英语阅读与写作全文及译文 1.docx
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英语阅读与写作全文及译文 1.docx
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英语阅读与写作全文及译文1
Unit4
TextA
We’vegotmail---Always
Ise-mailablessingoracurse?
Lastmonth,afteraweek’svacation.Idiscovered1218unreade-mailmessageswaitinginmyINbox.Ipretendtobedismayed,butsecretlyIwaspleased.Thisishowwemessureourwiredworthinthelate1900s—ifyouarenotoverwhelmedbye-mail.Youmustbedoingsomethingwrong..
Nevermindthataftersubtractingthestaleofficechitchat,spam,flamewars,dumbjokesforwardbyfriendswhoshouldhaveknownbetterandothere-maildetritus.therewereperhapssevenmessagesactuallyworthreading.IwasdoomedtospendhalfmyworkdayjustdeletingjunkE-mailsucks.
Butwait–whataboutthoseseven?
AclosefriendinTaipeiIhaven’tseeninfiveyearstellsmehe’splanningtostartafamily.AcompletestrangerinBelgiumsendsmeahotstorytip.Anotherstrangeroffersmeajob.I’dratherloseaneyethanlosemye-mailaccount.E-mailrocks.
E-mail.can’tlivewithit.can’tlivewithoutit.Conartistsandrealartists,advertisersandfreedomfighters,loversandswornenemies---they’veallflockedtoe-mailastheywouldtoanynewmediumogexpression.E-mailisconvenient,savetime,bringsusclosertooneanother,helpusmanageourever-morecompleslives.Booksarewritten,campaignsconducted,crimescommitted---allviae-mail.But,itisalsoinconvenient,wastesourtime,isolatesusinfrontofourcomputers.e-mailisjustthelatestchapterintheevolvinghistoryofhumancommunication.Asnoopinghusbandnowdiscovershiswife’saffairbyreadingherprivatee-mail—buthecouldhaveuncoverdthesamesinbyfindinglettersagenerationago.
Yete-mail---andallonlinecommunication—isinfactsomethingtrulydifferent,itcapturetheessenceodlifeatthecloseofthe20thcenturywithanauthoritythatfewotherproductsofdigitaltechnologycanclaim.Doesthepaceoflifeseemeverfaster?
E-mailsimultaneouslyallowsustocopewiththeaccelerationandcontributestoit.Areourattentionspansshrivelingunderbarragesofnew,improvedformsofstimulation?
Thequickanddirtye-mailismadetoorderforthosewhoseabilitytocontrateismeasuredinnanoseconds.ifweacceptthatthecreationoftheglobe-spanningInternetisoneofthemostimportanttechnologicalinnovationsofthelasthalfofthiscentury.Thenwemustgiveae-mail---thelivingembodimentofhumanconnectionacrosstheNet---prideofplace.Thewayweinteractwitheachotherischanging.e-mailisboththecatalystandtheinstrumentofthatchange.
Thescopeofthephenomenonismind-boggling.worldwide,225milionpeoplecansendandreceivee-mail.ForgetabouttheWebore-commerceorevenonlineporography.e-mailistheinternet’struekillerapp-thesofewareapplicationthatwesimplymusthave.evenifmeansbuyinga$2000computerandplunkdingdown$20amonthtoAmericanOnline.
Oddlyenough,nooneplannedit,andnoonepredictedit.WhenresearchscientistsfirstbegancookinguptheInternet’spredecessor,theArpanet,in1968,theirprimarygoalwastoenabledisparatecomputingcenterstoshareresources.“Butitdidn’ttakeverylongbeforetheydiscoveredthatthemostimportantthingwastheabilitytosendmailaround,whichtheyhadnotanticipatedatall,”saysEricAllman,chieftechnicalofficerofSendmail,Inc.,andtheprimaryauthorofa20-year-oldprogram—Sendmail—thatstilltransportsthevastmajorityoftheworld’se-mailacrosstheInternet.ItseemsthatwhatallthosetopcomputerscientistsreallywantedtousetheInternetforwasasaplacetodebate,viae-mail,suchcruciallyimportanttopicsasthebestscience-fictionnovelofalltime.EventhoughAllmanisnowquiteproudthathissoftwarehelpshundredsofmillionsofpeoplecommunicate,hesayshedidn’tsetoutoriginallytochangetheworld.AsasystemsadministratoratUCBerkeleyinthelate70s,hewasconstantlyhassledbycomputer-scienceresearchersinonebuildingwhowantedtogettheire-mailfrommachinesinanotherlocation.“Ijustwantedtomakemylifeeasier,”saysAllman.
Don’tweall?
Whenmyfirstchildwasbornin1994,e-mailseemedtomesomekindofPrometheangiftperfectlydesignedtohelpmecopewiththeirreconcilablepressuresofnew-fatherhoodandfull-timefreelancewriting.Itsavedmetimeandmoneywithouteverrequiringmetoleavethehouse;itsalvagedmysociallife,allowedmetoconductinterviewsasareporterandkeptalifelineopentomyfar-flungextendedfamily.Indeed,IfinallyknewforsurethatthedigitalworldwasviscerallypotentwhenIfoundmyselfinthemiddleofabitterfightwithmymother—one-mail.Again,newmedium,oldstory.
Mymotherhadgivenmeane-mailheadstart.In1988,sheboughtmeamodemsoIcouldcreateaCompuServeaccount.Thereason?
HeryoungerbrotherhadcontractedarapidlyworseningcaseofParkinson’sdisease.Hewasn’tabletotalkclearly,andcouldhardlyscrawlhisnamewithapenorpencil.Buthehadacomputer,andcouldpeckoutwordsonakeyboard.MymomfiguredthatifthefamilyallhadCompuServeaccounts,wecouldsendhime-mail.Shegrasped,longbeforetheInternetbecameahouseholdword,howonlinecommunicationofferednewpossibilitiesfortranscendingphysicallimitations,howassimpleathingase-mailcouldbringusclosertothosewhomwelove.
Itmayevenhelpusfindthosewhomwewanttoloveinthefirstplace.JennShreveisafreelancewriterintheSanFranciscoBayAreawhokeepsacloseeyeontheemergingcultureofthenewonlinegeneration.Forthelastcoupleofyears,she’sseenwhatsheconsiderstobeapositivechangeinonlinedatinghabits.E-mail,sheargues,encouragestheshy.“Itoffersasemi-risk-freeenvironmenttoinitiateromance,”saysShreve.“Becauseitlackstheimmediatethreatofphysicalrejection,peoplewhoareperhapsshyorhadpainfulromanticfailuresinthepastcanusetheInternetasawaytobuildarelationshipintheearlyromanticstages.”
Butit’snotjustaboutlust.E-mailalsoflattenshierarchieswithintheboundsofanItisfareasier,Shrevenotes,tomakeasuggestiontoyoursuperiorsandcolleaguesviae-mailthanitistodosoinapressure-filledmeetingroom.“Anytimewhenyouhavesomethingthatisdifficulttosay,e-mailcanmakeiteasier,”shesays.“Itservesasabufferzone.”
Ofcourse,e-mail’suseasasociallubricantcanbetakentoextremes.Thereislittlepointindenyingtheobviousdarksidetothelackofself-constraintsencouragedbye-mail.Purveyorsofpornographyrarelycallusonthephoneandsuggestoutloudthatwecheckoutsome“hotteenaction.”Buttheydon’tthinktwiceaboutjammingoure-mailboxesfullofoutrageouslyprurientadvertisements.Peoplewhowouldneverinsultusfacetofacewillspewthevilest,mostobjectionable,mostappallingrhetoricimaginableviae-mailoraninstantmessage,orintheno-holds-barredconfinesofachatroom.
Cyberspace’slapseingenitilityunderscoresacentralcontradictioninherentinonlinecommunication.IfitistruethathoursspentontheNetareoftenhourssubtractedfromwatchingtelevision,onecouldarguethatthedigitalerahasraisedthecurtainsonanewageofliteracy—morepeoplearewritingmorewordsthaneverbefore!
Butwhatkindofarewewriting?
Arewereallymoreliterate,orareweslidingeverfasterintoaquicksandofmeaninglessirrelevance,ofpop-culturaltriviality-expressed,usually,inlowercaseletters-runamok?
E-mailisactuallytooeasy,toocasual.Gonearethedayswhenonewouldworryoveralettertoaloverorarelativeoracolleague.Nowthere’sjusttimeforthatquicke-mail,afewhastilycobbledtogetherthoughtswritteninacolloquialstylethatusuallybordersonuneditedstreamofconsciousness.Thedangerisobvious:
snippycommentstoafriend,overlysharpretorestoone’sboss,insultsmistakenlysenttothetarget,nottheintendedaudience.e-mailallowsustoactbeforewecanthink-theperfecttoolforacultureofhyperstimulation.
Soinsteadofcreatingsomethingnew,weforwardsomethingold.insteadofcraftingtheperfectphrase,weuseabrain-deadabbreviation:
IMHOforInMyHumbleOpinion,orROTFLMAO,forRollingonTheFloorLaughingMyAssOff.Gotarumor?
E-mailisto50people!
Insteadmessagingandchatroomjustaccentuatethecasualnegative.Ife-mailrequireslittlethought,theninstantmessaging——flashingamessagedirectlyontoarecipitent’scomputermonitor——issoinsubstantialastobepracticallynonexistent.
E-mail,ultimately,isafragilething,easytoforge,easytocorrupt,easytodestroy.Afewweeksagoacoworkerofmineaccidentallyandirretrievablywipedout1,500ofhisownsavedmessage.Forapersonwhoconductsthebulkofhislifeonline,suchadigitaltragedyisakintoerasingpartofyourownmemory.suddenly,nothing’slet.Ifiscomfortingtothinkthat,ifpreservedinaretrievableway,allthenotestheworldispassingbackandforthtodayconstituteavasthistoricalarchive,buttheoppositemayalsobetrue.Earlierthissummer,IvisitedsomecuratorsatStanfordUniversityLibrarywhoarehardatworkcomplilingadigitalarchiveofSiliconValleyhistory.Theybemoanedanew,fast-spreadingcorporatepolicythatrequiresthedeletionofallcorporatee-mailsafter60or90days.AsMicrosofeandNetscapehavelearnedtotheirdismay,olde-mails,howevertrivialtheyseemwhentheyarewritten,canandwillcomebacktohauntyou.Saythelawyers,tojustwipethemallout.
Still,e-mailisenablingradicallynewformsofworldwidehumancollaboration.Those225millionpeoplewhocansendandreceiveitrepresentanetworkofpotentiallycooperatingindividualsdwarfinganythingthateventhemightiestcorporationorgovernmentcanmuster.mailing-listdiscussiongroups
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