VOA慢速英语2019 脸书网计划建造海底光缆登陆点惹怒俄勒冈州小镇居民

People in a small town with no stoplights or mobile phone service are trying to keep out one of the world's largest technology companies.

在一个没有信号灯也没有移动电话服务的小镇上，人们试图将一家全球最大的科技公司排除在外。

The battle is taking place in the town of Tierra del Mar² in American state of Oregon.

这场斗争发生在美国俄勒冈州的蒂拉·德尔玛镇。

Locals there are trying to stop Facebook from developing property in their quiet coastal³ community. The company wants to build a landing site for an undersea cable connecting the United States with Asia.

当地居民试图阻止脸书网在他们宁静的沿海社区开发不动产。这家公司想要在这里为连接美国和亚洲的海底光缆建造一个登陆点。

The cable will link many U.S. sites with Japan and the Philippines. The connection also will help meet an increasing demand for internet services worldwide, the company says.

该电缆将会把许多美国站点同日本和菲律宾连接起来。该公司表示，这种连接还有助于满足全球对互联网服务不断增长的需求。

Facebook officials say Tierra del Mar is one of the few places on the U.S. West Coast with the right qualities for the high-speed cable.

脸书网官员表示，蒂拉·德尔玛镇是美国西海岸为数不多具备建设高速电缆合适品质的地方。

But locals say underground movements from drilling to bring the cable to this coastal village might damage homes and waste systems. They also note that maps and government records identify Tierra del Mar as a residential⁴ area. If state and local officials permit the project, they say, more development will come.

但是当地人表示，通过地下钻探将电缆引入这个沿海村庄可能会破坏房屋和废物处理系统。他们还指出，地图和政府文件将蒂拉·德尔玛镇确定为居民区。如果州和当地官员批准这些项目，更多开发项目就会随之而来。

"This is a huge precedent⁵. Once you open the shores to these companies coming anywhere they want to, Oregon's coast is pretty much wide open season," said Patricia Rogers, who lives in Tierra del Mar. She made the comments to county officials in a written statement.

蒂拉·德尔玛镇居民帕特丽夏·罗杰斯表示：“这是一个巨大的先例。一旦你向这些公司开放了海岸，俄勒冈的海岸就会门户大开。”她在写给县政府官员的书面报告中如是表示。

The Tillamook County Board of Commissioners⁶ voted in support of the project after considering Rogers' and others' statements on Thursday.

在考虑了罗杰斯以及其他人士的书面报告之后，蒂拉穆克县委员会投票支持了这个项目。

Locals plan to appeal the ruling to Oregon state officials.

当地人计划向俄勒冈州官员上诉这一裁决。

Tierra del Mar is home to a mix of working professionals and retirees. Locals share a love for the town's quiet coastline and for the deer, bald eagles and rare seabirds that call the area home.

蒂拉·德尔玛镇是在职专家和退休人士的定居地。当地人热爱镇上宁静的海岸线以及以此地区为家园的鹿、白头鹰和稀有海鸟。

The town has only two businesses. It has no mobile phone service. Providers seemingly do not consider it profitable enough to offer service there.

该镇只有两家企业。镇上没有手机网络服务。移动电话供应商似乎认为不值得在这里提供服务。

Locals worry the Facebook project will bring cell phone towers and additional cable sites.

当地人担心脸书网项目将会带来更多的手机信号塔和更多的电缆站。

Facebook representatives told county officials that the drilling project would last about a month. They said they carefully chose the Tierra del Mar site to avoid areas where fishermen use huge nets to catch fish. They also noted⁷ they went around federally protected fish habitats.

脸书网代表告诉县官员，该钻探项目将会持续大约1个月。他们表示自己精心选择了蒂拉·德尔玛镇作为站点，以避免渔民使用大网捕鱼的地区。他们还指出自己绕过了联邦政府保护的鱼类栖息地。

The company did not offer additional details about the project. But it told The Associated Press in a statement: "With more people using the internet, existing internet infrastructure⁸ is struggling to handle all the traffic. These new cable projects help people connect more efficiently⁹."

该公司尚未提供有关该项目的其它详细信息。但是该公司在给美联社的一份声明中表示：“随着越来越多人使用互联网，现有的互联网基础设施难以应对所有流量。这些新的电缆项目将会帮助人们更有效地连接。”

Internet use worldwide has reached 4.1 billion people, or 54 percent of the world's population. That is up from 1.6 billion people in 2008. Those numbers come from the International Telecommunication¹⁰ Union, a United Nations agency.

全球互联网用户已经达到了41亿人，占世界人口的54%。这是2008年的16亿人涨上来的。这些数字出自联合国下属机构国际电信联盟。

Almost all of that messaging and internet use goes through fiber¹¹ optic cables instead of satellites, said Kristian Nielsen. She is vice¹ president of Submarine Telecoms Forum¹², a Virginia-based trade magazine.

克里斯蒂安·尼尔森表示，几乎所有的信息传递和互联网应用都是通过光缆而不是卫星进行的。她是《海底电信论坛》的副总裁，这是弗吉尼亚的一份专业杂志。

When data -- including phone calls -- go between North America and other continents, undersea fiber optic cables are used 99 percent of the time, Nielsen said.

尼尔森表示，北美和其它大洲之间99%的数据传递是使用海底光缆，这些数据传递也包括电话在内。

Undersea cables have around 800 landing points around the world, the Submarine Telecoms Forum reports. Opposition¹³ to them, Nielsen said, is rare.

《海底电信论坛》报道称，海底光缆在全球范围内有大约800个登陆点。尼尔森表示，很少有人反对建设这种登陆点。

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

3 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

4 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

5 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

6 commissioners   

n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官

参考例句：

• The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

9 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

10 telecommunication   

n.电信，远距离通信

参考例句：

• Telecommunication is an industry of service.电信业是一个服务型的行业。
• I only care about the telecommunication quality and the charge.我只关心通信质量和资费两个方面。

11 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

12 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

13 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。