2007年VOA标准英语-India's Communists Courting IT Companies

By Raymond Thibodeaux
Trivandrum, India
16 August 2007

A communist-run state in India wants to cash in on the country's lucrative¹ and ever-expanding technology boom. Raymond Thibodeaux reports from Thiruvananthapuram,  better known by its anglicized name, Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala State on the southwestern tip of India.

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Dozens of animators at Toonz Animation work late hours to produce about 30 minutes of cartoons per month

These are self-described technology geeks at Toonz Animation, one of many high-tech³ companies in this campus known as Technopark in Trivandrum, the capital of India's Kerala State.

The atmosphere here at Toonz Animation, and across the campus, bristles⁴ with energy and creativity and youth. Kerala's fledgling technology industry appears to be the domain⁵ of the under-25 set. The workers' vitality⁶ is undimmed by countless⁷ hours of sitting at computers writing software or drawing cartoon characters, like the ones from The Adventures of Hanuman.

That is an original series from Toonz, which also does computer animation projects for dozens of Western studios, including U.S. giants Disney and Paramount⁸.

dedicated9 to and made in a likeness of Lord Hanuman the monkey god of Hindu mythology10 in New Delhi  " hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070818/0903551.jpg" width="158" vspace="2" border="0" />

Indian Hindu devotee leaves a new temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman, the monkey god of Hindu mythology, in New Delhi

Hanuman, a mythical¹¹ Hindu monkey-god is probably one of the first cartoon heroes to attain¹² superhuman strength by meditation¹³ and yoga. His archrival is Rock Shasa, a billionaire demon¹⁴ in double-breasted suits who uses his wealth to crush Hanuman and the forces of good.

Hari Varma is director of operations at Toonz. Like many of the tech companies here, Toonz is expanding at almost superhuman speed. Toonz plans to double its production capacity within the next three years.

"When we're talking about animation, there are different ways of doing that business. There can be games. We are starting production of gaming and the content and software programming for games," explained Varma. "And then we have got live-action filmmaking along with special effects. There can be medical animation happening - medical animation where the operations are done virtually. So many possibilities are there."

And there are so many possibilities for the 125 tech companies at Technopark, an office park owned by the state government. About 16,000 information technology professionals work at Technopark designing software, operating call centers and handling back office support. That number is expected to double in five years as Kerala lures¹⁵ more high-tech business from abroad.

Kerala's tech industry has brought in about $60 million a year for the past two years, a sliver¹⁶ of India's estimated $50 billion technology boom.

Radhakrishnan Nair, Technopark's chief executive, says that is going to change.

Nair says that with many I.T. companies in India's other tech corridors - Bangalore, New Delhi and Chennai - experiencing problems such as crowded roads and shortages of skilled labor¹⁷, a growing number of companies are turning to Trivandrum.

"Trivandrum has a large pool of resources and technical resources in terms of manpower because of the traditional nature of Trivandrum being an academic and research and development city," explained Nair. "The cost of manpower is much lower than in other established places like Bangalore and Chennai, maybe by 50 to 60 percent. The cost of living is much lower and the quality of life is one of the best in the country."

Cartoonist at work at Toonz Animation in Trivandrum

The quality-of-life indicators¹⁸ in Kerala are far above the national average in terms of life expectancy¹⁹, health care, and education. Literacy rates in Kerala for both boys and girls are about 95 percent, the highest in India. And Kerala's communist-run government is widely perceived as the least corrupt²⁰ in the nation.

People here are optimistic that Kerala's tech industry will make people's lives even better. Not far from posters of Che Guevara and red flags with the gold hammer and sickle²¹ are huge billboards²² for Western-style bling - diamond-studded jewelry²³ and fancy watches - and new car ads that say "Welcome to civilization."

But why is a communist government so eager to embrace an industry that thrives in free-market capitalism²⁴?

"Fundamentally, I think the communism that existed once upon a time is not the communism that you see today," explained Nair. "It's a dynamic ideology²⁵ and it keeps changing with the times. And when it comes to the development of the state, I don't think there is anything that prevents the communist government from looking outside and bringing in outside ideas, outside investments and enterprises. The government is also moving to take advantage of what is happening all over the world."

Kerala is not without problems. On this day, many tourists and business people were stranded²⁶ by a city-wide taxi strike, part of a protest to get the government to extend health care benefits to informal sector²⁷ workers.

So far, Kerala does not have much to fear from billionaire demons²⁸. For the moment, many here are eagerly awaiting their first big crop of technology millionaires.

1 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

2 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

3 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

4 bristles   

短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the bristles on his chin 他下巴上的胡楂子
• This job bristles with difficulties. 这项工作困难重重。

5 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

6 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

7 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

8 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

9 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

10 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

11 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。

12 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

13 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

14 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

15 lures   

吸引力，魅力（lure的复数形式）

参考例句：

• He left home because of the lures of life in the city. 他离家是由于都市生活的诱惑。
• Perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures men down to the depths of the earth. 可能正是寻觅幽静的去处，或者找个猎奇的机会的欲望引诱着人们进入地球的深处。

16 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

17 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

18 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

19 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

20 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

21 sickle   

n.镰刀

参考例句：

• The gardener was swishing off the tops of weeds with a sickle.园丁正在用镰刀嗖嗖地割掉杂草的顶端。
• There is a picture of the sickle on the flag. 旗帜上有镰刀的图案。

22 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

23 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

24 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

25 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

26 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

27 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

28 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》