戳上方蓝色字“英文杂志精选”关注我们哟
第188期精讲
本文选自经济学人2018年12月18日文章，讲述数据在2019年将扮演的重要角色。在未来，数据将同现在的石油一样重要，人类就是数据的主体。目前，科技公司想方设法从用户手中获取数据，以便更了解用户，来提高产品设计，向用户推荐产品和服务广告。政府也在利用这些科技公司收集公民的数据。然而，这些数据也容易被黑客盗取，由于数据是抽象概念，用户管理个人数据也耗时耗力，所以很少有用户对他们分享出去的数据加以限制。但这些数据给每个个体打上了标记，优步会根据数据决定谁能打到车，约会软件可以帮你找到潜在伴侣。为避免数据被滥用，隐私条款、数据保护法规和围绕如何使用数据的新法规对保护个人权益至关重要。
由于篇幅较长，本文节选原文标题和前两段进行精讲，帮助大家提高英语阅读和写作能力。
We, the data subjects
How to think about data in 2019
It is tangible human beings, not abstract “data”, that power the online economy
Dec 18th 2018
“DATA”, RUNS a common refrain, “is the new oil.” Like the sticky black stuff that comes out of the ground, all those 1s and 0s are of little use until they are processed into something more valuable. That something is you.
Seven of the world’s ten most valuable companies by market capitalisation are technology firms. Excluding Apple, which makes money by selling pricey gadgets, and Microsoft, which charges businesses for its software and services, all are built on a foundation of tying data to human beings. Google and Facebook want to find out as much as it is possible to know about their users’ interests, activities, friends and family. Amazon has a detailed history of consumer behaviour. Tencent and Alibaba are the digital wallets for hundreds of millions of Chinese; both know enough about consumers to provide widely used credit scores.
We, the data subjects 我们，数据主体
How to think about data in 2019 如何看待数据在2019年的角色
It is tangible human beings, not abstract “data”, that power the online economy
推动网络经济的是有形的人，而不是抽象的“数据”
tangible: 有形的，可触摸的，此外它还有真实的、确切的意思 intangible: tangible的反义词，无形的，不可触摸的，难以明白的，此外，它还有无形资产的意思。
[经济学人例句]：Investment is increasingly tied up in intangibles, such as patents and copyright, rather than physical assets, such as steel mills. （from “Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium would be just the start”）投资越来越受到专利和版权等无形资产的束缚，而不是像钢铁厂这样的有形资产。
“DATA”, RUNS a common refrain, “is the new oil.” Like the sticky black stuff that comes out of the ground, all those 1s and 0s are of little use until they are processed into something more valuable. That something is you.
refrain: 重复，叠句(n. a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a song or poem, especially at the end of each stanza;chorus.)。做动词时，表示节制、克制，后面常接from（to abstain from an impulse to say or do something (often followed by from )）
[华盛顿邮报例句]：In the capitals of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, ministers knocked China for violating a 2015 pledge — offered by Chinese President Xi Jinping in the White House’s Rose Garden and repeated at international gatherings such as the Group of 20 summit — to refrain from hacking for commercial gain. （这里的knock是指指责的意思： to criticize, especially in a carping manner）（from "U.S. and allies blame China for data theft in 12 countries"）在英国澳大利亚、加拿大和新西兰的首都，部长们指责中国违反了中国2015年给的承诺——该承诺是中国在白宫的玫瑰园给出的，并在20国集团峰会等国际会议上不断重申的，就是为了限制破坏商业利益。
process: 加工，处理（v. to treat or prepare by some particular series of actions, as in manufacturing.）
“数据”，一个常见的说法是“新型石油”。“就像从地下钻出来的粘稠的黑色物质一样，所有那些1和0在被加工成更有价值的东西之前没什么用处。”那些数据就是你。
Seven of the world’s ten most valuable companies by market capitalisation are technology firms. Excluding Apple, which makes money by selling pricey gadgets, and Microsoft, which charges businesses for its software and services, all are built on a foundation of tying data to human beings. Google and Facebook want to find out as much as it is possible to know about their users’ interests, activities, friends and family. Amazon has a detailed history of consumer behaviour. Tencent and Alibaba are the digital wallets for hundreds of millions of Chinese; both know enough about consumers to provide widely used credit scores.
market capitalisation: 市场总值
gadget: 小物件，小器具，这里指手机等电子产品（这个词经常在经济学人文章中出现，记住就好）。
charge: 有很多意思，这里指向某人收费的意思，charge做收费时，其后可以直接接人：charge sb, eg. He didn't charge me for it. 可以接直接接钱：eg.That store charges $25 for leather gloves. 也可以直接接物：eg：The store let me charge the coat.；此外，charge 还有指控的意思，其后通常接with：eg. They charged him with theft.；charge还有充电的意思：eg. charge a storage battery.；此外，charge还有充满、弥漫的意思：eg. The air was charged with excitement/pollen.
be built on a foundation of: 建立在...的基础上 [写作推荐]
全球市值最高的10家公司中，有7家是科技公司。不包括苹果和微软，苹果靠销售昂贵的电子产品赚钱，微软则通过软件和服务向企业收费，这两家公司都是建立在将数据与人类联系在一起的基础上的。谷歌和Facebook希望尽可能多地了解用户的兴趣、活动、朋友和家人。亚马逊有用户详细的消费历史记录。腾讯和阿里巴巴是数亿中国人的数字钱包，这两家公司对消费者的了解，足以提供广泛使用的信用评分。
联系客服
