TED演讲:书呆子教你如何在线学习(1)

 This is a map of New York State that was made in 1937 by the General Drafting Company. 这是一张纽约州的地图，由通用制图公司在1937年绘制。

It's an extremely famous map among cartography nerds, 这张地图在地图发烧友中非常有名，

because down here at the bottom of the Catskill Mountains, 因为在卡兹奇山山脚下，

there is a little town called Roscoe -- actually, this will go easier if I just put it up here 有一个叫罗斯克的小镇，还是放在大屏幕上看得比较清楚。

There's Roscoe, and then right above Roscoe is Rockland, New York, 这是罗斯克，它的北边是纽约州的罗克兰县，

and then right above that is the tiny town of Agloe, New York. 再往北是纽约州的另一个小镇叫阿格罗。

Agloe, New York, is very famous to cartographers, because it's a paper town. 纽约州的阿格罗，在地图发烧友中非常有名，因为它并不存在。

It's also known as a copyright trap. 它也被称为“版权陷阱”。

Mapmakers -- because my map of New York and your map of New York are going to look very similar, on account of the shape of New York, 因为纽约州的形状，不同制图人绘制的纽约州地图，看上去都很像，

often, mapmakers will insert fake places onto their maps, in order to protect their copyright. 所以制图人经常会在自己的地图里加上几个不存在的地方，为的是保护自己的版权。

Because then, if my fake place shows up on your map, I can be well and truly sure that you have robbed me. 因为如果这些假的地名出现在你的地图上，我就能确信你盗了我的版。

Agloe is a scrabblization of the initials of the two guys who made this map, 阿格罗实际上是这幅地图的两名绘制者名字首字母相拼得来的，

Ernest Alpers and Otto G Lindberg, and they released this map in 1937. 欧内斯特·阿尔帕斯和奥托·G·林德伯格，他们在1937年发布了这版地图。

Decades later, Rand McNally releases a map with Agloe, New York, on it, 几十年后，兰德·麦克纳利出版了一份地图，他的地图上也有纽约州阿格罗这个地方，

at the same exact intersection¹ of two dirt roads in the middle of nowhere. 而且位置都一样，在两条并不存在的道路的交汇处。

Well, you can imagine the delight over at General Drafting. 可以想象，通用制图（知道这个消息后）有多欢乐。

They immediately call Rand McNally, and they say, "We've caught you! We made Agloe, New York, up. 他们立刻打电话给兰德·麦克纳利说，“抓到你啦！纽约州阿格罗是我们编出来的。

It is a fake place. It's a paper town. We're going to sue your pants off!" 这地方纯属虚构，并不存在。我们要告得你倾家荡产！”

And Rand McNally says, "No, no, no, no, Agloe is real." 但兰德·麦克纳利说，“不，不，不，阿格罗是存在的。”

Because people kept going to that intersection of two dirt roads -- in the middle of nowhere, 因为人们不断地前往那两条道路的交汇处，

expecting there to be a place called Agloe -- someone built a place called Agloe, New York. 希望在那个并不存在的地方，找到一个叫阿格罗的地方。结果真有人建了一个地方叫“纽约州阿格罗”。

1 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。