中英文本

Information Superhighway - The World in a Minute
信息高速公路——世界尽在你掌中
Some historians say that the most important contribution of Dwight Eisenhower's presidency(总统任期) in the 1950s was the U.S. interstate highway system. It was a massive project, easily surpassing the scale of such previous human endeavors as the Panama Canal. Eisenhower's interstate highways bound the nation together in new ways and facilitated major economic growth by making commerce less expensive. Today, an information superhighway has been built - an electronic network that connects libraries, corporations, government agencies and individuals. This electronic superhighway is called the Internet, and it is the backbone(主干) of the World Wide Web.
一些历史学家说，德怀特·艾森豪威尔总统在20世纪50年代最重要的贡献就是建立了美国的洲际公路系统。这是一个巨大的项目，轻易就超过了先前人们所努力修剪的巴拿马运河的规模。艾森豪威尔的洲际公路使整个国家以新的方式连接在一起，并且通过减少贸易费用推动了主要经济的增长。现如今，信息高速公路已经建成——即一种电子网络，它将图书馆、公司、政府机构和个人连接在了一起。这种电子高速公路被称为互联网，它也是万维网的支柱。

The Internet had its origins in a 1969 U.S. Defense Department computer network alled ARPAnet, which stood for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. The Pentagon built the network for military contractors and universities doing military research to exchange information. In 1983 the National Science Foundation (NSF), whose mission is to promote science, took over.
互联网起源于1969年美国国防部被称为阿帕网的计算机网络，阿帕网代表的是高级研究计划网络。美国国防部建立这个网络是为了军事承包商和大学里的军事研究院进行信息交流。1983年，以促进科学发展为使命的国家科学基金会（NSF）接管了过来。

This new NSF network attracted more and more institutional users, many of which had their own internal networks. For example, most universities that joined the NSF network had intracampus computer networks. The NSF network then bacame a connector for thousands of other networks. As a backbone system that interconnects networks, internet was a name that fit.
这种新的国家科学基金会网络吸引了越来越多的机关用户，其中许多都有自己的内部网络。例如，大多数加入美国国家科学基金会网络的大学都有校内计算机网络。于是NSF的网络连接起了成千上万的其他网络。作为连接网络的支柱系统，互联网这个名称最为合适。

So we can see that the Internet is the wired infrastructure(基础设施) on which web messages move. It began as a military communication system, which expand into a government-funded civilian research network.
因此，我们可以看到，互联网是承载信息的有线基础设施。它是作为军事通讯系统开始的，而后扩展成为政府资助的民用科研网络。

Today, the Internet is a user-financed system tying institutions of many sorts together into an "information superhighway".
如今，互联网是一个将各式各样的机构捆绑在一起成为“信息高速公路”的用户融资系统。

重点讲解

1.in a Minute 马上；立即

例句：In the winter months, after being outside all day and walking into a warm house, I can cork off in a minute.
冬天，每当在户外呆了一整天后走进暖和的房子里，我能马上入睡。

2.the Panama Canal 巴拿马运河

例句：Almost half of the ships that pass through the Panama Canal fit its locks perfectly.
穿过巴拿马运河的船只中，差不多一半能刚好地通过闸门。
3.Information Superhighway 信息高速公路
例句：Whether you like it or not, information superhighway will change the way we live.
无论您的意愿如何，信息高速公路将会改变我们的生活方式。

4.take over 接管

例句：His widow has taken over the running of his empire, including six theatres.
他的遗孀已经接替了管理他的帝国的工作，包括6家剧院。