2020考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 41

Unit 41

As he lays out his vision for the future of open-source software, Mark Shuttleworth is enthusiastic, but he looks tired. He has been up late negotiating yet another deal as part of his mission to bring open source to a wider audience. A successful South African entrepreneur during the dotcom era, he wants open-source advocates to lose their religion and concentrate on ease-of-use instead. And he is putting his money where his mouth is. Since 2004, he has been using his fortune to fund the Ubuntu project, which makes a user-friendly version of Linux, the open-source operating system. Ubuntu is a Zulu and Xhosa term that roughly means “universal bond of sharing between humans”. Ubuntu’s slogan is “Linux for human beings”, and it is aimed at mainstream computer users. For although Linux is popular on servers, it is not, so far, used on many desktops.

In part that is because open-source software tends to polarise opinion. It has many critics who suspect that software written by idealistic guys, and made available free to anyone who wants to download it, must be some kind of communist plot. Zealous believers, meanwhile, long for open source to triumph over the evil empires of commercial software. This clash is often depicted as an epic struggle between Linux and Microsoft’s proprietary Windows operating system. But the truth is that most computer users do not know or care about the politics of open-source software. Mr Shuttleworth says most people simply want to read their e-mail, browse the web and so on.

“It’s very easy to declare victory,” says Mr Shuttleworth, describing the conceited attitude of some open-source supporters. “There are big chunks of the software world that depend on free software.” But Ubuntu’s aim is not to conquer the software establishment and replace its products. Rather than seeing open-source software as one of two competing ideologies and focusing on the struggle, Ubuntu thinks about the user. Ubuntu is a complete bundle of software, from operating system to applications and programming tools, that is updated every six months and, says Mr Shuttleworth, will always be free. Taking the debate out of open source is intended to move adoption beyond politically motivated enthusiasts and encourage mass adoption of the software on its merits.

It is a bold scheme, but Mr Shuttleworth is not a man to think small. He was raised in a suburb of Cape Town, an unlikely place from which to join the internet revolution. Yet that was his goal from the day he first used a web browser. When he saw that the internet was switching from a text-based to a graphical medium, “I sensed that everything was going to change,” he says. He spent a couple of years looking for the right way to get involved, given his situation. “I had to find something to do that was cutting-edge, without requiring much bandwidth or venture capital,” he says. He succeeded handsomely by setting up a company, Thawte, that made digital certificates and security software to support internet commerce. He sold the firm for over $500m to VeriSign in 1999, near the peak of the dotcom boom.

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象為2004年真題Text 3。

1. By the word “religion”（Line 4, Paragraph 1）, the author means _______.

A) Christianity

B) religious advocation

C) mysterious thoughts

D) crazy belief

2. How does the author feel about the Ubuntu project?

A) Objective.

B) Optimistic.

C) Discouraged.

D) Confused.

3. When mentioning “Mr Shuttleworth is not a man to think small” （Line 1, Paragraph 4） the author means _______.

A) Mr Shuttleworth does not look small

B) Mr Shuttleworth is very ambitious

C) Mr Shuttleworth does not like to think about small projects

D) Mr Shuttleworth only cares about important and great things

4. What is the difference between Mr Shuttleworth and some zealous open-source advocates?

A) Mr Shuttleworth focuses on the popularity and mass applicability of the open-source software.

B) Mr Shuttleworth intends to arouse the public awareness of the political controversy on open-source.

C) Zealous advocates only care about the political fight against Microsoft’s commercial operating systems.

D) Zealous advocates are not aware of the open-source merits in terms of everyday use.

5. Which of the following is NOT the characteristic of the Ubuntu software?

A) It is free to download from Internet and is updated regularly.

B) It is user-oriented and can therefore be used with ease.

C) It tends to replace the current commericial software.

D) It can be used by anyone who has access to Internet.

篇章剖析

本文是一篇說(shuō)明文，主要講述了南非富商馬克·沙特爾沃思在普及開(kāi)源軟件的努力。第一段簡(jiǎn)要介紹了沙特爾沃思希望普及開(kāi)源軟件的想法和他的Ubuntu項(xiàng)目；第二段筆鋒一轉(zhuǎn)，討論了對(duì)于開(kāi)源軟件的兩種截然不同的觀點(diǎn)；第三段中沙特爾沃思辨析和闡述了他堅(jiān)持自己信念和項(xiàng)目的理由；第四段簡(jiǎn)要介紹了沙特爾沃思產(chǎn)生支持開(kāi)源軟件想法的原因。

詞匯注釋

advocate /??dv?k?t/ n. 提倡者，鼓吹者

bond /b?nd/ n. 結(jié)合，聯(lián)結(jié)

polarise /?p?ul?ra?z/ v. 使兩極分化

zealous /?zel?s/ adj. 熱心的，狂熱的

triumph /?tra??mf/ v. 獲得勝利

clash /kl??/ n. 沖突

conceited /k?n?si?t?d/ adj. 自以為是的，傲慢的

chunk /t???k/ n. 相當(dāng)大的數(shù)量

bundle /?b?ndl/ n. 捆，束，包

adoption /??d?p??n/ n. 采用

bold /b??ld/ adj. 大膽的

scheme /ski?m/ n. 安排，配置，計(jì)劃

cutting-edge /?k?ti??ed?/ adj. 前沿的

bandwidth /?b?ndw?dθ/ n. 精力

難句突破

Since 2004, he has been using his fortune to fund the Ubuntu project, which makes a user-friendly version of Linux, the open-source operating system.

主體句式：He has been using his fortune to fund the Ubuntu project.

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句中which引導(dǎo)的定語(yǔ)從句，用來(lái)修飾前面提到的Ubuntu project。最后的短語(yǔ)是一個(gè)同位語(yǔ)，用來(lái)解釋說(shuō)明什么是Linux。

句子譯文：自從2004年以來(lái)，他一直以個(gè)人財(cái)產(chǎn)資助Ubuntu項(xiàng)目，該項(xiàng)目致力于為開(kāi)源操作系統(tǒng)Linux開(kāi)發(fā)一個(gè)更加便于用戶使用的版本。

題目分析

1. D 語(yǔ)義題。這篇文章與宗教無(wú)關(guān)，所以此處的religion是一種引申義和比喻義，即有一些開(kāi)源軟件的支持者們對(duì)于開(kāi)源軟件有一種宗教般地瘋狂崇拜，而他們并不關(guān)心怎么樣把開(kāi)源軟件簡(jiǎn)單化，從而使得大眾都能夠使用。因此答案為D。

2. A 情感態(tài)度題。作者在本文中的分析態(tài)度是相當(dāng)客觀的，既闡述了反對(duì)者的想法，也擺出了支持者沙特爾沃思的辯解，而作者本人并沒(méi)有發(fā)表個(gè)人見(jiàn)解。

3. B 語(yǔ)義題。從上下文來(lái)看，盡管Ubuntu項(xiàng)目的整體計(jì)劃看上去非常大膽，但是顯然沙特爾沃思是信心十足的，他并不是那種輕易認(rèn)輸?shù)娜耍簿褪钦f(shuō)他是非常雄心勃勃的。

4. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章全篇的重點(diǎn)都在談?wù)摰囊粋€(gè)重要話題就是，開(kāi)源軟件的支持者們癡迷的是這種軟件本身以及與商用軟件的斗爭(zhēng)，而沙特爾沃思的關(guān)注點(diǎn)則是在于如何讓更多的大眾方便地使用這款軟件。

5. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第三段談到了Ubuntu軟件包的一些特點(diǎn)，它可以免費(fèi)下載、面向公眾，而且每六個(gè)月更新一次。更重要的是，它不像Linux一樣只是在服務(wù)器上非常流行，而是把目標(biāo)放在廣大普通用戶上，因而A、B和D選項(xiàng)是正確的。C錯(cuò)誤的原因在于沙特爾沃思從來(lái)不打算要用Ubuntu替代商業(yè)軟件。

參考譯文

當(dāng)展望開(kāi)源軟件的未來(lái)時(shí)，馬克·沙特爾沃思熱情十足，但是他看起來(lái)非常疲憊。他最近正在為另一樁生意談判，這也是他立志要把開(kāi)源帶給更多人的使命的一部分。作為一名在信息時(shí)代成功的南非企業(yè)家，他希望開(kāi)源倡導(dǎo)者們能放棄他們的盲目崇拜，而把精力集中到如何使開(kāi)源軟件更加方便地為人們使用上來(lái)。他自己也把錢都投在他說(shuō)的這些事情上。自從2004年以來(lái)，他一直以個(gè)人財(cái)產(chǎn)資助Ubuntu項(xiàng)目，該項(xiàng)目致力于為開(kāi)源操作系統(tǒng)Linux開(kāi)發(fā)一個(gè)更加便于用戶使用的版本。Ubuntu是一個(gè)祖魯語(yǔ)和科薩語(yǔ)的術(shù)語(yǔ)，大意就是“在人類之間分享的廣泛聯(lián)系”。Ubuntu項(xiàng)目的口號(hào)是“為全人類服務(wù)的Linux”，其目標(biāo)人群是主流電腦使用者。這是因?yàn)楸M管Linux在服務(wù)器上非常流行，但到目前為止卻很少為臺(tái)式機(jī)所使用。

這部分是因?yàn)殚_(kāi)源軟件會(huì)使人們的觀點(diǎn)分為兩個(gè)極端。許多批評(píng)家懷疑這種由理想主義者設(shè)計(jì)、任何人都可以下載使用的軟件一定是一種共產(chǎn)主義的陰謀。同時(shí)，那些開(kāi)源軟件的狂熱支持者卻渴盼開(kāi)源能夠最終戰(zhàn)勝商業(yè)軟件的邪惡帝國(guó)。人們經(jīng)常把這一沖突描繪成Linux和微軟擁有版權(quán)的視窗操作系統(tǒng)之間史詩(shī)般的斗爭(zhēng)。但是事實(shí)上，大部分電腦使用者都不知道或者不關(guān)心關(guān)于開(kāi)源軟件的政治斗爭(zhēng)。沙特爾沃思說(shuō)，大部分人在電腦上想做的事情只不過(guò)是收發(fā)電子郵件、瀏覽網(wǎng)頁(yè)等等。

“我們很容易就可以宣布勝利，”沙特爾沃思先生在談及一些開(kāi)源支持者的偏見(jiàn)時(shí)說(shuō)道，“軟件世界的很大一部分都取決于免費(fèi)軟件。”但是Ubuntu項(xiàng)目的目的不是征服已有的軟件世界并以其他產(chǎn)品取而代之。Ubuntu并不把開(kāi)源軟件看成是兩種計(jì)算機(jī)理念的一種，也不關(guān)注其中的斗爭(zhēng)，Ubuntu只是在為客戶考慮。沙特爾沃思先生介紹道，Ubuntu是一組完整的軟件包，包括操作系統(tǒng)和各種應(yīng)用及編程工具，每六個(gè)月更新一次，而且永遠(yuǎn)都是免費(fèi)的。讓開(kāi)源遠(yuǎn)離斗爭(zhēng)，讓開(kāi)源不僅僅是一些有政治目的的狂熱者的話題，而把重點(diǎn)放在鼓勵(lì)大眾都充分利用這種軟件的價(jià)值。

這是一個(gè)大膽的計(jì)劃，但是我們不可以小看沙特爾沃思先生。他成長(zhǎng)于開(kāi)普敦的郊區(qū)，那是一個(gè)并不像是能夠參與到互聯(lián)網(wǎng)革命的地方。但是從他使用網(wǎng)頁(yè)瀏覽器的第一天開(kāi)始，他就給自己立了這個(gè)目標(biāo)。當(dāng)他看到原先基于文本的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)向圖像媒體轉(zhuǎn)移的時(shí)候，“我感到事情將要開(kāi)始變化了，”他說(shuō)。在那種情形下，他花了幾年的時(shí)間尋找如何介入這一領(lǐng)域的最佳方式。“我想找一些最前沿的東西來(lái)做，而不用花很多的精力或投機(jī)資本，”他說(shuō)道。他成功地成立了一家名為Thawte的公司，致力于制作數(shù)碼證書和安全軟件，從而支持網(wǎng)絡(luò)商務(wù)。1999年，信息泡沫時(shí)代發(fā)展接近高峰的時(shí)期，他以5億美元的價(jià)格將該公司賣給了VeriSign。