【课文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What does the computer industry thrive on apart from anarchy?
Technology trends may push Silicon Valley back to the future. Carver Mead, a pioneer in integrated circuits and a professor of computer science at the California Institute of Technology, notes there are now work-stations that enable engineers to design, test and produce chips right on their desks, much the way an editor creates a newsletter on a Macintosh. As the time and cost of making a chip drop to a few days and a few hundred dollars, engineers may soon be free to let their imaginations soar without being penalized by expensive failures. Mead predicts that inventors will be able to perfect powerful customized chips over a weekend at the office -- spawning a new generation of garage start-ups and giving the U.S. a jump on its foreign rivals in getting new products to market fast. "We"ve got more garages with smart people," Mead observes. "We really thrive on anarchy."
And on Asians. Already, orientals and Asian Americans constitute the majority of the engineering staffs at many Valley firms. And Chinese, Korean, Filipino and Indian engineers are graduating in droves from California"s colleges. As the heads of next-generation start-ups, these Asian innovators can draw on customs and languages to forge tighter links with crucial Pacific Rim markets. For instance, Alex Au, a Stanford Ph.D. from Hong Kong, has set up a Taiwan factory to challenge Japan"s near lock on the memory-chip market. India-born N.Damodar Reddy"s tiny California company reopened an AT & T chip plant in Kansas City last spring with financing from the state of Missouri. Before it becomes a retirement village, Silicon Valley may prove a classroom for building a global business.
US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, October 2, 1989
【New words and expressions 生词和短语】
silicon n. 硅
integrated adj. 综合的
circuit n. 线路，电路
California n. 加利福尼亚(美国州名)
workstation n. 工作站
chip n. 芯片，集成电路片，集成块
newsletter n. 时事通讯
Macintosh n. 苹果机，一种个人电脑
penalize v. 处罚，惩罚
customize v. 按顾客具体需要制造
spawn v. 引起，酿成
thrive v. 兴旺，繁荣
anarchy n. 无政府状态，混乱
oriental n. 东方人
constitute v. 构成
drove n. 群
innovator n. 发明者
forge v. 发展
memory-chip n. 内存条
AT & T 美国电话电报公司 (American Telephone and Telegraph)
Kansas n. 堪萨斯(美国州名)
Missouri n. 密苏里(美国州名)
【课文注释】
1. thrive on靠……健壮发展，以……旺盛。
thrive表示兴旺，繁荣。
例句：First thrive and then wive.
先立业，后成家。
例句：He thrives on criticism.
他接受批评而不断进步。
形容词形式为thriving，兴旺的，繁荣的。
例句：Every trade is thriving.
各行各业都欣欣向荣。
2. apart from，除了/更别说。
You use apart from when you are making an exception to a general statement.
例句：Apart from the injuries to his face and hands, he broke both legs.
他除了脸部和双手受伤以外，两条腿也断了。
3. much the way an editor creates a newsletter，就像一位编辑编出一份实事通讯一样。
4. be free to，可以做……。
be free of/from，不受某事的影响或伤害。
例句：She is not free to follow her own inclination in the matter ofmarriage.
她的婚姻不能自主。
例句：I want to enjoy a holiday free from all responsibilities.
我想要好好享受一个摆脱一切责任的假期。
5. soar，急速上升，数字飙升。
soar的本意是go up high in the air quickly，急速升入高空：
例句：Flames were soaring into the sky.
火焰直窜天空。
现在越来越多的用来形容数字的飞涨、飙升，是个很形象的比喻：
例句：The prices of new cars have soared.
新车价格暴涨。
6. constitute，组成，构成。
A constitute of B→A组成了B
A make up of B→A组成了B
A consist of B→A由B组成
这三个表示“组成”的词组很容易用错，尤其在定语从句中，这需要我们了解清楚它们使用时的语态，到底是用主动态还是被动态，到底是前面的组成后面的，还是后面的组成前面的，不要搞反了，下面通过例句来巩固练习。
例句1：The committee is constituted of members of all three parties. → A committee constituted of members of all three parties is founded.
委员会由所有三个政党的成员组成。 → 一个由三个政党的成员组成的委员会成立了。
例句2：Ten doctors make up of this mecical group. → A medical group made up of ten doctors has been built.
十名医生组成了这支医疗队。→一支由十名医生组成的医疗队已经成立。
例句3：The committee consists of ten members. → A committee consisting of ten members is founded.
委员会由十人组成。→ 一个由10人组成的委员会成立了。
7. in droves，一批批，成群地。
例句：Chinese officials have been coming to Singapore on learning trips in droves.
来自中国的政府官员不断前来新加坡进行学习访问。
8. draw on，依靠，凭借。
例句：He drew on his experience as a yachtsman to make a documentary programme.
他凭借自己游艇驾驶的经历拍摄了一部纪录片。
【参考译文】
技术的发展趋势有可能把硅谷重新推向未来。卡弗.米德 -- 集成电路的一位先驱，加州理工学院的计算机教授 -- 注意到，现在有些计算机工作站使工程技术人员可以在他们的办公桌上设计、试验和生产芯片，就像一位编辑在苹果机上编出一份时事通讯一样。由于制造一块芯片的时间已缩短至几天，费用也只有几百美元，因此，工程技术人员可能很块就可充分发挥他们的想像力，而不会因失败而造成经济上的损失。米德预言发明者可以在办公室用一个周末的时间生产了完美的、功能很强的、按客户需求设计的芯片 -- 造就新一代从汽车间起家的技术人员，在把产品推向市场方面使美国把它的外国对手们抢下一步。 “我们有更多的汽车间，那里有许多聪明人，”米德说。“我们确实是靠这种无政府状态发展起来的。”
靠的是亚洲人。硅谷许多公司中工程技术人员的大多数是东方人和亚裔美国人。中国、韩国、菲律宾和印度的工程师一批批地从加州的大学毕业。作为新掘起一代的带头人，亚裔发明家可以凭借他们在习惯和语言上的优势，与关键的太平洋沿岸市场建立起更加牢固的联系。比如说，亚历克斯.奥，一位来自香港的斯坦福大学博士，已经在台湾建厂，对日本在内存条市场上近似垄断的局面提出了挑战。印度出生的N.达莫达.雷迪经营的小小的加州公司在堪萨斯城重新启用了美国电话电报公司的一家芯片工厂，并从密苏里州获取了财政上的支持。在硅谷变成一个退休村之前，它很可能成为建立全球商业的一个教学场地。
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