微软公司要求,微软半数员工担心被AI取代

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TEXT 35

Blogging off

走出博客

“I LOVE Microsoft and Microsoft did not lose me,” protested Robert Scoble, a little too loudly, on his blog last week, in a bid to end feverish speculation in the blogosphere about why, exactly, he had decided to leave Microsoft. The software g_______①'s “technical evangelist”, Mr Scoble has become the best-known example of a corporate blogger. On his blog, called Scobleizer, which he started in 2000, he writes about Microsoft's products, and has sometimes criticised them fiercely—（1）thereby both establishing his credibility and, by its willingness to tolerate him, helping to humanise his employer.

译文

“微软半数员工担心被AI取代我热爱微软，微软也没有失去我。”罗伯特·斯考伯上周在他的博客上义正词严地说。他这么说是希望博客界不要再对他为何决定离开微软妄加臆测。作为这一软件巨头的“技术专员”，斯考伯先生已经成为企业博客最知名的典范。他的博客名叫Scobleizer，始建于2000年，主要写一些与微软产品有关的文章，有时候也会对其提出严厉批评——如此一来，不但树立了他的声望，也藉微软对他的宽容大度体现了微软的人性化。

（2）As blogging's influence has grown, so has Mr Scoble's—both inside and outside Microsoft. Last year, after he blogged against Microsoft's decision to abandon support for a law prohibiting d________② against gays, the company's managers backed down[1]. He helped write a book, “Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk With Customers”, published in January, that has become essential reading for any boss trying to define a new-media strategy for his business.

译文

博客的影响力越来越大，斯考伯的博客也不例外——无论是在微软内部，还是在外界。去年，他在博客中抨击了微软关于不再支持一项禁止歧视同性恋的法律的决定，公司管理人员后来只好收回成命。他还参与著述了《推心置腹的对话——博客是怎样改变与客户的商务交流方式的》一书，今年1月出版，现已成为所有试图在生意上建立一个新型媒体战略的公司老板的必读之书。

So why leave? Mr Scoble has denied several of the theories circulating in the blogosphere, including that he had become fed up with having his expenses challenged or with sharing an office; that Microsoft challenged his views too often; that he had become frustrated; and that the firm had not tried hard enough to keep him. Still, his friend Dave Winer, another blogger, described Microsoft as a “stifling[2] organisation” before observing that “when he finally decided to leave, it's as if a huge weight came off him, and all of a sudden, the old Scoble is back.” __________________________________（他认为，斯考伯的离去证明微软公司无法与时俱进）: “I'm glad to see my old friend didn't go down with the ship.” Another blogger says that his departure h_______③ the “end of honest blogging”.

译文

那他为什么要离开微软呢？博客界流传着好几种说法，有的说他受够了别人对自己的业务开支说三道四，有的说他无法容忍与别人共用一个办公)室，有的说微软公司三番五次对他的观点提出质疑，有的说他遭到了挫折，有的说公司没有竭尽全力挽留他，对此他都予以了否认。此外，他的朋友戴夫·温纳（也是博客作家）说，“他下定决心离职时感到如释重负，刹那间人们熟悉的那个斯高伯又回来了。”然后又说微软是一个“不开明的公司”。他认为，斯考伯的离去证明微软公司无法与时俱进，“很高兴看到我的老朋友没有与微软一起走向没落。”另一个博客作家说，他的离开昭示着“诚实博客的终结”。

（3）The real reason may be less sinister—though troubling for the growing number of employers encouraging their employees to blog. Blogging allows staff to build a personal brand separate from that of their firm; if they are good at it, and build up a readership, that brand may be more valuable to them elsewhere. Mr Scoble is off to join PodTech.net, a rising star in video podcasting, which is now far more fashionable than blogging and potentially far more lucrative[3]. It seems that Mr Scoble is most impressed by Rocketboom, one of whose founders, Amanda Congdon, is said to be drawing 300,000 viewers a day to her videoblog, and is about to start c________④ advertisers $85,000 a week—almost as much, Mr Scoble is reported as saying, “as I made in an entire year working at Microsoft.”

译文

真正的原因也许并没有多少不祥的兆头——尽管它令越来越多鼓励员工写博客的老板们不胜其烦。（译者按：“sinister”表示“预兆不祥的，不吉的”，恰好跟上段最后一句中的“herald”呼应，意指“人们纷纷揣测斯考伯离职是因为这样那样的对微软乃至对整个博客界不利的原因，甚至“他的离开可能预示着以后的博客不再敢于说真话了”，而事实上他离职的真正原因是本段后面所说的“另谋高就”，意图寻找更赚钱的工作，比如播客。）博客让员工可以创造一个独立于公司之外的品牌，假如做得不错并拥有一定的读者群，这一品牌或许对公司能起到“无心插柳柳成荫”的作用。斯考伯之所以离职，是因为准备加入PodTech.net公司（注：位于硅谷），这是一家新兴的视频播客公司，而播客如今比博客更时尚，也更有利可图。给斯考伯先生印象最深的还是Rocketboom公司。该公司创始人之一阿曼达·康登的播客据说每天拥有30万的浏览量，她正打算开始向广告客户收取每周85000美元的广告费——有报道引用斯考伯的话说，这几乎等于“我在微软公司干一年挣的钱”。

[QUIZ]

1. 根据首字母以及括号内的词性提示和英文释义填入单词（注意复数、时态形式变化等）：

①g________（n. a very large successful company; a extremely tall strong man）

②d________（n. unfair treatment because of someone's race, sex, age）

③h________（v. to show that something is going to happen）

④c________（v. to take or ask for an amount of money in return for something you are selling）

2. 英译汉（将划线部分英文翻译成中文）：

3．汉译英（根据译文提示和上下文，在空白处填入相应英文）：

[NOTES]

1. back down to admit that you are wrong or that you have lost an argument作出让步微软半数员工担心被AI取代；认输

2. stifling adj. a situation that is stifling stops you from developing your own ideas and character （环境）令人窒息的；压抑的；沉闷的

3. lucrative adj. a job or activity that is lucrative lets you earn a lot of money [= profitable]有利可图的；赚钱的

★ACTIVATE YOUR LANGUAGE

words for describing a job that you earn a lot from

well-paid/highly paid pay well lucrative

when a business produces a profit(当生意赚钱时)

profitable lucrative money-spinner赚大钱的人（事） goldmine财源

[KEY TO QUIZ]

1. ①giant 巨人，巨头；②discrimination 歧视；③heralds 预示；④charging 收费，索价

2.（见译文，仅供参 考，欢迎指正）

3．He views Mr Scoble's departure as evidence that Microsoft has been unable to move with the times（注：答案肯定不是唯一，但至少微软半数员工担心被AI取代你可以学习作者的写法）

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