Warner Brothers is an American company that produces movies and television shows. It started as a small family business operated by four brothers — Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner. In nineteen-oh-three, the brothers began their business by traveling throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania showing movies using a projector (放映机). By nineteen-oh-seven, they opened a movie theater in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Within ten years, the Warner brothers started producing movies, and moved that part of the business to California.
In nineteen eighteen, their first complete picture was called “My Four Years in Germany.” The film was based on a book by the United States’ ambassador to the court of Kaiser Wilhelm. In nineteen twenty-five, they began to work to include the technology for sound in their movies.
Two years later, Warner Brothers Pictures released the first major movie with sound, or “talking picture.” It was called “The Jazz Singer” and it was a huge success. In the nineteen thirties, the company made several films that were highly praised, including “Little Caesar,” “The Public Enemy”, “The Gold Diggers” and “Forty-Second Street.”
The Warner Brothers’ success continued in the nineteen forties with movies like “The Maltese Falcon,” and “Casablanca.” Movies during this time starred popular actors like Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Gary Cooper and Bette Davis. The company continues to produce popular movies today.
By the nineteen seventies, the Warner Brothers studios had also become well set up in television. In nineteen ninety, Warner Communications combined with Time Incorporated to form Time Warner Incorporated.
In two thousand one, the company combined with America Online. The company now includes film production, cable television networks, music and publishing. This year, the company announced a deal with the CBS Corporation to form a new television broadcast network. The CW began broadcasting this month.
小题1:According to the text, at the beginning of their business the four brothers __________.
A．started a movie theater
B．started to produce films
C．were projectionists
D．settled their business in California小题2:The Warner Brothers produced its first talking picture in ___________.
A．1918
B．1925
C．1927
D．1930小题3:According to the text, which of the following is not sound film?
A．The Maltese Falcon
B．Casablanca
C．Forty-Second Street
D．My Four Years in Germany小题4:We can see from the text that ___________.
A．The Warner Brothers has closed.
B．The Warner Brothers has expanded（扩张） its business greatly since it was set up.
C．The CW doesn’t belong to the Warner Brothers.
D．People in the U.S. can’t buy music records produced by the Warner Brothers.
