外媒看中国 12306不如让马云去做

 　　China’s government-run online train ticket sales site 12306 has been causing problems since pretty much the moment it was launched. It broke during its first Spring Festival rush back in 2011, and since then has been the source of a litany of complaints: not processing refunds¹, cheating customers, promising² an app that didn’t materialize for years and then sucked when it finally showed up, breaking again, listing nonsensical departure/arrival times, being associated with corruption³, facilitating ticket scalping, shutting down third-party services that fix its bugs⁴, and more.

　　自从12306在线火车票订购网站的诞生后，这个由中国政府独立运营的系统似乎就在不停地出问题。2011年，在它第一次开始运营春运高峰时它就崩溃了，接下来它便成了一系列抱怨的根源：不处理退票，欺骗客户，承诺的app多年没有出现，一出现就糟糕透顶，反复瘫痪，显示无意义的出发抵达时间，贪污腐败，促进倒票行为，关闭帮助其修补漏洞的第三方服务，等等等等。

　　That’s an incredibly litany of crimes for a service that has only been around for three years, but its latest may be the worst yet: last week news broke that personal data from 140,000 users was leaked via a security flaw on the 12306 site. The leaked data includes personal ID numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers. It also contains unencrypted, plaintext passwords.

　　作为刚刚运营了3年的服务系统，它一连串的罪行是令人难以置信的，而最近新爆出的一条可能是最糟糕的：上周消息传出，由于12306网站的一个安全漏洞140000用户的个人信息被泄露。泄露信息包括个人身份证号码，电子邮箱地址还有电话号码。它还包含未加密的明文密码。

　　In a statement on its website after the leak, 12306 denies that the information comes from its database, saying that it doesn’t store plaintext passwords. Instead, the site suggests the ticket buyers’ data may have been leaked from one of the third-party plugins and programs Chinese people use to purchase tickets so that they don’t have to interact with the 12306 site directly. (Subsequent reports suggest hackers⁵ used leaked data from other sites to access 12306’s database).

　　泄露丑闻发生后，12306在其网站上发声明，否认信息是来自于它的数据库，说它不存储明文密码。相反，该网站建议购票者的数据可能是被中国人用于购票的一个第三方插件和程序所泄露的，因此他们不必与12306进行直接交互。（后续报道显示黑客使用其它网站泄露的信息登录12306数据库）。

　　But it almost doesn’t matter whether the leaked data actually came from 12306 or a third-party plugin. The fact is that if 12306 was a reliable, fully⁶ functional⁷, and convenient platform for purchasing train tickets, nobody would use third-party apps to begin with. But because the site is so buggy and user-unfriendly, nearly half of China’s internet users buy their tickets via third-party services. (These services don’t sell tickets directly, they just facilitate purchases from 12306 by presenting a cleaner and more convenient user experience). Even if the leak came from a third-party plugin, it’s 12306’s fault that its crappy site has forced so many users onto those plugins in the first place.

　　但实际上数据是否是从12306泄露的还是从第三方插件已经无所谓了。事实是，如果12306是一个可靠的、功能齐全,方便购买火车票的平台,没有人会使用第三方应用程序。而正是因为这个网站如此卡又不好用，才使得近一半的中国的互联网用户通过第三方服务商购买车票。(这些服务商并不直接卖门票,他们只是为用户提供一个在12306购买车票时更便捷、更方便的用户体验)。即使泄漏来自第三方插件,12306蹩脚糟糕的网站已经迫使很多用户不得不在第一时间选择这些插件，这是12306的过错。

　　As an ecommerce platform, there’s simply no denying that 12306 is awful. But it would be so easy to fix! China has numerous internet companies with experience in building robust⁸ online shopping platforms that can withstand massive traffic. I have no doubt that a company like Alibaba or JD would be capable of building a more secure, more stable, and more convenient platform for train ticket sales, probably within a short time frame.

　　12306作为一个电子商务平台，它的糟糕是无可厚非的。修补它是非常简单的！中国有众多互联网公司，它们拥有健壮的网上购物平台构建经验,可以承受巨大的流量。我毫不怀疑,可能在短时间内，像阿里巴巴或京东这样的公司能够建设一个更安全、更稳定、更方便的火车票销售平台。

　　This is not the first time I’ve made this plea. And there were rumors⁹ that the site was looking for an ecommerce partner to help almost immediately after the site launched, though no partnership¹⁰ ever materialized. But it’s better late than never, and whether or not it directly leaked the buyers’ personal information last week, China’s government must recognize that it is culpable¹¹ here. Despite having cost nearly US$100 million, three years on 12306 still offers a user experience so terrible that nearly half its customers turn to third-party plugins and programs to complete their 12306 transactions.

　　这不是我第一次做这个请求。还有传言说这个网站在投放时就在寻找一个电子商务合作伙伴,以帮助网站立即启动,虽然从来没有落实这个伙伴关系。但它的迟到总比不到好,上周无论它是否直接泄露买家的个人信息,中国政府必须认识到,12306是有责任的。尽管投入成本近1亿美元,三年间，12306还是令其用户感到糟糕，致使近一半的客户转向第三方插件和程序来帮助完成他们在12306上的交易。

　　By any reasonable standard, 12306’s design is an abject¹² failure, and the site would have gone out of business long ago if it did not have a monopoly on sales of one of the most popular products in China. China’s government is unlikely to turn its ticket sales over to a private company any time soon, but it should at least hire Alibaba or JD to redesign its online platform from the ground up to create something that actually meets users’ needs, rather than driving them towards dubious¹³ third-party solutions as the current site does.

　　用任何公道的衡量标准，12306的设计失败都是可悲的，在中国，车票在线销售是最受欢迎的产品之一，如果12306不是凭借着拥有垄断销售的地位，它可能很早以前就无生意可做了。中国政府短时间内不大可能将车票销售私有化，但至少它可以雇佣像阿里巴巴或京东这样的团队去重新设计其在线平台，从而真正迎合用户需求，而不是像当下这样驱使12306用户投奔不可靠的第三方解决需求。

1 refunds   

n.归还，偿还额，退款( refund的名词复数 )v.归还，退还( refund的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Tomorrow he would return them to the store and claim refunds. 明天他要把它们退还给商店并要求退款。 来自辞典例句
• The new method means that taxpayers get refunds much faster. 这种新办法意味着纳税人可以较快地领到退还款。 来自辞典例句

2 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

8 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

9 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

11 culpable   

adj.有罪的，该受谴责的

参考例句：

• The judge found the man culpable.法官认为那个人有罪。
• Their decision to do nothing makes them culpable.他们不采取任何行动的决定使他们难辞其咎。

12 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

13 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。