It is a narrow room, a meter and a half wide, decorated『裝飾;布置』with the awkward『令人尷尬的;不合適的』minimalism『抽象派藝術(shù)』, peeling『剝落;脫落』white paint, tilting『傾斜;翹起』buffet『自助餐』tables, schoolroom chairs bolted『用螺栓拴緊』together into haphazard『雜亂的;隨意的』couches『沙發(fā)』.But the attraction here isn’t the decor『裝飾;布置』; it’s the machines: a beige『米色的』Compaq Proliant 2500 computer and an off-white Dell Power edge, hooked『鉤進(jìn);鉤住』into a refrigerator-size rack of network routers『路由器(連接數(shù)個區(qū)域網(wǎng)絡(luò)的中繼裝置)』and, from there, via a thumb-thick『拇指粗的』black cable, to the infinite『無限的;無邊的』abundance『豐富』of the Internet. Edward Zeng, the 35-year-old Chinese entrepreneur, can’t resist『忍住;抵抗』a grin『露齒的笑;咧嘴的笑』as he looks around the modest『不太大的;適度的』but astonishing『令人驚異的;令人吃驚的』room buried within a warren『擁擠的地區(qū);擁擠的房屋』of offices in the bunker-like hallways『象地下室樣的過道』under Beijing’s Capital Stadium. “Welcome to ground zero,” he says.

這是間狹小的屋子，1.5米寬，裝飾著制作粗糙的抽象畫，剝脫的白色涂料，傾斜的快餐店用桌，用鉚釘固定在一起的教室用椅。但是這兒引起人們注意的不是它的裝飾，而是機(jī)器：一臺米色康柏Proliant 2500計(jì)算機(jī)和一臺灰白色的德爾Power edge，聯(lián)著一臺冰箱大小的網(wǎng)絡(luò)路由器，從那兒，通過一條拇指粗的黑色電纜線，進(jìn)入廣袤無邊的因特網(wǎng)世界。指揮這個小小信息前哨的是35歲的中國企業(yè)家愛德華·曾，此刻，當(dāng)他環(huán)視這個擠在北京首都體育館腳下一排擁擠的辦公室中簡樸然而卻令人振奮的小屋時(shí)，不禁咧嘴笑了。他說：“歡迎進(jìn)入信息革命的中心?！?/p>

There is very little you cannot reach from Zeng’s tiny room. Zeng’s 1,000 Internet subscribers『預(yù)定者;認(rèn)購者』can dial into his computers from all over Beijing and connect nearly limitlessly『無限地;沒有邊界地』to the electronic world. They can send e-mail, photos and news of China. And they can receive practically『差不多;幾乎』anything else.

在曾的小屋里你幾乎沒有得不到的東西。曾的1000位因特網(wǎng)用戶可以從北京各個地方撥號進(jìn)入他的計(jì)算機(jī)，聯(lián)通幾乎沒有邊界的電子世界。他們能夠發(fā)送電子郵件、照片以及中國新聞。他們也能夠收到任何其他東西。

At night, hundreds of Chinese who don’t own a PC crowd into『蜂擁而入』Zeng’s six Internet Cafes, where Net time retails『零售』for $3.6 an hour. It’s fast food for the information age.

夜幕降臨時(shí)，數(shù)以百計(jì)沒有自己的個人計(jì)算機(jī)的中國人就會擁到曾的6間“網(wǎng)絡(luò)咖啡屋”中，這里的上網(wǎng)機(jī)收費(fèi)為每小時(shí)3.6美元。這是信息時(shí)代的快餐。

This is China? That shows that Beijing has settled on『確立;確定』a policy for the Net that is as bold as it is surprising. A rising generation of Western-educated『接受西方教育的』officials is pressing『催促;勸說』home the argument that the Net is the perfect vehicle to transport『運(yùn)送;運(yùn)輸』the Middle Kingdom into the 21st century. “The Chinese get the Net, O.K.?” says Sean Maloney, who ran Intel’s Asia-Pacific operations for three years. “China is going to be unrecognizable『無法認(rèn)出的;不能識別的』in five years. And a large part of that change is going to come through『顯露』the Internet and onto computer screens.”

這是中國嗎?這表明北京已經(jīng)選定了一種贊同網(wǎng)絡(luò)的政策，這是一種既大膽又出人意料的舉措。處于上升態(tài)勢的一代受過西方教育的官員正在竭力使人們接受這種觀念，即網(wǎng)絡(luò)是將中央王國帶入21世紀(jì)的最好交通工具。曾經(jīng)為英特爾公司負(fù)責(zé)過3年亞太業(yè)務(wù)的肖恩·馬洛尼說：“中國人上網(wǎng)了，對嗎?5年后中國人會變得讓你認(rèn)不出來。這種變化的一大部分將通過因特網(wǎng)反映到計(jì)算機(jī)屏幕上?！?/p>

In January the Chinese government approved『批準(zhǔn)』a new series of laws designed『設(shè)計(jì);計(jì)劃』to control how citizens connect to the Internet. But although the laws featured『以……為特色』the usual restrictive『約束的;限制性的』rhetoric『辭令;言語』, they were clearly designed not to keep the Chinese off the Net but to get them online in an orderly way.

今年1月，中國政府批準(zhǔn)了一系列旨在控制公民接通因特網(wǎng)的新法律，這些法律的初衷是控制公民與國際互聯(lián)網(wǎng)相連。盡管法律條文中充滿了具有限制特色的詞語，但其目的顯然不是不讓中國人上網(wǎng)，而是使他們有秩序地上網(wǎng)。

The official curiosity『好奇心』about the power of the Internet, have Beijing buzzing『唧唧喳喳』these days. From dinner parties given by top officials at the Great Hall of the People to bull『通過』sessions『會議』among young technocrat『技術(shù)專家官員』planners , the conversation has shifted from how to control the Net to how to exploit it. “The government is betting『斷定;確信』that PCs and the Net can help competitiveness,” says Thomas Lin, a Beijing-based product manager for Microsoft. “Now they want them on every desk.”