VOA标准英语2015--洛杉矶硅谷海滩——著名硅谷的潜在竞争对手

LA's Silicon¹ Beach: Upstart Rival to Famed Silicon Valley 洛杉矶硅谷海滩——著名硅谷的潜在竞争对手

LOS ANGELES—

America's high tech industry is centered in California's Silicon Valley, a sprawling² region on the San Francisco Bay that is home to Google, Apple and other industry giants.  But tech start-ups can also be found further south in the state, in and around the city of Los Angeles.  "Silicon Beach," an upstart rival to the larger Silicon Valley.

The company VNTANA from the Spanish word for “window,” is one of many  tech start-ups near Los Angeles.  It is based in the seaside community of Santa Monica, and creates holograms, three- dimensional images for education, marketing³, and entertainment.  

Engineer Ashley Crowder co-founded the company.

“It takes two people less than an hour to set up the screen and it can be shipped anywhere in the world," said Crowder.

The system allows live remote appearances and virtual concerts.  It is interactive⁴ and users can control the projected images with gestures.  Company co-founder⁵ Ben Conway demonstrates with a cartoon-like avatar projected on a translucent⁶ screen.  When he moves his arms and legs, the avatar copies him.

He says, like many Silicon Beach companies, VNTANA takes advantage of its closeness to Hollywood.

“We have a focus on entertainment and on content.  And that's something that the entertainment community really understands," said Conway.

Silicon Valley is oriented more toward technology, while Silicon Beach focuses on entertainment.

But the sector⁷ is diverse.  A recent gathering⁸ of LA start-ups by the group Town Hall Los Angeles included Matthew Goldman, founder of Wallaby Financial, which advises consumers on which credit cards to use.

“We help consumers to save money, earn rewards, avoid interest.  Whatever it is they need to do by giving them intelligent recommendations about how to use their credit cards every day," said Goldman.

He says the app works through their smart phones

“The phone locates you and it communicates with our servers that make these recommendations and do the intelligence and send back the results to your phone, in virtually real time," he said.

The Los Angeles tech sector spreads from the city to the beach and the suburbs.  Analysts say its size is hard to measure, since technology permeates⁹ so many LA industries, but Silicon Beach is home to many hundreds of tech start-ups, and it's growing. 

1 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。

2 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

4 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 translucent   

adj.半透明的；透明的

参考例句：

• The building is roofed entirely with translucent corrugated plastic.这座建筑完全用半透明瓦楞塑料封顶。
• A small difference between them will render the composite translucent.微小的差别,也会使复合材料变成半透明。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 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。