導語：以前的電視製片人Maia Szalavitz現在成爲了作家。 在這篇文章中，她探討了數字現實及其後果。 一路上，她將數字世界與“真實的”世界進行了比較，認識到電子維度的吸引力。下面是一篇關於虛擬世界的英語課文，歡迎大家閱讀。
Part I Pre-Reading Task
Listen to the recording two or three times and then think over the following questions:
1. Is the hero a student or an employee?
2. What was he doing when the boss came in?
3. How did he act in front of his boss?
4. Can you guess what the texts in this unit are going to be about?
The following words in the recording may be new to you:
surf
vt. (在網上)漫遊
log onto
進入(計算機系統)
unpredictable
a. 不可預測的
Part II
Text
Maia Szalavitz, formerly a television producer, now spends her time as a writer. In this essay she explores digital reality and its consequences. Along the way, she compares the digital world to the "real" world, acknowledging the attractions of the electronic dimension.
A VIRTUAL LIFE
Maia Szalavitz
After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend's Liverpool accent suddenly becomes impossible to interpret after his easily understood words on screen; a secretary's clipped tone seems more rejecting than I'd imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid — hours become minutes, or seconds stretch into days. Weekends, once a highlight of my week, are now just two ordinary days.
For the last three years, since I stopped working as a television producer, I have done much of my work as a telecommuter. I submit articles and edit them via email and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend lives in England, so much of our relationship is also computer-assisted.
If I desired, I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything. I can order food, and manage my money, love and work. In fact, at times I have spent as long as three weeks alone at home, going out only to get mail and buy newspapers and groceries. I watched most of the endless snowstorm of'96 on TV.
But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I've become one with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, just another link in the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms. We start to feel an aversion to outside forms of socializing. We have become the Net critics' worst nightmare.
What first seemed like a luxury, crawling from bed to computer, not worrying about hair, and clothes and face, has become a form of escape, a lack of discipline. And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber-interaction, coming back out of the cave can be quite difficult.
I find myself shyer, more cautious, more anxious. Or, conversely, when suddenly confronted with real live humans, I get overexcited, speak too much, interrupt. I constantly worry if I am dressed appropriately, that perhaps I've actually forgotten to put on a skirt and walked outside in the T-shirt and underwear I sleep and live in.
At times, I turn on the television and just leave it to talk away in the background, something that I'd never done previously. The voices of the programs are comforting, but then I'm jarred by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather. "Dateline," "Frontline," "Nightline," CNN, New York 1, every possible angle of every story over and over and over, even when they are of no possible use to me. Work moves into the background. I decide to check my email.
On line, I find myself attacking everyone in sight. I am bad-tempered, and easily angered. I find everyone on my mailing list insensitive, believing that they've forgotten that there are people actually reading their wounding remarks. I don't realize that I'm projecting until after I've been embarrassed by someone who politely points out that I've attacked her for agreeing with me.
When I'm in this state, I fight my boyfriend as well, misinterpreting his intentions because of the lack of emotional cues given by our typed dialogue. The fight takes hours, because the system keeps crashing. I say a line, then he does, then crash! And yet we keep on, doggedly.
I'd never realized how important daily routine is: dressing for work, sleeping normal hours. I'd never thought I relied so much on co-workers for company. I began to understand why long-term unemployment can be so damaging, why life without an externally supported daily plan can lead to higher rates of drug abuse, crime, suicide.
To restore balance to my life, I force myself back into the real world. I call people, arrange to meet with the few remaining friends who haven't fled New York City. I try to at least get to the gym, so as to set apart the weekend from the rest of my week. I arrange interviews for stories, doctor's appointments — anything to get me out of the house and connected with others.
But sometimes being face to face is too much. I see a friend and her ringing laughter is intolerable — the noise of conversation in the restaurant, unbearable. I make my excuses and flee. I re-enter my apartment and run to the computer as though it were a place of safety.
I click on the modem, the once-annoying sound of the connection now as pleasant as my favorite tune. I enter my password. The real world disappears.
New Words and Expressionsvirtual
a. 虛擬的;實質上的
accent
n. 口音
interpret
v. 理解;解釋;(作)口譯
clipped
a. with a short clear pronunciation 發音快而清脆的
tone
n. 語氣，口氣，腔調
fluid
a. not stable, likely to change 不穩定的，可變的
n. 液體
stretch
v. (cause to) become longer, wider, etc. without breaking 拉長，伸展
telecommuter
n. one who works from home, communicating with the workplace using a computer terminal 遠程工作者
submit
vt. give (sth.) to sb. so that it may be formally considered 提交，呈遞
edit
vt. revise or correct 編輯
n. 電子郵件
vt. 給…發電子郵件;用電子郵件發
communicate
vi. 通信，交往
Internet
n. 互聯網，因特網
relationship
n. 關係
at times
sometimes 有時
endless
a. having or seeming to have no end 無休止的
take in
收進，吸收
data
n. (datum 的複數形式)數據，資料
spit
vt. 吐出
on line
connected to or controlled by a computer (network) 聯機地，在線
symptom
n. 徵兆;症狀
aversion
n. a strong feeling of dislike 厭惡，反感
socialize
vi. mix socially with others 社交，交際
critic
n. a person who judges or criticizes 評論家;對…持批評態度的人
nightmare
n. a terrifying dream 噩夢
crawl
vi. 爬，爬行
interaction
n. 交往;相互作用
cyber-interaction
n. 通過網絡交往
conversely
ad. 相反地
appropriately
ad. 適當地，得體地
appropriate a.
T-shirt
n. T恤衫
underwear
n. 內衣
but then
yet at the same time 但另一方面，然而
jar
v. 使感到不快，刺激(神經等)
commercial
n. 商業廣告
a. 商業的
suck
v. draw liquid or air into the mouth 吸，吮
suck in 吸引，使捲入;吸收
opera
n. 歌劇(藝術)
soap opera
肥皂劇(以家庭問題爲題材的廣播或電視連續劇)
keep up with
learn about or be aware of (the news, etc.); move at the same rate as 及時瞭解或跟上
angle
n. a particular way of considering an issue, etc. 角度，立場
in sight
visible; likely to come soon 可看到的;臨近
bad-tempered
a. having a bad temper 脾氣壞的，易怒的
insensitive
a. not able to feel, unsympathetic to other people's feelings 感覺遲鈍的，麻木不仁的
sensitive
a. 敏感的
remark
n. 言辭，話語
v. 說，評說
project
v. imagine that others have (the same feelings, usu. unpleasant ones) as you 以爲別人也有(與自己同樣的情緒)
misinterpret
vt. understand wrongly 錯誤地理解，錯誤地解釋
emotional
a. 感情上的;動感情的
cue
n. 提示，暗示
doggedly
ad. persistently 頑強地，堅持不懈地
routine
n. 例行事務，日常工作，慣例
rely
vi. depend confidently, put trust in 依靠，依賴
unemployment▲
n. 失業
externally
ad. 從外面，在外部
external
a. 外面的'，外部的
abuse
n. wrong or excessive use; cruel treatment 濫用，虐待
crime
n. (犯)罪
suicide
n. 自殺
restore
vt. bring back to a former condition 恢復
arrange
vt. prepare or plan 安排
flee
v. run away (from) 逃走;逃離
gym
n. 體育館，健身房
set apart
使分離，使分開
interview
n., vt. 接見;面試
appointment
n. 約會
laughter
n. 笑，笑聲
intolerable
a. too bad to be endured 不能忍受的，無法容忍的
apartment
n. 一套公寓房間;公寓
click
v. (使)發咔噠聲;用鼠標點擊
n. 咔噠聲
modem
n. 調制解調器
annoying
a. 討厭的，惱人的
annoy
vt. make angry, irritate; bother 使惱怒，使煩惱
connection
n. 連接
tune
n. 曲子，曲調
password
n. 口令，密碼
Proper NamesMaia Szalavitz
邁亞·塞拉維茨
Liverpool
利物浦(英格蘭西部港口城市)
Dateline
美國National Broadcasting Company (NBC) 的專題新聞報道節目
Frontline
美國Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) 的專題新聞報道節目
Nightline
美國American Broadcasting Company(ABC)的專題新聞報道節目
CNN =Cable News Network
(美國)有線新聞電視網
Language sense Enhancement1. Read aloud paragraphs 10-13 and learn them by heart.
2. Read aloud the following poem:
Happily Addicted to the Web
Doorbell rings, I'm not listening,
From my mouth, drool is glistening,
I'm happy — although
My parents are not —
Happily addicted to the Web.
All night long, I sit clicking,
Unaware time is ticking,
There's heard on my cheek,
Same clothes for a week,
Happily addicted to the Web.
Friends come by; they shake me,
Saying, "Yo, man!
Don't you know tonight's senior prom?"
With a shrug, I replied, "No, man;
I just discovered letterman-dot-com!"
I don't phone, don't send faxes,
Don't go out, don't pay taxes,
Who cares if someday
They drag me away?
I'm happily addicted to the Web!
3. Read the following quotations. Learn them by heart if you can. You might need to look up new words in a dictionary.
Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all.
—— John F, Kennedy
A computer does not substitute for judgment any more than a pencil substitutes for literacy. But writing without a pencil is no particular advantage.
—— Robert S, McNamara
A computer will do what you tell it to do, but that may be much different from
what you had in mind.
—— Joseph Weizenbaum
4. Read the following humorous story for fun:
An lllinois man left the snow-filled streets of Chicago for a vacation in Florida. His wife was on a business trip and was planning to meet him there the next day. When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick email.
Unfortunately, when typing her address, he missed one letter, and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher's wife whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her mail, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead Faint.
At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen:
Dearest Wife,
Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow.
P.S. Sure is hot down here.
