Tencent Video battles iQiyi in China’s streaming wars腾讯视频与爱奇艺之中国流媒体大战
But the two big Chinese streaming platform may onc day settle into a cosy duopoly
但两大平台在未来某天或将实现双头垄断
L aunched in2010,iQiyi has grown used to the foreign press calling it“the Netflix of China”.Not the worst nickname,given the videostreaming pioneer’s success.But Gong Yu,iQiyi’s founder and boss,insists that his firm is more accurately described as“Netflix plus”.A bold claim for a loss-making business worth one-fifteenth as much as America’s(cash-generating)entertainment powerhouse with a market value of$214bn.Still,Mr Gong has a point.
创立于2010年的爱奇艺常常被外国媒体称为“中国版网飞”。鉴于这家流媒体先驱的成功，这一称号也算名副其实。但爱奇艺创始人兼老板龚宇坚称，准确来说，爱奇艺是“加强版网飞”。对于这家仍在亏损的公司来说，这种说法有些张狂，作为美国娱乐业巨头的网飞现已实现盈利，市值高达2140亿美元，而爱奇艺市值仅为其十五分之一。不过，龚宇所言仍有些许道理。
Like Netflix,iQiyi offers customers a deep catalogue of licensed and original content.Unlike Netflix,which relies almost entirely on subscription fees,iQiyi has multiple revenue streams.“Membership fees”,which start from19.8yuan ($2.87)a month,accounted for just over half of iQiyi’s7.4bn yuan in revenues in the second quarter.
爱奇艺和网飞一样，也为客户提供海量版权及原创影视作品。但不同于几乎完全依赖会员费的网飞，爱奇艺拥有多项收入来源。在爱奇艺第二季度74亿元的营收中，每月19.8元（约合2.87美元）起的“会员费”占比刚刚过半。
The rest came mainly from an online store(which sells“entertainment-related merchandise”),a nascent mobile-gaming arm,an e-book business and advertisements;iQiyi operates a“freemium”model which allows stingier users to stream some content free of charge provided they agree to watch ads.
其余收入主要来自线上商店（销售“娱乐周边产品”）、新成立的移动游戏部门、电子书业务和广告；爱奇艺采用的是一种“免费增值”模式，不愿花钱的用户在观看一段广告后可以免费收看部分内容。
Conveniently for iQiyi,which does little business outside its home market, Netflix is blocked in China,under laws that ban a lot of foreign content.But that is not to say that China is free from the streaming wars of the sort that pits Netflix against rivals like Disney,HBO(owned by AT&T)and NBCUniversal (belonging to Comcast).Far from it.
爱奇艺的业务主要集中在本土市场，而网飞在中国无法收看，这对爱奇艺来说无疑是有利的。但这并不意味着中国市场没有像网飞与迪士尼、HBO（美国电话电报公司所有）和NBC环球（康卡斯特所有）这样的流媒体大战。中国市场同样竞争激烈。
Mr Gong is battling Tencent Video,part of the eponymous technology conglomerate.It overtook iQiyi at the end of June with114m video subscribers to iQiyi’s105m.Mr Gong’s firm shed14m subscribers in the most recent quarter while Tencent Video,which also runs a freemium model and charges subscribers20yuan a month,added2m.
龚宇正在与腾讯视频（腾讯科技集团所有）展开竞争。今年6月底，腾讯视频会员用户量（1.14亿）反超爱奇艺（1.05亿）。今年第二季度，爱奇艺流失会员用户1400万，而同样采用免费增值模式、月会员费20元起的腾讯视频则增加会员用户200万。
IQiyi insists the setback was down to one-off factors,such as virus-induced disruption to film production,which temporarily emptied the content pipeline. Perhaps.But Tencent Video offers a richer selection of English-language content, including hit television series like“Chernobyl”and“Silicon Valley”.爱奇艺坚称，用户的流失是偶然因素所致，比如新冠疫情的爆发导致影片制作中断，致使暂无新片上线。也许真的如此。但腾讯视频提供了包括热播电视剧《切尔诺贝利》和《硅谷》在内的更多英文资源的选择。
More important,the rivalry between Tencent Video and iQiyi is a proxy war between mighty Tencent and fading Baidu,a search firm that is iQiyi’s majority owner.Indeed,iQiyi seemed to concede as much in its latest annual report,
writing that“competitors include well-capitalised companies that are capable of offering compensation packages more attractive to talents.”更重要的是，腾讯视频和爱奇艺之间的竞争是其背后日渐强大的腾讯和日渐衰落的搜索公司百度之间的较量。事实上，爱奇艺在其最新的年度报告中似乎也提到了这一点，报告提到：“那些资本充足的竞争对手能够开出更具吸引力的薪酬待遇以招揽人才。”
Still,as Westerners who pay for a few video subscriptions can attest,streaming is not a zero-sum game.Gigi Zhou of BOCOM International,a broker,reckons the Chinese market will soon be big enough to sustain both iQiyi and Tencent Video,which also has yet to make money.
不过，正如那些愿意为视频订阅付费的西方人所证明的那样，流媒体市场并非零和游戏。交银国际的经纪人周琪琪认为，中国流媒体市场将很快发展壮大至足以同时容得下爱奇艺和腾讯视频两家，腾讯视频目前也尚未盈利。
Ms Zhou expects400m Chinese to subscribe to video-streaming platforms by 2023,up from some300m in2019.So long as no new rival emerges,each firm could capture around150m,helping them spread costs over more subscribers and so turn a profit.
周琪琪预计，到2023年，中国视频流媒体平台的会员用户量将达4亿，而2019年约为3亿。只要没有新的竞争对手出现，两家公司都将获得大约1.5亿用户，由此可将成本分摊至更多会员用户，从而实现盈利。
Before streaming peace can break out,iQiyi faces another fight.On August 13th it said it was under investigation by America’s Securities and Exchange Commission after a short-seller accused it of inflating sales data,a charge it denies.If found guilty,it may have to delist from New York’s Nasdaq exchange. The firm’s stable share price implies investors’faith in battle-hardened Mr Gong is unshaken.
在各大视频流媒体平台实现和平共赢之前，爱奇艺还面临着另一场战役。8月13日，在被一家做空机构指控虚报销售数据后，爱奇艺对此予以否认，并表示正在接受美国证券交易委员会的调查。如果指控属实，爱奇艺或将不得不从纽约纳斯达克交易所退市。不过，爱奇艺稳定的股价也表明，投资者对身经百战的龚宇仍充满了信心。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
重难点词汇：
duopoly[du??ɑ?p?li]n.双头垄断市场
nascent[?ne?snt]adj.新兴的；初生的
stingy[?st?nd?i]adj.吝啬的；小气的
eponymous[??pɑ?n?m?s]adj.同名的
proxy[?prɑ?ksi]n.代理人；委托书
concede[k?n?si?d]vt.承认；退让；给予vi.让步compensation[?kɑ?mpen?se??n]n.补偿；报酬；赔偿金attest[??test]v.证明；证实
zero-sum game零和博弈；零和游戏
battle-hardened[?b?tl hɑ?rdnd]adj.久经沙场的；身经百战的
考研英语阅读真题及答案 英语阅读关于考研的在历年的真题中，有不少的精华等着大家去发掘。下面是给大家整理的考研英语阅读真题及答案，供大家参阅! 1991年考研英语阅读真题及答案解析Section II Reading Comprehension Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question four answers are given. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Put your choice in the ANSWER SHEET. (30 points) Text 1 A wise man once said that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. So, as a police officer, I have some urgent things to say to good people. Day after day my men and I struggle to hold back a tidal wave of crime. Something has gone terribly wrong with our once-proud American way of life. It has happened in the area of values. A key ingredient is disappearing, and I think I know what it is: accountability. Accountability isn t hard to define. It means that every
2015考研英语阅读理解精读P18—医学 Passage 18(Doctor-assisted Suicide：Is It Ever an Option?) Should doctor-assisted suicide ever be a legal option? It involves the extreme measure of taking the life of a terminally ill patient when the patient is in extreme pain and the chances for recovery appear to be none.Those who argue against assisted suicide do so by considering the roles of the patient，the doctor，and nature in these situations. Should the patient take an active role in assisted suicide? When a patient is terminally ill and in great pain，those who oppose assisted suicide say that it should not be up to that patient to decide what his or her fate will be.There are greater powers at work that determine when a person dies，for example，nature.Neither science nor personal preference should take precedence over these larger forces. What role should the doctor have? Doctors，when taking the Hippocratic oath，swear to preserve life at all costs，and it is their ethical and legal duty to follow both the spirit and the letter of this oath.It is their responsibilities to heal the sick，and in the cases when healing is not possible，then the doctor is obliged to make the dying person comfortable.Doctors are trained never to hasten death.Those who oppose assisted suicide believe that doctors who do help terminally ill patients die are committing a crime，and they should be dealt with accordingly.Doctors are also，by virtue of their humanness，capable of making mistakes.Doctors could quite possibly say，for instance，that a cancer patient was terminal，and then the illness could later turn out not to be so serious.There is always an element of doubt concerning the future outcome of human affairs. The third perspective to consider when thinking about assisted suicide is the role of nature.Life is precious.Many people believe that it is not up to human beings to decide when to end their own or another’s life.Only nature determines when it is the right time for a person to die.To assist someone in suicide is not only to break criminal laws，but to break divine 1aws as well. These general concerns of those who oppose assisted suicide are valid in certain contexts of the assisted suicide question.For instance，patients cannot always be certain of their medical conditions.Pain clouds judgment，and so the patient should not be the sole arbiter of her or his own destiny.Patients do not usually choose the course of their medical treatment，so they shouldn’t be held completely responsible for decisions related to it.Doctors are also fallible，and it is understandable that they would not want to make the final decision about when death should occur.Since doctors are trained to prolong life，they usually do not elect to take it by prescribing assisted suicide. I believe that blindly opposing assisted suicide does no one a service.If someone is dying of
阅读C篇素材 Nine-year-old Louis Pasteur ran into their little house . ___1___. “Mom” he cried “my f riend Henri was bitten by a mad dog . And now they are burning him with red hot irons. It’s terrible.” “ R abies (狂犬病), Louis. Burning the bites is the only hope of stopping Henri from catching the disease (疾病).” ___2___. Pasteur thought, “ I would like to do something to help people like Henri .” sixteen year s later Pasteur became a doctor. He began making important discoveries in this special field. ___3___. But in the middle of all this , he suddenly became ill . As a result , he lost the use of his left arm and leg . Yet he had found no way of curing (治疗) one disease ----rabies. He had never forgotten his friend Henri , so he worked on and on as hard as ever. ___4___, he finally found the answer. Just then a boy badly bitten by a mad dog arrived at his lab. A few days after Pasteur’s treatment（治疗), the boy got better. He did not catch rabies. ___5__. People donated money to help build the Pasteur Institute (学院) in Pairs. Today it is one of the world’s most famous centers for research. Students often ask their students which dictionary is the best. In fact , there is not one “best ”dictionary . ___1__, like an English-English dictionary . It explains an English word only in English instead of in Chinese or other language . ___2__, but it has some big advantages of learning English . ___3__. When you use an English-English dictionary, you will keep your mind only on English . The second advantage is that you will learn how to explain words in English . ___4__, you can buy a “learner’s dictionary”. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary , the Longman Learner’s Dictionary , and the Cambri dge Learner’s Dictiona ry all have easy definitions (释义) and excellent example sentences . __5___, you can buy any kind of dictionary . It was my first day in Miss Hargrove’s seventh grade class. I was very anxious to fit in . After the teacher introduced me to the class, I put on a smile and took my seat. Lunchtime was a pleasant surprise when the girls all crowded around my table. 1________ . My new classmates told me about the school , the teachers and the other kids. They pointed out the class nerd (书呆子): Mary Lou. She was a pretty girl with dark eyes and olive (橄榄色) skin , but she wore a long skirt and an old-fashioned blouse . 2_________. She ate alone. After school , the girls invited me join them in front of the school . We waited . Then Mary Lou came down the school steps. The girls started making fun of her . 3_________.Unkind words fell from my mouth . No one could tell I’d never done this before. The othe r girls started cheering for me. I pulled on Mary Lou’s backpack an d then pushed her. Her backpack broke. She fell . Everyone was laughing. I fit in. I was not proud . If you’ve ever picked a wing off a butterfly , you know how I felt. Mary Lou got up , gathered her books and left without saying anything. I turned to leave with my laughing friends and noticed a man standing beside his car. 4_______ -----he had the same olive skin, dark hair and
Part I Reading comprehension Directions: There are some reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. you should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center. Education is one of the key words of our time. A man without an education, many of us believe, is an unfortunate victim(受害人) of unfortunate circumstances（状况）deprived of one of the greatest twenty-first century opportunities. Convinced（深信的）of the importance of education, modern states "invest" in institutions of learning to get back "interest" in the form of a large group of enlightened young men and women who are potential leaders. Education, with its cycles of instruction so carefully worked out, punctuated by textbooks ---those purchasable wells of wisdom ---what would civilization be like without its benefits? So much is certain: that we would have doctors and preachers, lawyers and defendants, marriages and births; but our spiritual outlook would be different. We would lay less stress on "facts and figures" and more on a good memory, on applied psychology, and on the capacity of a man to get along with his fellow citizens. If our educational system were fashioned after its bookless past we would have the most democratic form of "college" imaginable. Among the people whom we like to call savages all knowledge inherited by tradition is shared by all; it is taught to every member of the tribe so that in this respect everybody is equally equipped for life. It is the ideal condition of the "equal start" which only our most progressive forms of modem education try to regain. In primitive cultures the obligation to seek and to receive the traditional instruction is binding to all. There are no "illiterates" －if the term can be applied to peoples without a script---while our own compulsory school attendance became law in Germany in 1642, in France in 1806, and in England in 1967, and is still non- existent in a number of "civilized" nations. This shows how long it was before we deemed it necessary to make sure that all our children could share in the knowledge accumulated by the "happy few" during the past centuries. Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means. All are entitled to an equal start. There is none of the hurry which, in our society, often hampers the full development of a growing personality. There, a child grows up under the ever-present attention of his parents; therefore the jungles and the savages know of no "juvenile
考研英语阅读理解试题解题方法及步骤 考研可以说是人生的一个转折驿站，一次改变命运的艰辛历练。作为考研路上的重要科目--英语，也成为不少考生脚下的牵绊石，而占分数比重的阅读理解，自然也是考试中的重头戏，能否巧妙的用对技巧，灵活应答，成为考生研路中的棘手问题，下面我们就层层推进，分析一下阅读的方法技巧和步骤攻略，揭开这层久未露面的神秘面纱。 一、阅读方法 阅读文章基本方法有3种，一是略读，二是精读，三是寻读。略读是一种快速阅读方法，在非常短的时间内浏览全文获得文章的中心思想和主要事实。精读则是仔细阅读每句话，理解分析其含义，弄清句与句之间的逻辑关系，进而理解整个段落的意思。而寻读则是通过目光扫视，迅速确定你所期望得到的信息的位置。考试中3种基本方法可以用在不同的情况。通过略读，我们可以了解材料的结构安排和主要信息，利用精读我们可以针对考题中的某些信息或难点做具体细致的解析，而寻读则在解题过程中起着一个定位的作用。 二、阅读步骤 第一步：略读短文把握方向 用尽量短的时间扫视短文，特别留意每段的第一句和末段的最后一句。因为各段的主题句往往在句首，而文章的最后一句很可能是概括总结。略读的目的是掌握短文的主旨大意，做到对全文的内容心中大致有数，有一个思考的方向。 第二步：浏览问题有的放矢 浏览5个问题，揣测出题者出此题的目的并侧重阅读短文相关部分。由于对所问问题及文章主旨都已了解，在阅读时自然会知道哪些地方得细读哪些地方可一带而过甚至跳过不读。所有问题都是根据文章内容提出的，基本反映并覆盖了文章的主要内容。先阅读问题再阅读全文，这种方法的优点是：可在较短的时间内有针对性地阅读相关内容，便于给相关问题定位，有的放矢，事半功倍。 第三步：分析判断确定答案 在完成上面两步的基础上，对5个问题逐一解答。需要注意的是：要是文章内容涉及自己熟悉的题材和知识范畴，在选项时绝对不能单凭自己的主观判断解决问题。因为文章考的是你对该篇的阅读理解能力，而不是你的某种知识，因此选项不能脱离文章的题意。 对于英语水平相对较低，阅读速度较慢的考生来说，我们建议不妨直接从第二步开始：先浏览所有5道题的题目，对文章所涉及的内容有个粗略的估计或了解，然后逐一解答。先寻读文章的相关部分，然后选择正确答案。如遇到有关文章主旨大意或需要推理的题，可先放一放，等做完其他题再做这类题。先难后易，各个击破。 另外，在阅读过程中，不妨在自己认为比较重要的某些句子或词语（主题句，关键词）下面划线，标上符号，这样有助于突出重点，活跃思维，同时也便于阅读，节省时间，使阅
考研英语阅读理解精读100篇之经济类
考研英语阅读理解精读100篇之经济类 unit1 unit1 Some of the concerns surrounding Turkey’s application to join the European Union, to be voted on by the EU’s Council of Ministers on December 17th, are economic-in particular, the country’s relative poverty. Its GDP per head is less than a third of the average for the 15 pre-2004 members of the EU. But it is not far off that of one of the ten new members which joined on May 1st 2004 (Latvia), and it is much the same as those of two countries, Bulgaria and Romania, which this week concluded accession talks with the EU that could make them full members on January 1st 2007. Furthermore, the country’s recent economic progress has been, according to Donald Johnston, the secretary-general of the OECD, "stunning". GDP in the second quarter of the year was 13.4% higher than a year earlier, a rate of growth that no EU country comes close to matching. Turkey’s inflation rate has just fallen into single figures for the first time since 1972, and this week the country reached agreement with the IMF on a new three-year, $10 billion economic programme that will, according to the IMF’s managing director, Rodrigo Rato, "help Turkey... reduce inflation toward European levels, and enhance the economy’s resilience". Resilienc e has not historically been the country’s economic strong point. As recently as 2001, GDP fell by over 7%. It fell by more than 5% in 1994, and by
英语阅读理解推理判断之文章出处或读者 对象题
英语阅读理解推理判断之文章出处或读者对象题 真题感悟： (2018·全国Ⅱ，B) Many of us love July because it’s the month when nature’s berries and stone fruits are in abundance.These colourful and sweet jewels from British Columbia’s fields are little powerhouses of nutritional protection. Of the common berries，strawberries are highest in vitamin C，although，because of their seeds，raspberries contain a little more protein(蛋白质)，iron and zinc (not that fruits have much protein)．Blueberries are particularly high in antioxidants(抗氧化物质)．The yellow and orange stone fruits such as peaches are high in the carotenoids we turn into vitamin A and which are antioxidants.As for cherries(樱桃)，they are so delicious who cares？However，they are rich in vitamin C. When combined with berries or slices of other fruits，frozen bananas make an excellent base for thick，cooling fruit shakes and low fat “ice cream”．For this purpose，select ripe bananas for freezing as they are much sweeter.Remove the skin and place them in plastic bags or containers and freeze.If you like，a squeeze of fresh lemon juice on the bananas will prevent them turning brown.Frozen bananas will last several weeks，depending on their ripeness and the temperature of the freezer. If you have a juicer，you can simply feed in frozen bananas and some berries or sliced fruit.Out comes a “soft-serve” creamy dessert，to be eaten right away.This makes a fun activity for a children’s party；they love feeding the fruit and frozen bananas into the top of the machine and watching the ice cream come out below. 27．From which is the text probably taken? A．A biology textbook. B．A health magazine.
Andy's Hobbies Andy is always watching animal programs on TV．When he was a child his favorite books were Gerald Durrel's animal books．He also wrote down something about animals when he heard them — especially the ones that were about loving animals． He has always had pets．His first animal friends were pigs．And then he tried his best to persuade his parents to get a dog．For some reasons they did not seem to believe Andy would walk the dog three times a day，no matter how Andy promised he'd do it． He did his best to persuade them：he was good at drawing and left drawings of dogs all over the place．He ran to the library，borrowed all the dog books he could find，and left them lying around as well．His parents were quite used to his books lying around everywhere． Then Andy's mother was told a friend's cat had kittens and they could go and get one．At first Andy was a little disappointed．As time went by，he learned to love the cat so much he has had cats ever since． Cats let us know when it is time to change the sofa．Either when the fabric starts to look like Einstein's hair that has been combed with cat paws，thanks to the generous donation of cat hair． 安迪的爱好 安迪总是看电视节目上的动物频道。当他还是个孩子的时候，他最喜欢的书就是杰拉尔德·达雷尔写的有关动物的书籍。每当他听到一些关于动物的事情，尤其是那些有关爱护动物的故事，他都会记录下来。 他一直爱养宠物，他的第一个动物朋友是猪。后来他尽自己的最大努力去说服他父母为他买一只狗。由于某些原因，无论安迪怎样承诺，他们似乎并不相信安迪会每天出去遛狗三次。 他尽自己的最大努力说服他们：他擅长画画，到处都放着狗的素描。他跑到图书馆去借他能找到的所有关于狗的书籍，也把它们丢得到处都是。他的父母已经习惯他把书丢得到处都是了。 后来安迪的母亲得知一个朋友家的猫生了小猫，他们可以去抱一只回家。起初安迪感到有点失望，但自从有了猫之后，随着时间的推移他学会给猫很多爱护。 猫让我们知道什么时候该换沙发了，也就是当沙发织物开始看起来像用猫爪梳理过的爱因斯坦的头发时，这其实多亏有了慷慨捐赠的猫毛。 Larry Schwarz's Hobbies Larry Schwarz has played with toys all his life．As a child，he often pulled his toys apart，and then glued them back together．He made toy rockets，cars，and buildings out of boxes．Although he put his toys away long enough to become a lawyer，he never lost his childhood passion for toys．Schwarz dreamed up many toys while in school．Instead of taking notes in class，he filled 26 notebooks with toy sketches! Still，he managed to get his lawyer degree． Today，instead of working in a courtroom，Schwarz skateboards around his Rumpus's headquarters in New York City．In 1997，he started the Rumpus Toy company and invented all kind of crazy toys，like Gus Gutz，a doll with 12 spongy organs，and Sy Klops，a one-eyed doll．Even the boxes are playful．Printed instructions on Rumpus toy boxes
考研英语：阅读理解之八大考点 考生应能读懂选自各类书籍和报刊的不同类型的文字材料（生词量不超过所读材料总词汇量的3%），还应能读懂与本人学习或工作有关的文献资料、技术说明和产品介绍等。对所读材料，考生应能： 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 4篇（总长度约为1600词）文章的内容，从每题所给出的4个选项中选出最佳答案，共20小题，每小题2分，共40分 一、
1.提问方式： 1)直接提问(Main idea型) ?The text intends to express the idea that. . . ?We can draw a conclusion from the text that. . . ?What is the passage mainly about? ?The passage is mainly. ?From the passage we learn that. . . ?The passage is mainly about. . . ?he key point of the passage is that. . . ?This passage mainly deals with. . . ?The main point the author makes in the passage is. ?What does this passage mainly discuss? ?The general/ main/ central idea of the passage is. ?The passage is primarily concerned with. . . 2)给文章定标题 The best title for the text may be. . . Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?' A best title for the passage could be. A best title for the passage might be. This passage can be entitled. . . 3)提问写作目的( Purpose型) ?The article is written to explain. ?The purpose of the passage is. ?This passage is intended to… 2.解题技巧： 1) ①.重点读文章的首段开头部分，如果文章中有这样的主旨句， 那么再看四个选择项，如其中一项所含的信息同主旨句中的信息相似，该项即为正确答案 ②.重点读各段的开头和结尾，四个选项中能涵盖文章各段内容的一项， 就是正确答案
TEXT 2 He emerged, all of a sudden, in 1957: the most explosive new poetic talent of the English post-war era. Poetry specialised, at that moment, in the wry chronicling of the everyday. The poetry of Yorkshire-born Ted Hughes, first published in a book called “The Hawk in the Rain” when he was 27, was unlike anything written by his immediate predecessors. Driven by an almost Jacobean rhetoric, it had a visionary fervour. Its most eye-catching characteristic was Hughes's ability to get beneath the skins of animals: foxes, otters, pigs. These animals were the real thing all right, but they were also armorial devices—symbols of the countryside and lifeblood of the earth in which they were rooted. It gave his work a raw, primal stink. It was not only England that thought so either. Hughes's book was also published in America, where it won the Galbraith prize, a major literary award. But then, in 1963, Sylvia Plath, a young American poet whom he had first met at Cambridge University in 1956, and who became his wife in the summer of that year, committed suicide. Hughes was vilified for long after that, especially by feminists in America. In 1998, the year he died, Hughes broke his own self-imposed public silence about their relationship in a book of loose-weave poe ms called “Birthday Letters”.In this new and exhilarating collection of real letters, Hughes returns to the issue of his first wife's death, which he calls his “big and unmanageable event”. He felt his talent muffled by the perpetual eavesdropping upon his every move. Not until he decided to publish his own account of their relationship did the burden begin to lighten. The analysis is raw, pained and ruthlessly self-aware. For all the moral torment, the writing itself has the same rush and vigour that possessed Hughes's early poetry.