might seem on first glance. Many of the distribution and publishing rights to the songs are controlled by Sony/ATV, a holding company that had been partially controlled by the singer Michael Jackson. Last year, Jackson gave Sony the option to purchase his portion of the Sony/ATV joint-venture. Sony has yet to decide whether to buy Jackson’s stake.Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on the rights to Beatles music. 3. Additionally, only six years remain on British copyright protection on the first batch of Beatles tunes released in 1963, unless the British government reverses its position on extending copyrights beyond 50 years after a work’s release. 4. If left unchanged, It appears that the time to cash in on digital sales via services like iTunes is starting to evaporate , especially if the music is set to start leaking into the public domain in the country where it was originally produced.catalog to iT unes. Clearly Apple’s high-impact advertising machine could structure a campaign designed to make an Apple-Apple digital music tieup a major event.What’s more, a digital media alliance with the Beatles might not only entail music, but a good deal of video content. The Beatles starred in several feature films. In addition to movies, there are several concert performances and TV appearances that could be released on iTunes if rights agreements are reached.一、背景常识介绍代表披头士商业利益的苹果音乐公司一直拒绝与包括iTunes在内的在线音乐服务进行合作。
而苹果电脑公司的邀请也因为它与代表披头士商业利益的苹果音乐公司的商标争议而搁浅。
今年2月，乔布斯的苹果电脑公司和披头士的苹果公司就苹果商标和名字的使用达成和解，从而为双方的合作打下了基础。
二、长难句解析1. The 30-year legal battle between the two companies known as Apple—the California maker of computers and iPods, and the London guardian of the musical legacy of the Beatles—has come to a close.解析:此句是由一个简单句,但同时也是一个长难句,句子的特点是专有名词多,中间有破折号隔开,但句子基本结构就是The battle between the companies has come to a close.其他的成分有形容词、也有过去分词（known）作后置定语，也有破折号引导的解释说明，因此，此句话虽为简单句，但成分多样，可以成为长难句。
参考译文：两个苹果公司——一家是加利福利亚州的电脑、ipod制造商，一家是位于伦敦披头士乐队音乐遗产保护公司——长达三十年的法律官司终于落下了帷幕。
2. Rumors have been flying in recent weeks that a settlement of their latest legal spat may pave the way for the arrival of the Beatles’ music al catalog on Apple’s iTunes Store, but no details were released on whether that debut was imminent.解析：这句长难句整体来看是but作为连词连接的并列句，前后转折。
前一个分句用了一个短语做句子主干：rumors have been flying that……这句话可以简单缩减为rumors have that……就可以了。
其中that引导的是同位语从句，解释的是rumor是什么，即a settlement may pave the way.其他的成分就全是修饰成分了。
整句话后一个分句相对简单，但也包括一个whether引导的宾语从句作介词on的宾语从句。
参考译文：最近几周流言四起，说这两家公司近期的法律争端如果得到解决，就可能会铺好道路让披头士的音乐上线到苹果公司的iTunes商店。
然而，尚没有公布任何细节显示这能否成真。
3. Additionally, only six years remain on British copyright protection on the first batch of Beatles tunes released in 1963, unless the British government reverses its position on extending copyrights beyond 50 years after a work’s release.解析：这句话整体结构是由unless引导的条件状语从句+主句，主句在前，其主句主干为only six years remain,后面解释的是什么还剩六年期限。
Unless条件句的主干是the British government reverses its position.参考译文：此外，英国对披头士1963年发行的第一张唱片的版权保护仅剩6年的时间，除非英国改变版权保护期限为作品发表后50年的立场。
4. If left unchanged, it appears that the time to cash in on digital sales via services like iTunes is starting to evaporate, especially if the music is set to start leaking into the public domain in the country where it was originally produced.解析：在这句话中有两个if引导的条件状语从句，第一个从句if left unchanged是一个省略句，全句应该是if it is left unchanged,其中it指代的是上文英国政府对版权保护时间延期的态度，但在英语句式中，这样以it is的开始的句子可以省略。