The World at Your Fingertips 寰宇資訊，盡在維基‏

by Marcus Maurice Anyone can add anything to Wikipedia. 任何人都能為維基百科的資料庫貢獻一己之力。 　　Some people love it, while others loathe it. However, with more than 16 million articles and being one of the most visited sites on the Internet, Wikipedia is a phenomenon like no other. In 2000, Jimmy Wales was working on Nupedia, an online encyclopedia where articles were written by experts and reviewed by peers. In 2001, Wikipedia was born as a side project to Nupedia, but it was different in that anyone could add articles. Soon, people from around the world were adding information in different languages, and content was skyrocketing. However, there was one big problem—people were vandalizing pages or adding their opinions to what was supposed to be a neutral online encyclopedia. 有些人喜歡它，有些人討厭它。然而，擁有一千 6 百萬筆資料，同時身為網路上最多瀏覽人次的網站之一，維基百科是一股獨特的網路現象。2000 年，吉米‧威爾斯進行一個名叫 Nupedia 的線上百科全書計劃，裡頭的文章都是由專家撰寫並透過同儕審閱。2001 年，作為 Nupedia 的旁系計劃，維基百科於是誕生，但它和前者不同的是，任何人都能網站裡增加文章。很快地，來自世界各地的民眾用不同的語言持續為維基百科添加新資訊，使其文章數量劇增。但其中存在一個很大的問題，那就是有人會破壞網頁，或是在本應保持中立態度的線上百科全書裡加入個人意見。 　　Wikipedia uses the wisdom of the masses to fix this problem. When an article is added or edited, it is available without being reviewed for immediate use. This leads to wrong dates, spelling errors, or worse. Fortunately, there are many people in the Wikipedia community that care about errors, so an inaccuracy is fixed within minutes. Wikipedia boasts having about the same percentage of mistakes as any other online encyclopedia written by professionals. 維基百科運用群眾的智慧來解決這個問題。當一篇文章被加進維基百科或經過校訂時，它可以在未經檢閱的情況下馬上被拿來使用。這導致日期、拼字等錯誤，甚至更嚴重的情形發生。所幸，很多維基百科社群的人正視這些錯誤，因此不正確的資料在幾分鐘內便會被修訂。與其他由專家所寫的線上百科全書擁有相同的錯誤率，這點令維基百科相當自豪。 　　While there is a large community that loves Wikipedia, there is a fair share of naysayers. Many college professors don't accept their students using Wikipedia as a footnote reference. They say it's a good place to start their research, but students must find credible sources. This doesn't depress Wikipedia and the community that loves it, as they are adding modifications every day. Wikipedia's reign as the number one place to get small bits of information on the Internet will undoubtedly continue. 雖然很多人喜歡使用維基百科，但也有不少人對它反感。許多大學教授不接受學生把維基百科當作註釋的參考文獻。他們表示，開始做研究時，它是一個很好的搜尋網站，但學生必須尋找可靠的資料來源。儘管如此，這並不影響維基百科的運作和喜愛它的民眾，因為網站每天一直在更新資訊。毫無疑問地，維基百科的網路資訊龍頭地位將會繼續維持下去。 1. Which of the following statements is true? (A) Wikipedia was originally edited by experts. (B) All the articles on Wikipedia are objective. (C) Anyone can contribute to Wikipedia. (D) People that work at Wikipedia are highly paid. 2. Why do some professors frown on Wikipedia? (A) They believe that it is not reliable enough. (B) They don't understand how Wikipedia works. (C) Professors don't usually add articles to it. (D) They don't trust anything they didn't write. 3. What is the author's conclusion about Wikipedia? (A) If they don't get vandalism under control, Wikipedia's credibility may be ruined. (B) The future of Wikipedia is very bright even though there are those that detest it. (C) Wikipedia can't be trusted because there is a lot of false information on the site. (D) People should stop adding information to Wikipedia. 精解字詞片語   1. fingertip n. 指尖 have sth at one's fingertips　　手頭有某物（隨時可供使用）；對某事瞭若指掌 例: I had all my tools at my fingertips before I started to put the bookshelf together. （在開始組裝書架前，我先把所有工具準備好。） 2. loathe vt. 厭惡，憎恨 例: Stella loathes eggplants above all other vegetables. （所有蔬菜中史黛拉最討厭茄子。） 3. phenomenon n. 現象；非凡的人∕事物（單數形） phenomena n. 現象（複數形） 例: Lady Gaga has become a phenomenon over the past few years. （女神卡卡過去幾年來引領一股潮流。） 4. review vt. 審閱，檢視 例: I'll have my lawyer review the contract and get back to you in three days. （我會請律師檢視合約，3 天後再給你回覆。） 5. in that + S + V　　因為…… ＊ 此處 in that 視作副詞連接詞，即等於 because。 例: Iron and gold are different in that iron rusts and gold does not. （鐵和黃金不同在於鐵會生銹，而黃金不會。） 6. skyrocket vi. 劇增，急升 例: Because of the economic recession, the unemployment rate has skyrocketed. （由於經濟不景氣，失業率急速攀升。） 7. vandalize vt. 蓄意破壞（公物） 例: The boy vandalized one of the walls of the school with spray paint. （那個男孩用噴漆蓄意破壞學校的一面牆。） 8. be supposed to V　　應該要∕理當…… 例: I'm supposed to hand in the report today, but I haven't even typed one word. （我應該今天要交報告，但我連一個字都還沒打。） 9. available a. 可利用的，可得到的 例: This new shop has a variety of shoes available in all sizes and colors. （這家新開的店有各種尺寸及顏色的鞋子。） 10. boast vt. 以（擁有）……而自豪 & vi. 自誇，誇耀 注意: boast 作及物動詞時，主詞通常是某『機構』或某『地方』。boast 亦可作不及物動詞，與介詞 of 並用，主詞則為『人』。 boast of/about...　　自誇……，誇耀…… = brag of/about... 例: The town boasts specialty foods and fantastic scenery. （這個城鎮以擁有特色美食和絕佳風景自豪。） 例: John is always boasting about how he became a millionaire at the age of 20. （約翰總愛吹噓他如何在 20 歲就成為百萬富翁。） 11. a fair share of...　　一樣多的一份…… one's fair share of...　　某人應得的一份…… 例: Beth complained that she didn't get her fair share of the inheritance when her father died. （貝絲抱怨，當她父親去世時，她沒拿到應得的那份遺產。） 12. credible a. 可靠的，可信的 例: Helen is a credible person. She always treats everyone with honesty. （海倫是個可靠的人。她一向待人誠實。） 13. depress vt. 使沮喪，使意志消沈 例: Rainy days always depress me. （雨天總讓我感到心情低落。） 14. undoubtedly adv. 無疑地 = without (a) doubt = no doubt 例: This is undoubtedly the best sashimi that I have ever tasted. （這無疑是我吃過最好吃的生魚片。） 15. contribute to...　　對……有貢獻；捐獻給…… 例: Someone has been contributing to this charity anonymously for 20 years. （有位人士匿名捐款給這個慈善團體已有 20 年。） 16. frown on...　　對……表示不滿，不同意…… frown vi. 皺眉 例: My father frowned on my decision to major in fashion design. （我的父親不同意我主修時裝設計。） 17. get...under control　　把……控制住 例: The police quickly got the riot in front of city hall under control. （警方很快就將市政府前的暴動控制住。） 單字小舖   1. encyclopedia n. 百科全書 2. peer n. 同儕，同事 3. side a. 附屬的，附帶的 a side effect　　副作用 4. content n. 內容 5. neutral a. 中立的 6. the masses　　大眾，民眾 7. edit vt. 校訂；編輯 8. inaccuracy n. 不準確，不精確 9. professional n. 專家 10. naysayer n. 反對者；唱反調的人 11. footnote n. 腳註，註解 12. reference n. 參考文獻 13. modification n. 修正，修改 14. reign n. 支配，主宰 15. objective a. 客觀的 subjective a. 主觀的 16. reliable a. 可靠的 17. vandalism n. 故意破壞公物的行為 18. credibility n. 可靠性 19. detest vt. 厭惡 答案：1. (C)　2. (A)　3. (B)