Older people in particular are often surprised by the speed with which the internet's “next big thing” can cease being that. It even happens to Rupert Murdoch, a seventy-year-old media mogul. Two years ago he bought MySpace, a social-networking site that has become the world's largest. The other day, however, Mr Murdoch was heard lamenting that MySpace appears already to be last year's news, because everybody is now going to Facebook, the second-largest social network on the web, with 31m registered users at the last count.
Facebook was started in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard and not even 20 at the time, along with two of his friends. The site requires users to provide their real names and e-mail addresses for registration, and it then links them up with current and former friends and colleagues with amazing ease. Each Facebook “profile” becomes both a repository of each user's information and photos, and a social place where friends gossip, exchange messages and “poke” one another.
Facebook is generating so much excitement this summer that bloggers are comparing Mr Zuckerberg to Steve Jobs, the charismatic boss of Apple, and calling his company “the next Google” on the assumption that a stockmarket listing must be soon. It may be. Mr Zuckerberg has rejected big offers from new- and old-media giants such as Yahoo! and Viacom. One of his three sisters, who also works for Facebook, has posted a silly video online that makes fun of Yahoo!'s takeover bid and sings about “going for IPO”. And Facebook has advertised for a “stock administration manager” with expertise in share regulations.
And yet Mr Zuckerberg insists that he is “a little bit surprised about how focused everybody is on the ‘exit’.” The truth is that he is sick of talking about it. The venture capitalists backing Facebook may want to cash out, but Mr Zuckerberg is only 23 and doesn't need the money. He also happens to believe—rather as Google's young founders do—that he can, and should, change the world.
Facebook is distinctive in several ways. First, it is currently considered classier than, say, MySpace. One academic researcher argues that Facebook is for “good kids”, whereas MySpace is for blue-collar kids and “gangstas”. Facebook's roots are indeed college students. Mr Zuckerberg started Facebook at Harvard, after all. From there it spread to other elite universities, and it only opened up to the general population last September.
Mr Zuckerberg, however, thinks that the bigger difference is that Facebook is now becoming a “platform”. By this he means that it is evolving into a technology on top of which others can build new software tools and businesses. In May Mr Zuckerberg opened Facebook up for outsiders to do just that, promising that any advertising revenues that third parties collect within Facebook are theirs to keep. Already, thousands of little tools have been created that allow Facebook users to share and discover music, play Sudoku, lend each other money, and so on.
注（1）：本文选自Economist, 07/21/2007
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2004年真题Text 1。
1． What is Rupert Murdoch’s attitude towards the popularity of Facebook?
[A] Reserved consent
[B] Enthusiastic support
[C] Strongly alarmed
[D] Slight contempt
2． Which of the following is NOT the good reason to use Facebook?
[A] One can use false name to register.
[B] One can find high school classmates easily.
[C] One can have interesting communication with friends.
[D] One can share pictures and other materials.
3． The expression “Mr Zuckerberg is only 23 and doesn't need the money” (Line 3, Paragraph 4) most probably indicates _______.
[A] Mr Zuckerberg does not like money
[B] Mr Zuckerberg is too young to have too much money.
[C] Mr Zuckerberg does not need money for maintaining Facebook.
[D] Mr Zuckerberg is young enough to afford any failure and start again.
4． What can we learn from Paragraph 5?
[A] MySpace is more welcomed by college students.
[B] Facebook is popular among those of higher education.
[C] Both MySpace and Facebook are gaining popularity in universities.
[D] Both MySpaced and Facebook are always open to the public.
5． What is the author’s attitude towards the development of Facebook?
[A] Negative
[B] Supportive
[C] Objective
[D] Apprehensive
篇章剖析
本文是一篇说明文，主要介绍一个流行的网络交友社区Facebook。第一段引出了话题；第二段主要介绍什么是Facebook；第三、四段说明了关于该网站发展的一些近况；第五、六段则介绍了Facebook的一些特点。
词汇注释
Mogul [mEu`gQl] n. 显要人物；有权势的人 charismatic [9kAriz`mAtik] adj. 超凡魅力的
lament [lE`ment] vi. 悔恨, 悲叹 takeover n. 接收；接管
registration [9redVis`treiFEn] n. 注册 gangstas [`gANstE] n. 暴徒，黑社会成员
repository [ri`pCzitEri] n. 贮藏室, 仓库 elite [ei`li:t] n. 中坚分子, 精英
poke [pEuk] vi. 戳, 刺, 捅 revenue [`revinju:] n. 收入
难句突破
Facebook is generating so much excitement this summer that bloggers are comparing Mr Zuckerberg to Steve Jobs, the charismatic boss of Apple, and calling his company “the next Google” on the assumption that a stockmarket listing must be soon.
主体句式 Facebook is generating so much excitement that…
结构分析 该句子是一个长句，其复杂的结构主要在that引导的从句中。从句分为并列的两个部分，以and 连接，其中后半个部分中又套了一个以that引导的同位语从句。
句子译文 今年夏天Facebook变得更加炙手可热，博客写手们将扎克伯格先生和富有魅力的苹果公司总裁史蒂夫·乔布斯相提并论，并把前者的公司称作“下一个Google”—如果公司股票很快就能上市的话。
题目分析
1．C. 态度题。文章第一段中可以看出默多克先生称Facebook已经快赶上了MySpace，因此不由哀叹，可见他对Facebook的崛起感到了警觉。
2．A. 细节题。从文章第二段的描述中可以看出，Facebook用户必须要用自己的真实姓名和电子邮件地址进行注册，因此选项不符合。
3．D.语义题。文章第四段中说道一些投资者想要抽回他们的资金，但是“扎克伯格先生只有23岁，他并不需要钱”，根据上下文的意思，扎克伯格现在并不需要用那么多钱来做任何事情，而且他非常年轻，即使现在经历任何的失败，都随时有可能东山再起、卷土重来，因此可以推断该句子的意思为D选项。
4．B. 细节题。从文章第五段中可以看出，Facebook的创始人来自于哈佛大学，因此Facebook一开始是在精英大学的校园里传播的，早期并没有向公众开放。而且有研究者认为Facebook的使用者都是一些“好孩子”。由此可见Faceook在接受过较高等教育的人群中更加流行。
5．C. 态度题。纵观全文，作者在阐述Facebook的发展历程时，态度是非常客观的，并没有直接加入任何其个人的感情色彩。
参考译文
老人们经常惊讶于网络更新速度之快，今天还是“网络之最”的一个东西也许很快就不再是占据第一的位置。同样的事情也发生在70岁的传媒巨头罗伯特··默多克身上。两年前他收购了社交网站MySpace，现在已经成为了全球最大的网上交友社区。但是不久前我们却听说默多克先生在哀叹MySpace已经变成了明日黄花，因为现在所有的人都在用Facebook，全球第二大交友网站，最新统计数据表明已有3100万人注册使用。
Facebook始于2004年，由当时未满20岁的哈佛大学学生马克·扎克伯格和他的两个朋友创立。该网站要求用户提供他们的真实姓名和电子邮件地址进行注册，此后用户就能极其轻松地找到他们现在和以前的朋友及同事。每一个Facebook账号都是个人信息和照片的陈列室，在这里朋友之间可以尽情八卦、交换信息、甚至是“挠”对方。
今年夏天Facebook变得更加炙手可热，博客写手们将扎克伯格先生和富有魅力的苹果公司总裁史蒂夫·乔布斯相提并论，并把前者的公司称作“下一个Google”—如果公司股票很快就能上市的话。这是有可能的。扎克伯格先生已经拒绝了一些新老媒体巨头慷慨的收购计划，其中包括雅虎和Viacom。他三个姐姐中的一个也在Facebook工作，不久前她在网上放了一个视频嘲笑雅虎的收购申请，并且大力支持公司的“首次公开募股”。现在Facebook正在打广告招募一个熟知股票发行规则的“股票管理经理”。
扎克伯格坚持说他自己对于“所有的人对‘出局’都如此关注感到惊讶”。事实上他现在对讨论这个问题已经感到厌烦。一些资助Facebook的投机资本家想要抽出资金，但是扎克伯格先生只有23岁，他并不需要钱。他碰巧也信奉—就像年轻的Google创始人一样—他能够，也应该改变这个世界。
Facebook有以下一些特点。首先，目前人们认为它比MySpace等交友社区更加经典。一个学者称Facebook是给“好孩子”用的，而MySpace的用户群都是蓝领工人的孩子和黑社会成员。Facebook的根基在于广大大学生。毕竟，扎克伯格先生是在哈佛创立的Facebook，并从那里散播到了其他的精英大学。该网站仅在去年9月才向公众开放。
但是，扎克伯格先生认为最大的不同点在于Facebook正在变成一个“平台”。他的意思是现在引入了一项新的技术，从而在Facebook这个平台上可以建立新的软件工具和业务。五月的时候扎克伯格先生对外开放了这一功能，承诺任何第三方可以全部保留他们在Facebook上取得的广告收入。现在已经有成千上万的小工具被创造出来，使得Facebook用户能够分享和发现音乐、表演、益智游戏等，还可以相互借钱以及其他各种功能。
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