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1、Unit 1:cyberspace :if you dont love it ,leave it 信息空间:出入随愿 1 something in the American psyche loves new frontiers. 美国人的内心深处具有一种酷爱探索新领域的气质。 We hanker after wide-open spaces ;we like to explore ;we like to make rules but refuse to follow them . 我们渴求宽敞的场地,我们喜欢探索,喜欢制定规章制度,却不愿 去遵守。 But in this age its ha
2、rd to find a place where you can go and be yourself without worrying about he neighbours . 在当今时代,却很难找到一块空间,可以供你任意驰骋,又不必担 心影响 你的邻居。 2 There is such a place : cyberspace . 确实有这样一个空间,那就是信息空间。 Formerly a playground for computer fans ,cyberspace . Formely a playground for computer fans ,cyberspace now em
3、braces every conceivable constituency : school children , flirtatious ,singles ,Hungarian-Americans, accountants . 这里原本是计算机迷的游戏天地,但如今只要想像得到的各类人群 应 有尽有,包括少年儿童、轻佻的单身汉、美籍匈牙利人、会计等。 Can they all get along ?Or will our fear of kids surfing for dirty pictures behind their bedroom doors provoke a crackdown
4、? 问题是他们都能和睦相处吗?人们是否会因为害怕 孩子们躲在卧室 里看网上的淫秽图片而将它封杀? 3 The first order of business is to grasp what cyberspace is . 首先要解决的问题是,什么是信息空间。 It might help to leave beind metaphors of highways and frontiers and to think instead of real estate . 我们可以抛开高速公路、前沿新领域等比喻,把信息空间看作一个 巨 大的庄园。 Real estate ,remember ,is an
5、 intellectual ,legal ,artificial environment constructed on top of land. 请记住,庄园是人们智慧的结晶,是合法 的、人工营造的氛围,它建立在土地之上。 Real estate recognizes the difference between parkland and shopping mall ,between red-light zone and school district ,between church ,state and drugstore . 在庄园里,公园和 商业中心、红灯区与学校、教堂与杂货店都能区 分
6、开来。 4 in the same way , you could think of cyberspace as a giant and unbounded world of virtual real estate . 你可以用同样的方法把信息空间想像为一个巨大的、无边无际的虚 拟庄园。 Some property is privatedly owned and rented out ; other property is common land ; some places are suitable for children , and others are best avoided by a
7、ll citizens . 其中有些房产为私人拥有并已租出, 有些是公共场所;有的场所适 合儿童出入,而有些地方人们最好避开。 Unfortunately ,its those places that are now capturing the popular imagination ,plaecs that offer bombmaking instructions ,pornography, advice on how to steal credit cards . 不幸的是,正是这些应该避开的地方使得人 们心向神往。这些地方 教唆你如何制造炸弹、为你提供淫秽材料、告诉你如何窃取信用卡。
8、They make cyberspace sound like a nasty place . Good citizens jump to a conclusion : Better regulate it . 所有这些使信息空间听 起来像是一个十分肮脏的地方。 5 But before using regulations to counter indecency ,it is fundamental to interpret the nature of cyberspace . 正直的公民纷纷作出这样的结论:最好对它严加管理。但是,在利 用规章制度来反击下流之举之前,关键是从根本上理解信息空
9、间的 性质。 Cyberspace isnt a frontier where wicked people can grab unsuspecting children ,nor is it a giant television system that can beam offensive messages at unwilling viewers .恶棍并不能在信息空间抢 走毫无提防 之心的儿童;信息空间也不像一台巨大的电视机,向不情愿的观众 播放令人作呕的节目。 In this kind of real estate ,users have to choose where they vis
10、it ,what they see ,what they do .Its optiona . 在信息空间这 座庄园里,用户对他们所去之处、所见所闻、所做所 为都要作出选择,一切都出于自愿。 In other words,cyberspace is a voluntary destination -in reality ,many destinations . 换句话说,信息空间是个 出入自便的地方,实际上,信息空间里有 很多可去之处。 You dont just get “onto the Net“ ;you have to go someplace in particular . 人们不能盲
11、目上网,必须带着具体的目标上网。 That means that people can choose where to go and what to see . 这意味着 人们可以选择去哪个网址、看什么内容。 Yes , community standards should be enforced ,but those standards set by cyberspace communities themselves ,not by the courts or by politicians in Washington . 不错,规章制度应该在群体内得以实施,但这些规章制度必须由信 息空间 内
12、各个群体自己来制定,而不是由法庭或华盛顿的政客们来 制定。 6 what makes cyberspace so alluring is precisely the way in which its different from shopping malls , television ,highways and other terrestrial jurisdictions. 信息空间之所以具有如此大的诱惑力,正是 因为它不同于商场、电视、公路或地球上的其他地方。 But lets define the territor: 那么,让我们 来描述一下这个空间。 7 First ,there ar
13、e private e-malil conversations ,similar to the conversations you have over the teleophone . These are private and consensualand require no regulation at all . 首先,信息空间里人与人之间可以进行电子邮件交流。这种交流类 似于电话交谈,都是私 人之间的、两相情愿的谈话,不需要任何规 章制度加以限制。 8 Second , there are information and entertainment services , where pe
14、ople can download anytihing from legal texts and lists of “great new restaurants “ to game software or dirty pictures . 其次,信息空间提供信息与娱乐服务。人们可以从中下载各种信息, 从法律文件、 “大型新饭店”名单,到游戏软 件、下流图片,无奇 不有。 These places are like bookstores ,malls and movie houses -places where you go to buy something . 这里如同书店、商场和电影院,属购
15、物区域。 The customer needs to request an item or sign up for a subscription; stuff (especially pornography ) is not sent out to people who dont ask for it . 顾客必须通过索求或者登记来购物,物品(特 别是淫秽之物)不会发 送给那些没有索取的人。 Some of these services are free or included as part of a broader service like ComputerServe or America
16、 Online ; 有些服务可以免费,或作为总服务费用的一部分计算,如“计算机服 务”和“美国在线”就是如此。 others charge may and may bill their customers directly . 而有些服务要向顾客收费,而且可能会让顾客直接支付账单。 9 Third ,there are “real“ communities -groups of people who communicate among themselves . 第三,信息空间里还有真正意义上 的群体,那就是在内部互相交流思想的人群。 In real-estate terms ,theyre like bars or restaurants or bathhouses . Each active participate contributes to a general conversation ,generally through posted messages . Other participant may simply listen or