清华学生的“PX百度词条保卫战”

 　　In defense¹ of science, truth

　　Bi Xiaotian acquired a new habit recently. Every time he opens his web browser², he checks the entry of paraxylene (PX) on Baidu Baike. As one of the participants in correcting the Baidu entry in early April, the 22-year-old chemical engineering major student from Tsinghua University is proud to be part of the team defending the purity of science. Guarding the truth is their responsibility.

　　近来，毕啸天养成了一个新习惯：只要打开浏览器就会在百度百科上查看PX词条。4月初，这名22岁的清华大学化工系学生加入“PX百度词条保卫战”。他表示，能够加入捍卫科学的队伍中，他感到很自豪。他们视捍卫真理为己任。

　　Wang Runjia was the first Tsinghua University student to correct PX entry. The 20-year-old sophomore³ student of chemical engineering turned on his laptop as usual on April 2. As he browsed⁴ the social network, a screenshot posted by a friend caught his attention. “It showed a modification⁵ of the PX entry on Baidu Baike, in which the toxicity⁶ of PX had been changed from ‘low’ to ‘high’,” he says.

　　清华大学化工系大二学生王润佳是该校首个参与修改PX词条的学生。4月2日，20岁的他像往常一样打开电脑。朋友在社交网站上发布的一张截图引起了他的注意。“截图中PX百度词条被篡改了，PX的毒性程度由‘低毒’变成了‘剧毒’。”他说。

　　After looking at the entry’s editing history in further detail, he found that the modification had been made several times. “The discussion of PX chemical plants has been ongoing⁷ for years. In class, we also learned related knowledge. Therefore I won’t let false information spread,” he says.

　　在进一步筛查此前的修改记录后，他发现该词条曾被多次篡改。“关于PX化工厂的讨论已持续多年。在课上，我们也学了一些相关知识。因此，我不会让错误信息传播开来，误导大众。”他说。

　　Out of professional spirit, he identified himself as a student of chemical engineering at Tsinghua University, correcting the mistakes and urging Baidu to prevent malicious⁸ tampering⁹ with sensitive entries.

　　出于专业精神，他以清华大学化工系学生的身份，对词条中的错误进行了修改，并且呼吁百度禁止对敏感词条的恶意篡改行为。

　　To his surprise, his act didn’t end the discussion. Instead, it was the beginning of an editing battle. Bi remembers that night well. He checked the entry once an hour just to ensure its correctness. In 120 hours, the entry was edited 36 times. “We took turns to safeguard the truth,” he says. “I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one doing so. Students from other departments and universities stood by our side, presenting scientific facts to the general public.”

　　令他颇感意外的是，他的举动并没有平息人们对于PX的争议。相反，一场“编辑战”才刚刚拉开序幕。毕晓天仍然清晰记得那个晚上：他每小时都会查看一下该词条，以此来确保词条内容的准确性。然而，在短短5天中，该词条一共被篡改了36次。“我们只好轮流来维护真理，”他说，“我很开心，因为我并不是一个人在战斗。还有一些其他院系、学校的同学支持我们，一起向大众传播科学真理。”

　　Qian Weizhong, an associate professor of chemistry at Tsinghua University, praised the students for being responsible citizens when interviewed by People’s Daily. “They are doing so not because of industrial interests, but out of their consciousness to popularize science,” he said. “Such activity informs the general public with scientific facts, facilitating rational communication.”

　　清华大学化学系副教授钱卫忠（音译）在接受《人民日报》采访时，称赞同学们是富有责任感的公民。“他们这么做并非出于商业目的，而是出于普及科学的意识，”他说，“这样的活动可以让大众了解科学真理，促进理性沟通。”

　　The students’ determination to protect the truth had a positive result. After locking the entry, Baidu Baike contacted Bi and asked him to write a introduction to PX. “For the entire afternoon on April 11, I worked on this task and sought professional assistance from my department.”

　　学生们捍卫真理的决心起到了积极作用。锁定该词条后，百度百科相关人员联系了毕啸天，希望他能够写一个关于PX的介绍。“4月11日的整个下午，我都在做这件事。为此，我还向系里寻求专业帮助。”

　　Now, the new entry on PX is a well-organized, objective reflection of reliable facts. “It’s a good opportunity for us,” Bi says. As many people don’t have enough knowledge to judge the truthfulness¹⁰ of online information, when false information is spread, experts must step in to deny rumors¹¹ and convey the right information, he says.

　　现在，新的PX词条条理十分清晰，客观反映了可靠事实。“对我们来说，这是一个绝佳机会，”毕啸天说，“很多人缺乏相关知识来判断网上信息的真实性，当错误信息传播的时候，专家们就应该站出来阻止谣言的散播，揭露事实真相。”

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

4 browsed   

v.吃草( browse的过去式和过去分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• I browsed through some magazines while I waited. 我边等边浏览几本杂志。 来自辞典例句
• I browsed through the book, looking at page after page. 我翻开了一下全书，一页又一页。 来自互联网

5 modification   

n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻

参考例句：

• The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的，它需要修改。
• The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。

6 toxicity   

n.毒性，毒力

参考例句：

• The hoarse grunt or squeal is characteristic of toxicity.嘶哑的哼声和叫声是中毒的特征。
• Dieldrin is related to aldrin,and its toxicity to earthworms is similar.狄氏剂与艾氏剂有关，对蚯蚓的毒性是相似的。

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

9 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

10 truthfulness   

n. 符合实际

参考例句：

• Among her many virtues are loyalty, courage, and truthfulness. 她有许多的美德，如忠诚、勇敢和诚实。
• I fired a hundred questions concerning the truthfulness of his statement. 我对他发言的真实性提出一连串质问。

11 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》