豆知识 2009-04-05&04-07 博客时尚 (1/2)

 You've seen the word, you've seen the websites and you may even have one. But have you ever wondered: What's the big deal about blogs?

 

This is blogs in plain English.

 

To make sense of blogs, you have to think about news and who makes it. We'll look at news in the 20th versus¹ the 21st century to make our point.

 

In the 20th century, the news was produced professionally. When news happened, reporters wrote the stories and a tiny group of people decided² what appeared in a newspaper or broadcast. Professional news was mainstream³: general and limited.

 

The 21st century marked the point where news became both professional and personal. A new kind of website called weblog, or blog for short, came onto the scene that let anyone be a reporter and publisher - often for free.

 

As blogs became popular, they created millions of news sources that gave everyone an audience for their own version⁴ of news.

 

Of course, we're using the word "news" loosely. But really, isn't everything news to someone? With a blog, A business owner can share news about his business, a mother can share news about her family, a sport star can share news with fans. These people are all "bloggers".

 

How did this happen? Well, blogs made sharing news on the web easy. Anyone with an idea can start a new blog with the click of a button and share news minutes later.

1 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

4 version   

n.版本；型号；叙述，说法

参考例句：

• His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
• What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样？