听力文本

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

South Africa is the richest countries in Africa, it is also one of the most modern and technologically advanced. It has some of the best rail, road and communication systems in Africa. Yet more than two-thirds of South African adults have never used the Internet.

The South African Network Society recently reported that only 34% of South African adults use the Internet. That is about 12 million people.

Three-quarters of the country's Internet users live in cities. Most of them use cell phones to get on the Internet. The rest go to Internet cafes or use the Internet at school or work.

Indra de Lanerolle is with the South African Network Society. He says there are many reasons why so few South Africans use the Internet. Cost is one of them.

"We do have expensive costs and cost is a big limitation to Internet use. It stops some people (from) using the Internet at all, and the other thing it does it stops people (from) using it very much. So unless we can do much better than 1 in 3 connected, increasingly that’s going to be a real disadvantage for the country."

Poor Internet connectivity in rural South Africa and the high prices of Internet-ready mobile phones have also kept the poor disconnected. Most schools and work places in rural South Africa, where the majority of country's people live, have no Internet connection.

And many areas of the country do not have Internet cafes. Sam Gina lives in Johannesburg, he has never been on the Internet.

"At home I don’t have it. Laptop is too expensive for me. Now I am using a phone that doesn’t have Internet."

Wilson Ayong is a Cameroonian citizen who operates an Internet cafe in Johannesburg. He says the prices at Internet cafes are too high for many south Africans.

"An hour here we take for five Rand. We give three hours for 10 Rand, we give 30 minutes for three Rand, 15 minutes for two Rand. It’s a bit expensive."

So why it is so expensive to get on the Internet in Africa's richest country. One reason is South Africa has too little bandwidth for its needs. And these private providers increase the country's bandwidth, they are making users pay the cost to do so.

Even so the South African Network Society's Mr. de Lanerolle says Internet access in the country is improving. He says a new generation of Internet users from the country's middle class is quickly entering an area once reserved for the rich.

His believe is supported by reports that show Internet usage and access in South Africa has increased by more than 100% in the last five years.

And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English. I'm June Simms.

译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载

词汇解释

1.limitation n. 限制；限度；极限；追诉时效；有效期限；缺陷

This drug has one important limitation. Its effects only last six hours.
这种药物有一个很大的限制因素，其药效只能持续6个小时C0ge5=J=Bw)。

2.disadvantage n. 缺点；不利条件；损失

We need a rethink of the present law which works so greatly to the disadvantage of women.
我们需要重新思考一下现行的法律，它使妇女处于非常不利的地位,kEn@SlqFYN7KzgdZg。

3.bandwidth n. [电子][物] 带宽；[通信] 频带宽度

To cope with this amount of data, the system will need a bandwidth of around 100mhz.
要处理这样的数据量，这个系统将需要约100兆赫兹的带宽;M#[r5CI]7oo,FWMK|(。

4.reserved adj. 保留的，预订的；缄默的，冷淡的；包租的

The star has a ski slope reserved exclusively for her.
这位明星有一个专门留给她的滑雪场地.85Id])_YCcoa)。

内容解析

1.So why it is so expensive to get on the Internet in Africa's richest country.

get on 上车，上马；进展，使前进

Jane got on with her work.
简继续做她的工作K_z2-awKlI[*,3。

Get on with the work—this is no time to sit back.
好好干活，现在可不是坐着休息的时候(NbH0ueK_c*bR,。

参考译文

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道U4u)E;[Bcg5|[N8T。

南非是非洲最发达的国家，也是最现代化和科技最发达的非洲国家之一，拥有非洲部分最好的铁路、公路和通讯系统)F.pU6D~clZgI。然而超过三分之二的南非成年人从未用过网络rt.GZ_Dd!1D5jTV.C。

南非互联网协会最近报道称只有34%的南非成年人使用网络，也就是1200万人t-srojBNIYjJ。

该国四分之三的网民居住在城市，大多数使用手机上网，其他的去网吧或利用学校或工作场所的互联网_v8]xM%Cj=G;&|。

Indra de Lanerolle就职于南非互联网协会，他说南非网民数量少有很多原因，价格是其中之一QzB47)F+neG9ngQESQ!。

“上网成本高，价格是互联网使用的最大局限因素，这样有的人根本不用网络，其他人用的很少QO;VSh+dG0。目前只有三分之一的人上网，除非能改变这一现状，否则这将越发成为这个国家的不利因素wV%V;7Bq!Z%7。”

南非农村地区较差的互联网连接现状和上网手机的高价格也使得穷人无法上网*B%TEOL0x*1。该国大多数人居住在农村，但大多数农村学校和工作场所都没有网络J(Rqj!LV|en=T,d。

该国的很多地方都没有网吧，Sam Gina住在约翰内斯堡，但他从未上过网LZRS2C0j&j。

“我在家不能上网，对我来说笔记本电脑太贵了，现在我用的手机不能上网tS|qGyL0mI(jKkkr(C[。”

Wilson Ayong是喀麦隆人，他在约翰内斯堡开了家网吧，他说对很多南非人来说，网吧的收费太高gzhWp%sERyH]Lc.0FpBt。

“我们每小时收费5兰特，三小时10兰特，30分钟3兰特，15分钟两兰特，价格有点贵9H(hhu.Fr!0i。”

为什么在非洲最发达国家上网这么贵呢？一个原因是，南非的带宽无法满足其需求，而私有运营商增加了该国的带宽，并让用户来承担费用a^XLsu*#eWG[07M7jx。

尽管如此，南非互联网协会的de Lanerolle说，该国的互联网连接状况正在改善，他说该国中产解决的新一代互联网用户将很快进入这个一度为富人特有的领域+dTjkLBKAxPA。

他的观点得到了印证，有报道称在过去5年间，南非的互联网使用和接入率增加了100%以上5HD-_YbjJK#dTBqrns。

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道，我是琼·西姆斯hjxRJJ=RkW,O。

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