松鼠皮一直在寻找，

有你们学英语的世界在哪里，

    本栏目分为英文美句、英文歌鉴赏、双语阅读等3个部分，请根据需要食用

The last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder if only. 

人生最不希望的事情就是，回忆往昔，心想如果当初。（所以好好把握考研生活哦！）

英文歌鉴赏

双语阅读

今日目标：英语阅读量997，你能做到吗？

Part A：英语精读

特点：篇幅接近考研阅读字数，适合仔细研读，逐句给出，每篇最后有单词速记

英语精读（526words） 

The myth of the online echo chamber

网络回声室的神话

Back in the early 2000s many commentators（评论员） were still marvelling（惊奇） at the freedom of the internet and its democratic（民主） potential when the US legal scholar Cass Sunstein offered a stark（完全的） warning.

21世纪初，当许多评论家还惊叹于网络的自由与民主前景时，美国法学专家桑斯坦（Cass Sunstein）已提出了严重警告。

This virtual Wild West, he said, might allow us to overcome some of the social and geographical（地理的） barriers between people, so that we establish a more balanced view of the world around us. But it was equally possible that we would simply erect（建立） new fences（障碍）, as like-minded people siphon（虹吸） themselves into homogenous（同质的） groups who all share the same viewpoints and gather their information from the same sources.

桑斯坦认为，网络这片虚拟的"美国旧西部"可能令我们打破人与人之间的社会及地缘障碍，对世界的看法更加公允，但也有可能建立新的壁垒，因为想法类似的人会聚集抱团，观点一致，并只从相同渠道获取信息。

“Although millions of people are using the Internet to expand their horizons, many people are doing the opposite, creating a Daily Me that is specifically tailored（调整适应） to their own interests and prejudices（成见）,” he wrote. They would, in effect, live in ‘echo chambers’, leading to greater polarisation（极化） in a country’s politics.

桑斯坦写到：“虽然有数以百万的人在使用网络扩展眼界，很多人却恰恰相反，根据自己的利益和偏见创建了一份《我的日报》（Daily Me）。”他们生活在“回声室”里（比喻在人际交流过程中，只承认或接受与自己观点相近的回应），导致一国政治更加分化。

Later commentators embraced the idea, while also pointing out that the technology platforms themselves may drive a further wedge（分歧） between the different groups. Facebook and Twitter, for instance, may work out that you are more likely to click on shared stories from the New York Times rather than the Daily Mail, and so preferentially promote those stories on your feed.

之后的评论家也同意这个观点，同时指出科技平台本身也会加剧不同群体间的分歧。举例而言，Facebook和Twitter可能发现你更容易点开《纽约时报》而非《每日邮报》的文章，那么就会优先向你推送前者。

“It’s done because there is so much information, because one person could not hope to consume it all,” says Elizabeth Dubois at the University of Ottawa. “And that’s a really helpful tool but it does mean that you end up in a bubble based on what that platform or company has decided is most likely to suit you and your purposes.”

渥太华大学的杜波依斯（Elizabeth Dubois）说：“这样做是因为信息量太大，你不可能全都浏览，这其实很有用，但你确实就待在一个泡泡里，只收到这个平台或公司认为适合你、符合你需求的信息。”

Today, the risks of the echo chamber and the “filter bubble” are considered something of a truism（老生常谈）, explaining the bitter （尖锐的）divides in public opinion that often appear to toe strict party lines. Nearly 78% of Hillary Clinton voters support the Black Lives Matter movement, for instance, compared to just 31% of Trump voters.

如今，回声室和“过滤泡”（比喻人为过滤信息）的危险已被视为老生常谈，这解释了民意为何分化严重，往往导致大家严格按照党派站队表态。希拉里.克林顿（Hillary Clinton）近78%的选民都支持“黑人的命也是命”（Black Lives Matter）运动，而特朗普（Trump）的选民中支持率仅31%。

But does this really arise from blinkered（思路狭窄的） online behaviour? Or are more subtle dynamics at work?

但这是因为盲目的网上行为，还是有更微妙的因素在起作用？

Although there’s little doubt that our reading habits shape our political opinions – and it’s as-yet（至今） unclear the extent to which targeted advertising might sway（改变） voter behaviour – some striking recent studies suggest that the influence of echo chambers and filter bubbles may have been over-stated.

阅读习惯毋庸置疑会塑造我们的政治观点，现在还不能确定有的放矢的广告对选民行为有多大影响，但最近一些研究认为回声室和过滤泡的影响被夸大了，值得关注。

Consider a paper by Seth Flaxman and colleagues at Oxford University, which examined the browsing histories of 50,000 users based in the US. In line with the received wisdom（公认常识）, social media and search users tended to land upon more polarised news sources – Breitbart compared to Fox News, for instance – which might translate to a more extreme world view.

牛津大学的弗莱克斯曼（Seth Flaxman）与同事们发表的一篇文章研究了美国5万用户的浏览历史。按照一般的看法，社交媒体及搜索引擎用户倾向使用比较极端的新闻来源——譬如浏览布莱巴特新闻（Breitbart，较极端）而非福克斯新闻（Fox News，较中立）——因此观点也就更偏激。

Crucially（重要地）, however – and contrary to the concept of the online echo chamber and filter bubble – they were also more likely to visit sites expressing opposing viewpoints. Their media diet was more varied, overall. “It seems counterintuitive（违反直觉的）, but direct browsing often just consists of one or two sites that you regularly read – such as the BBC and CNN – while by its nature, social media will expose you to a number of other sources, increasing the diversity,” says Flaxman, who is now based at Imperial（帝国的） College London.

但现实与上述有关网络回声室和过滤泡的一般看法相反，两人调查的浏览资料发现，互联网用户浏览反对意见网站的可能性反而更高，媒体涉猎范围总体更广。弗莱克斯曼目前任职于帝国理工学院，他说：“出人意料的是，虽然你直接浏览的网站也就是平时会看的一两个，例如BBC和CNN，但社交媒体因其特性能让你接触到许多其他信息源，增强你获得的信息多样性。”

Flaxman emphasises that the study is based on data from 2013, and times may have changed. But a Pew survey around the 2016 US Presidential Election broadly agrees with his findings, with the majority of people reporting a range of opinions in their social media feeds. And the University of Ottawa’s Dubois has come to similar conclusions with her own studies.

弗莱克斯曼强调研究数据都是2013年的，现在情况可能会有不同，但皮尤研究中心（Pew）对2016年美国总统大选的调查也证实了他的看法，大部分人在社交媒体会收到各种观点的推送。渥太华大学杜波依斯的研究也得出了类似结论。

回声室效应可以点击阅读原文了解！

单词速记：

commentator [ˈkɒmənteɪtə(r)] n.（电台的）时事评论员，实况广播报导员;注解者，注释者;评论员，解说员;主持[解释]宗教仪式的非教士

stark [stɑ:k] adj.完全的;荒凉的;光秃秃的;僵硬的adv.完全;一丝不挂，赤裸;明显地;质朴地n.斯塔克

geographical [ˌdʒi:ə'ɡræfɪkl] adj.地理学的，地理的

siphon ['saɪfn] n.虹吸管vt.用虹吸管吸（或输送）（液体）vi.通过虹吸管

homogenous [hə'mɒdʒənəs] adj.同质的，纯系的

polarisation [ˌpəʊləraɪ'zeɪʃən] n.两极化;分化;偏振（现象）;极化（作用）

wedge [wedʒ] n.楔;楔形物;（击高尔夫球的）楔形铁头球棒;〈比喻〉可以逐渐扩大作用的开vt.楔入;用楔子楔牢;挤进vi.楔入;挤进

blinkered [ˈblɪŋkəd] adj.心胸狭隘的，思路狭窄的

sway [sweɪ] vi.摇摆;歪，倾斜;改变vt.使前后或来回摇摆;使倾斜;[航海]升起桅杆n.摇摆;支配，统治

counterintuitive [kaʊntərɪn'tju:ɪtɪv] adj.违反直觉的

Part B：英语速读

特点：篇幅较短的大段英文，适合不看中文挑战

英语速读1（257words）

Zoo accused of painting donkeys to look like zebras

把驴画成斑马？！埃及动物园鱼目混珠被识破

An Egyptian zoo is insisting it did not paint a pair of donkeys to look like zebras.

埃及一动物园坚称他们没有把两头驴子涂画成斑马。

Cairo’s International Garden municipal park became a target of ridicule after an Egyptian student, Mahmoud Sarhan, posted images on Facebook of the suspicious beast. Sarhan said that the zoo’s two zebras were obviously painted donkeys, a view that has since been embraced by online animal experts.

埃及学生马哈茂德·萨尔汗在脸书上发布了这只让人怀疑的动物的照片后，开罗国际花园市政公园被人们嘲笑。萨尔汗说，动物园里的两只斑马显然是由驴子涂了颜色扮成的，随后，网上的动物专家也认可这一看法。

However, zoo director Mohamed Sultan told a local radio station that his zebras are real, dismissing claims that they are just painted donkeys, according to the BBC.

然而，动物园负责人穆罕默德·苏丹在接受当地媒体采访时坚称那就是真的斑马，矢口否认是由驴子造假的，BBC报道。

This is not the first time that a zoo has painted donkeys to look like zebras. In 2009, a zoo in Gaza did the same thing, saying that it could not procure real zebras due to an Israeli blockade.

这并不是动物园第一次使用这种鱼目混珠的方式。2009年，由于以色列的封锁，巴勒斯坦加沙的一个动物园就把两只驴画成了斑马。

"The first time we used paint but it didn’t look good," the zoo’s proprietor told Reuters at the time. "The children don’t know, so they call them zebras and they are happy to see something new."

当时那家动物园的经营方在接受路透社采访时说：“我们第一次涂色时效果并不是太好，但孩子们不知道，他们仍以为是斑马，很高兴看到这种新的动物。”

In 2013, a Chinese zoo was criticized for trying to pass off a large dog as a lion.

2013年，中国的一家动物园试图用一只藏獒替代狮子。

Zebras and donkeys, despite both bearing a resemblance to horses, are different species. Donkeys are popular beasts of burden in developing countries and were domesticated millennia ago. Zebras, meanwhile, are primarily known for their black-and-white stripes.

“尽管斑马和驴长得都很像马，但它们是不同的物种。驴是在发展中国家流行的驮畜，几千年前就被驯化了。而斑马的主要特征是黑白条纹。”

Zebras also have black snouts, according to one expert. They are also larger and less donkey-like than the animal in the viral photo, and do not have smudged stripes.

据一位专家的说法，斑马的鼻子也是黑色的，它们比走红的图片上的动物体型更大，长的也不像驴，身上也不是这样脏脏的条纹。

英语速读2（214words）

China has built the worlds tallest man-made waterfall and it cascades off a skyscraper

中国摩天大厦惊现全球最高人造瀑布 飞流直下震撼十足

Guizhou province is southern China is now home to world’s biggest man-made waterfall. This astonishing feature is actually part of the Liebian International Building in Guiyang – and it employs four giant pumps to push recycled water from basement storage tanks to the top of the 121m high building from where it cascades down the side to create the waterfall.

中国南部贵州省有一座全球最高的人造瀑布。这个令人震撼的景观位于贵阳市裂变国际大楼——它通过4台巨型抽水泵将位于地下抽水池的可回收水抽至121米的楼层，水就从那里喷涌而下，形成了瀑布。

The building and waterfall feature were complete two years ago, but the actual waterfall has only been turned on around 6 times so far. One of the reasons is the high operating cost of the equipment that creates the water feature. The cost of powering those massive pumps for just one hour is $117.

该大楼以及瀑布的设计在两年前就竣工了。不过这个瀑布至今才开放过6次。开放这些水泵一小时就要花电费117美元（约合800元）。

The building was a project of the Ludi Industry Group whose director Cheng Xiaomao disclosed that the building will house offices, shops and a luxury hotel. Speaking about the inspiration behind the design he said, “Guiyang is a city of mountains, and with many trees, just like a forest. [Its creators] wanted to create a feeling of water and greenery, even when you are surrounded by skyscrapers..”

这座建筑是鲁迪实业集团的一个项目，该集团董事程小茂（音）透露，建筑内有写字楼、购物中心和一家豪华酒店。谈及设计的灵感，他说：“贵阳是一座山城，树多，就像森林一样。（它的创造者)想要打造一种水和绿色的感觉，即便是在摩天大厦里。”

The waterfall is about 10ft longer than the previous record holder at the Solar City Tower in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

这个瀑布比此前人造瀑布记录的保持者——巴西里约热内卢的太阳城塔瀑布长10英尺。

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（本文新闻资源收集于网络，二次加工而成）