10月28日，F(xiàn)acebook將公司改名為Meta
其實元宇宙早已不是新詞，1992年尼爾在其科幻小說 Snow Crash 中提出，很多科技公司已在元宇宙進行開拓。
在去年的《經(jīng)濟學人》中的科技刊中有一篇關于元宇宙的文章，今天的文章包括開頭段：
原文
What is real, anyway?
The Metaverse is coming
Witness any videoconference call, and it is striking how awkward it still is—everyone is in boxes, looking off in random directions. Microsoft tried to fix this recently with “Together” mode for its Teams application. Created by Jaron Lanier, a virtual-reality pioneer, it does away with boxes and puts everyone in a shared virtual space such as an auditorium. All participants see the whole group at once, as if they were all being reflected in a huge virtual mirror. Mr Lanier says this allows social and spatial awareness functions in the brain to work more naturally, and makes it harder to notice irregularities in eye contact.
精讀
題目 What is real, anyway? 到底什么才是真實？
什么才是真實的呢？元宇宙讓每個人都參與到虛擬現(xiàn)實的世界中來，能夠瞬間傳送，僅通過意識就能讓事情發(fā)生，有效超越物理世界的限制。但那都是虛擬的，能想象自己身邊的朋友都是模型嗎？
就像有位筆者寫到：Why should anyone want to pay for something that's ont real.
還有《經(jīng)濟學人》中：
A decade ago the idea of paying real money for virtual items was strange and exotic.
十年前，為虛擬物品花費真金白銀的想法很奇怪也很另類。
現(xiàn)在人們不同了，（想想你充了多少錢了），那么元宇宙呢？它又會怎樣？
Metaverse is coming. 元宇宙即將來臨。
Witness any videoconference call, and it is striking how awkward it still is—everyone is in boxes, looking off in random directions.
witness 作動詞 ，意思是見證，另外我們也可以用它來表示發(fā)展：
Recent years have witnessed a spurt of progress in AI
最近幾年，AI迅猛發(fā)展。
videoconference call 意思是 視頻電話會議。
strike 作動詞，可以表示自然災害襲擊某地，例如：
The cyclone that struck Bangladesh in 1970 killed 300,000-500,000 people.
1970年，颶風襲擊孟加拉國，造成30萬至50萬人死亡
strike 做名詞，常表示罷工，例如：
Rural areas have been worst hit by the strike.
這次罷工對農(nóng)村地區(qū)的影響最為嚴重。
striking 是它的形容詞，英文解釋：interesting and usual enough to attract attention.
相當于marked.
random 英文解釋：happening or chosen without any definite plan, aim, or pattern.舉個例子：
The company has introduced random drug testing of its employees.
公司對雇員進行隨機藥物測試
Witness any videoconference call, and it is striking how awkward it still is—everyone is in boxes, looking off in random directions.
見證任何一個視頻電話會議，都會發(fā)現(xiàn)它多么的尷尬——每個人都在方框里，向隨機的方向張望。
Microsoft tried to fix this recently with “Together” mode for its Teams application.
最近，微軟試圖用其團隊應用程序 “一起”模式來解決這個問題。
fix 在這里的意思是 解決 。
this 指上面令人尷尬的問題。
Created by Jaron Lanier, a virtual-reality pioneer, it does away with boxes and puts everyone in a shared virtual space such as an auditorium.
a virtual-reality pioneer，是Jaron Lanier的同位語，表明他的身份：虛擬現(xiàn)實的先驅(qū)。
away with 它的英文解釋：used to say that you would like to be rid of sb/sth.
auditorium 表示禮堂
Created by Jaron Lanier, a virtual-reality pioneer, it does away with boxes and puts everyone in a shared virtual space such as an auditorium.
該模式由虛擬現(xiàn)實的先驅(qū)，Jaron Lanier創(chuàng)造。該模式摒棄了方框，把每個人都放在一個共享的虛擬空間中，就像一個禮堂。
All participants see the whole group at once, as if they were all being reflected in a huge virtual mirror.
at once 在文中是同時的意思，舉個例子：
I can't do two things at once.
mirror 作名詞表示鏡子。舉個例子：
眼睛是心靈的窗戶。
The eye is the mirror of the soul.
mirror 做動作詞是，表示 反映，體現(xiàn)，和reflect 是同義詞，舉個例子：
Its ascent has mirrored the decline of traditional television viewing.
它的發(fā)展體現(xiàn)了傳統(tǒng)電視收視率的下降。
All participants see the whole group at once, as if they were all being reflected in a huge virtual mirror.
所有的參與者都能同時看到整個群的人，就像他們都被反映在一面巨大的虛擬鏡子中一樣。
Mr Lanier says this allows social and spatial awareness functions in the brain to work more naturally, and makes it harder to notice irregularities in eye contact.
allow 后面加名詞，表示 make it possible for something to happen「使...可以發(fā)生」。
比如：
In addition, new digital technologies have allowed more rapid trading of equities, quicker use of information, and thus shortens attention spans in financial markets.
此外，新數(shù)字技術加快了股票交易頻率，促進了信息使用，因此，也縮短了金融市場中的注意力持續(xù)時間。
equities 復數(shù)指「股票」
spatial 表示 空間的 。
make it harder 怎么理解？看兩個例子：
That makes it harder to predict.
這就很難預測
Clutter makes it harder to find the things you need.
東西一亂了就會讓你很難找到自己想找的東西。
所以，我們可以這樣來理解，理解成相反的一面，比如預測——很難預測。
Mr Lanier says this allows social and spatial awareness functions in the brain to work more naturally, and makes it harder to notice irregularities in eye contact.
拉尼爾先生說，這能讓大腦中的社交和空間意識功能能夠更加自然地工作，而且讓人們更難注意到眼生接觸中不正常的現(xiàn)象。
