studio exclusive film, licensing and merchandising rights in return for what now appears to have been a steal: some $500,000. Warner licenses other firms to produce goods using Harry Potter characters or images, from which Ms Rowling gets a big enough cut that she is now wealthier than the queen—if you believe Britain’s Sunday Times rich list. The process is self generating: each book sets the stage for a film, which boosts book sales, which lifts sales of Potter products.

　　Globally, the first four Harry Potter books have sold some 200m copies in 55 languages; the two movies have grossed over $1.8 billion at the box office. This is a stunning success by any measure, especially as Ms Rowling has long demanded that Harry Potter should not be over commercialised. In line with her wishes, Warner says it is being extraordinarily careful, at least by Hollywood standards, about what it licenses and to whom. It imposed tough conditions on Coca Cola, insisting that no Harry Potter images should appear on cans, and is now in the process of making its licensing programe even more restrictive. Coke may soon be considered too mass market to carry the brand at all.

　　The deal with Warner ties much of the merchandising to the films alone. There are no officially sanctioned products relating to “Order of the Phoenix”; nor yet for “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”, the film of the third book, which is due out in June 2004. Warner agrees that Ms Rowling’s creation is a different sort of commercial property, one with long-term potential that could be damaged by a typical Hollywood marketing blitz, says Diane Nelson, the studio’s global brand manager for Harry Potter. It is vital, she adds, that with more to come, readers of the books are not alienated. “The evidence from our market research is that enthusiasm for the property by fans is not waning.”

　　6. When the author says “there will be no escaping Potter mania”, he implies that .

　　[A] Harry Potter’s appeal for the readers is simply irresistible

　　[B] it is somewhat irrational to be so crazy about the magic boy

　　[C] craze about Harry Potter will not be over in the near future

　　[D] Hogwarts school of magic will be the biggest attraction world over

　　7. Ms Rowling’s reading in London’s Royal Albert Hall is mentioned to show .

　　[A] publishers are really adventurous in managing the Potter’s business

[B] businesses