And I’m Sam.

而我是山姆。

If you’re old enough to remember the early days

如果你足夠老，還記得早期的日子

of dial-up internet then  you’ll know the unforgettable

撥號上網的時候，你就會知道那令人難以忘懷的

sound of the ‘handshake’, the clicks and squeaks

握手聲、咔嚓聲和吱吱聲

your computer made as it struggled to connect

你的電腦在掙扎著連接時發出的聲音

to the internet through the telephone line.

通過電話線連接到互聯網。

Yes, I remember that strange noise! Dial-up

是的，我記得那個奇怪的聲音撥號上網

internet was slow and websites took forever

網絡很慢，網站需要很長時間

to load. And because you couldn’t use both

來加載。而且因為你不能同時使用

the internet and the telephone at the same time,

互聯網和電話在同一時間。

this was usually followed by someone shouting,

這時通常會有人大喊大叫。

“Get off the computer, I’m making a phone call!”

"離開電腦，我在打電話！"

In the thirty years since then, the internet has

在此後的30年裡，互聯網已經

changed dramatically. Fibre optics and

發生了巨大的變化。纖維光學和

broadband have created superfast internet

寬帶已經創造了超高速互聯網

speeds and an interconnected online world,

速度和一個相互聯繫的網絡世界。

where physical distances between people are

人與人之間的物理距離是

no longer a barrier to communication -

不再是溝通的障礙 -

a situation expressed in the  phrase, the global village.

全球村這一短語所表達的情況。

But take a closer look and you’ll still find

但仔細看看，你還是會發現

people around the world with a slow

世界各地的人都有一個緩慢的

connection or no internet  at all. In this programme

聯網或根本沒有互聯網。在這個方案中

we’ll be finding out how some communities

我們將發現一些社區如何

are working together to fix their internet

正在合作修復他們的互聯網

connection problems for the benefit of local

為了當地人的利益，連接問題。

people. And, of course, we’ll be learning some

人。當然，我們也會學習一些

new vocabulary too.

也有新的詞彙。

But before that I have a question for you, Sam.

但在此之前，我有一個問題要問你，山姆。

We’ve been talking about the early days of the

我們一直在談論早期的

internet, but do you know the name of the first

互聯網，但你是否知道第一個

ever internet browser, the engine for searching

瀏覽器，搜索的引擎

websites? Was it:

網站？是的。

a) Ask Jeeves?

a) Ask Jeeves?

b) WorldWideWeb?

b) WorldWideWeb?

c) Yahoo?

c) 雅虎？

I’ll guess it was c) Yahoo.

我猜是c）雅虎。

OK, Sam. We’ll find out the answer later.

好吧，山姆。我們以後會找到答案的。

You might think its people living in the most

你可能會認為他們是生活在最

remote and isolated places with the greatest

遙遠和孤立的地方，有最大的

difficulty getting online, but that’s not always

上網困難，但這並不總是

true. Even here in the UK  people struggle to connect,

確實如此。即使在英國這裡，人們也在努力聯繫。

including BBC radio listener, Katie, who

包括英國廣播公司的聽眾凱蒂，她說

explained her problem to BBC World Service

她向BBC世界頻道解釋了她的問題

programme, Digital Planet:

方案，數字星球。

Hi, I’m Katie. I live in Dorset in England.

嗨，我是凱蒂。我住在英格蘭的多塞特。

Our internet can be quite spasmodic here,

我們這裡的互聯網可能很不穩定。

and I think that that’s due to most of our

我想這是由於我們的大部分

underground cabling is very old and somewhat

地下電纜非常老舊，有點

dodgy, tatty, and needs replacing.

有問題，有破損，需要更換。

Katie lives in Dorset, a rural part of south-west

凱蒂住在多塞特，一個西南部的農村地區。

England. She describes her internet connection

英國。她描述了她的網絡連接

as spasmodic – suddenly working but only for

作為痙攣性的--突然工作，但只為

a short time and not in a regular way.

短時間內，而且不是以常規方式。

She thinks this is because her internet cables

她認為這是因為她的網線

are dodgy, slang for bad or untrustworthy.

是dodgy，俚語，意思是壞的或不值得信賴的。

A dodgy internet connection might be irritating,

糟糕的網絡連接可能會讓人惱火。

but in other parts of the world the consequences

但在世界其他地區，後果是

can be more serious. Aamer Hayat is farmer who

可能更嚴重。阿默爾-哈亞特是農民，他

lives in the Pakistani  Punjab, one of the country’s

他住在巴基斯坦旁遮普省，是該國最重要的地區之一。

most fertile regions, but also one of the least

最肥沃的地區，但也是最不發達的地區之一。

connected. His village is a three-hour drive

有聯繫。他的村莊有三小時的車程

from the nearest town, and he can’t make a

從最近的城鎮，他不能做一個

phone call, even with 2G.

電話，即使是2G的電話。

For Aamer, basic weather information like

對Aamer來說，基本的天氣資訊如

knowing when rain is coming can mean the

知道什麼時候下雨可能意味著

difference between his  crops succeeding or failing.

他的莊稼是成功還是失敗的區別。

Without the internet he doesn’t have a reliable

沒有互聯網，他就沒有一個可靠的

weather report, so the villagers decided to

天氣報告，所以村民們決定

build their own fifty-metre-high telephone

建立他們自己的五十米高的電話

transmission tower, linking a network of five

傳輸塔，連接了一個由五個

villages to the internet. Here is Aamer talking

村莊到互聯網。以下是阿默爾的談話

to BBC World Service programme, Digital Planet…

英國廣播公司世界服務節目《數字星球》...

We used to do conventional farming like just

我們以前做的是傳統的農業，比如說只是

getting information from word-of-mouth.

從口耳相傳中獲取信息。

Now, I’m using the latest technologies to have

現在，我正在使用最新的技術來擁有

gadgets available with us and taking information

我們提供的小工具和採取的資訊

right from the horse’s mouth through internet

通過互聯網從馬嘴裡得到的資訊

and the technology we have in our hands.

和我們手中的技術。

So, this is what I’m doing in my farm practices.

是以，這就是我在農場實踐中所做的。

Before the community-built tower brought the

在社區建造的大廈將

internet to his village, Aamer got his weather

阿默爾在他的村子裡通過互聯網得到了他的天氣預報。

report by word-of-mouth - information passed

口耳相傳的報告--資訊傳遞

on by people telling each other.

通過人們相互告訴對方。

Now, there’s stable internet that works thanks

現在，有了穩定的互聯網，可以工作了，謝謝

to a tower high enough to pick up a telephone

到一個足夠高的塔，可以接聽電話

signal which it then sends into the villages via

信號，然後通過以下方式將其送入村莊

solar-powered receivers – a type of gadget,

太陽能接收器 - 一種小工具。

meaning a small, electronic device which

指一種小型的電子裝置，它

does something useful.

做一些有用的事情。

This means Aamer now gets his weather report

這意味著Aamer現在得到了他的天氣報告

straight from the horse's mouth, an idiom meaning

直截了當，一個成語的意思是指

from a reliable source, or from someone who

從一個可靠的來源，或從一個人

knows what they’re talking about. The internet

知道他們在說什麼。互聯網

brings reliable climatic information, which

帶來可靠的氣候資訊，這

means a good harvest not just for Aamer and

意味著不僅是Aamer和Burberry的豐收。

his family, but for all the families living in the

他的家庭，但對於所有生活在該地區的家庭來說

five connected villages.

五個相連的村莊。

It’s a great example of community action, and

這是社區行動的一個偉大範例，而且

of people looking after each other – something

人與人之間的相互照應--這一點

which may have been lost  since the early, idealistic

這可能是自早期的理想主義以來已經失去的。

days of the internet. And speaking of the early

互聯網的時代。而說到早期的

internet, it’s time to answer my question.

互聯網，是時候回答我的問題了。

Remember, I asked you for the name of the

請記住，我問你的名字是什麼？

very first internet browser.

第一個互聯網瀏覽器。

I guessed it was c) Yahoo. So, was I right?

我猜是c）雅虎。那麼，我是對的嗎？

You were… wrong, I’m afraid, Sam. Way back before

你......恐怕錯了，山姆。早在

Google, the first internet browser was called the

谷歌，第一個互聯網瀏覽器被稱為

WorldWideWeb - invented by none other than

WorldWideWeb--其發明者不是別人，正是

cyber legend, Tim Berners-Lee, who, I think,

網絡傳奇人物，Tim Berners-Lee，我想他是。

would be pleased to hear about Aamer’s

會很高興聽到阿默爾的

community internet.

社區互聯網。

Yes. Right, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve

是的。好的，讓我們回顧一下我們所掌握的詞彙

learnt about internet connections between

瞭解到的互聯網連接在

people living at a physical distance in the

在物理距離上生活的人在

modern world, something described as the

現代世界，一些被稱為

global village.

全球村。

If your internet is spasmodic, it’s irregular,

如果你的互聯網是痙攣性的，那就是不規則的。

stopping then suddenly working for a short time.

停止，然後突然工作了很短的時間。

In other words, it’s dodgy, a slang word meaning

換句話說，就是躲躲閃閃的，這個俚語的意思是

bad or unreliable

壞的或不可靠的

If you know something by word-of-mouth, it’s been

如果你通過口口相傳知道某件事情，它已經被

passed verbally from person to person. Whereas if

在人與人之間以口頭方式傳遞。而如果

you hear it from the horse’s  mouth, it’s come directly

你從馬的嘴裡聽到的，它是直接來自於

from a reliable source of information.

來自一個可靠的資訊來源。

And finally, a gadget is  a small, electronic device

最後，小工具是一種小型的電子裝置。

with a useful purpose. Once again our six minutes

有益的目的。我們的六分鐘再一次

are up. Bye for now!

是了。暫時再見

Bye!

再見！