1. Animation is a kind of motion pictures created by recording a series of still images-of drawings, objects, or people in various positions of incremental movement-that when played back no longer appear individually as static images but combine to produce the illusion of unbroken motion. The term animation applies to creations on film, video, or computers, and even to motion toys, which usually consist of a series of drawings or photographs on paper that are viewed with a mechanical device or by flipping through a hand-held sequence of images.
(41) Techniques
There are many ways to create animation, depending on whether the materials used are flat (such as drawings, paintings, or cut-out pieces of paper) or dimensional (such as clay, puppets, household objects, or even people).
(42) Production process
After choosing an idea for a film, an animator must think about a concept in terms of individual actions.
(43) History
Animation has been a part of cinema history from the time the first motion pictures were made in the late 1800s.
(44) Walt Disney
The company's founder, Walt Disney, was born in Chicago, but grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where he met animator Ub Iwerks and composer Carl Stalling, who were to be important to his future success.
(45) Japanese animation
Japanese animation, known as anime, blossomed after World War II ended in 1945 and today is immensely popular both within Japan and worldwide.
Current trends
Two trends in the animation industry are likely to have a profound influence on its future: a significant increase in production and exhibition opportunities, and the growing importance of new technologies.
[A] Some early live-action films, known as trick films, used the animation technique of stop action, whereby the camera is stopped and an object is removed or added to a shot before filming is resumed.
[B] Disney (with his then-partner Iwerks) created a character that was to become the most famous animated figure in history: Mickey Mouse.
[C] Aside from television, perhaps the largest influence on the style of recent animation worldwide has come from computer technologies. Experiments with electronic animation began in the 1930s, but it was not until the late 1970s that computer animation became viable beyond scientific and government applications, particularly for use by the entertainment industry.
[D] In each case, an animator must keep in mind the basic principle of frames per second (the number of images needed to produce one second of film). Because sound film runs at twenty-four frames per second, a film animator must make twenty-four images for each second of animation that he or she wishes to create.
[E] The most important figure in Japanese animation, Osamu Tezuka, created in 1963 the first animated made-for-television series in Japan, "Tetsuwan Atom" (Astro Boy).
[F] For instance, if an animator decides on an action that will take 3 seconds of animation to complete, the animator will have to create images to fill 72 frames of film (3 seconds of movement multiplied by a running speed of 24 frames per second).
正確答案：D；F；A；B；E
答案解析：41. 選D。因為41題所在段落提出“制作動畫的方法取決于材料是平面的還是立體的兩種情況”，D段首句的“In each case”從詞匯上對“平面和立體兩種情況”加以銜接，是典型的提示語。A段因為有“technique”一詞和標題詞匯重復，是一個干擾項，但仔細閱讀就能發現，A段所講的只是某一歷史時期的一種“止動動畫技術”，是特指而不是泛指，應排除掉。
42. 選F。F段除了詞匯上有“animator”和“action”與原文照應，在意思上也與原文相連貫，舉例說明制作人如何考慮每一個畫面。
43. 選A。A段講的是早期電影制作使用的一種“止動動畫技術”，其首句中“Some early films”及全段過去時態的使用，幫助我們確定該段是有關動畫的發展歷史的。c段中因為出現了幾處過去時間，如“l930s”，“1970s”，容易被誤選。其實，C段講的是電腦科技對現代動畫制作的影響，主要是在講“現在”而不是“歷史發展”；而且，C段首句的“Aside from television”顯得比較突兀，因為原文根本沒有提及“television”，由此判斷，也不應選C。
44. 選B。這一題比較簡單，B段首句的“Disney”就是明白的提示。
45. 選E。E段中明確出現了“Japanese animation”和“Japan”等詞匯提示。