學英文/臉書outage長達六小時 竟用對手平台發道歉聲明!

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社群龍頭臉書與旗下Instagram在周一(4日)深夜無預警大當機,造成全球用戶無法下載或更新內容,各地哀鴻遍野。近年來,社群媒體對於個人尤其青少年的影響愈來愈顯著,如此嚴重情形引起社會廣大的討論與爭議,也使得Facebook面臨各方壓力。無獨有偶,一名臉書前員工離職後當起吹哨者,揭露公司將商業利益置於社會責任之上,更是讓Facebook的危機雪上加霜。本次讓我們從Facebook近期的相關新聞學英文吧!

outage當機、斷電

Around six hours after Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram went down, service started coming back online, though coverage was still spotty. Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp all suffered outages midday Monday, according to public statements from the three Facebook services. (CNN)
(根據Facebook三項服務的公開聲明,Facebook、Instagram和WhatsApp都在周一中午當機。在Facebook、WhatsApp、和Instagram當機大約六小時後,服務逐漸重新上線,儘管覆蓋範圍仍然參差不齊。)

coverage (n.)除了「覆蓋」還有「新聞報導」的意思,就是針對某個主題涵蓋性的報導。在美式英文中,這個單字也可代表「保險涵蓋範圍」。

What did you think of the BBC’s election coverage?
(你認為BBC的選舉報導如何?)

There is no coverage for expenses under $5 000.
(5000美元以下的費用不予承保。)

spotty (adj.)「零星的」來自於spot (n.) 的名詞變化,spot是「斑點、點」的意思,當作動詞時,可解釋為「看見;注意到」;spot sb ving sth「看見某人做某事」後方一定要用動名詞。除此之外,spot當名詞有「地點、場所」的意思,on the spot這個副詞片語在多益測驗中很常見,意思為「在現場」。

He had a spot of grease on his tie.
(他的領帶上有一個油漬。)

I wore that skirt with the green spots.
(我穿著那件有著綠色斑點的裙子。)

If you spot any mistakes in the article just mark them with a pencil.
(如果你注意到文章裡任何的錯誤,就用鉛筆標出來就好。)

The police spotted him driving a stolen car.
(警方發現他開著贓車。)

This looks like a nice spot for a picnic.
(這裡看起來是個適合野餐的好地點。)

The police were called and they were on the spot within three minutes.
(警方接到報警電話後,三分鐘內就來到現場。)

outage (n.)「當機、斷電」是out的變化名詞,因此 The power is out. 也就是There is a power outage. (斷電中。)的意思。

press施壓、媒體

The outage came amid mounting difficulties for the company. At a Senate hearing on Sept. 30, Sen. Richard Blumenthal pressed Facebook global head of safety Antigone Davis on Facebook-owned Instagram and the platform’s potential negative impact on children, particularly young girls.
(當機事件對臉書來說雪上加霜。在9月30日的一場聽證會上,參議員Richard Blumenthal就 Facebook 旗下的 Instagram 以及該平台對兒童,尤其是年輕女孩的潛在負面影響,向 Facebook 全球安全負責人Antigone Davis施壓。)

mounting difficulties「日益困難」,mount當動詞原來字面上是「上馬」的意思,常見小說裡主角要騎馬時的動作;往上騎馬的動作就是往上升的概念,因此衍伸而出「生長、增長」的意思。

She mounted her horse and rode off.
(她上了馬後就騎走了。)

The children’s excitement is mounting as Christmas gets nearer.
(孩子們的興奮隨著聖誕節逼近越來越強烈。)

press sb on sth(用某件事施壓某人)很常見於新聞報導。press (v.)字面上是「壓、擠、按」的意思,延伸出來就是「對某人施加壓力」。常見的變化有impress,字首「im-」有往裡面的概念,因此往裡面壓下去,就會留下印記,延伸出「留下深刻印象」的意思; express的 字首「ex-」則是往外的意思,往外施壓,解釋為「表達自己」。

press的介系詞要用on,大部分要表達針對某件事的概念都會使用on這個介系詞,更精確地表達某一個議題。最後, press作為名詞還有一個重要用法,就是「新聞媒體」,因此press conference就是「記者會」的意思。

The incident has been widely reported in the press.
(這個時間已在媒體上被大量報導。)

【多益模擬試題】

1. What are new administrative employees scheduled to do?
(A) Distribute mail to the administrative offices
(B) Visit a company facility
(C) Discuss their jobs with Mr. Miller
(D) Guide customers around the company

2. When will group A go to the distribution area?
(A) From 10:20 A.M. to 10:30 A.M.
(B) From 10:30 A.M. to 11:15 A.M.
(C) From 11:15 A.M. to 12:00 noon
(D) From 1:00 P.M. to 1:45 P.M.

解析:

1. 正解為(B)。題目問「新的行政員工被安排做什麼?」首先看標題New Administrative Employee Training就可得知,這是針對新進員工的訓練課程,而從後方的Tour of Packaging Facility就可以判斷出這裡安排的訓練是要去參觀包裝工廠。故(B)「訪問一間公司工廠」為正解。

2. 正解為(C)。題目問「A組人員何時會去分配廠區?」從時間安排表中可得知11:15~12:00時A組人員被分配到distribution center分配中心。故(C)為正解。

文/Buffy Kao

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