春节嗨皮了好几天，今天接着2017年江苏高考英语阅读C篇外刊原文的精读笔记。
回顾：高考英语江苏卷2017：数据是新时代的石油
The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data
文章开头讲到，当一种新商品催生出一个利润丰厚且增长迅猛的行业时，。而在这个数字时代，数据就是100年前石油一样的存在，因此，数据也需要面对反垄断调查，但数据经济需要一套新的反垄断规则。
Quantity has a quality all its own 数量与质量兼得
第四段：
What has changed? Smartphones and the internet have made data abundant, ubiquitous and far more valuable. Whether you are going for a run, watching TV or even just sitting in traffic, virtually every activity creates a digital trace—more raw material for the data distilleries. As devices from watches to cars connect to the internet, the volume is increasing: some estimate that a self-driving car will generate 100 gigabytes per second. Meanwhile, artificial-intelligence (AI) techniques such as machine learning extract more value from data. Algorithms can predict when a customer is ready to buy, a jet-engine needs servicing or a person is at risk of a disease. Industrial giants such as GE and Siemens now sell themselves as data firms.
ubiquitous /juːˈbɪkwɪtəs/ 似乎无所不在的；十分普遍的
sit in traffic 因交通阻塞而（在车里）坐着
distillery /dɪˈstɪləri/ 酿酒厂，来自distill, 蒸馏，酿酒。
the data distillery ：数据酿酒厂，这是对那些从事数据处理相关公司的形象表达；
raw material原材料，这里也就是指原始数据；
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devices from watches to cars：from...to...是一个举例子的表达，可以翻译成“从...到...，比如...，……等”的方式，写作中可以替换for example, such as等；
比如：It has upended industries, from entertainment to retailing.它颠覆了各个行业，比如娱乐业、零售业。
Worries about AI's threats to humans have emerged in a wide range of areas, from accounting to radiology department.人们担心人工智能在很多方面对人类构成威胁，比如会计和放射科。
sell yourself：自我宣传，自荐
参考译文：是什么发生了变化?智能手机和互联网催生了海量数据,数据不仅无处不在、而且更有价值。无论你是在跑步、看电视、甚至是堵在车里，几乎所有活动都会产生数据——为从事数据处理加工的公司提供更多的原始数据。随着手表和汽车等更多设备接入互联网,数据量与日俱增：有人估计，一辆无人驾驶汽车每秒将会产生100GB的数据将产生100g的电量。同时，机器学习等人工智能技术也从数据中提取出更多的价值。算法可以预测消费者何时有意购物、喷气发动机何时需要维修、或者一个人何时可能患病。像通用电气和西门子这样的工业巨头现在干脆把自己定位为数据公司来宣传。
第五段：
This abundance of data changes the nature of competition. Technology giants have always benefited from network effects: the more users Facebook signs up, the more attractive signing up becomes for others. With data there are extra network effects. By collecting more data, a firm has more scope to improve its products, which attracts more users, generating even more data, and so on. The more data Tesla gathers from its self-driving cars, the better it can make them at driving themselves—part of the reason the firm, which sold only 25,000 cars in the first quarter, is now worth more than GM, which sold 2.3m. Vast pools of data can thus act as protective moats.
参考译文：海量的数据改变了竞争的性质。科技巨头一直受益于网络效应:Facebook的注册用户越多，就越能吸引其他人来注册。数据又还有额外的网络效应。通过收集更多的数据，企业赢得更大的空间来改进自家产品，进而吸引更多用户、产生更多数据等等。特斯拉（Tesla）从其无人驾驶汽车中收集的数据越多，就越能升级改进无人驾驶技术——第一季度销量只有2.5万辆的特斯拉却能超过当时销量230万辆的通用汽车，一定程度上就源于此。因此，大数据库可以充当企业的护城河。
第六段：
Access to data also protects companies from rivals in another way. The case for being sanguine about competition in the tech industry rests on the potential for incumbents to be blindsided by a startup in a garage or an unexpected technological shift. But both are less likely in the data age. The giants’ surveillance systems span the entire economy: Google can see what people search for, Facebook what they share, Amazon what they buy. They own app stores and operating systems, and rent out computing power to startups. They have a “God’s eye view” of activities in their own markets and beyond. They can see when a new product or service gains traction, allowing them to copy it or simply buy the upstart before it becomes too great a threat. Many think Facebook’s $22bn purchase in 2014 of WhatsApp, a messaging app with fewer than 60 employees, falls into this category of “shoot-out acquisitions” that eliminate potential rivals. By providing barriers to entry and early-warning systems, data can stifle competition.
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sanguine /ˈsæŋɡwɪn/ 充满信心的；乐观的；
比如：He tends to take a sanguine view of the problems involved. 他对涉及的问题持乐观态度。
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incumbent /ɪnˈkʌmbənt/ ：a person who has an official position 在职者，现任者，；在这里是指现有公司；
the present incumbent of the White House 现任美国总统
blindside ：①to attack sb from the direction where they cannot see you coming 攻其不备；出其不意地袭击；②to give sb an unpleasant surprise 使遭受意外的打击；
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句子分析：The giants’ surveillance systems span the entire economy: Google can see what people search for, Facebook what they share, Amazon what they buy.
冒号后面的有三个分句，其中后面两句省略了第一个小句的“can see”。
traction ：牵引（力）；
gain traction表示“受到追捧，得到青睐，越来越有吸引力”
shoot-out表示“a fight that is fought with guns until one side is killed or defeated ”，指你死我活的枪战；在体育中也表示“点球大战”，“ Players from each team try to score a goal in turn until one player fails to score and their team loses the game. ”；“shoot-out acquisitions”可以译为“一对一式收购”；
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句子结构分析：①Many think② Facebook’s $22bn purchase in 2014 of WhatsApp, ③a messaging app with fewer than 60 employees, ④falls into this category ⑤of “shoot-out acquisitions” ⑥that eliminate potential rivals.
①是句子主干，②是省略了that的宾语从句，其中Facebook’s $22bn purchase falls into this category是宾语从句的主干，③是WhatsApp的同位语，解释说明WhatsApp是一款员工人数不足60人的即时通讯应用程序，⑥则是一个定语从句，修饰限定“shoot-out acquisitions”。
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stifle抑止，阻止，压制；
比如：rules and regulations that stifle innovation 压制创新的规章制度
参考译文：获取数据也是让公司更有竞争力的一种方式。在科技行业，之所以对竞争抱持乐观态度，是因为现有企业可能会被一家车库中的初创企业打个措手不及，也有可能在出乎意料的技术变革中受挫。但在数据时代，这两种情况都不太可能出现。这些巨头的监控系统覆盖了整个经济领域:谷歌可以看到人们搜索什么，Facebook可以知道人们分享什么，亚马逊可以了解人们买了什么。他们拥有应用商店、操作系统，并将计算能力出租给初创企业。他们拥有“上帝之眼”，可以监控自己的市场和其他市场。当一种新产品或服务受到追捧时，他们很快就会知道，因而能够尽快模仿这种产品或服务，或者干脆直接收购，避免对自己形成更大的威胁。许多人认为，Facebook在2014年斥资220亿美元收购收购员工总数不到60人的WhatsApp是一种“一对一式收购”，是为了消灭潜在竞争对手而进行的一对一收购。通过设置竞争门槛和预警系统，数据便可遏制竞争。
以上。
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