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VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-03-17 The World Wide Web Turns 25 万维网25岁了

时间:2014-03-25 15:12:17

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AS IT IS 2014-03-17 The World Wide Web Turns 25 万维网25岁了

Hello, again, and welcome back.  I’m Jim Tedder1 in Washington.  Let’s work together to learn some interesting information, and improve our American English at the same time.  Today we talk about something that has changed our lives, and many of us wonder if we could ever again do without it. 

This month marks the 25th anniversary of the invention of the World Wide Web.  What started as a way for scientists to share information has changed nearly everything. We will provide some history, and then hear what may be the future for sharing huge amounts of information.

It is nice to have you with us as we start a new week, looking at the world  …As It Is.

It all started in March of 1989.  British scientist Tim Berners-Lee was working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland.  Scientists would come to CERN from all over the world.  But others could not see their research because of differences in computers. 

Tim Berners-Lee thought it would be easier if all the computers could talk to one another and exchange information directly.  So he proposed linking the machines.  His proposal would later become known as the World Wide Web. 

It took two years before researchers could successfully link a computer server and web browser2 through the Internet.  It would be officially launched in August 1991.  By 1993, there would be more than 500 web servers.  Now, there are more than 1.7 billion people on the web worldwide.

James Hendler is the director of the Rensselaer Institute for Data Exploration and Applications in Troy, New York.  Mr. Hendler spoke3 to VOA on Skype.  He says one of the main issues slowing web growth has been the use of the English language in computer coding and on keyboards.  He       says that problem has been solved.  And he thinks Asia can look forward to more and more Web access.

“In the US, we are at somewhere in the area of 80-90 percent of people already having access and, you know, not much growth.  In China, you see about 25 percent and, of course, a country much bigger than ours.  India, I don’t know the current number, but again a small number growing very quickly.  So most of the growth we expect in the web will actually be in those parts of the world that don’t yet have it.” 

Jim Hendler has worked on the World Wide Web since its early days.  Paul Levinson is a professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University in New York.  He says recent events have shown the power that the Web has put in the hands of everyday people. 

He notes examples like the Arab Spring and the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Professor Levinson spoke to VOA on Skype.  He says the web is a tool that he considers unequaled in its reach and influence.

“(What) we have now is a battle.  On the one hand, the governments are more aware of these devices, and they are more aware of what used to be called and still could be called ‘citizen journalism4.’  But on the other hand, there are more smart phones out there than ever before.  And I think so far – and this is good for democracy and the expression of human ideas – so far the people are winning.” 

Twenty-five years after its invention, billions of people now use the World Wide Web.  But James Hendler of the Rensselaer Institute says only a small part of the web’s potential has been realized. 

 “Here is this force that has really changed society in so many different ways.  We understand sort of the mathematics of the computer network underneath5 it and the engineering of that, but we really don’t understand the social impact.  There’s more and more research that’s starting to study what are those different effects?  How do they affect society?  How do we build the web and keep the web open and free?  How do we really understand the impacts of this thing we call the World Wide Web?” 

Tim Berners-Lee went on to create the World Wide Web Foundation.  The group says in its mission statement that it wants to establish the open web as a global public good and basic right.

Let's Look into the Future

O.K.  We think we understand the Internet as it is today, but how might technology influence our lives 10 years from now?  A new report has combined the “imaginings,” or opinions, of about 1,500 experts.  The report was a project of the Pew Research Center and Elon University in the United States.  Mario Ritter joins us with that part of the story.

Elon University Professor Janna Anderson was one of the lead writers of the report.  She says the experts generally agreed on the kinds of changes that would take place.  But she says their ideas were very different when they described how those changes would influence Internet users.

 

Many of the experts said they believe that the Internet would become less noticeable, but tied to daily life “like electricity.”  The report said increasing the availability and use of the Internet would produce more connectivity between people and machines.  This connectivity, it says, “will change everything from personal interactions to the decisions made by governments around the world.”

Many of the predictions are a sign of improvements in the future.  But the experts also expressed concern.  Pew Research and Elon University have been doing similar studies since 2004.  Janna Anderson says excitement over technology has dropped somewhat over the past 10 years.  In 2004, she says, most experts talked about all of the good things that progress in technology would bring.

Now, she says, there is more discussion about the negative results from the Internet. Janna Anderson says, “People are starting to realize that the power of communication can be used by anyone, good or bad.”

The experts told researchers the increasing reach of the Internet will strengthen connectivity worldwide.  And they said this could lead to “more positive relationships among societies.”

The report noted6 that what some observers have called the “Internet of Things” will become more important.  In the future, common devices from coffee makers7 to electric toothbrushes will be connected to the World Wide Web.  The huge amount of information that all these devices produce will be linked with mechanical, or artificial, intelligence.  This, the experts say, “will make people more aware of the world and their own behavior.”

Other important devices will be the ones people wear to improve, or augment8, reality.  These devices can study your daily activities and provide suggestions.  For example, they could provide suggestions to improve personal health.

However, there were also predictions of increasing problems for the Internet.  Some experts noted that “abuses and abusers” involved in pornography, crime and bullying9 will become an increasing problem.

The report warned that governments and businesses could threaten Internet freedom.  And it says the idea of privacy will continue to disappear and be available only to those who have the ability to pay for it.

The report, of course, is only a set of predictions.  But Janna Anderson says that after examining thousands of predictions about the Internet, many of them proved to be right.  I’m Mario Ritter.


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1 tedder 2833afc4f8252d8dc9f8cd73b24db55d     
n.(干草)翻晒者,翻晒机
参考例句:
  • Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆?特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
  • Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆?泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网
2 browser gx7z2M     
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 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
4 journalism kpZzu8     
n.新闻工作,报业
参考例句:
  • He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师,可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
  • He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。
5 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
6 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
7 makers 22a4efff03ac42c1785d09a48313d352     
n.制造者,制造商(maker的复数形式)
参考例句:
  • The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
  • The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 augment Uuozw     
vt.(使)增大,增加,增长,扩张
参考例句:
  • They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
  • The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。
9 bullying f23dd48b95ce083d3774838a76074f5f     
v.恐吓,威逼( bully的现在分词 );豪;跋扈
参考例句:
  • Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
  • All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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