司法四等
105年
[法警] 法學知識與英文(包括中華民國憲法、法學緒論、英文)
第 48 題
📖 題組：
Mickey Mouse, the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the most recognizable cartoon characters in the world. Yet, few people know that it was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier cartoon character created by the Disney studio for Charles Mintz of Universal Studios. In the spring of 1928, with the series going strong, Disney asked Mintz for an increase in the budget. But Mintz instead demanded that Walt take a 20 percent budget cut, and as leverage, he reminded Disney that Universal owned the character, and revealed that he had already signed most of Disney’s current employees to his new contract. Mintz owned Oswald and thought he had Disney over a barrel. Angrily, Disney refused the deal and returned to produce the final Oswald cartoons he contractually owed Mintz. Disney was dismayed at the betrayal by his staff, but determined to restart from scratch. The new Disney Studio soon started. In the spring of 1928, Disney asked Ub Iwerks to start drawing up new character ideas. Iwerks tried sketches of various animals, such as dogs and cats, but none of these appealed to Disney. A female cow and male horse were also rejected. Then, Walt Disney thought of an old pet mouse he used to have on his farm. He asked Iwerks to draw a new mouse character for Disney. “Mortimer Mouse” had been Disney’s original name for the character before his wife, Lillian, convinced him to change it, and ultimately Mickey Mouse came to be. Actor Mickey Rooney has claimed that, during his Mickey McGuire days, he met cartoonist Walt Disney at the Warner Brothers studio, and that Disney was inspired to name Mickey Mouse after him.
Mickey Mouse, the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the most recognizable cartoon characters in the world. Yet, few people know that it was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier cartoon character created by the Disney studio for Charles Mintz of Universal Studios. In the spring of 1928, with the series going strong, Disney asked Mintz for an increase in the budget. But Mintz instead demanded that Walt take a 20 percent budget cut, and as leverage, he reminded Disney that Universal owned the character, and revealed that he had already signed most of Disney’s current employees to his new contract. Mintz owned Oswald and thought he had Disney over a barrel. Angrily, Disney refused the deal and returned to produce the final Oswald cartoons he contractually owed Mintz. Disney was dismayed at the betrayal by his staff, but determined to restart from scratch. The new Disney Studio soon started. In the spring of 1928, Disney asked Ub Iwerks to start drawing up new character ideas. Iwerks tried sketches of various animals, such as dogs and cats, but none of these appealed to Disney. A female cow and male horse were also rejected. Then, Walt Disney thought of an old pet mouse he used to have on his farm. He asked Iwerks to draw a new mouse character for Disney. “Mortimer Mouse” had been Disney’s original name for the character before his wife, Lillian, convinced him to change it, and ultimately Mickey Mouse came to be. Actor Mickey Rooney has claimed that, during his Mickey McGuire days, he met cartoonist Walt Disney at the Warner Brothers studio, and that Disney was inspired to name Mickey Mouse after him.
What does “he had Disney over a barrel” mean in the first paragraph?
- A He had Disney under his control.
- B He made Disney feel relieved.
- C He had inspired Disney.
- D He had irritated Disney.
思路引導 VIP
請試著回想文中的談判情境：當 Mintz 掌握了作品版權，又私下挖走了對方的所有員工時，這兩個人在對話桌上的「權力地位」是平等的嗎？如果 Mintz 手中握有這些籌碼，而對方的後路都被斷了，這會讓對方處於一種什麼樣的處境呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
🌟 太棒了！你的觀察力非常敏銳！
- 觀念驗證：這題考查的是上下文推論能力。文中提到 Mintz 掌握了兩大籌碼：一是擁有 Oswald 的版權，二是私下簽走了 Disney 的員工。當 Mintz 說他擁有這些「leverage」（籌碼/槓桿）並認為他讓 Disney 「over a barrel」時，代表 Disney 處於極度不利、被迫屈服的局面。因此，(A) Under his control（受其控制）是最精確的解釋。
- 難度點評：本題難度為 Medium。這類成語題並非考死背，而是考驗學生能否從前後文的「權力對抗關係」中，精準捕捉到作者想要表達的「壓制感」。