【彭蒙惠英语】对抗科技术语（1/4）
Technobabble Battle(1/4)
Can we break down a wall of computer jargon*?
One thing that Ismael Matos, 23, says he’s learned on his job as a special agent with the Geek Squad, a 24-hour computer support service, is that there are no stupid questions---not even when a customer asks where the power button is.
The goal, Matos says, is first to “strip out the jargon.” You know what he means: those terms like gigs*, Ram*, and motherboard* that civilians don’t typically use in everyday conversations. Once he establishes a common language with the customer, Matos can focus on building a relationship---one that he hopes will pay off* in the future.
Motos knows that clients often don’t have the same skills he does. His customers ask for help not only with setting up new computers and installing software, but also with digital cameras, wireless Internet access and even getting their iPod synced* with iTunes.
We live in the age of Web2.0*, when Internet viewers are fast becoming content creators. We may log in to social networking sites such as Digg and Technorati, rate or even upload videos on YouTube, and contribute and edit information on collaborate websites known as wikis.
But members of this expanding plugged-in population aren’t necessarily up to speed* with the language of the web---or understand the technical lingo* of the sales or customer service people they’re turning to for assistance. According to a “Cyber Stress” survey of 1,001 American broadband Internet service users, 46 percent said the typical tech support person uses an excess of technical language, and 61 percent said they would prefer a “computer therapist” who is compassionate and easy to talk to.
Vocabulary Focus
pay off (phr v) ---to be successful or worthwhile
up to speed (exp) ---to have all the latest information about a subject or an activity and be able to do it well
Specialized terms
jargon (n)---术语 special words and phrases used by particular groups of people, especially in their work
gig (n)---十亿字节的简称 abbreviation for “gigabyte” which is a unit of computer storage space
RAM (n)---内存 abbreviation for “random access memory,” a type of computer memory which can be searched in any order and changed as necessary
motherboard (n)---主板 a printed circuit board that contains the central processing unit of a computer and makes it possible for the other parts of a computer to communicate with each other
sync (v)---使......同步 to make things work together or cause things to happen at the same time
Web 2.0 (n)---网络2.0 a popular term for a service that uses the very latest Internet technologies and applications such as blogs
lingo (n)---行话；术语 a type of language that contains a lot of unusual or technical expressions
