"With the growth of global networks in such areas as economics and communication, there is no doubt that every aspect of society - including education, politics, the arts and the sciences - will benefit greatly from international influences."
嘉文博譯Sample Essay
The increasing globalization of telecommunications and the rising interdependency of the economies of the various countries of the world cannot be denied. News and other information can be transmitted around the world in a matter of seconds. Banks in hundreds of different countries can almost instantaneously transfer money to almost any other bank in the world. As these global networks become even further developed, the world will become even "smaller" than it is today. While there is no doubt that most aspects of society can and probably will benefit from these interconnections, there is doubt as to whether all aspects of society will benefit greatly from international influences.
Education probably has the greatest opportunity to benefit from these global networks. Students' access to the Internet and the World Wide Web brings an endless supply of information from all over the world. In-depth research on any subject can be done now while simply sitting at a computer rather than by tedious searches through stacks of books or rolls of microfilm in a library. Real-time international exchanges of ideas and information can and do occur by linking schools across the globe through teleconferencing via live video satellite transmissions. It is possible that a student in the United States can "sit in" on a class at a university in China. The possible benefits for education are endless and constantly expanding as global communications continue to improve and become less expensive.
The sciences also stand to gain tremendous benefits from global networks. Research and development departments of a company in one country can instantaneously transmit information to all other R&D departments in the company worldwide. Medical research and information can be shared worldwide, reducing the amount of time it takes to make rapid advances in medicine as efforts no longer have to be duplicated by each individual researcher. All kinds of scientific knowledge and information can be quickly shared, tested and refined through joint efforts by scientists linked by global networks. Again, as with education, the potential benefits of a global scientific network are constantly growing and unlimited in scale.
With the field of politics, it becomes a little less certain on the subject of potential benefits. On the one hand, the people of most countries now have direct access to the people of other countries via email, instant messenger services and chatrooms and thus can find out about the political environments and conditions of almost every other country in the world. This could potentially lead to great advances in democracy as more people demand to have a voice in their governmental representation. On the other hand, governments may see this as a threat to their power and strive to eliminate access to these types of communications, which would clearly not be a benefit to the population as a whole.
As for the arts and culture in general, global networks may actually be more of a threat than a benefit. Although fans of the arts now have greater access to the arts and cultures of other countries than ever before, this could lead to a type of "globalization" or homogenization of the arts by creating an international standard that could potentially eliminate cultural artistic differences in the future. As one example, the French government mandated that only a limited amount of information could be broadcast in English in an effort to preserve French culture and language. It would seem to be a natural progression for the arts and culture to actually lose national identity as global networks become more widespread.
Almost all aspects of society probably stand to benefit from the rapid growth of global networks. In general, the more that people are connected to each other, the greater the chances are that they will learn to understand each other. But in the rush to understand and communicate with each other, it is important that individuals do not lose those unique cultural characteristics that make them different than everyone else.
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參考譯文
隨著經(jīng)濟和通訊這些領域中全球網(wǎng)絡的發(fā)展,毫無疑問社會的每個方面,包括教育、政治、藝術及科學,將從國際影響中獲益匪淺
電信的日趨全球化以及世界各國經(jīng)濟日趨相互依存,這一點不容置疑。新聞和其它信息可以在幾秒鐘之內傳遍全球。上百個不同國家內的銀行幾乎可在瞬間內將錢款轉入世界上幾乎任何另一所銀行。隨著這些全球性網(wǎng)絡獲得越來越進一步的發(fā)展,世界將日甚一日地變得更"小"。雖然毫無疑問社會的諸多方面可以并且可能從這些互聯(lián)中獲益,但社會的每個方面是否都能從國際影響中獲益匪淺,這令人懷疑。
教育可能擁有最大的機會獲益于這些全球性網(wǎng)絡。學生登錄互聯(lián)網(wǎng)或萬維網(wǎng),信息便從世界各地源源不斷地涌來。現(xiàn)在,只要坐在電腦旁,而無需去圖書館枯燥地查閱一堆堆書籍或一卷卷縮微膠卷。思想和信息的實時國際交流能夠得以實現(xiàn),且確實已被實現(xiàn),只要通過實況錄像衛(wèi)星轉播這一形式的電信會議而將學校在全球范圍內連結起來。美國的學生可以"坐"在中國某一大學的課堂內。隨著全球通信日趨完善且更為廉價,教育所能從中獲得的益處可謂無究無盡,且有持續(xù)擴展之勢。
科學也擁有廣闊的前景從全球網(wǎng)絡中獲益匪淺。某個國家內的某個公司的研發(fā)部門可在瞬間將信息傳遞到該公司在全球的所有其他研發(fā)部門。醫(yī)學研究和信息可在全球范圍內分享,大大縮短了在醫(yī)學領域取得快速進步所需的時間,因為每個單獨的研究人員再也不必去重復他人的研究努力。通過與全球網(wǎng)絡相聯(lián)的科學家們的共同努力,各種科學知識和信息能夠很快地被分享,被檢驗,被完善。正如教育那樣,我們可以再一次說,一個全球性科學網(wǎng)絡的潛在益處正在不斷增漲,且規(guī)模無可限量。
對于政治領域而言,在潛在益處這一點上,情形就不是那么的肯定了。一方面,在大多數(shù)國家,人們現(xiàn)在可以通過電子郵件瞬間信使服務以及聊天室直接與其他國家的人們進行聯(lián)絡,從而能夠弄清楚世界上幾乎每一個其他國家中的政治環(huán)境和情況。這可能潛在地導致重大的民主進步,因為有更多的人們要求在其政府代表中擁有自己的呼聲。但在另一方面,政府可能將這視作對其政權的威脅,并竭力阻止人們獲取這些通信方式,這對于全體民眾來說顯然不是一件好事。
就文化和藝術總體而言,全球性網(wǎng)絡可能在實際上更多地是一種威脅,而非裨益。盡管藝術迷們現(xiàn)在比以前任何時候能更多地了解其他國家的文化和藝術,但這有可能導致某種藝術的"全球化"或一體化,因為會創(chuàng)立某種國際標準,有可能潛在地使未來的文化藝術差異消失殆盡。例如,法國政府規(guī)定,只有有限的一部分信息允許用英語來播出,目的就是為了保護法蘭西文化和語言。隨著全球性網(wǎng)絡變得更為廣泛,藝術和文化實際上會失去其民族特性,這似乎是一個自然進程。
社會的幾乎每個方面都有望獲益于全球性網(wǎng)絡的飛速增漲??傮w而言,人們越是彼此間聯(lián)系起來,他們就有更多的機會來學會相互理解。但在人們忙著去彼此理解和互相交流的過程中,有一點極為重要,那就是人們不應該喪失那些使其有別于他人的獨特文化特征。