UNLOCK5课文20篇+参考译文
UN5-U01-R1 Are we living in the digital dark ages
早餐小吃
我们生活在数字黑暗时代吗
Imagine the scenarios: (1) 2040: A box of memorabilia, including floppy discs and VHS tapes is found in the attic of an old hou with a label that says, ‘Records and early videos of Bill Ga tes (1975-1985).’ (2) 2050: You find an envelope labeled ‘bank records’ in your grandmother’s desk. Inside the envelope, there is an old CD marked with the date 1998, your great-grandfather’s name, and the words ‘all overas bank accounts’.
想象一下这些场景：（1）2040年：在一栋老房子的阁楼上发现了一盒纪念品，其中包括软盘和VHS磁带，标签上写着“比尔盖茨的记录和早期视频（1975-1985）”。（2）2050年：你在祖母的办公桌上发现了一个标有“银行记录”的信封。信封里有一张旧CD，上面写着1998年的日期，你曾祖父的名字，还有“所有海外银行账户”的字样。
If the stories were really to happen, the people who found the items would be very exci
ted – at least at first. Their excitement would be quickly followed by frustration becau it would be very difficult for them to access the information on the discs and tapes. Even if the records were still in good condition, it would be very
hard to find a device that could read them. Compare the discoveries to one that might have occurred around the turn of the twentieth century: a box of old letters and photographs on a high shelf at the back of a cupboard. The information the items contain would be immediately accessible becau you would only need your eyes.
科技对生活的影响如果这些故事真的发生了，发现这些物品的人会非常兴奋 -- 至少一开始时是这样的。他们兴奋之后很快就会沮丧，因为他们很难获取光盘和磁带上的信息。即使这些记录仍然完好无损，也很难找到能够读取它们的设备。将这些发现与二十世纪初可能发生的一件事进行比较：橱柜后面的高架子上放着一盒旧信件和照片。这些物品所包含的信息立即可以靠你的眼睛所见来获取。
Computers and digital technology have vastly expanded our capacity to store all kinds of information but how long will our access to this stored information last In fact, the people
who found the discs and tapes in our scenarios would be lucky becau discs and tapes are physically real. Information on the web is much more vulnerable; it is completely digital and can disappear in a flash. This is a problem that began to worry technology experts in the early twenty-first century. They became concerned that, without better ways of prerving information, future generations might look back on our times as the ‘digital dark ages.’ If current practices continue, future generations may not have access to the digital record of our lives and our world.dns系统
计算机和数字技术极大地扩展了我们存储各种信息的能力，但我们对这些存储信息的访问能持续多久呢事实上，在我们先前的场景中找到光盘和磁带的人会很幸运，因为光盘和磁带这些是真实存在的介质。网络上的信息更加脆弱，容易受到攻击; 它是完全数字化的，可以瞬间消失。二十一世纪初，技术专家开始担心这个问题，如果没有更好的信息保存方式，后人可能在回顾我们这个时代时，将之视为“数字的黑暗时代”。如果当前的做法继续下去，未来几代人可能无法获取有关我们的生活以及现今这个世界的数字记录。
Vint Cerf, a vice president at Google, argues that this could happen if we do not quickly ta
桔子会ke steps to address the issue. He us the term ‘bit rot’ to describe how our digital records may slowly but surely become in accessible. In our scenarios, for example, we may no longer have the devices, such as video castte and CD players, to access the records. Most software and apps that were ud to create documents and websites ten or twenty years ago are already out of date, and in another sixty years they may not even be available. The problem is particularly challenging with interactive apps and websites. We can read letters from long ago, but will we be able to read a Twitter feed of access a Snapchat exchange a hundred years from now
化妆品进口关税
谷歌副总裁文特瑟夫认为，如果我们不迅速采取措施解决这一问题，这一切都有可能发生。他使用“比特腐化”这个术语来描述我们的数字记录如何可以稳步地变得易于访问。例如，在我们先前的场景中，我们可能不再拥有录像带和CD播放器等设备来访问记录。十年或二十年前用于创建文档和网站的大多数软件和应用程序已经过时，而再过六十年中它们甚至可能无法使用。这个问题在交互式应用和网站上尤其具有挑战性。我们可以阅读很久以前的信件，但一百年后，我们还能阅读到一个快照交换的Twitter提要吗
This problem has prompted technology experts like computer scientist Mahadev Satyanarayanan of Carnegie Mellon University to take action. He has found a way to store everything that is needed to interpret a record – the record itlf, as well as the original operation system and the application it ud – all together in the
cloud. Using this approach, he has been abl
芦沟桥事变
这个问题促使像卡内基梅隆大学的计算机科学家马哈德夫·萨特亚纳拉亚南这样的技术专家采取行动。他找到了一种方法来，可以将解释记录所需的所有东西--记录本身，以及原始操作系统及其使用的应用程序 --都存储在云端。使用这种方法，他能够保存和恢复可能永远丢失的数字记录。
Both Cerf and Satyanarayanan stress the importance of the deliberate prervation. In the past, you could throw your old photos into a box without having to decide what to save and what to throw away. With digital records, however, you need to make an active decision about what to keep. Satyanarayanan says it is likely that important records – government documents, big news stories, etc. – will be transferred to new forms of storag
地宝当家e technology as they emerge. It is the records of everyday life, the ones we do not yet know the value of, that may disappear into the digital dark ages.
瑟夫和萨特亚纳拉亚南都强调有意保护的重要性。在过去，你可以将旧照片放入盒子中，而无需决定什么该保存什么该扔掉。但是，对于数字记录，你需要主动决定保存什么。萨特亚纳拉亚南表示，重要的记录 --如政府文件，重大新闻报道等—将在形成时就被转换到新形式的存储技术中。那些我们还不知道其价值的日常生活的记录，可能会消失在数字化的黑暗时代。眼泪流下
floopy discs and VHS tapes (n) early forms of electronic media
storage
软盘和VHS磁带（n）早期形式的电子媒体存储介质
UN5-01-R2 An open letter to the City Council
致市议会的公开信
Roundcastle General Infirmary (RGI), which has stood vacant for more than ten years, has become an eyesore' in our city centre. In spite of the fact that the council has spent a significant sum studying the best u for the site, we are still waiting for action. Let's stop trying to work out how to save this out-of-date pile of bricks. Our business community is expanding and prospering, and it's about time for the council to some leadership by adopting a proposal that embraces the future, not one that clings to the past.
