2014英语四级听力练习:慢速英语8.18

　　From Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

　　The war in the Gaza Strip is being fought as much on the Internet as it is on the ground. Some people say the increased use of social media is changing the way people look at the conflict.

　　Palestinian activists recently put a video on the YouTube website. The video shows rescue workers trying to help a Palestinian boy look for his family. Suddenly, the boy is seen lying on the ground. The video claims he was shot by Israeli gunmen. A second bullet appears to kill him. The video is now being shared on social media. could not independently confirm whether the video came from a pro-Palestinian group called the International Solidarity Movement.

　　The current fighting in Gaza is not the first time the Palestinian people have seen war. But this is the first time Palestinians get to tell their stories to the world as the direct source of information. Lisa Goldman is with the New America Foundation, a non-profit group. She spoke to on Skype.

　　Before, there were a lot of Israelis on Twitter. Now there are a lot of Palestinians on Twitter, and this is new; this is really new. Its something that happened in the last year, Lisa said.

　　Yousef Munayyer heads the Jerusalem Fund, a pro-Palestinian group. He says that earlier news reports about the Middle East were generally pro-Israel. But he says active social media work by the Palestinians is changing how traditional media report the news.

　　Because the mainstream is trying to put out what they believe is the truth, but when you have this marketplace of information that is showing different ideas, different images, different realities, they too have to then adjust their coverage to become closer to that democratized sort of space of information.

　　Jed Shein is the social media director at Israels embassy in Washington. He warns against thinking that social media truly show how the public feels about issues.

　　The people willing to comment and react on social media are the people that maybe are on the broader ends of each spectrum.

　　Use of social media to spread the news is not limited to the Palestinian territories. The Islamic group ISIL has also used the Internet to spread its message to the world. Recently, Syria blocked Internet access for two hours across the entire country. Some people believe the Syrian action was an effort to stop ISIL from using social media networks.

　　Social media websites like YouTube and Facebook remain popular. But experts say there is little scientific evidence to prove how effective they are in the Gaza conflict. Lisa Goldman notes the importance of having news media employees report from conflict areas.

　　People like Ayman Mohyeldin from NBC News in the States, people like Sherine Tadros for Sky News, Ben Wedeman from CNN. These are Arabic speakers, people whove been in the Middle East for a long time and who know Gaza very well, Lisa said.

　　And thats the Learning English Technology Report. Im Jonathan Evans.

　　词汇讲解：

　　1. appear vi.出现，显现

　　例句：They appear to be very sensitive to mildly corrosive environments.

　　它们似乎对轻度的腐蚀环境非常敏感。

　　2. confirm vt.[法]确认，批准

　　例句：This year seemed only to confirm pre-existing trends.

　　今似乎只是对之前趋势的一种确定。

　　3. democratize v.民主化

　　例句：On his stanford homepage he says he wants to democratize education.

　　在他的斯坦福大学的网页上他表示希望使教育大众化。

　　4. territory n.领土，版图

　　例句：Corruption charges come with the territory.

　　腐败指控已经蔓延整个地区。

　　5. prove vt.证明，证实

　　例句：Please prove your identity.

　　请证明你的身份。

　　6. conflict n.冲突; 战斗

　　例句：Family conflict is another danger.

　　家族矛盾是另外一个危险。

　　短语讲解：

　　1. Some people say the increased use of social media is changing the way people look at the conflict.

　　look at 看; 评判

　　例句：Look at our verse today.

　　看我们今天的章节。

　　2. The video shows rescue workers trying to help a Palestinian boy look for his family.

　　look for 寻找

　　例句：I want Bill to look for Mr. Jones to talk.

　　我要比尔找琼斯先生谈一谈。

　　3. Before, there were a lot of Israelis on Twitter.

　　a lot of 许多的; 诸多

　　例句：A lot of whats changing now is subtle.

　　许多变化都非常微妙。

　　4. Because the mainstream is trying to put out what they believe is the truth, but when you have this marketplace of information that is showing different ideas, different images, different realities, they too have to then adjust their coverage to become closer to that democratized sort of space of information.

　　put out 生产; 伸出; 出版; 扑灭

　　例句：The marines and others managed to put out the fire.

　　海军陆战队士兵和周围的人一同把火扑灭了。

　　too...to 太以至于不能

　　例句：Its too early to tell.

　　现在做判断还为时过早。