VOA慢速英语20116 火箭爆炸影响脸谱的非洲互联网计划（在线收听）

Rocket Explosion Hurts Facebook’s Internet Plans for Africa 火箭爆炸影响脸谱的非洲互联网计划

Plans to make Internet connections easier to get in Africa were hurt this month when a rocket exploded in the U.S. state of Florida. The rocket belonging to the company SpaceX was carrying a communications satellite for the social media network Facebook.

这个月，一枚火箭在美国佛罗里达州爆炸，这使得让非洲上网更容易的计划受到了不良影响。这枚属于SpaceX公司的火箭携带了一颗为社交媒体网站脸谱网发射的通信卫星。

Facebook had planned to use some of the satellite's coverage to bring Internet service to people in countries south of the Saharan desert. Facebook and Google are working on other ways to bring Internet access to Africa, but it will be some time before they are ready.

脸谱网此前计划利用这颗卫星的覆盖范围为撒哈拉以南非洲国家的人们提供互联网服务。脸谱网和谷歌公司正在研究其它办法给非洲带来互联网接入，但是距离成功尚需时日。

Faiz Bashir heads FlexiSAF, an education technology company in Abuja, Nigeria. He says Internet access is too costly for most Nigerians.

法伊兹·巴希尔领导了尼日利亚阿布贾的教育技术公司。他说互联网接入对大多数尼日利亚人来说都太贵。

"If you want very good Internet, it's very expensive. Usually only big companies and rich people can afford that," he said

他说，“高质量的互联网非常昂贵，通常只有大公司和富人才负担得起。”

The International Telecommunication Union says about 25 percent of people in Africa will use the Internet this year. That is more than last year's rate of 20 percent. But it is still the lowest rate in the world.

国际电信联盟表示，今年大约有25%的非洲人将用上互联网，超过了去年的20%。但是这仍然是全球最低的比例。

Facebook provides Internet service in Africa

脸谱网在非洲提供互联网服务

Three years ago, Facebook said it would try to bring Internet access to more people in Africa and other areas of the world. Mark Zuckerberg, who leads Facebook, talked about the plan in a Facebook video.

三年前，脸谱网表示它要试图为非洲等地区的人们带来互联网接入服务。脸谱网公司负责人马克·扎克伯格在一则脸谱网视频中谈到了该计划。

"Our plan is to make basic Internet services affordable, so that everyone with a phone can join the knowledge economy."

他说，“我们计划提供互联网基础服务，这样有手机的人都能加入知识经济。”

One part of that plan began in Nigeria in May. It is called Free Basics. Anyone with a smartphone can see some health, education, weather, job search and other sites -- including Facebook – at no cost.

该计划的一部分今年5月在尼日利亚启动。它被称之为免费基础互联网服务。任何人只要有智能手机就能免费访问一些健康、教育、气象、求职等类别的网站，其中包括Facebook网站。

Bashir says it is easier now for him to communicate with family members in isolated areas of the country.

巴希尔表示，现在他和该国偏远地区的家人联系更为便利了。

Free Basics is now available in 48 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

免费基础互联网服务目前在非洲、中东、亚太和拉丁美洲的48个国家可用。

Facebook also offers a service called Express Wi-Fi. People can pay to use the Wi-Fi.

脸谱网还提供了Express Wi-Fi服务，人们可以付费使用这种Wi-Fi服务。

Facebook planned to expand its services, but then came the setback of September 1st.

脸谱网k计划扩大其服务，但是随后发生了9月1日的挫折。

The social media network has faced several setbacks

脸谱网已经几经波折

USLaunchReport.com released a video showing the explosion of the SpaceX rocket.

USLaunchReport网站发布了SpaceX公司的火箭爆炸的视频。

It was not the only problem Facebook has had this year as it tries to give more people access to the Internet. In February, R.S. Sharma, the head of India's telecommunications agency, announced new rules that make it harder for Facebook to offer its Free Basics service in the country.

这并非是试图为更多人提供互联网接入的脸谱网公司今年遇到的唯一问题。今年2月，印度电信机构负责人R.S. Sharma宣布了新规定，使得脸谱网在该国提供免费基础互联网服务变得更加困难。

"No service provider shall charge differential pricing on the basis of application, platforms or websites or source," he said.

他说，“互联网服务提供商不能基于应用、平台、网站或资源收取差别定价。”

Differential pricing means charging two prices to different groups for the same service.

差别定价意味着对不同组织的同一服务收取两种价格。

The rules pleased some Internet activists who believe companies should not be able to decide what websites a person can see.

该规定让一些互联网活动人士感到高兴，他们认为各公司不应该能够决定用户可以访问什么网站。

It is not known how many new Internet users the Free Basics plan has created. A group called The Alliance for an Affordable Internet looked at who was using the plan -- and of others that offer free Internet access -- in eight countries. Research manager Dhanaraj Thakur says the group found that 88 percent of the users were not new to the Internet.

目前尚不清楚免费基础互联网服务已经产生了多少新的互联网用户。一家名为可负担互联网联盟的组织在8个国家考察了谁在使用该方案以及其它方案提供的免费互联网接入。研究经理德哈纳拉·塔库尔表示，该组织发现其中88%的用户并非互联网新用户。

Thakur says people were using Free Basics to visit Facebook and other websites but were using their data plans to watch videos.

塔库尔表示，人们使用免费基础互联网服务访问脸谱网等网站，但是使用他们的流量套餐观看视频。

Facebook says it wants to help everyone in the world go online. Last month, it announced a successful test of a solar-powered drone, or unmanned aircraft. It is designed to stay in the air for weeks, providing Internet service to rural areas.

脸谱网表示该公司希望帮助世界上每个人上网。上个月，该公司宣布一架太阳能动力的无人机成功测试。它的设计目的是在空中停留数周，向农村地区提供互联网服务。

Google is also helping rural people get access to the Internet by using large balloons floating high above the earth.

谷歌也在通过利用漂浮在高空的大型热气球帮助农村地区的人们上网。

It is not known if Facebook plans to launch another satellite.

目前尚不清楚脸谱网是否计划发射另一颗卫星。

Words in This Story

expensive –adj. costly

basic –adj. not including anything extra

affordable –adj. able to be bought without too much money

isolated –adj. far away from other things, separated from others

Wi-Fi –n. a wireless connection available over short distances

differential pricing –n. giving a different price to two or more groups for the same service

data plans –n. a plan in which a person pays an amount of money to receive a set amount of data over the Internet

solar –adj. have to do with, or provided by the sun