VOA标准英语2014--50th Anniversary of a Language That Changed the World

 

50th Anniversary of a Language That Changed the World

May 1 marks the 50th anniversary of a special computer language aimed at enabling college students not trained in mathematics to use computers.  The birth of BASIC is now seen as a major step toward the era of personal computers.

50 years ago, computers were owned primarily by governments, businesses and universities, operated by programmers who wrote pages of instructions that consisted of mathematical formulas.

Hoping their school’s computer could be used by students from other departments, two mathematics professors at Dartmouth College, John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz, developed a simpler set of instructions.  It was called Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic¹ Instruction Code, or BASIC.

Kurtz spoke² to VOA via Skype.

“We deliberately³ invented a language that was almost devoid⁴ of many of the technical details that were present in other languages," said Kurtz.

BASIC translated English commands, such as IF…THEN, or GO...TO, into the numerical language computers could understand.

Kurtz said the response was overwhelming.

“Not only our students loved getting onto the computer any time they wanted to, for whatever purpose they wanted to, but even the faculty⁵ got interested. Of course not everybody, but many of them," he said.

That happened just as computers became fast enough to execute many commands at the same time, says Peggy Kidwell, Curator of Mathematics at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

“Now, that whole notion that anybody could run a computer permeates⁶ the whole world. And I would say that is not the immediate⁷ legacy⁸ of BASIC but it is a part of what was involved in building up on BASIC," said Kidwell.

Kurtz and Kemeny released BASIC to the public, free of charge, so the language quickly became widespread.  Kurtz says they hoped it would solve what they saw as a major upcoming problem.

“That is to say, the computer is going to be very important in the world and most people didn’t know anything about it because it was in the hands of experts," he said.

The rapid development of computers was followed by many improved versions of BASIC... and other easy to use languages.  

Today, BASIC is used only by enthusiasts⁹, but personal computers owe their existence to the first programing language that anyone could speak.

1 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

4 devoid   

adj.全无的，缺乏的

参考例句：

• He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
• The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。

5 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。

6 permeates   

弥漫( permeate的第三人称单数 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透

参考例句：

• Studies show that water vapor quickly permeates plastic packaging material. 研究证明水蒸汽能迅速渗入塑料封装材料。
• Democracy permeates the whole country. 民主主义（的思想）普及全国。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

9 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册