【英语多益通】从美国禁抖音,学资安英文单字

▲抖音、 微信。(图/达志影像美联社

文/Buffy Kao

美中矛盾不断升级,如今也延伸到了科技战,其中川普政府声称风靡各国的中国抖音(TikTok)和微信(WeChat)等社交软体,对美国国情造成了资安上的巨大威胁,大张旗鼓地逼迫抖音必须完全出卖所有权给美国企业,否则就封杀。今天借由这个议题,我们也来谈谈国家资安的相关多益英文用法吧!

1. Absent hard proof, what’s left are more extrapolated dangers, like whether the Chinese government, which the US says was responsible for a notorious series of breaches at American institutions, would pilfer user data from TikTok, or censor content on the platform the way it tightly controls the internet within its own borders.(缺乏实际证据,剩下的便是纯推论的危险,例如美国宣称中国政府应为一系列恶名昭彰入侵美国政府机构的事件负责,以及中国是否从抖音上窃取使用者资讯,或是如同严格控管其内陆网路使用般地审查平台上的内容。)

extrapolated dangers 推论的危险

extrapolate (v.)是推论的意思,借由过去的经验或现有的资讯来做合理的推断,衍伸词如extrapolation(n.)和extrapolative(adj.),都遵循字尾词性变化的规则,「-tion」名词、「-tive」形容词。extrapolator(n.)在新闻英文上面算是常见单字,表示做出合理推论的人,同义词有conclude、deduce等。

a notorious series of breaches 一系列恶名昭彰的入侵

a series of是多益常见片语,意思是一系列的,后面多加复数名词,且带有前后的顺序意味;同义词a variety of也是加上复数单字,意思则是各式各样的、多种的,所以此二片语虽然都是加复数名词,用法上还是有点差异。breach(n.)在这里指的是网路入侵,它也有违法的、破坏、破裂等意思,有动词同型breach。

notorious(adj.)意思是因为做过不好的事而有名,可翻成恶名昭彰的,名词变化是字尾变成「-iety」notoriety。常见同义词有infamous、disreputable等,这两个单字都是加上否定字首,famous有名的加上「in-」变成「因不好原因而有名的」,reputable也是有名气的,加上「dis-」也变成「有不好名声的」。

censor content on the platform 在平台上审查内容

censor指的是审查,若看到影片上或图片上有打马赛克也可以用这个单字,就是被审查的。

The movie was censored by the government.(这部电影被政府上了马赛克。)

content表示内容,外文书目录也是用content,目录就是书本内容的提示,所以很好理解。platform是复合名词,过去常表示交通运输的月台,如今网路的便利促使这个单字被拿来代表网路平台,旧字新用

2. Like other apps, security researchers have found bugs inside TikTok, which were later patched. More recently, some users were alarmed when they learned TikTok was requesting access to their clipboards, which could potentially expose sensitive data like passwords.(如同其他的应用软体,安全研究专家在抖音内发现的程式错误已在后来被补强。最近部分使用者发现,抖音要求要取得他们剪贴簿的内容,有可能暴露如密码等的敏感资讯,并对此感到惶恐不安。)

bugs were later patched 补强程式错误

电脑软体内的程式错误英文是bug,bug原意是臭虫,程式执行错误就好像在电脑内放了只臭虫造成。要去除错误会用patch补强,patch原本是指衣服的补丁,这里则是用来用做弥补、修正错误,也是电脑常见用字

potentially expose sensitive data 有可能会暴露敏感资讯

potentially(adv.)和possibly类似,意思是有可能会发生,两者可做同义词使用。expose有暴露的意思,exposure是名词变化,除了有实际暴露的用法,也有抽象用法,如句中表达。

3. TikTok says the functionality was part of an anti-spam feature that detected when users tried to post the same comment on different videos over and over again, and that it never retained data from anyone’s clipboard. The feature has since been disabled.(抖音表示此功能不过是反垃圾邮件功能的一部分,会侦测使用者在不同影片上多次张贴重复性评论,且不会保留用户剪贴簿中的任何资料。此功能已被禁用。)

an anti-spam feature 反垃圾邮件功能

「anti-」字首是指反义词,「spam」是垃圾邮件之意,因此anti-spam就是反垃圾邮件之意;feature有特色、特征之意,这里主要指的是软体功能特色。

The feature has since been disabled 此功能已被禁用

disable(v.)来自able(adj.)的变化,加上「dis-」字首代表否定,指的是使「无法做…」,因此延伸出有使残废之意,如disabled residents(身障人士)。名词变化disability,如disability insurance(身障保险)。

【多益模拟试题

Jacobs Office DepotINVOICE NO. 501Details of purchase: 5 boxes of A4 paper - $1.50 per boxTotal Cost: $7.50Customer: John Goodman SolicitorsTax Number: T1528711444Details of payment: Payment received in cash. Direct debit has been set up on customer's bank account as customer wishes to renew the order on a monthly basis.Details of delivery: Customer collected in person. Subsequent orders to be delivered on the first of the month to the following address: 2 Appleby Road, Rhode Avenue, New York.No delivery charge will apply.

1. Which of the following statements is accurate?(A) Jacobs Office Depot placed an order for 5 boxes of A4 paper.(B) John Goodman Solicitors purchased 5 boxes of A4 paper at a cost of $7.50 per box.(C) John Goodman Solicitors invoiced Jacobs Office Depot for 5 boxes of A4 paper.(D) John Goodman Solicitors paid $7.50 in cash for 5 boxes of A4 paper.

2. What method of payment will be used in future?(A) Payment in cash(B) Payment in cash on renewal of order.(C) The customer's bank account will be debited monthly.(D) No charges will apply.

解析

1. 正解为(D)。本文的内容与商业发票相关,因此要一个一个答案去确认细节是否完全符合。选项(A)是说「Jacobs Office Depot下了个5箱A4纸张订单」,不过很明显这是搞错对象,Jacobs Office Depot应该是开立发票的那方,当然就是卖方,而买方在后面提到顾客部分写着Customer: John Goodman Solicitors,因此这选项不正确。选项(B)则可从第一行提到「购买明细:五箱的A4纸张,每箱$1.50」来判断,因此「John Goodman Solicitors订购5箱A4纸张,每箱$7.50」不对,$7.50应该是总数花费。选项(C)「John Goodman Solicitors开立5箱A4纸张给Jacobs Office Depot」,这题其实逻辑跟(A)一样相反了,应该是后者(卖方)开立发票。如此一来,只剩选项(D)是正确的,「John Goodman Solicitors总共付了$7.50购买5箱A4纸张」,正好呼应了选项(B)的逻辑。

2. 正解为(C)。题意为「未来会采用什么付款方式?」就要找付款方式那一行 「付款明细:第一笔现金付款。由于顾客表示要续约,已设立公司帐户以利每月向顾客银行帐户请款。」所以未来的付款方式是银行帐户扣款,答案选(C)。

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