英语散文:中国进入网络化时代

 

It is a narrow room, a meter and a half wide, decorated『装饰；布置』with the awkward『令人尴尬的；不合适的』minimalism『抽象派艺术』, peeling『剥落；脱落』white paint, tilting『倾斜；翘起』buffet『自助餐』tables, schoolroom chairs bolted『用螺栓拴紧』together into haphazard『杂乱的；随意的』couches『沙发』.But the attraction here isn’t the decor『装饰；布置』; it’s the machines: a beige『米色的』Compaq Proliant 2500 computer and an off-white Dell Power edge, hooked『钩进；钩住』into a refrigerator-size rack of network routers『路由器（连接数个区域网络的中继装置）』and, from there, via a thumb-thick『拇指粗的』black cable, to the infinite『无限的；无边的』abundance『丰富』of the Internet. Edward Zeng, the 35-year-old Chinese entrepreneur, can’t resist『忍住；抵抗』a grin『露齿的笑；咧嘴的笑』as he looks around the modest『不太大的；适度的』but astonishing『令人惊异的；令人吃惊的』room buried within a warren『拥挤的地区；拥挤的房屋』of offices in the bunker-like hallways『象地下室样的过道』under Beijing’s Capital Stadium. “Welcome to ground zero,” he says.

这是间狭小的屋子，1.5米宽，装饰着制作粗糙的抽象画，剥脱的白色涂料，倾斜的快餐店用桌，用铆钉固定在一起的教室用椅。但是这儿引起人们注意的不是它的装饰，而是机器：一台米色康柏Proliant 2500计算机和一台灰白色的德尔Power edge，联着一台冰箱大小的网络路由器，从那儿，通过一条拇指粗的黑色电缆线，进入广袤无边的因特网世界。指挥这个小小信息前哨的是35岁的中国企业家爱德华·曾，此刻，当他环视这个挤在北京首都体育馆脚下一排拥挤的办公室中简朴然而却令人振奋的小屋时，不禁咧嘴笑了。他说：“欢迎进入信息革命的中心。”

There is very little you cannot reach from Zeng’s tiny room. Zeng’s 1,000 Internet subscribers『预定者；认购者』can dial into his computers from all over Beijing and connect nearly limitlessly『无限地；没有边界地』to the electronic world. They can send e-mail, photos and news of China. And they can receive practically『差不多；几乎』anything else.

在曾的小屋里你几乎没有得不到的东西。曾的1000位因特网用户可以从北京各个地方拨号进入他的计算机，联通几乎没有边界的电子世界。他们能够发送电子邮件、照片以及中国新闻。他们也能够收到任何其他东西。

At night, hundreds of Chinese who don’t own a PC crowd into『蜂拥而入』Zeng’s six Internet Cafes, where Net time retails『零售』for $3.6 an hour. It’s fast food for the information age.

夜幕降临时，数以百计没有自己的个人计算机的中国人就会拥到曾的6间“网络咖啡屋”中，这里的上网机收费为每小时3.6美元。这是信息时代的快餐。

This is China? That shows that Beijing has settled on『确立；确定』a policy for the Net that is as bold as it is surprising. A rising generation of Western-educated『接受西方教育的』officials is pressing『催促；劝说』home the argument that the Net is the perfect vehicle to transport『运送；运输』the Middle Kingdom into the 21st century. “The Chinese get the Net, O.K.?” says Sean Maloney, who ran Intel’s Asia-Pacific operations for three years. “China is going to be unrecognizable『无法认出的；不能识别的』in five years. And a large part of that change is going to come through『显露』the Internet and onto computer screens.”

这是中国吗？这表明北京已经选定了一种赞同网络的政策，这是一种既大胆又出人意料的举措。处于上升态势的一代受过西方教育的官员正在竭力使人们接受这种观念，即网络是将中央王国带入21世纪的最好交通工具。曾经为英特尔公司负责过3年亚太业务的肖恩·马洛尼说：“中国人上网了，对吗？5年后中国人会变得让你认不出来。这种变化的一大部分将通过因特网反映到计算机屏幕上。”

In January the Chinese government approved『批准』a new series of laws designed『设计；计划』to control how citizens connect to the Internet. But although the laws featured『以……为特色』the usual restrictive『约束的；限制性的』rhetoric『辞令；言语』, they were clearly designed not to keep the Chinese off the Net but to get them online in an orderly way.

今年1月，中国政府批准了一系列旨在控制公民接通因特网的新法律，这些法律的初衷是控制公民与国际互联网相连。尽管法律条文中充满了具有限制特色的词语，但其目的显然不是不让中国人上网，而是使他们有秩序地上网。

The official curiosity『好奇心』about the power of the Internet, have Beijing buzzing『唧唧喳喳』these days. From dinner parties given by top officials at the Great Hall of the People to bull『通过』sessions『会议』among young technocrat『技术专家官员』planners , the conversation has shifted from how to control the Net to how to exploit it. “The government is betting『断定；确信』that PCs and the Net can help competitiveness,” says Thomas Lin, a Beijing-based product manager for Microsoft. “Now they want them on every desk.”

官员们对于互连网的能量的好奇这些天来使得北京议论纷纷。在人民大会堂举行的高层领导晚餐会上，年轻的技术规划师们已经作出了决定，他们的谈话已从控制互连网转移到了开发互连网上。北京一个负责微软产品的经理托马斯·林说：“政府确信，电脑和网络有助于提高竞争力，现在他们想让每个办公桌上都摆一台。”

And in every home. Every rich promise you’ve ever heard about digital technology sounds even more beguiling『使陶醉；使着迷』in China. The country has 350 million children to educate—what better vehicle than interactive『相互作用的』television? The Finance Ministry needs to establish『建立』bank and savings accounts for china’s 284 million workers—what more effective solution『办法；解答』than smart cards『智能卡』? Agricultural planners dream of more productive Chinese farms—how better to send weather and agro-science『农业科技』information to 323 million farmers than over the Web?

并且每个家里都摆一台。你听过的每一个有关数字技术前途无限的承诺在中国听起来都更具诱惑力。中国有3.5亿需要接受教育的儿童棗有什么教育工具能比交互式电视更好？财政部需要为中国2.84亿工人建立银行和存款帐户棗什么办法能比智能卡更有效？农业规划者梦想着提高中国农场的生产力棗通过网络向3.23亿农民传递有关天气和农业科学方面的信息岂不是更好？

To tap 『开发』these benefits, China has embarked『开始』on a series of nine “golden projects” that will shotgun『射击』state-of-the–art 『先进的；时髦的』technology into every field from health care to finance. By 2010 hundreds of millions of Chinese will be wired to the Golden Bridge financial network, carrying Golden Card smart cards and automatically forking『付出』over a chunk『相当大的部分』of their salaries to the government via a microchip-enabled『装有微芯片而具有某种功能的』Golden Tax. Says Bryan Nelson, Microsoft’s commanding general in the region: “China is going to be the ultimate『最后的；最终的』proof of all that the Internet can do. And the amazing thing is, the Chinese seem to understand that. Better than some people in the West, actually.”

为利用这些优势，中国已经开始实行9个“金色计划”，以期通过这些计划将最先进的技术输入到从卫生保健到金融等的各行各业中。到2010年，上亿中国人将通过金桥金融网联为一体，携带着智能金卡四处漫游，并通过装有微芯片的金税卡自动将他们收入的相当部分上缴国库。布莱恩·内尔森，微软在这一地区的总负责人，说：“因特网具有的功能最终在中国都将能够得到应用。令人惊奇的是中国人看起来很清楚这一点。实际上，确实比一些西方人更了解这一点。”

At a recent dinner in Beijing, Jim Jarrett, Intel’s president for china, sat next to an eighty something woman whose 80-plus husband is a senior Chinese official. “She told me the first thing her husband does every morning is start up his computer and sign onto『开始工作』the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times,” he says. “That’s his window on the world.”

最近在北京的一次宴会上，英特尔公司中国区总经理吉姆·贾勒特坐在一个80岁左右的老太太身边，她的年过8旬的丈夫是一位中国高级官员。吉姆说：‘她告诉我，她丈夫每天早上做的第一件事是，打开电脑，浏览《华尔街日报》和《纽约时报》，那是他了解世界的窗口。

The window is still small—only 300,000 Chinese have access『路径；接口』to the Internet, vs. some 25 million in the U.S.—but it is opening quickly. Officials at China’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications say they hope to have 4 million Chinese connected by the year 2000. At the same time, access to the outside world from China has quadrupled『成为4倍』this year.

这个窗口目前还很小棗只有30万中国人有进入因特网的接口，而在美国这个数字约为2500万棗但是它正在迅速打开。中国信息产业部的官员说，他们希望，到2000年，联网的中国人达到400万。与此同时，从中国进入外界的通道今年也扩大了3倍。 【背景知识】不要认为中国正在错过国际互连网的革命。据估计现在有120万人拥有网络通道，尽管他们还不能与一些政治性或与性有关的网址相连，但是绝大多数还是在商业界和政府部门。杨天星，中国软件工业协会主席，前电子工业部高级领导估计连网的数字2000年内将达到将近500万。

[11]China would become one big, self-contained『独立性的』Internet—what techies『电子学家；电子迷』like to call an intranet『一种企业内部的internet』— sealed off『封锁』from the rest of the world. Says a Hong Kong engineer who has worked with China on high-level information policy for two decades: “The Chinese worry about the Net. Will it just be an inundation『淹没；泛滥』of Western content『内容』, or will it reflect Chinese culture? China has every right to find a balance between local and foreign content.”

[11]中国将成为一个自我封闭的大因特网棗亦即技术人员所称的内部网，与其余世界隔绝。20年来一直在高层信息政策方面与中国合作的一位香港工程师说：“中国人对网络忧心忡忡。它只是西方内容的泛滥吗？还是说它将反映中国文化？中国完全有权利在本地内容和外部内容之间找到一个平衡。”

[12]That’s a balance the most nimble『敏捷的；灵巧的』Chinese gymnast『体操运动员』would find tough to maintain. The Net, after all, is designed to be open. And if the idea of the Web is to make Chinese firms more competitive, that means letting them have access to everything from DuPont’s chemicals website『电脑网站』to the U.S. Patent Office’s listing of new inventions.

[12]但即便是中国最灵巧的体操运动员也会发现这种平衡很难维持。毕竟，网络的建立本来就是为了开放的。如果建立网络是为了增强中国公司的竞争力，那么这就意味着，要让它们接触到各种东西，从杜邦公司的化学制品网页到美国专利局的新发明名单。

[13]Even the most vigorous『精力充沛的；强有力的』Net proponents『提议人；拥护者』argue for a bit of patience. “Some control is needed at this point, because otherwise China would go wild,” says UTStarcom’s Hong Lu. “If you just jump too fast, it’s not good.”

[13]即便是最强烈的网络拥护者也需要一些耐心。UTStar公司的刘宏说：“在这一点上进行一些控制是必要的，否则的话中国会疯狂起来。走得太快了并不是什么好事情。”

[14]Smarter, better-informed businessmen may be more competitive in the new global economy.

[14]在新的全球经济中，反应灵敏、消息灵通的生意人也许会更有竞争力。

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