VOA标准英语2010年-Putting Computers in Hands of Every Ch

Innovator¹ Nicholas Negroponte combines imagination, engineering and idealism to bring laptops to the world's children

Adam Phillips | New York 22 February 2010

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One Laptop Per Child
MIT Media Lab
Jerome Wiesner
MIT Architecture School
Architecture Machine Group

Nicholas Negroponte hopes to place a laptop in the hands of every child on the planet.

Even as a youngster growing up in New York City in the 1950s, it was clear that Nicholas Negroponte would find a way to combine his love and aptitude² for art and mathematics.

When he enrolled³ at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961 to study architecture, the field used extremely primitive⁴ computer graphics⁵ to do its modeling. Although the birth of the personal computer was still a decade away, Negroponte saw a wider potential for the new machines as tools, not only for industrial design but also for personal creativity.

Today, he credits his education in architectural design for preparing him to become an innovator in the development of sophisticated human-computer interface⁶ systems.    

"I found that architecture training [as contrasted with] computer science training, made you much more daring. You didn't solve problems, which engineers do, but you asked questions and you would keep pushing the envelope." Negroponte was passionate⁷ about the many ways that research into human/computer interface lay at the intersection⁸ of art and mathematics.   

Innovator

That passion was shared by Jerome Wiesner, MIT's president at the time. After Negroponte joined the MIT faculty⁹, the two became friends as well as colleagues in the MIT Architecture Machine Group which Negroponte founded in 1967. Years later, as Wiesner neared retirement¹⁰, he confided¹¹ his desire for a lab devoted¹² to the research and development of the human/computer interface. Negroponte immediately offered to build it for him.

Funding poured in and the MIT Media Lab opened its doors in 1985. Its mission was to create practical advances in new media technology while honoring both artistic¹³ imagination as well as the free and playful exchange of ideas.

The first project looked at the future of computer graphics as something more consumer oriented and driven by a much bigger market.

Negroponte and his colleagues also experimented with combining consumer-based display technology in ways that have become a familiar feature of today's laptop computers. "It was considered quite outrageous," says Negroponte, remembering the strident objections over using colors in displays.    

In fashioning the intellectual culture at the Media Lab, Negroponte wanted its artists, scientists and educators to develop technologies that they themselves would use.  "My point was that the innovation in computers would come from the creative users, not just from the science. For example, experimental musicians might naturally wish to push the envelope in audio signal processing," he says. "And people who were interested in new media could innovate¹⁴ in digital television technology."

Negroponte wanted the Media Lab to be "… a place you could come, and do research and advanced applications in the same place."   

The recipe worked. Under Negroponte's direction, the MIT Media Lab became the leading computer science lab for new media, making computers more user-friendly and far more capable as tools for creativity and the expressive¹⁵ imagination.

An Ethiopian boy uses the rugged¹⁶, Internet-connected laptop computer designed and distributed by 'One Laptop Per Child'.

One laptop per child

In 2000, Negroponte left the Media Lab to start "One Laptop Per Child." The non-profit group designed, and is now trying to get, a rugged, affordable¹⁷ laptop Internet-connected computer into the hands of every child in the world, especially in developing nations.

With one and a half million laptops already distributed around the globe, Negroponte has seen what his latest project can do  for children, their families and their communities.

"In Peru, we have found that as many as 50 percent of the kids, many in remote villages, are teaching their parents how to read and write" says Negroponte. Worldwide, schools report that their 'connected' children have fewer discipline problems,  their parents become more involved in the children's education and kids often literally¹⁸ run to school.

"That kind of impact is extraordinarily¹⁹ heartwarming to me," adds Negroponte, with a smile. 

It's all a part of a life's work for Nicholas Negroponte, a world class innovator who is making a positive difference by saying "let's brainstorm²⁰ a better way - together."
 

1 innovator   

n.改革者；创新者

参考例句：

• The young technical innovator didn't lose heart though the new system was not yet brought into a workable condition. 尽管这种新方法尚未达到切实可行的状况，这位青年技术革新者也没有泄气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Caesar planned vast projects and emerged as a great innovator. 恺撒制定了庞大的革新计划。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

2 aptitude   

n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资

参考例句：

• That student has an aptitude for mathematics.那个学生有数学方面的天赋。
• As a child,he showed an aptitude for the piano.在孩提时代，他显露出对于钢琴的天赋。

3 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

5 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

6 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

7 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

8 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。

9 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

10 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

11 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

13 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

14 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。

15 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

16 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

17 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

18 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

19 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

20 brainstorm   

vi.动脑筋，出主意，想办法，献计，献策

参考例句：

• The women meet twice a month to brainstorm and set business goals for each other.她们每个月聚会两次，在一起出谋献策，为各自制定生意目标。
• We can brainstorm a list of the most influential individuals in the company.我们可以集体讨论，列出该公司中最有影响的人员的名单。