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美国大学生的iPhone情结
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美国大学生的iPhone情结
要让大学生们在四个星期内，让自己的iPhone短信在别人的手机上显示为（老土的）绿色气泡而非（时尚的）蓝色气泡，就需要付给他们这么多钱。 
双语精读
Putting a price on Apple's text message bubbles
给苹果的短信气泡标价
What is the price of cool? About $31 a month, according to new research by Leonardo Bursztyn of the University of Chicago and co-authors. That is how much college students had to be paid to have their iPhone messages appear to others in a (lame) green rather than a (fashionable) blue bubble for four weeks.
变酷的价格是多少？根据芝加哥大学莱昂纳多·伯斯兹坦及其合著者的最新研究，价格约为每月31美元。要让大学生们在四个星期内，让自己的iPhone短信在别人的手机上显示为（老土的）绿色气泡而非（时尚的）蓝色气泡，就需要付给他们这么多钱。
Introduced to indicate that a message has been sent by services other than Apple's iMessage, the green bubble has become a marker for those either insufficiently wealthy to afford an iPhone or insufficiently aware of the stigma stemming from their preference for Android, another operating system.
绿色气泡的引入原本是为了显示该短信并非通过苹果的iMessage发送，如今却成了两种人的标识：要么是买不起苹果手机，要么是意识不到偏好安卓（另一种操作系统）会招来羞耻。
Better avoided, unless there is a reward. The researchers offered American students a choice of participating in experiments with different conditions. In the control, students simply had to upload screenshots and receive a text message, which set a baseline for how much they valued their privacy and avoiding hassle.
最好避开安卓，除非有奖励。研究人员让美国学生选择在不同条件下参与实验。在控制组中，学生只需上传截图并接收一条短信，这是他们重视隐私和避免麻烦的基准程度。
Participants in the three other groups were paid to deactivate certain features on their phone: the blue bubbles; iMessage, which provides a few services in addition to the colour; and the camera. On average, students required 49, 86, respectively, in the three other groups.
其他三组参与者被有偿要求停用手机的某些功能：蓝色气泡、iMessage（除颜色外还提供几项服务）、相机。平均而言，学生参与控制组需要获得18美元报酬，而参与其他三个组分别需要49美元、69美元、86美元。
For the researchers, such results demonstrate Apple's market dominance. Ideally, firms would compete to make their products as good and cheap as possible. The tech giant's position allows it to take another approach: making rivals suffer.
对研究人员来说，这样的结果证明了苹果的市场主导地位。理想情况下，企业会竞相将产品做得尽可能优质且便宜。苹果的主导地位使其能够采取另一种策略：让竞争对手吃苦头。
Documents released in an antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple by Epic Games, a gaming firm, reveal that the tech giant's bosses saw iMessage as a way of keeping users locked in.
游戏公司“史诗游戏”对苹果提起反垄断诉讼的文件披露，苹果的管理层将iMessage视为锁住用户的手段。
One possibility is that the green bubbles represent a co-ordination problem for students. After all, most respondents-among both Apple and Android users-told the researchers that they wanted uniformly coloured bubbles.
一种可能是，绿色气泡对学生来说代表了协调问题。毕竟，大多数受访者——包括苹果和安卓用户——都告诉研究人员，他们想要颜色统一的气泡。
In principle, competition provides that option; there are no colour distinctions on services such as Signal or WhatsApp. The issue could be that persuading all your friends, or indeed a whole campus, to switch, and eliminate stigma, is a difficult endeavour.
原则上，竞争提供了这种选择，在Signal或WhatsApp等应用程序上没有颜色区分。问题可能在于，说服你所有的朋友，甚至是整个校园的人转用其他软件并消除羞耻，这是一项艰巨的任务。
There is another possibility, however. Maybe iPhone users enjoy the status boost too much to forgo the sought-after blue bubbles, whatever they say in surveys.
然而，还有另一种可能性。或许苹果手机用户太过享受这种身份提升，以至于不愿放弃令人艳羡的蓝色气泡，无论他们在调查中如何表态。
词汇预习
- issue [高考]
美[ˈɪʃuː] | 英[ˈɪʃuː]
n. 问题，议题，争论点；（报纸、杂志等的）期刊号；发放，分配；（新股票或邮票等的）发行；子女，后嗣；流出，发出
v. 发表，颁布；分发，分配；正式发行；流出，发出；由……产生，由…得出 - giant [高考]
美[ˈdʒaɪənt] | 英[ˈdʒaɪənt]
n. 巨人；巨物；大公司
adj. 巨大的 - option [高考]
美[ˈɑːpʃn] | 英[ˈɒpʃn]
n. 选项；选择；选择权；可选择的事物
v. 购买（或出售）…的选择权 - bubble [高考]
美[ˈbʌbl] | 英[ˈbʌbl]
n. 气泡；泡影
v. 起泡；冒泡；充满...感情 - fashionable [高考]
美[ˈfæʃnəbl] | 英[ˈfæʃnəbl]
adj. 流行的；时髦的 - privacy [高考]
美[ˈpraɪvəsi] | 英[ˈprɪvəsi]
n. 隐居；隐私；秘密；私生活 - forgo [高考]
美[fɔːrˈɡoʊ] | 英[fɔːˈɡəʊ]
vt. 放弃；弃绝；对...断念 - eliminate [高考]
美[ɪˈlɪmɪneɪt] | 英[ɪˈlɪmɪneɪt]
v. 除去；剔除；忽略；淘汰 - boost [高考]
美[buːst] | 英[buːst]
v. 提高；增加；鼓励；举起；为...做宣传
n. 增加；推进；鼓励 - demonstrate [高考]
美[ˈdemənstreɪt] | 英[ˈdemənstreɪt]
vt. 证明；演示；示范
vi. 示威 - approach [高考]
美[əˈproʊtʃ] | 英[əˈprəʊtʃ]
v. 接近；建议；接洽；着手处理
n. 方法；接近；路径；道路 - aware [高考]
美[əˈwer] | 英[əˈweə(r)]
adj. 知道的；意识到的 - indicate [高考]
美[ˈɪndɪkeɪt] | 英[ˈɪndɪkeɪt]
v. 指示；象征；显示；暗示，预示
v. 表明；指明 - switch [高考]
美[swɪtʃ] | 英[swɪtʃ]
n. 转换；开关；鞭子
v. 改变；交换；转换；鞭打 - possibility [高考]
美[ˌpɑːsəˈbɪləti] | 英[ˌpɒsəˈbɪləti]
n. 可能；可能性；可能的事情；潜在的价值 - status [高考]
美[ˈsteɪtəs , ˈstætəs] | 英[ˈsteɪtəs]
n. 地位；情形；状况，状态；身份 - principle [高考]
美[ˈprɪnsəpl] | 英[ˈprɪnsəpl]
n. 原理；原则；主义；信念 - preference [高考]
美[ˈprefrəns] | 英[ˈprefrəns]
n. 偏爱；优先；喜爱物；优惠 - wealthy [高考]
美[ˈwelθi] | 英[ˈwelθi]
adj. 富有的
n. 富人 - participate [高考]
美[pɑːrˈtɪsɪpeɪt] | 英[pɑːˈtɪsɪpeɪt]
vi. 参加；参与 - lame [高考]
美[leɪm] | 英[leɪm]
adj. 无说服力的；跛足的
vt. 使 ... 成残废
n. 金属薄板 - in addition to [高考]
美[ɪn əˈdɪʃn tu] | 英[ɪn əˈdɪʃn tu]
除 ... 之外(还) - other than [高考]
美[ˈʌðər ðæn] | 英[ˈʌðə(r) ðæn]
除了；不同于 - preference for [高考]
美 | 英
对 ... 的偏爱 - participate in [高考]
美[pɑrˈtɪsəˌpet ɪn] | 英[pɑ:ˈtisipeit in]
参与； 参加 - would [高考]
美[wʊd , wəd] | 英[wʊd , wəd]
aux. 将；可能；大概；总会；愿意；will的过去式 - respectively [四级]
美[rɪˈspektɪvli] | 英[rɪˈspektɪvli]
adv. 分别地；各自地 - tech [四级]
美[tek] | 英[tek]
n. 技术学校；技术；技术人员 - uniformly [四级]
美[junəˈfɔrmlɪ] | 英['ju:nɪfɔ:mlɪ]
adv. 一律地；均匀地；无变化地 - aware of [四级]
美 | 英
知道的, 察觉到的, 意识到的 - dominance [四级]
美[ˈdɑmənəns] | 英['dɒmɪnəns]
n. 支配；控制；统治；优势；【生】优势度，显性 - lawsuit [六级]
美[ˈlɔːsuːt] | 英[ˈlɔːsuːt]
n. 诉讼；控诉 - endeavour [六级]
美[ɪnˈdevər] | 英[ɪnˈdevə(r)]
v. [英]尽力；努力
n. 奋力；尽力 - according [专四]
美[ə'kɔrdɪŋ] | 英[ə'kɔːdɪŋ]
adj. 相符的；相应的；一致的
v. 给予；符合，一致；正式协议（accord的现在分词） - saw [专八]
美[sɔː] | 英[sɔː]
n. 锯；谚语，格言
v. 锯，用锯割开；看见，明白（see的过去式） - hassle [专八]
美[ˈhæsl] | 英[ˈhæsl]
n. 困难；争吵；麻烦
v. 烦扰；麻烦 - baseline [考研]
美[ˈbeɪslaɪn] | 英[ˈbeɪslaɪn]
n. 基线；底线 - upload [考研]
美[ˌʌpˈloʊd] | 英[ˌʌpˈləʊd]
v. 上传；上载
n. 上传 - insufficiently [考研]
美[ˌɪnsə'fɪʃntlɪ] | 英[ˌɪnsə'fɪʃntlɪ]
adv. 不充分地 - marker [雅思]
美[ˈmɑːrkər] | 英[ˈmɑːkə(r)]
n. 标记；做记号的工具；做记号的人；记分员
重点讲解
Putting a price on Apple's text message bubbles
给苹果的短信气泡标价
What is the price of cool? About $31 a month, according to new research by Leonardo Bursztyn of the University of Chicago and co-authors. That is how much college students had to be paid to have their iPhone messages appear to others in a (lame) green rather than a (fashionable) blue bubble for four weeks.
变酷的价格是多少？根据芝加哥大学莱昂纳多·伯斯兹坦及其合著者的最新研究，价格约为每月31美元。要让大学生们在四个星期内，让自己的iPhone短信在别人的手机上显示为（老土的）绿色气泡而非（时尚的）蓝色气泡，就需要付给他们这么多钱。
Introduced to indicate that a message has been sent by services other than Apple’s iMessage, the green bubble has become a marker for those either insufficiently wealthy to afford an iPhone or insufficiently aware of the stigma stemming from their preference for Android, another operating system.
绿色气泡的引入原本是为了显示该短信并非通过苹果的iMessage发送，如今却成了两种人的标识：要么是买不起苹果手机，要么是意识不到偏好安卓（另一种操作系统）会招来羞耻。
other than 除……以外
【例】I don't know any French people other than you.
除了你，我不认识别的法国人。
【近义词】except/apart from 除……以外
stem from 源自；来自
【例】His feeling of hate stems from envy.
他的恨意源自妒忌。
【近义词】spring from 源自
Better avoided, unless there is a reward. The researchers offered American students a choice of participating in experiments with different conditions. In the control, students simply had to upload screenshots and receive a text message, which set a baseline for how much they valued their privacy and avoiding hassle.
最好避开安卓，除非有奖励。研究人员让美国学生选择在不同条件下参与实验。在控制组中，学生只需上传截图并接收一条短信，这是他们重视隐私和避免麻烦的基准程度。
baseline n. 基线；基准
【例】The figures for 2009 were used as a baseline for the study.
这项研究以2009年的数据为基准。
【近义词】benchmark n. 基准
Participants in the three other groups were paid to deactivate certain features on their phone: the blue bubbles; iMessage, which provides a few services in addition to the colour; and the camera. On average, students required 49, 86, respectively, in the three other groups.
其他三组参与者被有偿要求停用手机的某些功能：蓝色气泡、iMessage（除颜色外还提供几项服务）、相机。平均而言，学生参与控制组需要获得18美元报酬，而参与其他三个组分别需要49美元、69美元、86美元。
deactivate v. 使停止
【例】to deactivate the alarm clock 取消闹钟
She deactivated her people-pleasing mode and finally set boundaries.
她停止讨好其他人，终于设定了自己与他人的边界。
【近义词】turn sth off 关停某物
【反义词】activate v. 激活；开动
For the researchers, such results demonstrate Apple’s market dominance. Ideally, firms would compete to make their products as good and cheap as possible. The tech giant’s position allows it to take another approach: making rivals suffer.
对研究人员来说，这样的结果证明了苹果的市场主导地位。理想情况下，企业会竞相将产品做得尽可能优质且便宜。苹果的主导地位使其能够采取另一种策略：让竞争对手吃苦头。
lock sb in 把某人锁在房间里；锁定
【例】The contract locks him in for five years — he can’t switch jobs even if he wants to.
合同让他在五年内被锁定在岗位上，即使他想，也无法换工作。
【反义词】lock sb out 把某人锁在房间外；不让某人进入
【例】The tariffs have locked the exporter out of American market.
关税已经让出口商无法进入美国市场。
Documents released in an antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple by Epic Games, a gaming firm, reveal that the tech giant’s bosses saw iMessage as a way of keeping users locked in.
游戏公司“史诗游戏”对苹果提起反垄断诉讼的文件披露，苹果的管理层将iMessage视为锁住用户的手段。
lock sb in 把某人锁在房间里；锁定
【例】The contract locks him in for five years — he can’t switch jobs even if he wants to.
合同让他在五年内被锁定在岗位上，即使他想，也无法换工作。
【反义词】lock sb out 把某人锁在房间外；不让某人进入
【例】The tariffs have locked the exporter out of American market.
关税已经让出口商无法进入美国市场。
One possibility is that the green bubbles represent a co-ordination problem for students. After all, most respondents—among both Apple and Android users—told the researchers that they wanted uniformly coloured bubbles.
一种可能是，绿色气泡对学生来说代表了协调问题。毕竟，大多数受访者——包括苹果和安卓用户——都告诉研究人员，他们想要颜色统一的气泡。
uniformly adv. 统一地；一律地
【例】The principles were applied uniformly across all the departments.
这些原则统一适用于所有部门。
【拓展】uniform n./adj. 制服/统一的
【例】uniform rates of pay 统一的薪资标准
【反义词】varied adj. 不同的；有变化的；多样的
eliminate v. 消除；清除；淘汰
【例】to eliminate poverty 消除贫困
to eliminate toxins 清除毒素
to eliminate a losing team 淘汰输掉的队伍
【拓展】elimination n. 消除
【近义词】eradicate v. 根除；杜绝
In principle, competition provides that option; there are no colour distinctions on services such as Signal or WhatsApp. The issue could be that persuading all your friends, or indeed a whole campus, to switch, and eliminate stigma, is a difficult endeavour.
原则上，竞争提供了这种选择，在Signal或WhatsApp等应用程序上没有颜色区分。问题可能在于，说服你所有的朋友，甚至是整个校园的人转用其他软件并消除羞耻，这是一项艰巨的任务。
uniformly adv. 统一地；一律地
【例】The principles were applied uniformly across all the departments.
这些原则统一适用于所有部门。
【拓展】uniform n./adj. 制服/统一的
【例】uniform rates of pay 统一的薪资标准
【反义词】varied adj. 不同的；有变化的；多样的
eliminate v. 消除；清除；淘汰
【例】to eliminate poverty 消除贫困
to eliminate toxins 清除毒素
to eliminate a losing team 淘汰输掉的队伍
【拓展】elimination n. 消除
【近义词】eradicate v. 根除；杜绝
There is another possibility, however. Maybe iPhone users enjoy the status boost too much to forgo the sought-after blue bubbles, whatever they say in surveys.
然而，还有另一种可能性。或许苹果手机用户太过享受这种身份提升，以至于不愿放弃令人艳羡的蓝色气泡，无论他们在调查中如何表态。
sought-after adj. 受欢迎的；人人想要的
【例】Computer programming used to be a sought-after occupation.
计算机程序员曾经是很吃香的职业。
【近义词】coveted adj. 被觊觎的；人人想要的
课后练习
College students have to be paid about $31 a month to ____.
A. buy an iPhone instead of an Android device
B. use Apple’s iMessage service for four months
C. disconnect from the internet for four months
D. make their messages appear in a green bubbleHow did the researchers measure the participants' willingness to give up certain features?
A. By keeping track of how long they used the features everyday.
B. By asking them to describe their feelings about different features.
C. By persuading them to upload screenshots and receive a text message.
D. By offering them different amounts of money to deactivate certain features.How do the researchers interpret the results of the experiment?
A. The results show the high cost of using Apple products.
B. The results demonstrate Apple’s dominance over its rivals.
C. The results indicate the fierce competition among tech firms.
D. The results prove the innovation of Apple's business strategy.According to the author's speculation, the students' reluctance to forgo blue bubbles lies in ____.
A. the universal preference for color blue over green
B. the lack of attractiveness of alternative messaging services
C. their preference for the unique features of Apple's iMessage
D. their desire to maintain the higher status brought by blue bubbles
