unit4AVirtualLife资料.docVIP

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. 迈亚·塞拉维茨曾是电视制片人，目前从事写作。她在本文中探索了数字化世界及其后果。与此同时，她将数字化世界与真实世界做了比较，承认电子空间自有其魅力。 A Virtual Life Maia Szalavitz 1 After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriends Liverpool accent suddenly becomes impossible to interpret after his easily understood words on screen; a secretarys clipped tone seems more rejecting than Id 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. 虚拟世界的生活 迈亚·塞拉维茨 在网上呆了太久，听到电话铃声也会吓一大跳。显示屏上看多了我男朋友那些一目了然的文字，他的利物浦口音一下子变得难以听懂；而秘书的清脆快速的语调听上去比我想象的要生硬。时间本身变得捉摸不定——几小时变成几分钟，或几秒钟延伸为几天。周末原本是我一周的黄金时段，现在却不过是平平常常的两天。 　 2 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. 在我不再当电视制片人的这三年间，我的大部分工作都是在家里使用计算机终端进行的。我通过电子邮件投稿和校订，利用互联网上的人名地址与同行交流。我男朋友住在英国，因此两人的关系也在很大程度上借助于电脑维系。 3 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. 我要是愿意的话，可以一连几个星期不出门而什么也不缺。我可以在网上订购食品、网上理财、网上恋爱、网上工作。事实上我有时独自呆在家里长达三个星期，只偶尔出去拿信、买报纸及日用品。1996年那一场接一场的暴风雪我大都是在电视上看到的。 4 But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though Ive become one with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, jus