Grab Those Apps|小小程序，大大流行

by Marcus Maurice

The App Store is one of the many reasons for Apple's success.

One of the biggest reasons Apple is the most dominant technology-based company in the world is their ability to look into their crystal ball and direct consumers into the future. On July 10, 2008, Apple announced that they would be starting a digital application distribution platform to coincide with the release of the iPhone 3 the following day. At the time, no one knew just how big the App Store would become. Soon, though, they learned that customers loved having free or nearly free apps fill their phones.

In nearly four years, the App Store has become a gold mine for Apple as well as for developers. The App Store started off with just 500 apps but now has more than half a million. By the end of 2011, these had been downloaded more than 18 billion times to iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. The word app was even voted the Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society in 2010. What's even more surprising is the popularity of certain apps. The Angry Birds franchise started off as a simple game people could play for 10-minute spurts anywhere. Now, it has grown into a full-fledged cultural phenomenon, with TV shows, clothing lines, and live-action movies in development.

What if you had an idea for an iPhone app that could possibly make you millions of dollars? While his friends were out playing in the park, a 14-year-old boy spent a month learning how to write code for iPhone apps. He released a game called Bubble Ball, which resulted in more than two million downloads. It's stories like these that have developers salivating at what the App Store can do for them.

1.  What does the first sentence of the article imply?

(A) Apple could make a fortune predicting the future of the stock market.

(B) Apple is good at predicting what will become popular in the future.

(C) Apps are the only reason why Apple is still popular.

(D) The future doesn't look good for Apple.

2.  What is NOT true about apps?

(A) They can only be downloaded to iPhones.

(B) They are one of the keys to Apple's success.

(C) Customers prefer the ones that have nominal to no fees.

(D) They were so successful that they became one of the top words of the year.

3.  Why are people surprised at the success of Angry Birds?

(A) The birds aren't really angry.

(B) People only enjoy playing the game for 10 minutes.

(C) It began as a game but has gotten much bigger since.

(D) Players have to pay a lot of money to download the game.

4.  What is the author's conclusion?

(A) App developers need to start studying coding at a young age.

(B) 14-year-old kids can learn how to play games very quickly.

(C) Bubble Ball is much more popular than Angry Birds.

(D) Anyone can make a popular iPhone app.

小小程序，大大流行

应用程序商店是造就苹果公司成功的众多原因之一。

　　苹果公司之所以能成为全世界最具领导优势的科技公司，其中 1 个最大的原因就是，他们有能力透视趋势来指引消费者前往未来的路。2008年 7 月 10 日，苹果公司宣布将在隔天 iPhone 3推出的同时，开启数字应用程序发行平台。当时根本没有人知道，应用程序商店的发展规模会有多大。然而，苹果公司不久后就了解到，消费者喜欢自己的手机里满是免费或近乎免费的应用程序。

4年不到的时间，应用程序商店已经成为苹果公司以及程序开发者的金鸡母。应用程序商店一开始只有 500 个应用程序，但现在已超过 50万个。到 2011 年底，这些应用程序被下载到 iPhone、iPad和 iPod Touch 超过 180 亿人次。app 这个字甚至被美国方言协会选为 2010 年度风云字汇。而更令人吃惊的是某些应用程序受欢迎的程度。『愤怒鸟』游戏一开始推出时，只是 1 个人们可以在任何地方花个 10 分钟玩的简单游戏。如今，它已经演变成 1 种成熟的文化现象，相关的电视节目、衣服和真人演出的电影都陆续在开发当中。

　　要是你有个可能会帮你赚进好几百万的 iPhone 应用程序的点子，那又会怎么样呢？当朋友们都跑出去公园玩耍的时候，有位 14 岁的男孩花了 1 个月的时间，学习怎么写 iPhone 的应用程序。他发表了 1 款叫做『泡泡球』的游戏，引发超过 2 百万人次的下载量。像这样的故事让开发应用程序的人对应用程序商店的潜在能力虎视眈眈。

答案：1. (B)2. (A)3. (C)4. (D)

过去几年，Angry Birds 一直是 iPhone 上最受欢迎的游戏，连其免费产品 Angry Birds Seasons 也雄踞免费游戏的榜首。不过，其龙头地位在最近被一款益智游戏 Bubble Ball 取代。

Bubble Ball 界面简单，任务明确，即通过界面上提供的木板、三角形等工具把一个球送到目的地。由于其中融合了各类力学知识，因此相当益智，对学生了解力学运动有很好的帮助。这款游戏是由犹他州年仅 14 岁的 8 年级生 Robert Nay 和母亲合力开发，目前下载已经超过 200 万人次。（数据源：新浪网）