Dialogue—Authentic Real English
Netbook上网本
Diarmuid: Hi, everybody and welcome to Authentic Real English from the BBC. I’m Diarmuid.
Feifei: And I’m Feifei.
(Typing sounds)
Feifei: Diarmuid今天又拿来一个新玩意儿！What’s that gadget you are playing with, Diarmuid?
Diarmuid: It’s my latest toy—a netbook.
Feifei: A netbook?
Diarmuid: Yes, a netbook. N.E.T.B.O.O.K. It’s like a laptop computer only even smaller.
How big is your laptop?
Feifei: What a cute little computer! 这个笔记本电脑比一般的要小一些，主要是来满足一般的上网功能，也就是我们现在常说的上网本。I like your netbook, but I have a question about the name. Why is a computer called a book?
Diarmuid: That’s a very good question. I suppose it’s because there are lots of names for different types of computers.
Feifei: And those names can be different between Britain and America, can’t they?
Diarmuid: To an extent, yes. For example, in British English we use the word laptop.
Feifei: Laptop笔记本电脑。
Diarmuid: But in American English they call the same thing a notebook.
Feifei: Notebook美式英语中的笔记本电脑。英国人通常用laptop, 而美国人会说notebook.
Diarmuid: So I think that the name “netbook” is a mix of two words—internet and notebook.
Example
A: Did you buy anything in the January sales?
B: Yes, I bought a little netbook computer. It’s really handy.
Feifei: So a netbook then is a small computer that is used mostly for surfing the internet. 因为上网本很小，所以它所能提供给我们的功能也就比不上台式机和笔记本电脑了，那么大家也就用它上上网罢了。
Diarmuid: I use it mostly for surfing the web and checking E-mail—things like that.
Feifei: It’s incredible how small computers are these days, isn’t it?
Diarmuid: It certainly is and it looks like we will soon see more tablet computers, too.
Feifei: Tablet computers平板电脑。这种电脑使用的是最新的触摸屏技术touch-screen technology.
Diarmuid: It’s all very different from the computers I grew up with—3k of RAM and a tape player for saving files!
Feifei: You’re getting old, Diarmuid.
Diarmuid: I suppose so. And on that depressing note it’s time for us to go.
Feifei: Bye for now.
Diarmuid: Goodbye.