UNIT 9

Unit9 Text A
The Web Lifestyle 网络生活方式
Today in the United States，there are over 22 million adults using the Web，about half of whom access the Internet at least once a day．
当今美国有2200万个成年人在使用网络，他们中大约半数人要每天至少上互联网一次。

Meanwhile，the variety of activities on the Web is broadening at an amazing rate．
同时，网上活动方式正以惊人的速度变得更加多样化。

There is almost no topic about which you cannot find fairly interesting material on the Web．任何一个主题你都能在网上找到与之有关的非常有趣的材料。

Many of these sites are getting excellent traffic flow．
许多网站正变成极好的商业交易渠道。

Want to buy a dog? Or sell a share? Or order a car? Use the Internet．
想买狗吗?或者卖股份?或者定购一辆汽车?那就用网络吧。

Where are we going to get the time to live with the Web ?
我们哪有时间消磨在网络上?
In some instances，people will actually save time because the Web will make doing things more efficient than in the past，
一些实例表明应用网络能更节约时间，因为网络能使我们更有效率地处理一些事情，being able to get information about a major purchase，for example，or finding out how much your used car is worth，or what your cheapest way of getting to Florida is．
能搜索到某一重要购买品的信息，例如帮你判定你那辆旧车的价钱，或者去佛罗里达州的最便宜的方法。

That is easy to find on the Web，even today．
即使是现在，这些都很容易在网上找到答案。

In other instances，people will trade the time they now spend reading the paper，or watching television，for information or entertainment they will find on the computer screen．其他情况，人们会把现在花费在读报、看电视等获得信息或消遣的时间转用到电脑屏幕前来。

Americans，particularly young ones，will spend less time in front of a television，more on the Web．
美国人特别是年轻人花费在网络上的时间将比花费在电视上的时间多。

One great benefit of the Web is that it allows us to move information online that now resides in paper form．
网络的一大好处在于我们可以在线移动这些现在存在于纸上的资料。

Several states in America are using the Web in a profound way．
美国有几个州的网络运用的范围很广。

You can apply for various permits or submit applications for business licenses．
你可以在网上申请各种形式的许可证或提交营业执照申请书。

Some states are putting up listings of jobs——not just state government jobs，but all the jobs available in the state．
一些州在网上张贴工作职位列表——不仅仅有本州政府提供的工作，而且有本州所有可供选择的工作。

I believe，over time，that all the information that governments print，and all those paper forms they now have，will be moved on to the Internet．
我相信随着时间的变化，现在政府印刷出版的资料，以及所有以纸张形式存在的资料都将会被转移到互联网上。

Electronic commerce notches up month by month，too．
电子商务每月也在扩展。

It is difficult to measure，because a lot of electronic commerce involves existing buyers and sellers who are simply moving paper-based transactions to the Web．
很难数清有多少，因为许多电子商务涉及到现存的买卖双方仅仅是(单纯地)把纸上交易转为网上。

That is not new business．
这不是新的商业形式。

Microsoft，for example，purchases millions of dollars of personal computers(PC)online instead of by paper．
例如微软公司就是通过网络而不是纸上形式收购了数百万美元的液晶显示器。

However，that is not a fundamental change；it has just improved the efficiency of an existing process．
但是这不是根本性的变化，因为它仅仅提高了现存交易过程的效率，
The biggest impact has occurred where electronic commerce matches buyers and sellers who would not previously have found each other．
而电子商务最大的影响在于它使先前素不相识的买卖双方联系在一起。

When you go to a book site and find an obscure book that you never would have found in a physical bookstore，that is a new type of commerce．
你进入某个网上书店并发现一本你在普通书店不容易找到的书，这是一种新型的商业。

Today, about half of all PCs are still not connected to the Web．
目前大约有半数的私人电脑还没有上网。

Getting communications cost down and making all the software simple will bring in those people．
降低信息费并简化软件将吸引这部分人。

And that，in turn，will move us closer to the critical mass that will make the Web lifestyle everyone’s lifestyle．
这样就能逐级接近使网络生活方式成为每个人的一种生活方式这一重要阶段。

One element people underestimate is the degree to which the hardware and software will improve．
人们往往低估硬件和软件发展程度这一因素。

Just take one aspect：screen technology．
仅仅举一个例子：显示器技术。

I do my e-mail on a 20-inch liquid crystal display(LCD)monitor．
我在20英寸的液晶显示器上发电子邮件，
It is not available at a reasonable price yet，but in two years it will be．
现在该显示器价格仍然不菲，但是不出两年就会便宜下来。

In ten years，a 40-inch LCD with much higher resolution will be commonplace．
不出10年，可能40英寸的高清晰度的液晶显示器就会很平常了。

The boundary between a television set an a PC will be blurred because even the set-top box
that you connect up to your cable or satellite will have a processor more powerful than what we have today in the most expensive PC．
电视与电脑之间的界限将会变得模糊起来，因为连接有线或卫星的顶置式电视机将来会安装上一个处理器，它的功能会比我们现在最昂贵的电脑还要强大。

This will，in effect，make your television a computer．
这实际上将使我们的电视成为电脑。

Interaction with the Web will also improve，making it much easier for people to be involved．
网络与人之间的相互作用会日益加强，会更便于人们操作。

Today the keywords we use to search the Web often return to too many articles to sort through，many of them out of context．
现在我们在网上搜索关键词常常会得到太多的文章以至于我们无法从中归类选择，其中许多是脱离背景毫不相干的。

If you want to learn about the fastest computer chip available，you might end up getting responses instead about potato chips being delivered in fast trucks．
比如你想了解目前运转速度最快的电脑芯片(computer chip)速度是多少，你得到的答案可能是关于快运货车运送薯片(potato chips)的速度。

In the future，we shall be either speaking or typing sentences into the computers.
但是将来我们可以通过语音或手动输入句子到电脑。

If you ask about the speed of chips，the result will be about computers．not potatoes．
如果你再问“speed of chips”，答案会是关于电脑的而不再是关于马铃薯片的。

Speech recognition also means that you will be able to call in on a phone and ask if you have any new messages，or check on a flight，or check on the weather．
语音识别系统意味着你可以通过电话输入询问最新消息或检查航班或天气。

To predict that it will take over ten years for these changes to happen is probably pessimistic．
估计实现这些变化需要10年时间的话可能太悲观了。

We usually overestimate what we do in two years and underestimate what we can do in ten．我们通常过高地估计了我们两年内要实现的目标，但对于10年目标又往往估计得过低。

The Web will be as much a way of life as the car by 2008．Perhaps before．
到2008年甚至更早一些，网络可能就像汽车一样成为我们的一种生活方式。