【一起听英语】网络的发展

网络从诞生到有现在的发展也有20多年了，在这20年间，网络已经在悄然得改变着我们的生活....

Rob: Hello, I'm Rob.

Yvonne: I'm Yvonne.

Rob: And this is 6 Minute English! Today we’re celebrating a very special

anniversary - the 20th anniversary of the World Wide Web.

Yvonne: Ah, the World Wide Web. That’s something that's really changed our lives -

and in such a short space of time.

Rob: Hmm - definitely. Well, we’ll talk more about that in a moment - but first I

have a question for you: on average, how long does someone spend surfing the

net each day in the UK? Is it:

a) 7 minutes

b) 27 minutes or

c) 57 minutes

Yvonne: Umm – I'm going to say 27 minutes Rob, because I think people spend much

more time on things like Facebook. 

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Rob: Hmm – that's true. Well, I’ll give you the right answer at the end of the

programme. But now, let’s find out more about the World Wide Web – or

'www' for short.

Yvonne: www – that’s an acronym¹! It was on Christmas Day, 20 years ago, that a

breakthrough was made in the development of the internet.

Rob: Yes, a breakthrough or a discovery. The man most associated with this

discovery is Sir Tim Berners-Lee. He’s been nicknamed² ‘The Father of the

Web’.

Yvonne: What an amazing thing to invent - but of course, other people were also

involved.

Rob: Yes, of course. Tim Berners-Lee has been quoted as saying: “the remarkable³

progress of the Web today has been quite gratifying to me”. 'Gratifying' – that

really means being satisfied - or pleased.

Yvonne: Mm... so he’s really pleased with what has happened to the web – and rightly

so! Rob, can you tell me a bit more about his achievement?

Rob: Well, Sir Tim Berners-Lee worked on the first web page in his spare time. He

was a computer scientist and a computer programmer.

Yvonne: And what did his groundbreaking web page say? 

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Rob: It was just information about the project that he was working on. The web

page had a very catchy⁴ address: nxoc01.cern.ch!

Yvonne: Ha ha! Yeah, really catchy!

Rob: C.E.R.N spells CERN, and that’s the European Organisation⁵ for Nuclear

Research, which is where he worked. But the page didn't actually go online

until August 1991.

Yvonne: But this really heralded⁶ the start of people communicating by computer?

Rob: Yes. It really showed how computers could talk to each other using a language

called Hyper Text Mark up Language.

Yvonne: Ah - that’s HTML for short!

Rob: Very good!

Yvonne: So, HTML is the language that computers use to talk to each other – to

communicate with each other.

Rob: It’s very clever isn’t it?

Yvonne: Hmmm.

Rob: And since then the internet has evolved at a rapid rate. Now, there are believed

to be around one trillion web pages. 

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Yvonne: Whew! And I’m sure almost everyone uses the internet now – but I wonder

how we'd cope without it?

Rob: Well, we've been asking people just that. Listen to what they said when we

asked: how would you cope without the World Wide Web?

Insert:

Man:

I'd just have to do without it, wouldn't I? If you remember all the scare stories of the

millennium⁷ that, you know, all the power stations would shut down and all that – it

didn't happen. As long as my central heating wasn't controlled by the internet, I'd just

have to manage.

Woman:

Probably not very well. Umm - I imagine that most of my social relationships would be a

lot more difficult. And also keeping in contact with people far away would also be

impossible.

Man:

Err⁸ – with great difficulty (laughs)! It would be the phone, I imagine, and lots more

writing, lots more paper. Umm – we'd need bigger file cabinets.

Rob: So the first man would cope without the internet, as long as the computers

which help provide power for his central heating – that's the system he uses to

keep warm – isn't affected⁹! He says he'd just have to 'do without it'.

Yvonne: The woman was most worried about her social relationships – keeping in

contact with her friends and family.

Rob: Yes, especially those who are far away. In fact, she thinks keeping in contact

with them would be impossible without the internet. But the last man we heard 

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from doesn't agree. Although he says he would cope with great difficulty, he

does have some alternatives – ideas about what we could do instead.

Yvonne: And he has a good point I think, Rob. We could write to each other - like we

used to before we had the internet. It would be lovely to get more hand-written

letters from friends and family rather than just e-mails, I think.

Rob: That's what we call 'snail-mail'. But of course, as that man pointed¹⁰ out, lots

more paper would mean that we'd need bigger file cabinets – the pieces of

furniture that are used to keep all those bits of paper safe.

Yvonne: It’s incredible¹¹ how the World Wide Web has expanded in twenty years, and

how much we now rely on it. I wonder what it will be like after another twenty

years.

Rob: Well, Sir Tim Berners-Lee has said: “we have only scratched the surface of

what could be realised with deeper scientific investigation¹² into the Web’s

design, operation and impact on society”.

Yvonne: It’s true. We've only just begun to understand how useful the World Wide Web

can really be, especially for people in developing countries.

Rob: So this technological¹³ breakthrough, twenty years ago, is something worth

celebrating! Now, Yvonne, earlier I asked you a question. On average, how

long does someone spend surfing the net each day in the UK? 

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Yvonne: And I said 27 minutes.

Rob: And you were wrong.

Yvonne: Oh no!

Rob: The average time people spend on the internet each day is a lot longer than that.

It's 57 minutes.

Yvonne: Oh - and without Sir Tim and his colleagues’ work, it wouldn’t be possible at

all.

Rob: That’s right. Well, we do hope you’ve enjoyed today’s 6 Minute English.

Both: Bye bye. 

1 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

2 nicknamed   

vt.给…起绰号（nickname的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• 'The human sound-track' he nicknamed her in his own mind. 在心里他给她个绰号，就叫"人体录音带"。 来自英汉文学
• People said that he had jaundice and urchins nicknamed him "Yellow Fellow." 别人说他是黄胆病，孩子们也就叫他“黄胖”了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 catchy   

adj.易记住的，诡诈的，易使人上当的

参考例句：

• We need a new slogan.The old one's not catchy enough.我们需要新的口号，旧的不够吸引人。
• The chorus is very catchy to say the least.副歌部分很容易上口。

5 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

6 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

8 err   

vi.犯错误，出差错

参考例句：

• He did not err by a hair's breadth in his calculation.他的计算结果一丝不差。
• The arrows err not from their aim.箭无虚发。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。