美國禁抖音、微信?從資訊安全學多益單字

(Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash)

美中矛盾不斷升級,如今也延伸到了科技戰,其中川普政府聲稱風靡各國的中國抖音(TikTok)和微信(WeChat)等社交軟體,對美國國情造成了資安上的巨大威脅,大張旗鼓地逼迫抖音必須完全出賣所有權給美國企業,否則就封殺。今天藉由這個議題,我們也來談談國家資安的相關多益英文用法吧!

1. Absent hard proof, what’s left are more extrapolated dangers, like whether the Chinese government, which the US says was responsible for a notorious series of breaches at American institutions, would pilfer user data from TikTok, or censor content on the platform the way it tightly controls the internet within its own borders.
(缺乏實際的證據,剩下的便是純推論的危險,例如美國宣稱中國政府應為一系列惡名昭彰入侵美國政府機構的事件負責,以及中國是否從抖音上竊取使用者資訊,或是如同嚴格控管其內陸網路使用般地審查平台上的內容。)

extrapolated dangers 推論的危險

extrapolate (v.)是推論的意思,藉由過去的經驗或現有的資訊來做合理的推斷,衍伸詞如extrapolation(n.)和extrapolative(adj.),都遵循字尾詞性變化的規則,「-tion」名詞、「-tive」形容詞。extrapolator(n.)在新聞英文上面算是常見單字,表示做出合理推論的人,同義詞有conclude、deduce等。

a notorious series of breaches 一系列惡名昭彰的入侵

a series of是多益常見片語,意思是一系列的,後面多加複數名詞,且帶有前後的順序意味;同義詞a variety of也是加上複數單字,意思則是各式各樣的、多種的,所以此二片語雖然都是加複數名詞,用法上還是有點差異。breach(n.)在這裡指的是網路入侵,它也有違法的、破壞、破裂等意思,有動詞同型breach。

notorious(adj.)意思是因為做過不好的事而有名,可翻成惡名昭彰的,名詞變化是字尾變成「-iety」notoriety。常見同義詞有infamous、disreputable等,這兩個單字都是加上否定字首,famous有名的加上「in-」變成「因不好原因而有名的」,reputable也是有名氣的,加上「dis-」也變成「有不好名聲的」。

censor content on the platform 在平台上審查內容

censor指的是審查,若看到影片上或圖片上有打馬賽克也可以用這個單字,就是被審查的。

The movie was censored by the government.
(這部電影被政府上了馬賽克。)

content表示內容,外文書的目錄也是用content,目錄就是書本內容的提示,所以很好理解。platform是複合名詞,過去常表示交通運輸的月台,如今網路的便利促使這個單字被拿來代表網路平台,舊字新用。

2. Like other apps, security researchers have found bugs inside TikTok, which were later patched. More recently, some users were alarmed when they learned TikTok was requesting access to their clipboards, which could potentially expose sensitive data like passwords.
(如同其他的應用軟體,安全研究專家在抖音內發現的程式錯誤已在後來被補強。最近部分使用者發現,抖音要求要取得他們剪貼簿的內容,有可能暴露如密碼等的敏感資訊,並對此感到惶恐不安。)

bugs were later patched 補強程式錯誤

電腦軟體內的程式錯誤英文是bug,bug原意是臭蟲,程式執行錯誤就好像在電腦內放了隻臭蟲造成。要去除錯誤會用patch補強,patch原本是指衣服的補丁,這裡則是用來用做彌補、修正錯誤,也是電腦常見用字。

potentially expose sensitive data 有可能會暴露敏感資訊

potentially(adv.)和possibly類似,意思是有可能會發生,兩者可做同義詞使用。expose有暴露的意思,exposure是名詞變化,除了有實際暴露的用法,也有抽象用法,如句中表達。

3. TikTok says the functionality was part of an anti-spam feature that detected when users tried to post the same comment on different videos over and over again, and that it never retained data from anyone’s clipboard. The feature has since been disabled.
(抖音表示此功能不過是反垃圾郵件功能的一部分,會偵測使用者在不同影片上多次張貼的重複性評論,且不會保留用戶剪貼簿中的任何資料。此功能已被禁用。)

an anti-spam feature 反垃圾郵件功能

「anti-」字首是指反義詞,「spam」是垃圾郵件之意,因此anti-spam就是反垃圾郵件之意;feature有特色、特徵之意,這裡主要指的是軟體功能特色。

The feature has since been disabled 此功能已被禁用

disable(v.)來自able(adj.)的變化,加上「dis-」字首代表否定,指的是使「無法做…」,因此延伸出有使殘廢之意,如disabled residents(身障人士)。名詞變化disability,如disability insurance(身障保險)。

【多益模擬試題】

Jacobs Office Depot
INVOICE NO. 501
Details of purchase: 5 boxes of A4 paper – $1.50 per box
Total Cost: $7.50
Customer: John Goodman Solicitors
Tax Number: T1528711444
Details of payment: Payment received in cash. Direct debit has been set up on customer’s bank account as customer wishes to renew the order on a monthly basis.
Details of delivery: Customer collected in person. Subsequent orders to be delivered on the first of the month to the following address: 2 Appleby Road, Rhode Avenue, New York.
No delivery charge will apply.

1. Which of the following statements is accurate?
(A) Jacobs Office Depot placed an order for 5 boxes of A4 paper.
(B) John Goodman Solicitors purchased 5 boxes of A4 paper at a cost of $7.50 per box.
(C) John Goodman Solicitors invoiced Jacobs Office Depot for 5 boxes of A4 paper.
(D) John Goodman Solicitors paid $7.50 in cash for 5 boxes of A4 paper.

2. What method of payment will be used in future?
(A) Payment in cash
(B) Payment in cash on renewal of order.
(C) The customer’s bank account will be debited monthly.
(D) No charges will apply.

解析:

1. 正解為(D)。本文的內容與商業發票相關,因此要一個一個答案去確認細節是否完全符合。選項(A)是說「Jacobs Office Depot下了個5箱A4紙張的訂單」,不過很明顯這是搞錯對象,Jacobs Office Depot應該是開立發票的那方,當然就是賣方,而買方在後面提到顧客部分寫著Customer: John Goodman Solicitors,因此這選項不正確。選項(B)則可從第一行提到「購買明細:五箱的A4紙張,每箱$1.50」來判斷,因此「John Goodman Solicitors訂購5箱A4紙張,每箱$7.50」不對,$7.50應該是總數花費。選項(C)「John Goodman Solicitors開立5箱A4紙張給Jacobs Office Depot」,這題其實邏輯跟(A)一樣相反了,應該是後者(賣方)開立發票。如此一來,只剩選項(D)是正確的,「John Goodman Solicitors總共付了$7.50購買5箱A4紙張」,正好呼應了選項(B)的邏輯。

2. 正解為(C)。題意為「未來會採用什麼付款方式?」就要找付款方式那一行 「付款明細:第一筆現金付款。由於顧客表示要續約,已設立公司帳戶以利每月向顧客銀行帳戶請款。」所以未來的付款方式是銀行帳戶扣款,答案選(C)。

文/Buffy Kao

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