2023考研英語閱讀教授們的Facebook
Professor Facebook
教授們的Facebook
More connective tissue may make academiamore efficient
更多連接支持，涌動更有效率的學術界
GIVEN journalists penchant for sticking the suffix gate onto anything they think smells ofconspiracy,
有鑒于記者們愛把見不得光的事件稱為某某門。
a public-relations consultant might have suggested a different name.
有鑒于記者們愛把見不得光的事件稱為某某門。
But ResearchGate, a small firm based in Berlin, is immune to such trivia.
如果研究之門公司雇傭公關顧問的話，它可能會被建議換個名字。
It is ambitious, tooaiming to do for the academic world what Mark Zuckerberg did for theworld in general, by creating a social network for scientists.
不過這間柏林的小公司對這些瑣事可沒什么興趣。它和Facebook 一樣擁有雄偉壯志，旨在打造學術界的科學家社交網絡，類似于馬克扎克伯格所建立的風靡大眾的Facebook。
And it is successful.
現在它成功了。
About 1.4m researchers have signedup already, and that number is growing by 50,000 a month.
大約有140萬名研究人員已經注冊了該網站，而且每個月還有五萬名新增用戶。
Non-scientists might be surprised that such a network is needed.
普通民眾或許會對科學家如此需要此類網站而感到吃驚。
After all, the internet was originally created mainly by academics for academics，
畢竟，起初因特網是大學教師們為了大學教師而創立的，
and Mr Zuckerberg s invention, Facebook, got its start on college campuses.
馬克扎克伯格的Facebook起步也是在大學校園。
But though the internet has speeded things up, it has not fundamentally changed howresearchers are connected.
縱然因特網提高了信息的流通速度，但它卻沒從根本上改變研究人員的聯系方式。
Academic communities are still pretty fragmented, frequently making it hard for scientiststo find others doing similar research.
學術界仍是非常碎片化，因此科學家們常常很難找到和自己做著類似研究的人。
And results often are not shared across disciplines.
而且通常，他們的實驗結果都不能實現跨學科的交流。
To make things more efficient and interdisciplinary, ResearchGate wants to help theacademic world to grow more connective tissue, as Ijad Madisch, one of the firm sfounders, puts it.
研究之門公司的創始人之一，伊賈德馬迪士表示，為了讓科學研究變得更富有成效以及跨學科性，研究之門意欲促使學術界像結締組織那樣更具有支持連接功能。
As on Facebook, users create a profile page with biographical information, list their interestsand research skills, and join groups.
像在Facebook網站那樣，用戶在研究之門網站上可以創立一個個人信息頁，在上面填寫傳記性的信息,羅列他們的興趣，研究技能以及所加入的小組。
They can see what others with similar interests are up to and post comments.
用戶可以查看那些和他們有著相似興趣的人最近的計劃，以及在對方的個人頁面發表評論。
They can also upload their papers and create invitation-only workgroups.
用戶還可以上傳自己的論文，和創立需要申請才能加入的工作小組。
The big question is whether ResearchGate will make enough money to keep its investorshappy.
現在最大的問題是，研究之門能否賺取足夠的利潤以滿足它的投資者。
So far, it is running on cash from Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital, two venturecapitalists based in Silicon Valley.
迄今為止，它的資本來源于加速合伙公司和基準資本這兩家硅谷的風險投資公司。
A third firm is expected to join them soon.
不久之后，預計會有第三家公司加入投資。
But these people will want a return on their investment.
不管怎樣，這些投資者都想要投資回報。
Some of that may already have come from the Max Planck Society,
部分已有盈利可能來自于克思普朗克學會。
which runs many of Germany s best research campuses and had ResearchGate build it aprivate network.
這個學會掌控著德國大部分最好的研究型大學資源，同時，它也讓研究之門為自己創建了一個私人網絡。
Over the longer haul, the firm hopes to charge companies and universities for using it toadvertise jobs, and to operate a marketplace for laboratory materials.
經過比較久的艱苦經營，研究之門希望能跟那些利用其網站平臺刊登職位供求廣告的公司或大學征收費用。
It has no plans to post other advertising, though, nor to charge its users directly.
與此同時，研究之門計劃建立一個實驗室器材的市場。公司并沒有計劃向用戶發布其他廣告，而且也不計劃向用戶直接收取費用。
At the moment, most of those users are in their 20s.
目前，網站的大多數用戶是20幾歲的年輕人。
Their favourite activity is to ask each other questions about practical research problems, fromDNA-sequencing techniques to statistical tricks.
他們最喜歡做的事就是向彼此詢問一些有實用價值的研究問題，從DNA測序技術到統計戲法之類。
They are also busy reading each other s papers: more than 10m have been uploaded.
他們同樣忙于閱讀彼此的論文：有超過1000萬的論文上載到研究之門。
The service certainly saves these young researchers trial and error, and therefore time andmoney.
很顯然，這項服務減少了這些年輕的研究者犯錯誤以及做無效實驗的次數，從而也節省了他們的時間與金錢。
They will probably also like a new feature ResearchGate is planning to introduce in April:
他們很有可能會喜歡研究之門計劃于四月份推出的新功能:
a feedback system which lets users rate each other s contributions. This would allow them tobuild a reputation other than by publishing papers.
讓用戶們互評貢獻的反饋系統。這個功能可以讓用戶找到除了發表論文之外，另一種可以建立自己聲譽的渠道。
Scientists whose reputations are established may be more hesitant, though,
那些享有聲譽的科學們也許會變得更猶豫不決。
and not just because they are set in their ways.
然而這并不僅僅是因為他們有自己一套堅定的準則。
Science is not only about collaboration but also about competition.
科學并不只有合作，更充滿競爭。
This limits what people are willing to share.
這就限制了人們愿意分享的東西范圍。
But Dr Madisch is optimistic.
但是迪福士博士對此持樂觀態度。
Those who have grown up with Facebook, he says, know that sharing will improve theirresearch.
他說，那些伴隨著Facebook成長的一代，意識到分享會對他們的研究有所提高。
And their older colleagues will eventually come aroundor retire.
而比他們年長的那些同事會重歸此道，抑或退休。
詞語解釋
1.academia n.學術界，學術生活
Views on this subject vary in China s academia.
對此,目前學術界在這個問題上存在一些不同的觀點。
2.conspiracy n.陰謀;共謀
He is a party to the conspiracy.
他參與了那次陰謀。
3.trivia n.瑣事;不重要的事情
She never immersed herself in that sort of trivia.
她從來不沉湎于往日瑣事。
4.invention n.發明;虛構;發明物
The invention of the computer marked the beginning of a new era.
計算機的發明標志著一個新時代的開始。
5.frequent a.頻繁的;經常的
My girlfriend writes frequent letters to me.
我的女朋友頻繁地給我寫信。
Professor Facebook
教授們的Facebook
More connective tissue may make academiamore efficient
更多連接支持，涌動更有效率的學術界
GIVEN journalists penchant for sticking the suffix gate onto anything they think smells ofconspiracy,
有鑒于記者們愛把見不得光的事件稱為某某門。
a public-relations consultant might have suggested a different name.
有鑒于記者們愛把見不得光的事件稱為某某門。
But ResearchGate, a small firm based in Berlin, is immune to such trivia.
如果研究之門公司雇傭公關顧問的話，它可能會被建議換個名字。
It is ambitious, tooaiming to do for the academic world what Mark Zuckerberg did for theworld in general, by creating a social network for scientists.
不過這間柏林的小公司對這些瑣事可沒什么興趣。它和Facebook 一樣擁有雄偉壯志，旨在打造學術界的科學家社交網絡，類似于馬克扎克伯格所建立的風靡大眾的Facebook。
And it is successful.
現在它成功了。
About 1.4m researchers have signedup already, and that number is growing by 50,000 a month.
大約有140萬名研究人員已經注冊了該網站，而且每個月還有五萬名新增用戶。
Non-scientists might be surprised that such a network is needed.
普通民眾或許會對科學家如此需要此類網站而感到吃驚。
After all, the internet was originally created mainly by academics for academics，
畢竟，起初因特網是大學教師們為了大學教師而創立的，
and Mr Zuckerberg s invention, Facebook, got its start on college campuses.
馬克扎克伯格的Facebook起步也是在大學校園。
But though the internet has speeded things up, it has not fundamentally changed howresearchers are connected.
縱然因特網提高了信息的流通速度，但它卻沒從根本上改變研究人員的聯系方式。
Academic communities are still pretty fragmented, frequently making it hard for scientiststo find others doing similar research.
學術界仍是非常碎片化，因此科學家們常常很難找到和自己做著類似研究的人。
And results often are not shared across disciplines.
而且通常，他們的實驗結果都不能實現跨學科的交流。
To make things more efficient and interdisciplinary, ResearchGate wants to help theacademic world to grow more connective tissue, as Ijad Madisch, one of the firm sfounders, puts it.
研究之門公司的創始人之一，伊賈德馬迪士表示，為了讓科學研究變得更富有成效以及跨學科性，研究之門意欲促使學術界像結締組織那樣更具有支持連接功能。
As on Facebook, users create a profile page with biographical information, list their interestsand research skills, and join groups.
像在Facebook網站那樣，用戶在研究之門網站上可以創立一個個人信息頁，在上面填寫傳記性的信息,羅列他們的興趣，研究技能以及所加入的小組。
They can see what others with similar interests are up to and post comments.
用戶可以查看那些和他們有著相似興趣的人最近的計劃，以及在對方的個人頁面發表評論。
They can also upload their papers and create invitation-only workgroups.
用戶還可以上傳自己的論文，和創立需要申請才能加入的工作小組。
The big question is whether ResearchGate will make enough money to keep its investorshappy.
現在最大的問題是，研究之門能否賺取足夠的利潤以滿足它的投資者。
So far, it is running on cash from Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital, two venturecapitalists based in Silicon Valley.
迄今為止，它的資本來源于加速合伙公司和基準資本這兩家硅谷的風險投資公司。
A third firm is expected to join them soon.
不久之后，預計會有第三家公司加入投資。
But these people will want a return on their investment.
不管怎樣，這些投資者都想要投資回報。
Some of that may already have come from the Max Planck Society,
部分已有盈利可能來自于克思普朗克學會。
which runs many of Germany s best research campuses and had ResearchGate build it aprivate network.
這個學會掌控著德國大部分最好的研究型大學資源，同時，它也讓研究之門為自己創建了一個私人網絡。
Over the longer haul, the firm hopes to charge companies and universities for using it toadvertise jobs, and to operate a marketplace for laboratory materials.
經過比較久的艱苦經營，研究之門希望能跟那些利用其網站平臺刊登職位供求廣告的公司或大學征收費用。
It has no plans to post other advertising, though, nor to charge its users directly.
與此同時，研究之門計劃建立一個實驗室器材的市場。公司并沒有計劃向用戶發布其他廣告，而且也不計劃向用戶直接收取費用。
At the moment, most of those users are in their 20s.
目前，網站的大多數用戶是20幾歲的年輕人。
Their favourite activity is to ask each other questions about practical research problems, fromDNA-sequencing techniques to statistical tricks.
他們最喜歡做的事就是向彼此詢問一些有實用價值的研究問題，從DNA測序技術到統計戲法之類。
They are also busy reading each other s papers: more than 10m have been uploaded.
他們同樣忙于閱讀彼此的論文：有超過1000萬的論文上載到研究之門。
The service certainly saves these young researchers trial and error, and therefore time andmoney.
很顯然，這項服務減少了這些年輕的研究者犯錯誤以及做無效實驗的次數，從而也節省了他們的時間與金錢。
They will probably also like a new feature ResearchGate is planning to introduce in April:
他們很有可能會喜歡研究之門計劃于四月份推出的新功能:
a feedback system which lets users rate each other s contributions. This would allow them tobuild a reputation other than by publishing papers.
讓用戶們互評貢獻的反饋系統。這個功能可以讓用戶找到除了發表論文之外，另一種可以建立自己聲譽的渠道。
Scientists whose reputations are established may be more hesitant, though,
那些享有聲譽的科學們也許會變得更猶豫不決。
and not just because they are set in their ways.
然而這并不僅僅是因為他們有自己一套堅定的準則。
Science is not only about collaboration but also about competition.
科學并不只有合作，更充滿競爭。
This limits what people are willing to share.
這就限制了人們愿意分享的東西范圍。
But Dr Madisch is optimistic.
但是迪福士博士對此持樂觀態度。
Those who have grown up with Facebook, he says, know that sharing will improve theirresearch.
他說，那些伴隨著Facebook成長的一代，意識到分享會對他們的研究有所提高。
And their older colleagues will eventually come aroundor retire.
而比他們年長的那些同事會重歸此道，抑或退休。
詞語解釋
1.academia n.學術界，學術生活
Views on this subject vary in China s academia.
對此,目前學術界在這個問題上存在一些不同的觀點。
2.conspiracy n.陰謀;共謀
He is a party to the conspiracy.
他參與了那次陰謀。
3.trivia n.瑣事;不重要的事情
She never immersed herself in that sort of trivia.
她從來不沉湎于往日瑣事。
4.invention n.發明;虛構;發明物
The invention of the computer marked the beginning of a new era.
計算機的發明標志著一個新時代的開始。
5.frequent a.頻繁的;經常的
My girlfriend writes frequent letters to me.
我的女朋友頻繁地給我寫信。
