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1
Cash
by Computer: Automated Teller Machines
Some basic knowledge of ATMs:
1) Automated Teller Machine (ATM)
An unattended, magnetic stripe-reading terminal that dispenses
cash; accepts deposits and loan payments; enables a bank customer
to order transfers among accounts and make account inquiries.
2) Cirrus®
Cirrus System Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of MasterCard
International Incorporated, operates the international ATM
sharing association known as "Cirrus® ATM Network."
3) Magnetic strip
The magnetically encoded strip on the plastic bankcard that
contains information pertinent to the cardholder account.
The physical and magnetic characteristics of the magnetic
stripe are specified in ISO Standards 7810, 7811, and 7813.
4) Magnetic strip reader
A device that reads information recorded on the magnetic strip
of a card.
5) Personal identification number (PIN)
A four-to-12 character secret code that allows an issuer to
positively authenticate the cardholder for the purpose of
approving an ATM or terminal transaction occurring at a point-of-interaction
device.
Language notes:
1. But
as more banks added round-the-clock automated service through
ATM's, their competitors scrambled to keep pace and the machines
proliferated.
(随着更多的银行利用自动取款机增加24小时自动服务，竞争者们都争着跟上步伐，而自动取款机也随之激增。)
Scramble: struggle or contend frantically in order to
get something.
e.g. scramble for the best seats.
2. Both
systems convert foreign currency withdrawals to dollars at
the day's exchange rate and subtract the amount from the savings
or checking account back home.
(两大网络都可以按当日的汇率把支取的外币转成美元，并从国内的储蓄或活期存款帐户中扣除。)
Withdrawal: an act of taking money out of an account.
e.g. fixed savings withdrawal.
3. The
strip is made of plastic coated with metallic particles magnetized
to form a pattern that stores the card's numerical data.
(磁条是塑料制成，外加一层磁化的金属粒子，排列组合后来储存卡上的数字信息。)
Coat: apply a layer or covering of something.
e. g. A film of dust coated the floor.
4． These
signals and electrical signals representing the cardholders'
request travel together to a series of computers that check
the information, route it to the next computer, and authorize
the transaction.
(这些信号和代表了持卡人要求的电子信号将汇集到一系列计算机那里，它们会核对信息，将信息传送到下一计算机，并指示进行交易。)
Authorize: give official permission for or approval
to.
e.g. The government authorized further aircraft
production.
Text 2
E-Business Is Still Business
About the author:
A former Boston University School of Management student, Mr.
Bronner has built one of the leading Internet professional
services firms, Digitas (formerly Bronnercom and Strategic
Interactive Group), with more than 1200 employees. At age
20, Mr. Bronner dropped out of Boston University School of
Management to form a coupon-marketing company that grew into
Digitas, with $187 million in sales last year.
Recently, The School of Management at Boston University announced
an innovative e-business initiative, the Michael Bronner e-Business
Center and Hatchery. The new concept first establishes a Center
in which students can develop new business ideas under the
supervision of faculty as part of their educational experience.
Secondly, the initiative creates a separate Hatchery that
allies students with the hands-on leadership of successful
business executives and venture capitalists to help launch
and nurture e-business ideas with financial assistance and
managerial experience.
Michael Bronner wants them to have their stake and sheepskin
too. A successful e-businessman who dropped out of BU 20 years
ago to start a coupon marketing company, Bronner says that
when students have access to the right resources, education
and entrepreneurship become not mutually exclusive but mutually
beneficial. That's why he and SMG have established the Michael
Bronner e-Business Center and Hatchery, a venture designed
to let business students take a shot at business while remaining
students.
About Digitas:
Digitas provides integrated Internet-based strategic, technological
and marketing solutions to industry leaders. The firm's billings
of $1.3 billion are from 15 Global 100 clients, including
American Express (NYSE: AXP), General Motors (NYSE: GM), Amazon.com
(NASDAQ: AMZN), AT&T (NYSE: T), and Dell Computer, (NASDAQ:
DELL).
Language notes:
1.
I want to begin my talk by making a disclaimer
— I am not
a prophet or a visionary.
(首先，我想声明我不是预言家，也不是空想家。)
Disclaimer: a statement that denies something, especially
responsibility.
e.g. The novel carries a usual disclaimer
about the characters bearing no relationship to living persons.
2. The
convergence of technologies personified though the Internet
and the World Wide Web is a driving force behind the transformation
of business in particular…and society in general.
(推动商业的具体变化和社会的总体变化的，是通过互联网和环球网而人性化的各种技术的汇集。)
In particular: especially.
In general: as a whole.
e.g. our understanding of culture in general
and literature in particular.
3. I'm
not talking about the exciting
— but finally pedestrian
—
things millions of people have been enabled to do as a result
of the Internet...
(我指的不是互联网使上百万的人们所能做的那些令人兴奋却最终是普通的事情……)
Pedestrian: lacking inspiration or excitement, dull.
e.g. She could not bear the pedestrian everyday
life.
4. And,
equally important, it includes a wide variety of applications
that facilitate an emerging interactive network with the potential
to transform people's lives.
(同样重要的是，它还包括多种多样的应用技术，它们具有改变人们生活的潜力，促进形成中的互动网络。)
Facilitate: make easy or easier.
e.g. facilitate peaceful settlement of dispute.
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