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Ricci's "Operation Columbus"
Ricci, 45, is now striking out on perhaps his boldest venture yet. He plans to market an English language edition of his elegant monthly art magazine, FMR , in the United States. Once again the skeptice are murmuring that the successful Ricci has headed for a big fall. And once again Ricci intends to prove them wrong.
Ricci is so confident that he has christened his quest "Operation Columbus" and has set his sights on discovering an American readership of 300,000. That goal may not be too far-fetched. The Italian edition of FMR - the initials, of course, stand for Franco Maria Ricci-is only 18 months old. But it is already the second largest art magazine in the world, with a circulation of 65,000 and a profit margin of US $ 500,000. The American edition will be patterned after th e Italian version, with each 160-page issue carrying only 40 pages of ads and no more than five articles. But the contents will often differ. The English-langua ge edition will include more American works, Ricci says, to help Americans get over "an inferiority complex about their art." He also hopes that the magazine will become a vehicle for a two -way cultural exchange - what he likes to think of as a marriage of brains, culture and taste from both sides of the Atlantic.
To realize this vision, Ricci is mounting one of the most lavish, enterpris ing - and expensive - promotional campaigns in magazine - publishing history. Between November and January, eight jumbo jets will fly 8 million copies of a sample 16-page edition of FMR across the Atlantic. From a warehouse in Michigan, 6.5 million copies will be mailed to American subscribers of various cultural, art and business magazines. Some of the remaining copies will circulate as a spe cial Sunday supplement in the New York Times. The cost of launching Operation Co lumbus is a staggering US $ 5 million, but Ricci is hoping that 60% of the price tag will be financed by Italian corporations. "To land in America Columbus had to use Spanish sponsors," reads one sentence in his promotional pamphlet. "We would like Italians."
Like Columbus, Ricci cannot know what his reception will be on foreign shor es. In Italy he gambled - and won - on a simple concept: it is more important to show art than to write about it. Hence, one issue of FMR might feature 32 fu ll-colour pages of 17th-century tapestries, followed by 14 pages of outrageous e yeglasses. He is gambling that the concept is exportable. "I don't expect that more than 30% of my reader... will actually read FMR," he says. "The magazine is such a visual delight that they don't have to." Still, he is lining up an impr es sive stable of writers and professors for the American edition , including Noam Chomsky, Anthony Burgess, Eric Jong and Norman Mailer. In addition, he seems to be pursuing his won eclectic vision without giving a moment's thought to such e s tablished competitors as Connosisseur and Horizon. "The Americans can do almost everything better than we can," says Rieci, "But we(the Italians)have a 2,000 year edge on them in art."
16. Ricci intends his American edition of FMR to carry more American art works in order to___.A. boost A. mericans'confidence in their art
B. follow the pattern set by his Italian edition
C. help Italians understand American art better
D. expand the readership of his magazine
17. Ricci is compared to Columbus in the passage mainly because___.
A. they both benefited from Italian sponsors
B. they were explorers in their own ways
C. they obtained overseas sponsorship
D. they got a warm reception in America
18. We get the impression that the American edition of FMR will probably ___.
A. carry many academic articles of high standard
B. follow the style of some famous existing magazines
C. be mad by one third of American magazine readers
D. pursue a distinctive editorial style of its own
参考答案及详解：
短文大意：本文介绍的是艺术月刊FMR打算在美国出版的原因以及该杂志的特点。
16.答案：A
【参考译文】Ricci为何计划在美国版的FMR上登载更多美国艺术品？
【试题分析】本题为细节题。
【详细解答】短文第二段倒数第二句说"The English-language edition will include more American works, Ricci says, to help Americans get over 'an inferiority complex about their art'."由此可知，登载更多美国艺术品是为了帮助美国人树立自信心，因为他们对其没有太长历史的文化艺术而感到自卑。故选项A为正确答案。
17.答案：B
【参考译文】本文将Ricci和哥伦布相比的主要原因是什么？
【试题分析】本题为推理题。
【详细解答】众所周知，哥伦布是一位探险家，他发现了美洲大陆，而Ricci是想要开拓美国的艺术杂志市场，是一位商业探索者。因此他们同是探索者，故答案选B。
18.答案：D
【参考译文】我们对美国杂志FMR的印象如何？
【试题分析】本题为推理题。
【详细解答】短文倒数第二段说"In addition, he seems to be pursuing his won eclectic vision without giving a moment's thought to such established competitors as Connosisseur and Horizon."即该杂志的编辑方式不同于其他艺术杂志，故选项D“追求自己独特的艺术风格”为正确答案。 |
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