GRE閱讀高分離不開平時的經驗積累和練習，出國留學網GRE欄目為大家?guī)鞧RE周末雙語閱讀扎克伯格的計算機帝國野心，希望對大家備考GRE有所幫助哦!
GRE周末雙語閱讀扎克伯格的計算機帝國野心
Leaders Imperial ambitions
社論精粹 帝國野心
Mark Zuckerberg prepares to fight for dominance of the next era of computing
馬克·扎克伯格準備為爭奪下一個計算時代的統(tǒng)治地位而戰(zhàn)
NOT since the era of imperial Rome has the “thumbs-up” sign been such a potent and public symbol of power. A mere 12 years after it was founded, Facebook is a GREat empire with a vast population, immense wealth, a charismatic leader, and mind-boggling reach and influence. The world's largest social network has 1.6 billion users, a billion of whom use it every day for an average of over 20 minutes each. In the Western world, Facebook accounts for the largest share of the most popular activity (social networking) on the most widely used computing devices (smart phones); its various apps account for 30% of mobile internet use by Americans. And it is the sixth-most-valuable public company on Earth, worth some $325 billion.
自羅馬帝國時代以來，“豎起大拇指”這一手勢就成為了公開且有力的權力象征。成立僅十二年之后，Facebook已成為一個偉大的帝國，人口眾多、財富無數、領袖魅力非凡，且影響力和影響范圍令人難以想象。這一全球最大的社交網絡擁有16億用戶，其中十億每天平均使用時間超過20分鐘。在西方世界，Facebook在最廣泛使用的計算設備(智能手機)上的最受歡迎的活動(社交網絡)中所占份額最大;它各種各樣的應用占美國人移動互聯網使用的30%。它是全球市值第六大的上市公司，價值3250億美元。
Even so, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's 31-year-old founder and chief executive, has even greater ambitions. He has plans to connect the digitally unconnected in poor countries by beaming internet signals from solar-powered drones, and is making big bets on artificial intelligence (AI), “chatbots” and virtual reality (VR). This bid for dominance will bring him into increasing conflict with the other great empires of the technology world, and Google in particular. The ensuing battle will shape the digital future for everyone.
即便如此，31歲的Facebook創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官馬克·扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)仍有更宏偉的志向。他計劃用太陽能供電的無人機發(fā)送互聯網信號，以連接貧困國家尚未連入數字世界的人，他在人工智能(AI)、聊天機器人和虛擬現實(VR)上押下重注。對統(tǒng)治地位的競逐會令他和科技世界其他偉大帝國之間的沖突不斷增加，尤其是同谷歌之間。今后的戰(zhàn)斗將為每個人塑造數字化的未來。
Facebook has prospered by building compelling services that attract large audiences, whose attention can then be sold to advertisers. The same is true of Google. The two play different roles in their users' lives: Google has masses of data about the world, whereas Facebook knows about you and your friends; you go to Google to get things done, but turn to Facebook when you have time to kill. Yet their positions of dominance and their strategies are becoming remarkably similar. Unparalleled troves of data make both firms difficult to challenge and immensely profitable, giving them the wealth to make bold bets and to deal with potential competitors by buying them. And both firms crave more users and more data—which, for all the do-gooding rhetoric, explains why they are both so interested in extending internet access in the developing world, using drones or, in Google's case, giant balloons.
Facebook打造多個引人矚目的服務吸引大量用戶，繼而將用戶的關注賣給廣告商，以此取得成功。谷歌也是如此。這兩大公司在其用戶的生活中扮演著不同的角色：谷歌擁有關于這個世界的大量數據，而Facebook了解你和你的朋友;你用谷歌是為了完成任務，但要打發(fā)時間時你會找Facebook。然而它們的統(tǒng)治地位和戰(zhàn)略正變得越來越相似。無與倫比的數據寶藏讓兩家公司都難有敵手，且獲利頗豐，它們的財富足以擲下豪注并且通過收購解決潛在競爭者。這兩家公司渴求更多用戶、更多數據，用冠冕堂皇的說法，這解釋了為何它們都對在發(fā)展中國家擴展互聯網連接興趣濃厚，Facebook使用無人機，谷歌則使用巨型氣球。
The task is to harness data to offer new services and make money in new ways. Facebook's bet on AI is a recognition that “machine learning”—in which software learns by crunching data, rather than having to be explicitly programmed—is a big part of the answer.
現在的任務是利用數據提供新的服務，以新的方式賺錢。Facebook在人工智能方面的賭注是對“機器學習”的認可，即軟件通過分析數據學習，而不需要精確編寫程序。
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