【正文】 enter. To offer peak performance in providing the electronic data and paperless trading global investors expect, Shanghai plans telemunications networks as powerful as those in Manhattan.Meanwhile, Hungary also hopes to jump into the modern world. Currently, 700,000 Hungarians are waiting for phones. To partially overe the problem of funds and to speed the import of Western technology, Hungary sold a 30% stake in its national phone pany to two Western panies. To further reduce the waiting list for phones, Hungary has leased rights to a DutchScandinavian group of panies to build and operate what it says will be one of the most advanced digital mobile phone systems in the world. In fact, wireless is one of the most popular ways to get a phone system up fast in developing countries. It39。s cheaper to build radio towers than to string lines across mountain ridges, and businesses eager for reliable service are willing to accept a significantly higher price tag for a wireless call—the fee is typically two to four times as much as for calls made over fixed lines.Wireless demand and usage have also exploded across the entire width and breadth of Latin America. For wireless phone service providers, nowhere is business better than in Latin America—having an operation there is like having an endless pile of money at your disposal. Bellsouth Corporation, with operations in four wireless markets, estimates its annual revenu per average customer at about $2,000 as pared to $860 in the United States. That39。s partly because Latin American customers talk two to four times as long on the phone as people in North America.Thailand is also turning to wireless, as a way to allow Thais to make better use of all the time they spend stuck in traffic. And it isn39。t that easy to call or fax from the office: The waiting list for phone lines has from one to two million names on it. So mobile phones have bee the rage among businesspeople who can remain in contact despite the traffic jams.Vietnam is making one of the boldest leaps. Despite a per person ine of just $220 a year, all of the 300,000 lines Vietnam plans to add annually will be optical fiber with digital switching, rather than cheaper systems that send electrons over copper wires. By going for nextgeneration technology now, Vietnamese telemunications officials say they39。ll be able to keep pace with anyone in Asia for decades.For countries that have lagged behind for so long, the temptation to move ahead in one jump is hard to resist. And despite the mistakes they39。ll make, they39。ll persist—so that one day they can cruise alongside Americans and Western Europeans on the information superhighway.電信革命一個將會大大提高發(fā)展中國家生活水準的轉(zhuǎn)變正方興未艾。一些不久前還是信息閉塞的地方正在迅速獲得最新的通信技術(shù)，這將促進他們吸納國內(nèi)外投資。亞洲、拉丁美洲和東歐的許多國家也許需要10年時間來改善其交通、電力供應(yīng)和其他公用設(shè)施。但是只一根直徑小于半毫米的光纖電纜就可以比由銅絲制成的粗電纜承載更多的信息。由于安裝了光纖電纜、數(shù)字轉(zhuǎn)換器和最新的無線傳輸系統(tǒng)，從北京到布達佩斯的一系列城區(qū)和工業(yè)區(qū)正在直接步入信息時代。一個蛛網(wǎng)般的數(shù)字和無線通信網(wǎng)絡(luò)已經(jīng)發(fā)展到亞洲的大部分地區(qū)和東歐的部分地區(qū)。所有這些發(fā)展中地區(qū)都把先進的通信技術(shù)看作一種跨越經(jīng)濟發(fā)展諸階段的途徑。例如，信息技術(shù)的廣泛應(yīng)用有望縮短勞動密集型的組裝工業(yè)轉(zhuǎn)向涉及工程、營銷和設(shè)計的那些產(chǎn)業(yè)所需的時間?，F(xiàn)代通信技術(shù)“將使中國、越南這樣的國家比那些困于舊技術(shù)的國家擁有巨大的優(yōu)勢”。這些國家應(yīng)以多快的速度向前發(fā)展是人們爭論的一個問題。許多專家認為，越南在目前急需電話的情況下，卻要求所有的移動電話都必須是昂貴的數(shù)字型電話，這種做法太超前了。一位專家說：“這些國家缺乏成本估算和選擇技術(shù)的經(jīng)驗。”然而毋庸爭辯，通信技術(shù)將是區(qū)分輸贏的關(guān)鍵因素。看一看俄羅斯的情況吧。由于其堅實的數(shù)學(xué)和科學(xué)教育基礎(chǔ)，它應(yīng)該在信息時代有繁榮的發(fā)展。問題是，它的國內(nèi)電話系統(tǒng)是一堆生銹的20世紀30年代的老古董。為了解決這一問題，俄羅斯已經(jīng)開始鋪設(shè)光纖電纜，并制定了投入400億美元建設(shè)多項通信工程的戰(zhàn)略計劃。但是由于其經(jīng)濟陷于低迷，幾乎沒有資金來著手解決最基本的問題。與俄羅斯相比，在未來10年中，中國大陸計劃對通信設(shè)備投入1,000億美元。從某種意義上說，中國的落后成了一種有利因素，因為這一發(fā)展正好發(fā)生在新技術(shù)比銅線電纜系統(tǒng)更便宜的時候。到1995年底，中國除了拉薩以外的省會都將有數(shù)字轉(zhuǎn)換器和高容量的光纖網(wǎng)，這意味著其主要城市正在具備必需的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施，成為信息高速公路的主要部分，使人們能夠進入系統(tǒng)，獲得最先進的服務(wù)。電信工程也是上海實現(xiàn)其成為一流的金融中心這一夢想的關(guān)鍵。為了能給國際投資者提供其所期望的電子數(shù)據(jù)和無紙化交易方面的出色服務(wù)，上海計劃建設(shè)與曼哈頓同樣強大的電信網(wǎng)絡(luò)。與此同時，匈牙利也希望躍入現(xiàn)代世界。目前，有70萬匈牙利人等著裝電話。為了部分地解決資金問題，加速引進西方技術(shù)，匈牙利將國有電話公司30%的股份出售給了兩家西方公司。為進一步減少電話待裝戶，匈牙利已將權(quán)利出租給一家荷蘭－斯堪的納維亞企業(yè)集團，來建造并經(jīng)營一個據(jù)說位居世界先進行列的數(shù)字移動電話系統(tǒng)。事實上，無線方式是在發(fā)展中國家快速建設(shè)電話系統(tǒng)的最受歡迎的方式之一。建造無線電發(fā)射塔要比翻山越嶺架設(shè)線路更便宜。而且，急切盼望可靠服務(wù)的企業(yè)樂于花費可觀的高價來換取無線電話服務(wù)──其資費通常是固定線路電話資費的二至四倍。整個拉丁美洲對無線通信的需求和使用已急速增長。對于無線電話服務(wù)商來說，沒有任何地方的業(yè)務(wù)比拉丁美洲更好了──在那里有一個營運點就好像有一堆無窮無盡供你使用的鈔票。在四個無線電話市場有營運點的貝爾南方電話公司估計，來自于其每個客戶的平均年收入均為2,000美元，而在美國僅為860美元。產(chǎn)生這種情況的部分原因是拉丁美洲客戶的通話時間是北美洲客戶的二至四倍。泰國也在求助于無線通信方式，以便讓泰國人在發(fā)生交通堵塞時更好地利用時間。而且在泰國，從辦公室往外打電話或發(fā)傳真并不那么容易：待裝電話的名單上有一二百萬個名字。因此移動電話在商務(wù)人士中成為時尚，他們在交通堵塞時也能與外界保持聯(lián)系。越南正在做一個最大膽的跳躍。盡管越南人均年收入只有220美元，它計劃每年增加的30萬條線路將全部為有數(shù)字轉(zhuǎn)換功能的光纖電纜，而不是那些以銅線傳送電子信號的廉價系統(tǒng)。由于現(xiàn)在就選用了下一代的技術(shù)，越南負責通信的官員說他們能夠在數(shù)十年中與亞洲的任何一個國家保持同步。對于那些長期落后的國家來說，一躍而名列前茅的誘惑難以抵御。而且，盡管他們會犯錯誤，他們?nèi)詴猿植恍俯ぉた傆幸惶?，他們將能在信息高速公路上與美國和西歐并駕齊驅(qū)。Unit 5 Section AChoose to Be Alone on PurposeHere we are, all by ourselves, all 22 million of us by recent count, alone in our rooms, some of us liking it that way and some of us not. Some of us divorced, some widowed, some never yet mitted.Loneliness may be a sort of national disease here, and it39。s more embarrassing for us to admit than any other sin. On the other hand, to be alone on purpose, having rejected pany rather than been cast out by it, is one characteristic of an American hero. The solitary hunter or explorer needs no one as they venture out among the deer and wolves to tame the great wild areas. Thoreau, alone in his cabin on the pond, his back deliberately turned to the town. Now, that39。s character for you.Inspiration in solitude is a major modity for poets and philosophers. They39。re all for it. They all speak highly of themselves for seeking it out, at least for an hour or even two before they hurry home for tea.Consider Dorothy Wordsworth, for instance, helping her brother William put on his coat, finding his notebook and pencil for him, and waving as he sets forth into the early spring sunlight to look at flowers all by himself. How graceful, how benign, is solitude, he wrote.No doubt about it, solitude is improved by being voluntary.Look at Milton39。s daughters arranging his cushions and blankets before they silently creep away, so he can create poetry. Then, rather than trouble to put it in his own handwriting, he calls the girls to e back and write it down while he dictates.You may have noticed that most of these artistic types went outdoors to be alone. The indoors