外贸英语口语学习教程第169期:电子商务之光明前景

Outlook for E-commerce 光明前景

A: E-commerce is very convenient and efficient. But I am just wondering when and how E-commerce came into being.
电子商务非常便捷，但是我想知道电子商务是在什么时候，怎么出现的呢？

B: Oh, it is a big question. I think I can answer you because I have just read an article about the development of e-commerce.
这可是个大问题。我想我可以回答你，因为我刚刚读过一篇有关电子商务发展的文章。

A: So, I am asking the right person?
那么，我是问对人了？

B: Yes. The Internet was born only in 1969 when ARPANET(Advanced Research Projects Agency Network)-the Pentagon-sponsored network-was launched, which linked computers at four US universities. Soon, the ARPANET began to morph away from its intended use as a defense system. The number of host computers linked to the Internet has been increasing year by year. Big changes in the development of the Internet lied in the year. Big changes in the development of the Internet lied in the releasing of the World Wide Web(www) by CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics; French: Conseil European pour la Racherche Nuclearie) in 1991 and the Mosaic (later Netscape) Web brower developed by NCSA(National Center fro Supercomputing Application) in 1993 to allow HTML pages with embedded graphics to be viewed. Followingly, the first banner ads appeared on hotwired. com for Zima(a drink) and AT&T in October 1994.
当然。因特网产生于1969年，当时ARPANENT（高级研究署网）——美国国防部资助项目——被启动，把美国四所大学的电脑连接起来。不久，ARPANET开始背离它用于国际系统的初衷。连接到因特网上的主机数量逐年增加。因特网发展史上的重大变化体现在：1991年CERN开发的万维网（WWW），以及1993年NCSA推出的图形化浏览器Mosaic（后来的网景）。之后，1994年10月，为Zima（一种饮料）和AT&T（美国电话电报公司）制作出的第一个宽幅广告出现在了hotwired.com的网站上。

A: Do you mean that the Internet was used for commercial purposes only during the 1990s?
你是说因特网只是在20世纪90年代才用的商业目的。

B: Right. Since the first banner ads, companies have used the Internet well beyond mere promotion. Nowadays, goods and service can be bought and paid online; global auctions can be conducted, and even university degrees can be awarded online from overseas. All these have developed from nothing in about forty years.
是的。自从第一个宽幅广告出现以来，因特网不只是被公司用来促销的。如今，产品和服务可以从网上购买和支付，全球型拍卖可以在网上进行，就连国外的大学文凭也可以通过网上授予。所有这些都是在大约40年间从无到有发展起来的。

A: I see. It's the Internet that has facilitated the buying and selling of good and services.
我明白了。是因特网促进了产品和服务的买与卖。

B: However, it is not a perfect system. It still has many problems to be resolved such as account safety and consumer information protection, ect.
但是它并不是尽善尽美的。它还存在一些需要解决的问题，像客户账户的安全、顾客信息的保护等等。

A: There is still a long way to go.
还有很长的路要走。

B: No doubt. Anyhow, it's a fine beginning and it will enjoy a bright future.
毫无疑问，不管怎样，它已有一个很好的开端，而且也会有一个光明的前景。

A: I agree absolutely.
我完全同意。