原文：

　　At the core of this debate is Chairman Gerald Levin，56，who took over for the late Steve Ross in1992.On the financial front，Levin is under pressure to raise the stock price and reduce the company’s mountainous debt，which will increase to＄17.3billion after two new cable deals close. He has promised to sell off some of the property and restructure the company，but investors are waiting impatiently. The flap over rap is not making life any easier for him. Levin has consistently defended the company s rap music on the grounds of expression.In1992，when Time Warner was under fire for releasing Ice-T’s violent rap song Cop Killer，Levin described rap as a lawful expression of street culture，which deserves an outlet. “The test of any democratic society，”he wrote in a Wall Street Journal column，“l(fā)ies not in how well it can control expression but in whether it gives freedom of thought and expression the widest possible latitude，however disputable or irritating the results may sometimes be. We won t retreat in the face of any threats.”

　　批注：

　　At the core of this debate is Chairman Gerald Levin，56，who took over（接管） for the late（已故的） Steve Ross in1992.(1)On the financial front（在財經(jīng)戰(zhàn)場方面），Levin is under pressure to raise the stock（=share股份；bond有息債卷） price and reduce the company’s mountainous debt，which will increase to＄17.3billion after two new cable deals（有線交易） close. He has promised to sell off some of the property and restructure the company，but investors are waiting impatiently. (2)The flap帽檐；拍打；慌亂不安 over rap（說唱音樂） is not making life any easier for him. Levin has consistently defended the company’s rap music on the grounds of expression(依據(jù)言論自由為公司辯護(hù)). In1992，when Time Warner was under fire for releasing Ice-T’s violent rap song Cop Killer，Levin described rap as a lawful expression of street culture，which deserves an outlet出口、排遣. “The test of any democratic society，”he wrote in a Wall Street Journal column，“l(fā)ies not in how well it can control expression but in whether it gives freedom of thought and expression the widest possible latitude緯度；（思想行動）自由，however disputable or irritating the results may sometimes be. We won’t retreat in the face of any threats.”

　　(以上段落從2個方面說明Levin面前處于風(fēng)口浪尖之中，一是在財經(jīng)戰(zhàn)場方面，二是在關(guān)于說唱音樂問題方面)