经济学人296:创业国度的未来如何?

 　　THE young must shout if they want to be heard. In a stone hangar in the old port of Jaffa, 30 entrepreneurs have five minutes each to present their start-up companies to a panel of digital luminaries¹ and an audience that includes potential investors². Not everyone in the room is ready to shut up and listen, so the hopefuls must battle against the din³. Feng-GUI explains how, by simulating human vision, it can tell advertisers and designers which areas of a web page are most likely to grab people’s attention. CopyV promises to send large files quickly and securely. With Fooducate, “a dietician in your pocket”, on your smartphone, you can scan bar codes in the supermarket and find out what’s really going into your trolley⁴.

　　年轻人，如果想被人听到，请大声喊出来。在以色列古老的港口城市雅法，30位企业家聚集在一座由石头砌成的棚里，他们各自有5分钟时间，向由当今数码时代名人组成的专家组来介绍自己的创业公司，听众中还包括了许多潜在投资者。并不是在场的所有人都准备好闭上自己的嘴，认真听他们演说，因此这些满怀希望的企业家们必须努力应对喧闹的场面。Feng-GUI展示了如何通过模拟人类视觉来帮助广告商和设计师了解网页中最能吸引人们注意的部分。CopyV承诺可以快速而安全地发送大型文件。Fooducate的产品“口袋营养师”可以安装在智能手机中，你可以通过扫描超市中食品的条形码来判断它们是否应该放入购物车。

　　Israel’s legions of young technology firms clamour for attention and money. Rapid-pitch events like this one, at DLD Tel Aviv, a two-day conference in November, are common. More than 300 firms applied⁵ for a slot at DLD; 100 turned up; the lucky 30 were chosen by raffle⁶. Yossi Vardi, a technology entrepreneur who has invested in 75 start-ups since 1996, says that he receives between three and eight approaches every day.

　　以色列拥有大批迫切需要别人注意和投资的年轻科技公司。前文中提到的是于去年11月在特拉维夫Tel Aviv举办，为期二天的DLD大会，此类快速推介活动目前非常普遍。超过300家公司申请了此次DLD大会的展位，100家参展，其中又通过抽签方式选出那幸运的30家公司。科技企业家Yossi Vardi自1996年来已经投资了75家创业公司，他说他现在每天可以收到3至8份接洽请求。

　　Dan Senor and Saul Singer called Israel “The Start-Up Nation” in a book of that name in 2009. The label has stuck because it fits. Everybody and his brother-in-law seems to be starting a company—with old schoolmates or army colleagues, in a spare room or the parental⁷ home. Starting a business is easier than ever, thanks to advances in information technology. Budding designers of smartphone apps can rent space when they need it on a remote server rather than buying huge amounts of computing⁸ power. “The internet has democratised the right to innovate⁹,” says Mr Vardi.

　　Dan Senor和Saul Singer在一本2009年出版的同名书籍中把以色列称为“创业国度”。这个标签跟随了以色列多年，因为确实很适合。在以色列，每个人和他的亲戚朋友似乎都在创立公司，他们和自己的同学或者战友一起，挤在一间空闲的房间或者父母的家中。如今，开创一项事业比起过去要容易得多，这归功于信息技术的飞跃。和过去不同，初露头角的智能手机应用设计师们不再需要购买大量的硬件设备，他们可以向远程服务商租用服务器。Mr Vardi说：“互联网已经带来了创新权利的民主化。”

　　Israelis innovate because they have to. The land is arid¹⁰, so they excel at water and agricultural technology. They have little oil, so they furrow¹¹ their brows to find alternatives. They are surrounded by enemies, so their military technology is superb and creates lucrative¹² spin-offs, especially in communications. The relationships forged during military service foster frenetic networking in civilian¹³ life. A flood of immigrants in the 1990s gave national brainpower a mighty¹⁴ boost (see article). The results are the envy of almost everyone outside Silicon¹⁵ Valley.

　　以色列人必须创新。面对贫瘠的土地，他们掌握了先进的水资源利用和农业技术；由于不出产石油，他们紧锁着眉头努力寻找替代品；被敌对国家所包围，造就了一流的军事技术，并衍生许多获利丰厚的民用事业，尤其在通信领域。以色列的兵役制度使战友们在服役期间建立了稳固的关系，这极大促进他们普通生活中人际关系的发展。1990年代大量移民涌入极大提高了以色列的国家智慧，这引发了除硅谷外几乎其他所有人的羡慕。

1 luminaries   

n.杰出人物，名人（luminary的复数形式）

参考例句：

• In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 亚14:6那日、必没有光．三光必退缩。 来自互联网
• Includes household filament light bulbs & luminaries. 包括家用的白炙灯泡和光源。 来自互联网

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

4 trolley   

n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车

参考例句：

• The waiter had brought the sweet trolley.侍者已经推来了甜食推车。
• In a library,books are moved on a trolley.在图书馆，书籍是放在台车上搬动的。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 raffle   

n.废物，垃圾，抽奖售卖；v.以抽彩出售

参考例句：

• The money was raised by the sale of raffle tickets.这笔款子是通过出售购物彩券筹集的。
• He won a car in the raffle.他在兑奖售物活动中赢得了一辆汽车。

7 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

8 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

9 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。

10 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

11 furrow   

n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹

参考例句：

• The tractor has make deep furrow in the loose sand.拖拉机在松软的沙土上留下了深深的车辙。
• Mei did not weep.She only bit her lips,and the furrow in her brow deepened.梅埋下头，她咬了咬嘴唇皮，额上的皱纹显得更深了。

12 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

13 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

14 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

15 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。