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2020年翻譯資格考試(catti)一級筆譯材料

Mobile Telecoms: Wireless: The Next Generation

移動通信：無線：下一世代(節(jié)選)

A new wave of mobile technology is on its way, and will bring drastic change

醞釀中的新一代移動技術(shù)將帶來巨變

The future is already arriving, it is just a question of knowing where to look. On Changshou Road in Shanghai, eagle eyes may spot an odd rectangular object on top of an office block: it is a collection of 128 miniature antennae. Pedestrians in Manhattan can catch a glimpse of apparatus that looks like a video camera on a stand, but jerks around and has a strange, hornlike protrusion where the lens should be. It blasts a narrow beam of radio waves at buildings so they can bounce their way to the receiver. The campus of the University of Surrey in Guildford, England, is dotted with 44 antennae, which form virtual wireless cells that follow a device around.

未來已然在目，只在于我們放眼何方。上海的長壽路上，目光敏銳的人會發(fā)現(xiàn)一座辦公樓的樓頂架著奇怪的矩形物體：由128條微型天線組成的設(shè)備。在曼哈頓，行人會瞥見攝像頭般的裝置立在支架上，不但會猛然轉(zhuǎn)動，而且在本應(yīng)是鏡頭的位置有奇怪的角狀突出。該裝置向建筑物發(fā)射窄束無線電波，經(jīng)過反射的電波可以傳給接收器。薩里大學(University of Surrey)在英格蘭吉爾福德(Guildford)的校園內(nèi)分布著44臺天線，形成一套虛擬的無線基站，供手機使用。

These antennae are vanguards of a new generation of wireless technologies. Although the previous batch, collectively called “fourth generation”, or 4G, is still being rolled out in many countries, the telecoms industry has already started working on the next, 5G. On February 12th AT&T, America’s second-largest mobile operator, said it would begin testing whether prototype 5G circuitry works indoors, following similar news in September from Verizon, the number one. South Korea wants to have a 5G network up and running when it hosts the Winter Olympics in 2018; Japan wants the same for the summer games in 2020. When the industry held its annual jamboree, Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona in February, 5G topped the agenda.

這些天線是新一代無線技術(shù)的前沿成果。雖然許多國家仍在推廣被統(tǒng)稱為“第四代”(即4G)的前一代無線技術(shù)，但電信業(yè)已經(jīng)邁向下一代技術(shù)即5G的研發(fā)。2月12日，美國第二大移動運營商AT&T表示將試驗5G原型電路能否在室內(nèi)接通。而早在去年9月，美國第一大移動運營商Verizon也做過類似的實驗。韓國希望在2018年主辦冬季奧運會時能建成并啟用5G網(wǎng)絡(luò);日本希望在2020年主辦夏季奧運會時實現(xiàn)同樣的愿景。2月在無線業(yè)界于巴塞羅那召開的年度峰會世界移動通信大會(Mobile World Congress)上，5G技術(shù)成為首要議題。

Mobile telecoms have come a long way since Martin Cooper of Motorola, inventor of the DynaTAC, the first commercially available handset, demonstrated it in 1973. In the early 2000s, when 3G technology made web-browsing feasible on mobiles, operators splashed out more than $100 billion on radio-spectrum licences, only to find that the technology most had agreed to use was harder to implement than expected.

自摩托羅拉的馬丁·庫帕(Martin Cooper)在1973年展示其發(fā)明的首款商用手機DynaTAC以來，移動通訊已有長足的發(fā)展。21世紀初，3G技術(shù)使手機上網(wǎng)成為可能，運營商于是砸出超過千億美元購入無線電頻譜牌照，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)這項大多數(shù)人已同意使用的技術(shù)推廣起來難于預(yù)期。 The advent of 5G is likely to bring another splurge of investment, just as orders for 4G equipment are peaking. The goal is to be able to offer users no less than the “perception of infinite capacity”, says Rahim Tafazolli, director of the 5G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey. Rare will be the device that is not wirelessly connected, from self-driving cars and drones to the sensors, industrial machines and household appliances that together constitute the “internet of things” (IoT).

正當4G設(shè)備迎來訂單高峰之際，5G的出現(xiàn)很可能激發(fā)另一輪投資熱潮。目標是至少給用戶以 “功能無限的印象”，薩里大學5G創(chuàng)新中心主任拉希姆·塔法佐利(Rahim Tafazolli)說。將來，從無人駕駛汽車、無人機到構(gòu)成“物聯(lián)網(wǎng)”的一切傳感器、工業(yè)機械及家用電器，幾乎所有設(shè)備都能無線聯(lián)網(wǎng)。

It is easy to dismiss all this as “a lot of hype”, in the words of Kester Mann of CCS Insight, a research firm. When it comes to 5G, much is still up in the air: not only which band of radio spectrum and which wireless technologies will be used, but what standards makers of network gear and handsets will have to comply with. Telecoms firms have reached consensus only on a set of rough “requirements”. The most important are connection speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second and response times (“l(fā)atency”) of below 1 millisecond.

視這一切為“炒作”并嗤之以鼻很容易，研究公司CCS Insight的凱斯特·曼(Kester Mann)說道。提到5G，大都未有定論：不只是利用哪一頻段的無線電頻譜及哪些無線技術(shù)未定，還有網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)備及手機制造商須遵照哪些標準也未確定。電信公司已就一套寬泛的“要求”達成共識。最重要的是連接速度最高要達到10Gbps，而且響應(yīng)時間(“網(wǎng)絡(luò)延遲”)須低于一毫秒。

Yet the momentum is real. South Korea and Japan are front-runners in wired broadband, and Olympic games are an opportunity to show the world that they intend also to stay ahead in wireless, even if that may mean having to upgrade their 5G networks to comply with a global standard once it is agreed. AT&T and Verizon both invested early in 4G, and would like to lead again with 5G. The market for network equipment has peaked, as recent results from Ericsson and Nokia show, so the makers also need a new generation of products and new groups of customers.

然而，勢頭已然成真。韓國和日本是有線寬帶建設(shè)的領(lǐng)跑國家，舉辦奧運會是一個機會，向世界展現(xiàn)它們也想要領(lǐng)跑無線領(lǐng)域，即便這意味著在全球標準議定出臺后它們可能必須升級其5G網(wǎng)絡(luò)以符合標準要求。AT&T及Verizon均在早期率先投資4G，如今同樣希望在5G上再度領(lǐng)先。正如愛立信和諾基亞最近業(yè)績所顯示的那樣，網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)備市場已經(jīng)飽和，因此制造商也需要新一代產(chǎn)品及新的客戶群。

On the demand side, too, pressure is mounting for better wireless infrastructure. The rapid growth in data traffic will continue for the foreseeable future, says Sundeep Rangan of NYU Wireless, a department of New York University. According to one estimate, networks need to be ready for a 1,000-fold increase in data volumes in the first half of the 2020s. And the radio spectrum used by 4G, which mostly sits below 3 gigahertz, is running out, and thus getting more expensive. An auction in America last year raked in $45 billion.

需求方面也一樣，改善無線基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施的呼聲日益迫切。紐約大學無線研究中心(NYU Wireless)的森迪普·蘭根(Sundeep Rangan)表示，在可預(yù)見的未來，數(shù)據(jù)流量將繼續(xù)快速增長。據(jù)估計，在本世紀20年代的前五年，網(wǎng)絡(luò)需要準備好迎接上千倍的數(shù)據(jù)量增長。而4G所用的無線電頻段(大多低于3GHz)已逐漸稀缺，且愈加昂貴，去年美國一次競拍便賣得450億美元。

But the path to a 5G wireless paradise will not be smooth. It is not only the usual telecoms suspects who will want a say in this mother of all networks. Media companies will want priority to be given to generous bandwidth, so they can stream films with ever higher resolution. Most IoT firms will not need much bandwidth, but will want their sensors to run on one set of batteries for years – so they will want the 5G standard to put a premium on low power consumption. Online-gaming firms will worry about latency: players will complain if it is too high.

但通往5G無線天堂的道路不會一帆風順。對這一“萬網(wǎng)之源”，爭取話事權(quán)的不單是慣常那些電信企業(yè)。媒體公司希望優(yōu)先獲得更高的帶寬，以便其以更高分辨率在線播放影片。大部分物聯(lián)網(wǎng)企業(yè)不需要太大的帶寬，而是想自己的傳感器能靠一組電池續(xù)航數(shù)年，所以它們會希望5G標準重視低功耗。網(wǎng)游公司會擔心網(wǎng)絡(luò)延遲的問題：假如延遲過久，玩家會抱怨。

The most important set of new actors, however, are information-technology firms. The likes of Apple, IBM and Samsung have a big interest not only in selling more smartphones and other mobile devices, but also in IoT, which is tipped to generate the next big wave of revenues for them and other companies. Google, which already operates high-speed fibre-optic networks in several American cities and may be tempted to build a wireless one, has shown an interest in 5G. In 2014 it bought Alpental Technologies, a startup which was developing a cheap, high-speed communications service using extremely high radio frequencies, known as “millimetre wave” (mmWave), the spectrum bands above 3 gigahertz where most of 5G is expected to live.

然而，最重要的新登場者是信息技術(shù)公司。蘋果、IBM、三星這類企業(yè)不但關(guān)心賣出更多的智能手機及其他移動設(shè)備，對于物聯(lián)網(wǎng)這據(jù)稱將為其帶來下一波收入巨浪的領(lǐng)域，他們也饒有興致。谷歌已在美國多個城市運營高速光纖網(wǎng)絡(luò)業(yè)務(wù)，而且可能有意打造無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)，目前該公司已對5G表示興趣。2014年，谷歌收購了創(chuàng)業(yè)公司Alpental Technologies，該公司當時正在研發(fā)通過極高頻無線電提供廉價而高速的通訊服務(wù)，即所謂的“毫米波”(mmWave，頻段高于3GHz，也是5G預(yù)期主要使用的頻段)。

To satisfy all these actors will not be easy, predicts Ulf Ewaldsson, Ericsson’s chief technology officer. Questions over spectrum may be the easiest to solve, in part because the World Radiocommunication Conference, established by international treaty, will settle them. Its last gathering, in November, failed to agree on the frequencies for 5G, but it is expected to do so when it next meets in 2019. It is likely to carve out space in the mmWave bands. Tests such as the one in Manhattan mentioned above, which are conducted by researchers from NYU Wireless, have shown that such bands can be used for 5G: although they are blocked even by thin obstacles, they can be made to bounce around them.

要滿足所有各方所求并非易事，愛立信首席技術(shù)官烏爾夫·艾華信(Ulf Ewaldsson)預(yù)言道。頻段問題也許是最容易解決的，一方面是因為按國際條約成立的世界無線電通信大會將解決這些問題。大會上一次召開是在去年11月，雖然當時無法就5G所用頻率達成一致，但預(yù)計大會下一次在2019年召開時便可達成共識，并很可能會在毫米波頻段中開辟空間。諸如上文提及由NYU無線研究中心研究人員在曼哈頓所做的測試已顯示，這些頻段可以用于5G：雖然薄障礙物也會造成阻隔，但可以讓它們通過反射繞過障礙物。

For the first time there will not be competing sets of technical rules, as was the case with 4G, when LTE, now the standard, was initially threatened by WiMax, which was bankrolled by Intel, a chipmaker. Nobody seems willing to play Intel’s role this time around. That said, 5G will be facing a strong competitor, especially indoors: smartphone users are increasingly using Wi-Fi connections for calls and texts as well as data. That means they have ever less need for a mobile connection, no matter how blazingly fast it may be.

沒有多套技術(shù)準則相互競爭，這實屬首次，不像4G推出時的情形，如今普遍采用的LTE標準最初還受到芯片制造商英特爾投資開發(fā)的WiMax標準威脅。這次，似乎沒有誰愿意扮演英特爾的角色。盡管如此，5G將面對一個強大對手，尤其是在室內(nèi)：智能手機用戶除了用Wi-Fi傳輸數(shù)據(jù)之外，也越來越多地用其打電話及發(fā)短信。那意味著他們對接入移動網(wǎng)絡(luò)的需求越來越少，不管數(shù)據(jù)的傳輸有多么極速。

2020年翻譯資格考試(catti)一級筆譯材料

Facebook: Imperial Ambitions

Facebook：帝國野心

Mark Zuckerberg prepares to fight for dominance of the next era of computing

馬克·扎克伯格準備為爭奪下一個計算時代的統(tǒng)治地位而戰(zhàn)

Not since the era of imperial Rome has the “thumbs-up” sign been such a potent and public symbol of power. A mere 12 years after it was founded, Facebook is a great empire with a vast population, immense wealth, a charismatic leader, and mind-boggling reach and influence. The world’s largest social network has 1.6 billion users, a billion of whom use it every day for an average of over 20 minutes each. In the Western world, Facebook accounts for the largest share of the most popular activity (social networking) on the most widely used computing devices (smartphones); its various apps account for 30% of mobile internet use by Americans. And it is the sixth-most-valuable public company on Earth, worth some $325 billion.

自羅馬帝國時代以來，“豎起大拇指”這一手勢就成為了公開且有力的權(quán)力象征。成立僅十二年之后，F(xiàn)acebook已成為一個偉大的帝國，人口眾多、財富無數(shù)、領(lǐng)袖魅力非凡，且影響力和影響范圍令人難以想象。這一全球最大的社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)擁有16億用戶，其中十億每天平均使用時間超過20分鐘。在西方世界，F(xiàn)acebook在最廣泛使用的計算設(shè)備(智能手機)上的最受歡迎的活動(社交網(wǎng)絡(luò))中所占份額最大;它各種各樣的應(yīng)用占美國人移動互聯(lián)網(wǎng)使用的30%。它是全球市值第六大的上市公司，價值3250億美元。

Even so, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s 31-year-old founder and chief executive, has even greater ambitions. He has plans to connect the digitally unconnected in poor countries by beaming internet signals from solar-powered drones, and is making big bets on artificial intelligence (AI), “chatbots” and virtual reality (VR). This bid for dominance will bring him into increasing conflict with the other great empires of the technology world, and Google in particular. The ensuing battle will shape the digital future for everyone.

即便如此，31歲的Facebook創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官馬克·扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)仍有更宏偉的志向。他計劃用太陽能供電的無人機發(fā)送互聯(lián)網(wǎng)信號，以連接貧困國家尚未連入數(shù)字世界的人，他在人工智能(AI)、聊天機器人和虛擬現(xiàn)實(VR)上押下重注。對統(tǒng)治地位的競逐會令他和科技世界其他偉大帝國之間的沖突不斷增加，尤其是同谷歌之間。今后的戰(zhàn)斗將為每個人塑造數(shù)字化的未來。

Empires built on data

數(shù)據(jù)上的帝國

Facebook has prospered by building compelling services that attract large audiences, whose attention can then be sold to advertisers. The same is true of Google. The two play different roles in their users’ lives: Google has masses of data about the world, whereas Facebook knows about you and your friends; you go to Google to get things done, but turn to Facebook when you have time to kill. Yet their positions of dominance and their strategies are becoming remarkably similar. Unparalleled troves of data make both firms difficult to challenge and immensely profitable, giving them the wealth to make bold bets and to deal with potential competitors by buying them. And both firms crave more users and more data – which, for all the do-gooding rhetoric, explains why they are both so interested in extending internet access in the developing world, using drones or, in Google’s case, giant balloons.

Facebook打造多個引人矚目的服務(wù)吸引大量用戶，繼而將用戶的關(guān)注賣給廣告商，以此取得成功。谷歌也是如此。這兩大公司在其用戶的生活中扮演著不同的角色：谷歌擁有關(guān)于這個世界的大量數(shù)據(jù)，而Facebook了解你和你的朋友;你用谷歌是為了完成任務(wù)，但要打發(fā)時間時你會找Facebook。然而它們的統(tǒng)治地位和戰(zhàn)略正變得越來越相似。無與倫比的數(shù)據(jù)寶藏讓兩家公司都難有敵手，且獲利頗豐，它們的財富足以擲下豪注并且通過收購解決潛在競爭者。這兩家公司渴求更多用戶、更多數(shù)據(jù)，用冠冕堂皇的說法，這解釋了為何它們都對在發(fā)展中國家擴展互聯(lián)網(wǎng)連接興趣濃厚，F(xiàn)acebook使用無人機，谷歌則使用巨型氣球。

The task is to harness data to offer new services and make money in new ways. Facebook’s bet on AI is a recognition that “machine learning” – in which software learns by crunching data, rather than having to be explicitly programmed – is a big part of the answer. It already uses AI techniques to identify people in photos, for example, and to decide which status updates and ads to show to each user. Facebook is also pushing into AI-powered digital assistants and chatbot programs which interact with users via short messages. Next week it is expected to open up its Messenger service (which can already be used to do things like order an Uber car), to broaden the range of chatbots. And Facebook’s investment in VR – it bought Oculus, the cheerleader of this emerging field, for $2 billion in 2014 – is a bold guess about where computing and communication will go after the smartphone.

現(xiàn)在的任務(wù)是利用數(shù)據(jù)提供新的服務(wù)，以新的方式賺錢。Facebook在人工智能方面的賭注是對“機器學習”的認可，即軟件通過分析數(shù)據(jù)學習，而不需要精確編寫程序。例如，它已經(jīng)利用人工智能技術(shù)來辨識照片中的人像，也用這一技術(shù)確定向每個用戶展示什么樣的狀態(tài)更新和廣告。Facebook還在推動由人工智能支持的數(shù)字助手和聊天機器人程序，它們通過簡短的信息與用戶互動。下周它計劃開放Messenger服務(wù)(它已經(jīng)可以用來做一些事情，例如從優(yōu)步叫車)，并且拓寬聊天機器人的適用范圍。Facebook在虛擬現(xiàn)實上的投資是對計算和通信在智能手機之后將何去何從的大膽預(yù)測，它于2014年以20億美元收購了這一新興領(lǐng)域的領(lǐng)頭羊Oculus。

But Facebook faces rivals in all these areas. Google is using AI techniques to improve its internet services and guide self-driving cars, and other industry giants are also investing heavily in AI – though with the deepest pockets and the most data to crunch, Facebook and Google can attract the best researchers and most promising startups. Facebook lags behind Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft when it comes to voice-driven personal assistants; when it comes to chatbots, it faces competition from Microsoft and a host of startups eager to prove that bots are the new apps. And its push into VR – which Mr Zuckerberg sees as a stepping stone to “augmented reality” (AR), where information is superimposed on the real world – pits it against formidable rivals, too. Microsoft has jumped straight to AR with its HoloLens headset, its most impressive product in years, and Google, already active in VR, has invested in Magic Leap, a little-known AR startup.

但是在所有這些領(lǐng)域Facebook都有對手。谷歌正利用人工智能技術(shù)提升其互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)、指引無人駕駛汽車，其他業(yè)界巨頭也不惜重金投資人工智能，不過Facebook和谷歌錢袋最鼓、有最多數(shù)據(jù)可供分析，因此能吸引到最優(yōu)秀的研究人員和最具潛力的創(chuàng)業(yè)公司。在由語音控制的個人助理領(lǐng)域，F(xiàn)acebook落后于亞馬遜、蘋果、谷歌和微軟;而在聊天機器人領(lǐng)域，它的對手是微軟以及諸多急于證明機器人是新應(yīng)用的創(chuàng)業(yè)公司。虛擬現(xiàn)實領(lǐng)域被扎克伯格視作“增強現(xiàn)實”(AR)的踏腳石，AR即信息被疊加在真實世界上的技術(shù)。進軍這一領(lǐng)域也讓Facebook和強敵正面交鋒。微軟憑借其多年來最引人矚目的產(chǎn)品HoloLens頭盔直接挺進AR，而在VR領(lǐng)域已十分活躍的谷歌已經(jīng)投資了Magic Leap，一家鮮為人知的AR創(chuàng)業(yè)公司。

The scale of Facebook’s ambition, and the rivalries it faces, reflect a consensus that these technologies will transform how people interact with each other, with data and with their surroundings. AI will help devices and services anticipate your needs (Google’s Inbox app already suggests replies to your e-mails). Conversational interfaces will let you look things up and get things done by chatting to a machine by voice or text. And intelligent services will spread into a plethora of products, such as wearable devices, cars and VR/AR goggles. In a decade’s time computing seems likely to take the form of AR interfaces mediated by AI, using gestures and speech for inputs and the whole world as its display. Information will be painted onto the world around you, making possible new forms of communication, creativity and collaboration.

Facebook的雄心壯志及其面臨的競爭反映出一個共識，即這些技術(shù)將轉(zhuǎn)變?nèi)伺c人之間、人與數(shù)據(jù)之間、人與周圍環(huán)境之間的互動方式。人工智能會幫助設(shè)備和服務(wù)預(yù)測你的需求(谷歌的Inbox應(yīng)用已經(jīng)能對如何回復(fù)電子郵件提出建議)。會話接口能讓你通過語音或文字與機器對話來查閱信息和完成任務(wù)。智能服務(wù)將擴展到太多產(chǎn)品中，如可穿戴設(shè)備、汽車和VR/AR眼鏡等。十年之內(nèi)，計算看似有可能采取增強現(xiàn)實界面，以人工智能為媒介，用手勢和語音進行輸入，將整個世界作為它的顯示器。信息將被疊映在你周圍的世界之上，讓新形式的交流、創(chuàng)造與合作成為可能。

This is the ambitious vision that Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other technology giants are working towards. But along the way there are certain to be privacy and security concerns. Crunching all that information to provide personalised services looks a lot like surveillance, and will cause a backlash if consumers do not feel they are getting a good deal in return for handing over their personal details (as the advertising industry is discovering to its cost) – or if security is inadequate.

這是Facebook、谷歌、微軟及其他科技巨頭為之努力奮斗的恢弘愿景。但沿途必定會有隱私和安全問題。分析所有信息以提供個性化的服務(wù)看起來很像監(jiān)控，并且如果消費者感覺在提交個人詳細資料后并沒有獲得大量回報(廣告業(yè)吃過苦頭后正在明白這一點)，又或者安全性不足，會引發(fā)激烈反對。

Power from the people

人的力量

There will also be worries about concentration and monopoly, and the danger of closed ecosystems that make it hard for people to switch between services. Facebook’s plan to offer free access to a limited subset of websites was blocked by India’s telecoms regulator, which argued that it was “risky” to allow one company to act as a gatekeeper. And Germany’s competition authority is investigating the way Facebook handles personal data. As its dominance grows, Facebook can expect to face more such cases, as Microsoft and Google did before it.

也有人會擔心集中、壟斷以及封閉式生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的危險，讓人很難在各種服務(wù)之間切換。Facebook提供免費接入一些指定網(wǎng)站的計劃被印度電信監(jiān)管部門阻攔，它們認為讓一家公司來把關(guān)“太過危險”。德國的競爭主管機構(gòu)正在調(diào)查Facebook處理個人信息的方式。隨著其統(tǒng)治地位的不斷加強，可以預(yù)見Facebook會遭遇更多此類情況，正如微軟和谷歌所經(jīng)歷的那樣。

Striking a balance between becoming ever more intimately entwined in billions of peoples’ lives, making huge profits as a result and avoiding a backlash will be one of the biggest business challenges of the century. Even in ancient Rome, emperors could find that the crowd suddenly turned against them. So applaud Mr Zuckerberg – and fear for him, too.

既能和數(shù)十億人的生活更緊密地交織在一起，又可借此獲得巨額利潤并且避免強烈反對，如何在其間取得平衡將成為本世紀最大的商業(yè)挑戰(zhàn)之一。即便是在古羅馬，帝王們也會發(fā)現(xiàn)民眾會突然轉(zhuǎn)而反抗他們。所以為扎克伯格鼓掌，也為他擔憂吧。

2020年翻譯資格考試(catti)一級筆譯材料

Clusterluck

集群之幸

Boston’s biotech hub is surviving the challenge from Silicon Valley

波士頓的生物技術(shù)中心正從硅谷的挑戰(zhàn)中幸存下來

Distance is not dead. In biotechnology, as in other tech-based industries, the clustering of similar firms is more important than ever. Some American biotech startups are based in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley area, huddled with its many digital and IT startups. But the Boston metropolitan area – and in particular Cambridge, across the Charles river from central Boston – seems to be holding its own as the world’s pre-eminent biotech hub.

距離并未消亡。與其他以技術(shù)為基礎(chǔ)的行業(yè)一樣，在生物技術(shù)領(lǐng)域，同類公司的集群比以往任何時候都更為重要。一些美國生物技術(shù)創(chuàng)業(yè)公司把總部設(shè)在舊金山和硅谷地區(qū)，跟當?shù)氐谋姸鄶?shù)字及IT創(chuàng)業(yè)公司扎堆。然而，波士頓大都會區(qū)——特別是與波士頓市中心隔查爾斯河相望的劍橋市——儼然已能與之抗衡而成為世界上卓越的生物技術(shù)中心。

The San Francisco area’s pool of venture capital is beyond compare; and a biotech-industry body there, the California Life Sciences Association, argues that California is the number one state for biomedical employment. But in part that is simply a reflection of the state’s large population, which means its health-care business is necessarily big. The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council claims that its state employs more people in biotech research and development than any other.

舊金山地區(qū)的風險投資資源是別處無可比擬的。當?shù)氐纳锛夹g(shù)行業(yè)團體“加利福尼亞生命科學協(xié)會”(California Life Sciences Association)認為，加利福尼亞是生物醫(yī)學就業(yè)第一州。但這在某種程度上只是該州龐大人口數(shù)量的表現(xiàn)，人口眾多意味著其醫(yī)療保健產(chǎn)業(yè)必然龐大。馬薩諸塞州生物技術(shù)委員會(Massachusetts Biotechnology Council)聲稱，該州在生物技術(shù)研發(fā)領(lǐng)域的就業(yè)人數(shù)超過其他任何一個州。

A study published last December by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that although, per head, the Boston area had fallen well behind San Francisco and Silicon Valley in creating software and internet startups, it was more or less keeping pace in life sciences. The density of research institutions in Massachusetts means that it receives $351 per head in funding from the National Institutes of Health, well ahead of the Golden State’s $88. This density of research was a reason cited by General Electric, which has a big medical-technology division, in its announcement in Janurary that it will move its group headquarters to Boston.

去年12月，麻省理工學院公布的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，波士頓地區(qū)雖然在人均創(chuàng)建軟件和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)創(chuàng)業(yè)公司的數(shù)量上遠落后于舊金山與硅谷，但在生命科學領(lǐng)域不相上下。麻省密集的研究機構(gòu)使它從美國國立衛(wèi)生研究院(National Institutes of Health)獲得人均351美元的資金，遠超過“黃金之州”(加利福尼亞)的人均88美元。擁有龐大醫(yī)療技術(shù)部門的通用電氣1月宣布將把集團總部遷往波士頓，它提到該地區(qū)研究機構(gòu)的高密度是一大原因。

The history of the Boston area cluster can be traced to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Biogen and Genzyme, two biotech drugmakers, were founded by scientists from nearby academic institutions. Other scientists, especially from MIT and Harvard, Cambridge’s two internationally renowned universities, followed suit and created innovative startups of their own.

波士頓地區(qū)產(chǎn)業(yè)集群的歷史可以追溯到上世紀70年代末和80年代初。當時，周邊學術(shù)機構(gòu)的科學家建立了生物技術(shù)制藥企業(yè)百健(Biogen)和健贊(Genzyme)。其他科學家紛紛效法，創(chuàng)建了自己的創(chuàng)新型創(chuàng)業(yè)公司，尤其是來自麻省理工和哈佛的科學家，這兩所國際知名大學都位于劍橋市。

This encouraged global pharmaceutical giants, struggling with poor productivity in their existing research facilities, to set up labs in and around Cambridge. Novartis of Switzerland began work on its outpost in 2002, followed by such names as AstraZeneca of Britain and Baxter of Illinois, which in 2015 spun out its Cambridge labs as Baxalta, a specialist in “orphan” diseases. In Janurary Baxalta agreed a $32 billion takeover by Shire, an Irish drugs giant.

這促使那些苦于現(xiàn)有研究設(shè)施生產(chǎn)力低下的全球制藥巨頭在劍橋及其周邊建立實驗室。瑞士諾華(Novartis)2002年開始在此設(shè)點，緊接著是英國的阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)和美國伊利諾伊州的百特(Baxter)。2015年，百特把它的劍橋?qū)嶒炇也鸱殖鰜?，成立了專攻罕見病的Baxalta公司。今年1月，Baxalta同意被愛爾蘭制藥巨頭Shire公司以320億美元收購。

The cluster lacked a clear focal point until 2010, when MIT, the main landowner around Kendall Square – an area about a mile in all directions from the Kendall/MIT subway station in Cambridge – decided to spruce it up. One report suggests the square currently hosts firms that have absorbed about $14 billion in venture-capital investments. Silicon Valley’s overall pool of capital may be deeper, but much of it flows to areas other than biotech. And the global drug giants with outposts in the Boston area provide an alternative source of finance, and of eventual buyers for startups.

這里的產(chǎn)業(yè)集群一直缺少一個明確的中心，直到2010年，肯德爾廣場(Kendall Square)的主要所有者麻省理工學院決定把這片以肯德爾/麻省理工地鐵站為中心、半徑約一英里的區(qū)域修葺一新。一份報告表明，目前在肯德爾廣場設(shè)立的公司總共吸收了大約140億美元的風險投資。硅谷的整體風投資源可能更為深厚，但大部分資金都流向了生物技術(shù)以外的領(lǐng)域。在波士頓地區(qū)設(shè)點的全球制藥巨頭提供了另一種資金來源，也為創(chuàng)業(yè)公司增加了潛在的最終買家。

Tom Andrew of Alexandria Real Estate, a property agent specialising in science buildings, notes that the Boston area’s universities, teaching hospitals and other institutions are a sink, as well as a source, of talent. Anyone who accepts a risky job at a startup can be sure that if things don’t work out there are lots of big employers nearby to fall back on.

專注于科學樓宇的房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀公司“亞歷山大房地產(chǎn)”(Alexandria Real Estate )的湯姆·安得魯(Tom Andrew)表示，波士頓地區(qū)的大學、教學醫(yī)院及其他機構(gòu)既是人才之源，又是人才之庫。在創(chuàng)業(yè)企業(yè)中承擔有風險工作的所有人都可以放心，如果工作不順利，附近會有許多大雇主可以轉(zhuǎn)投。

The cluster’s promising young firms include four – Editas Medicine, CRISPR Therapeutics, Intellia and Bluebird Bio – that are working on “gene editing”, currently one of the hottest areas of biotech. WuXi NextCODE, another local startup, specialises in analysing genomes. Alnylam concentrates on drugs that interfere with RNA, the messenger molecule through which genes express themselves. Not satisfied with just editing, deciphering or blocking nature’s blueprints, Synlogic is seeking to create medicines through entirely artificial sequences of genes.

集群中有前途的新興企業(yè)包括Editas醫(yī)藥公司(Editas Medicine)、CRISPR療法公司(CRISPR Therapeutics)、Intellia和藍鳥生物(Bluebird Bio)。這四家公司正致力于研究“基因剪輯”，這是當今生物技術(shù)中最熱門的領(lǐng)域之一。另一家本地創(chuàng)業(yè)公司明碼生物科技(WuXi NextCODE)專門從事基因組分析。奧尼蘭姆公司(Alnylam)專注研究干擾RNA的藥物，RNA是基因自我表達的信使分子。Synlogic公司不滿足于只是剪輯、解碼或者阻斷基因組這一自然的藍圖，還試圖通過合成完全人工的基因序列來開發(fā)藥物。

Synlogic’s boss, Jose-Carlos Gutiérrez-Ramos, formerly of Pfizer, has worked around the world and praises the “density of intellectuals” in Boston and the opportunities that come from being able to make easy connections. With little travel time between appointments, it is easier to arrange meetings. Dan Budwick of Pure Communications, a public-relations firm which represents some of the area’s startups, says that “You can jump on a bike and see 30 companies in a mile. You can’t do that in San Francisco or Manhattan.”

Synlogic的老板、原輝瑞公司的何塞-卡洛斯·古鐵雷斯-拉莫斯(Jose-Carlos Gutiérrez-Ramos)曾在世界各地工作過，他稱贊波士頓“知識分子密集”，能夠很容易地建立人脈關(guān)系并從中找到機會。由于約會之間花費在交通上的時間很短，安排會議比較容易。代表該地區(qū)一些創(chuàng)業(yè)企業(yè)的公關(guān)公司 “單純溝通”(Pure Communications)的丹·布德威克(Dan Budwick)說：“你可以跳上一輛自行車，在一英里內(nèi)見到30家公司。這在舊金山或曼哈頓就不行?！?/p>

Boston’s tech cluster has a different vibe from Silicon Valley’s in other ways too. Edward Farmer of WuXi NextCODE says Boston’s biotech crowd are a more formal bunch, who wear proper shirts – and tuck them in. They know which fork is for the salad because salad is not the only thing they eat. Beer is the recreational drug of choice, rather than cannabis.

在其他方面，波士頓的高科技集群也與硅谷的氛圍不同。明碼生物科技的愛德華·法默(Edward Farmer)表示，波士頓的生物科技從業(yè)者舉止更規(guī)矩，他們穿合適的襯衫，還把下擺塞進褲子里。他們知道哪一個叉子是吃沙拉的，因為他們不只吃沙拉。首選的休閑毒品是啤酒而不是大麻。

The cranes sprouting across the skyline suggest more growth ahead. But demand is still running ahead of supply. In the Boston area rents for laboratory space rose by 7% last year to around $47 a square foot ($505 a square metre), compared with $37 in San Francisco. Already, some companies are having to seek space in districts like Alewife or Watertown, on the far side of Harvard’s campus.

穿越天際線不斷涌現(xiàn)的起重機表明，未來將有更多發(fā)展。但目前依然是供不應(yīng)求。在波士頓地區(qū)，實驗室的租金去年上漲了7%，達到每平方英尺47美元(每平方米505美元)，相比之下，舊金山的租金為37美元。已有一些公司在哈佛校園另一邊的埃爾維夫(Alewife)和沃特敦(Watertown)等區(qū)域?qū)ふ肄k公地點。

Though it is on a roll, the Boston biotech cluster must keep a nervous eye on its West Coast rival, especially if, in future, biotech ventures come to rely on software, wearable sensors and big-data analysis, areas in which Silicon Valley is strong. At least that is a problem it can try to address. The weather is not. The biggest annual jamboree for investors in biotech, organised by J.P. Morgan, a bank, opened in Janurary in its customary location of San Francisco. The temperature was a balmy 13o Celsius, to Boston’s shivering -1 o.

盡管順風順水，波士頓的生物技術(shù)產(chǎn)業(yè)集群還是必須緊張地關(guān)注它在西海岸的競爭對手，尤其是假如生物技術(shù)企業(yè)今后要開始依賴軟件、可穿戴傳感器和大數(shù)據(jù)分析等硅谷強項的話。至少，這個問題是它可以試圖解決的。但天氣就不是了。生物科技投資者最大的年度盛會已于1月按慣例在舊金山舉行，活動由摩根大通銀行(J.P. Morgan)組織。當?shù)貧鉁?3攝氏度，溫暖宜人，而波士頓為零下1度，冷得讓人直打寒顫。

2020年翻譯資格考試(catti)一級筆譯材料整合相關(guān)文章：

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