市场英语科技英语阅读教程unit1A(张敏杨秀芬版)

2021年1月20日发(作者：bite是什么意思)
Unit 1
01 Something in the American psyche loves new frontiers. We
hanker after wide-open spaces; we like to explore; we like to make rules
but refuse to follow them. But in this age
it’s hard to find a place where
you can go and be yourself without worrying about the neighbors.
美国人的内心深处具有一种酷爱探索新领域的气质。我们渴求宽
敞的场 地，我们喜欢探索，喜欢制定规章制度，却不愿去遵守。在当
今时代，却很难找到一块空间，可以供你任 意驰骋，又不必担心影响
你的邻居。


02 There is such a place: cyberspace. Formerly a playground for
computer fans, cyberspace now embraces every conceivable constituency:
schoolchildren, flirtatious singles, Hungarian-Americans, accountants.
Can they all get along? Or will our fear of kids surfing for dirty pictures
behind their bedroom doors provoke a crackdown?

确实有这样一个空间，那就是信息空间。这里原本是计算机迷的游戏天地，
但如今只要想像得到的各类人群应有尽有，
包括少年儿童、
轻佻的单身 汉、
美籍匈牙利人、
会计等。
问题是他们都能和睦相处吗
?
人们是否 会因为害怕孩子们躲在卧室里看网上的淫秽图片而将它封
杀
?
03 The first order of business is to grasp what cyberspace is. It might
help to leave behind metaphors of highways and frontiers and to think
instead of real estate.2 Real estate, remember, is an intellectual, legal,
artificial environment constructed on top of land. Real estate recognizes
the difference between parkland and shopping mall, between red- light
zone3 and school district, between church, state and drugstore.
首先要解决的问题是，
什么是 信息空间。
我们可以抛开高速公路、
前沿新领域等比喻，把信息空间看作一个巨大的庄园。请记 住，庄园
是人们智慧的结晶，
是合法的、
人工营造的氛围，
它建立在土地之上 。
在庄园里，公园和商业中心、红灯区与学校、教堂与杂货店都能区分
开来。

04 In the same way, you could think of cyberspace as a giant and
unbounded world of virtual real estate. Some property is privately owned
and rented out; other property is common land; some places are suitable
for children, and others are best avoided by all citizens. Unfortunately,
it’s those places that are now capturing the popular imagi
nation, places
that offer bomb-making instructions, pornography, advice on how to steal
credit cards. They make cyberspace sound like a nasty place. Good
citizens jump to a conclusion: Better regulate it.
你可以用同样的方法把信息空间想像为一个巨大的、无边无 际的
虚拟庄园。其中有些房产为私人拥有并已租出，有些是公共场所；有
的场所适合儿童出入， 而有些地方人们最好避开。不幸的是，正是这
些应该避开的地方使得人们心向神往。
这些地方教 唆你如何制造炸弹、
为你提供淫秽材料、
告诉你如何窃取信用卡。
所有这些使信息空间 听
起来像是一个十分肮脏的地方。
正直的公民纷纷作出这样的结论：
最
好对它 严加管理。

05 But before using regulations to counter indecency it is
fundamental to interpret the nature of cyberspace. Cyberspace isn't a
frontier where wicked people can grab unsuspecting children, nor is it a
giant television system that can beam offensive messages at unwilling
viewers. In this kind of real estate, users have to choose where they visit,
what they see, what they do. It's optional. In other words, cyberspace is a
voluntary destination
—
in reality, many destinations. You don't just get
“onto the Net”; you have to go someplace in particular. That means that
people can choose where to go and what to see. Yes, community
standards should be enforced, but those standards should be set by
cyberspace communities themselves, not by the courts or by politicians in
Washington.
但是 ，在利用规章制度来反击下流之举之前，关键是从根本上理
解信息空间的性质。
恶棍并不能在信 息空间抢走毫无提防之心的儿童；
信息空间也不像一台巨大的电视机，
向不情愿的观众播放令人 作呕的
节目。在信息空间这座庄园里，用户对他们所去之处、所见所闻、所
做所为都要作出选择 ，一切都出于自愿。换句话说，信息空间是个出
入自便的地方，实际上，信息空间里有很多可去之处。人 们不能盲目
上网，
必须带着具体的目标上网。
这意味着人们可以选择去哪个网址、看什么内容。不错，规章制度应该在群体内得以实施，但这些规章制
度必须由信息空间内各个群体自 己来制定，
而不是由法庭或华盛顿的
政客们来制定。

06 What makes cyberspace so alluring is precisely the way in which
it's different from shopping malls, television, highways and other
terrestrial jurisdictions. But let's define the territory:
信息空间之所以具有如此大的诱惑力，正是因为它不同于商场、
电视、
公路或地球上的其他地 方。
那么，
让我们来描述一下这个空间。

07 First, there are private e-mail conversations, similar to the
conversations you have over the telephone. These are private and
consensual and require no regulation at all.
首先，信息空间里人与人之间可以进行电子邮件交流。 这种交流
类似于电话交谈，都是私人之间的、两相情愿的谈话，不需要任何规
章制度加以限制。

08 Second, there are information and entertainment services, where
people can download anything fr
om legal texts and lists of “great new
restaurants” to game software or dirty pictures. These places are like
bookstores, malls and movie houses
—
places where you go to buy
something. The customer needs to request an item or sign up for a
subscription; stuff (especially pornography) is not sent out to people who
don’t ask for it. Some of these services are free or included as part of a
broader service like CompuServe or America Online; others charge and
may bill their customers directly.
其次，信息空间提供信息与娱乐服务。人们可 以从中下载各种信
息，从法律文件、
“
大型新饭店
”
名单，到游戏软 件、下流图片，无奇
不有。这里如同书店、商场和电影院，属购物区域。顾客必须通过索
求或者 登记来购物，物品
(
特别是淫秽之物
)
不会发送给那些没有索取
的人 。有些服务可以免费，或作为总服务费用的一部分计算，如
“
计
算机服务
”< br>和
“
美国在线
”
就是如此。而有些服务要向顾客收费，而且
可 能会让顾客直接支付账单。

09 Third, there are “real” communities—
groups of people who
communicate among themselves. In real-estate terms, they're like bars or
restaurants or bathhouses. Each active participant contributes to a general
conversation, generally through posted messages. Other participants may
simply listen or watch. Some services are supervised by a moderator;
others are more like bulletin boards
—
anyone is free to post anything.
Many of these services started out unmoderated but are now imposing
rules to keep out unwanted advertising, extraneous discussions or
increasingly rude participants.
第三，信息空间里还有 真正意义上的群体，那就是在内部互相交
流思想的人群。从庄园的角度来看，这些群体就像酒吧、饭店或 公共
浴室。每个活跃的人都积极参与谈话，谈话一般通过邮件方式进行；
而有的人也许只充当旁 观者或旁听者。
有些活动由专人监督，
有些则
像公告牌，任何人可以任意在上面张贴。 很多活动起初都无人监督，