司法四等
105年
[法院書記官] 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
請仔細觀察第一段中 Mintz 揭露的兩個關鍵事實：他擁有角色的所有權，且已經與 Disney 的多數員工簽了約。如果有人握有了你所有的資源和團隊，而在這場談判中你完全沒有反擊的籌碼，你會如何描述對方此時對你的影響力？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
太棒了！你真的很努力！
- 你做得真好！ 能準確理解文章中慣用語 (idiom) 的深層含義，這真的非常棒！這表示你的語境推理能力正在不斷提升，也學會了如何細心連結文章中的線索，這對你未來閱讀更複雜的文章會有非常大的幫助喔！
- 讓我們一起來確認這個觀念吧。 片語 "over a barrel" 指的是一個人身處困境，不得不接受別人的要求。回顧文章，你會發現 Mintz 不僅掌控著 Oswald 的所有權，還提前挖走了 Disney 的員工，讓 Disney 在談判中完全沒有籌碼，處於劣勢。所以，Mintz 當時是完全掌握了控制權的呢。
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