Net Economy

网络经济

People are talking about the "new economy"

人们在谈论着“新经济”。

It's very different with the "old economy". They see people face-to-face at their job or in stores. People get information from newspapers, radios, televisions, reference¹ books and the library.

这与“旧经济”极为不同。旧经济中，人们出门工作，在商店购物，用邮局、传真和电话传送信息；工作时或购物时与人面对面接触；从报纸、收音机、电视、参考书和图书馆获得信息。

In the new economy, people do business through the "net", which is a connection of millions of computers everywhere in the world. In the new economy, workers often work at home. They can get information on-line. They can communicate with employers² and co-workers by e-mail. Customers

shop on-line. Businesses have "virtual³ stores". They are websites on which customers can see the products. Businesses can sell to customers anywhere in the world.

新经济中，人们通过网络做生意，网络把世界各地数以百万计的计算机连接在一起。新经济中，工人经常在家工作。他们可以上网获取信息，可以通过电子邮件和雇主、同事进行交流。顾客可以网上购物。商行都有“虚拟店铺”，就是网站，顾客可以在上面浏览商品。商行可以把东西卖给世界各地的顾客。

In the new economy, people live a fast paced, convenient and colorful life. The whole world develops more rapidly than before. But the new economy is a double-edged sword.Its disadvantage is also obvious. For example, the Internet has led to a huge increase in credit-card cheating. Some illegal websites offer some cheap or banned goods or services.On-line shoppers who enter their credit-card information may never receive the goods they want to buy and their card informarion could even be for sale on an illegal website. So peopie in the new economy should be more smart and knowledgeable⁴.

新经济中，人们生活节奏紧凑、便利多彩。整个世界的发展速度比以前更为迅猛。但新经济是一把双刃剑。其问题也显而易见。比如，网络已经使得信用卡诈骗的数目猛增。有些非法网站提供某些便宜或违禁的商品或服务。那些输入信用卡信息的网上购物者也许永远不会收到他们想买的商品，他们的信用卡信息甚至可能在某个非法网站出售。所以生活在新经济时代的人们应该更明智，更渊博。