Facebook’s Challenge and Future

臉書的下一步

閱讀暖身
今年2月華爾街最轟動的事是Facebook終於遞交初次公開集資(IPO)申請，市場上開始熱議臉書的價值，然而更多人關切的是IPO之後，祖克伯手上將有充裕銀彈，他的下一步是什麼？Facebook有可能超越Google，成為網路的新龍頭嗎?

進入本文前，請想想以下單字：(A)粗俗 (B)反對 (C)突進

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, has talked for years about the notion of a “social graph” which connects people to their friends and all of the things they are interested in. By encouraging hundreds of millions of people to share their deeds and reveal their innermost thoughts, (A) profane or profound, online, his company has in effect mapped a portion of this graph on its computers. These billions of electronic nodes and links will soon make a fortune for Zuckerberg, still only 27, who owns 28.4% of Facebook and will continue to control most of the voting rights. It will also enrich other shareholders, many of them employees.

Facebook創辦人馬克祖克伯不斷提到社群圖譜的概念，所謂社群圖譜就是連結人與朋友以及他們感興趣的所有事物。藉由鼓勵成千上萬的人在線上分享他們的最愛、粗俗或深刻的內心想法，祖克伯的公司已經有效地在電腦上描繪出部分的圖譜，這些電子節點與連結將讓祖克伯變得富有，他目前持有Facebook股權約28.4%，並且將繼續控制近乎多數表決權。Facebook的公開上市也會讓其他股東更加富裕，而這些股東很多是自家員工。

The bigger risk to Facebook is that growing concern over online privacy translates into a wave of legislation around the world that makes it far harder for the company to exploit the mountains of data it is collecting. That would throw a spanner into the works(1) of its money-spinning advertising machine. So far there has been little sign of such a (B) backlash, though governments are paying closer attention to privacy. America is thinking of creating a general consumer-privacy law and the European Union is updating its rules.

Facebook最大的危機是，網路隱私爭議擴大成為全球抵制浪潮，使該公司難以使用大量蒐集的各類資訊，也無法迅速成為獲利的廣告機器。按目前觀察，鮮少從網路上見到激烈反抗Facebook的跡象，但是各國政府正密切注意隱私侵犯的議題。美國正在研議制定一套消費隱私統合法案，另外歐盟也在更新相關規定。

Facebook and Google are increasingly in each other's wheelhouse(2). Google's social network- Google+ looked and functioned much like Facebook -- enabling users to post status updates, share links and upload photos. Right out of the gate(3), Google+ gained a lot of attention and a quick (C) onrush of users.

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Flying High with the Flick of a Joystick　用搖桿翱翔天際
 
The e-volo multicopter takes personal travel to new heights.
e-volo 多旋翼飛行器把個人旅行推向新境界。


　　Who wouldn't like to walk out of their house, step into their own vehicle, and fly off into the sky Now, with the _(1)_ of a personal helicopter, a team of German professionals are close to making this happen.
　　The e-volo multicopter is not your average helicopter by any means. First, it doesn't have just one propeller. Instead, it has a total of 16. Four are _(2)_ placed on each of the four metallic arms radiating out from the pilot's seat. Second, theuncovered ultralight aircraft weighs around 80 kilograms and can carry a loadequal to its own weight. Third, the e-volo is _(3)_ with an almost completelyautomatic on-board navigation system. The system manages everything from _(4)_ to altitude to balance. The multicopter itself is controlled entirely with a simple video game joystick. Finally, what makes this personal transport vehicle _(5)_ the typical helicopter is that it is powered solely by off-the-shelf lithium-ion batteries. Currently, the e-volo's flight time is _(6)_ to 20 minutes. The creators can _(7)_ that to more than an hour with the integration of a hybrid gas system or increased battery capacity.
　　Recently, the engineering team _(8)_ completed a manned flight of their e-volo multicopter prototype. The _(9)_ flight lasted one minute and 30 seconds, with the vehicle taking off, hovering, and landing. The design team is nowlooking into e-volo's _(10)_ applications, including emergency rescue, sightseeing, and aerial photography and surveillance. Without harmful exhaust fumes or excessive noise, the eco-friendly e-volo multicopter is definitely making the possibility of personal flight for the ordinary person a dream come true.
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《中英對照讀新聞》Thousands protest against nuclear energy in Germany 德國數千人進行反核示威

◎ 魏國金

Thousands of anti-nuclear protestors in Germany demanded a swifter end to the use of nuclear power Sunday, organisers said, on the first anniversary of Japan’s reactor crisis.

德國數千名反核抗議人士，週日在日本核子反應爐危機一週年紀念日，要求加快終結核電的使用，主辦單位指出。

About 3,000 people formed a human chain around the nuclear power station in Brokdorf in northern Germany, and protests were also held at four other sites in both the north and south of the country, organisers said in a written statement.

約3000人在德國北部的布羅克多夫的核電廠周邊形成一條人鏈，抗議行動也在德國南北其他4個場所登場，主辦單位在書面聲明上表示。

"The half-hearted and much too slow nuclear exit in Germany must clearly be accelerated," they said.

「德國不認真以及太過緩慢的廢核（步調），顯然必須加以催促，」他們說。

Berlin decided last March to permanently switch off Germany’s eight oldest nuclear reactors and to close by 2022 nine others currently online in the wake of Japan’s massive March 11 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

在日本3月11日大規模的福島核災後，柏林於去年3月決定永久關閉德國8座最老舊的核子反應爐；同時，到2022年時，目前運轉中的其他9座核電廠也將關廠。

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閱讀暖身
Michael Evans，美國人，和朋友在阿根廷展開釀酒事業。在異地調整適應當地語言及文化，原本就非常不容易，到了2008年主力市場─美國遇上金融海嘯，阿根廷國內嚴重通膨問題更是雪加霜，Michael Evans如何在重重困難中挺進？

進入本文前，請想想以下單字：
(A)蒸發
(B)品酒室
(C)策略

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The Witch Doctor Will See You Now　有請巫醫
by Marcus Maurice
 
Cow urine! Cow urine! Who wants to try some fresh cow urine?
牛尿！牛尿喔！有誰想嚐嚐新鮮的牛尿？
 


　　India has long been known as a place of magic and mystery. To Hindus, the cow is the most sacred of all animals, and anything that comes out of it is holy.Normally, milk from cows is drunk for strong teeth and bones, but in India, theelixir of life is cow urine. While that sounds disgusting, cow pee containsphosphate, nitrogen, and all sorts of ingredients that many people say help their health. In India, belief in the healing power of the cow is so strong that coughmedicines, ear drops, shampoos, and soaps composed of cow urine are widelyavailable.
　　Would you drink a soda if the main ingredient were cow urine? What would you do if you were extremely ill and none of the numerous Western medical treatments that you have tried worked? This is the premise of National Geographic Channel's (NGC's) The Witch Doctor Will See You Now. Author and explorer Piers Gibbon travels to exotic locations to find out if some of the world's ancient and most extreme medical practices have any merit. In each episode, he gets two volunteer patients to try these so-called cure-all remedies to see if theyalleviate their problems.
　　While cow urine therapy seems outlandish, it's not the only strange practice that Gibbon and the patients try. In Hong Kong, they eat snake soup and drink field mouse wine at a very famous restaurant. In Cameroon, two patients desperateto get rid of their aches and pains cover themselves in goat's blood before eating the goat to honor it. This month, grasp unfamiliar solutions to health problems on NGC.
 
 
  1. sacred a. 神聖的
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