VOA慢速英语：美国“硅滩"越来越像硅谷

America's high technology industry is centered in northern California. The area, known as Silicon Valley, is a short drive from San Francisco Bay. Silicon Valley is home to Google, Apple and other industry leaders. But smaller tech start-ups can be found further south in and around the city of Los Angeles. Some people are now calling this area "Silicon Beach," a play on the name of the rival Silicon Valley.

美国的高科技产业集中在加州北部。该地区被称为硅谷，距离旧金山湾一小段车程。硅谷是谷歌、苹果等业界领导者的总部。但是，在洛杉矶城市的偏南部与周围可以发现有许多小型科技创业公司。现在，有些人称这一地区为“硅滩”，取自硅谷竞争对手之名。

LA's Silicon Beach is Upstart Rival to Famed Silicon Valley

The company VNTANA is one of the many technology start-ups near Los Angeles. The company's name comes from the Spanish word for "window." It is based in the seaside community of Santa Monica. VNTANA createsholograms -- three-dimensional images -- for education, marketing, and entertainment.

VNTANA公司是洛杉矶附近众多科技初创企业之一。该公司的名字来自西班牙语，意为“窗口”。它的总部设在圣莫尼卡海滨社区。VNTANA公司为教育业、营销业与娱乐业创建全息图——三维图片。

Ashley Crowder works for the company.

阿什利·克劳德在该公司工作。

"It takes two people less than an hour to set up the screen, and it can be shipped anywhere in the world."

设置屏幕需要两个人，至少要花费不到一个小时。并且它可以被运往世界各地。

The system is interactive, requiring communication between people and computers. It can produce "live" remote appearances from sometimes distant, faraway places and virtual, computer-aided concerts. Users are able to control the projected imageswith hand movements.

该系统是互动的，需要人与计算机之间进行通信。它可以生成来自遥远地方及虚拟的计算机辅助音乐会的现场远程画面。用户能够通过手动控制投影图象。

VNTANA makes use of its closeness to Hollywood, the home of America's movie industry. Ben Conway also works for the company. He says Silicon Valley is more concerned about technology, while Silicon Beach deals with entertainment.

VNTANA充分利用其贴近美国电影业总部好莱坞的优势。本·康威也在该公司工作。他说硅谷更关注的是科技，而“硅滩”涉及娱乐。

"We have a focus on interactive and on content. And that's something that the entertainment community really understands."

“我们关注的是互动与内容。并且这是娱乐界的真谛。”

But the technologysector is diverse. Matthew Goldman is with Wallaby Financial. His company advises people on which credit cards to use, based on interest rates and awards from the stores they visit. Mr. Goldman says the company has designed application software for wireless phones.

但是，技术部门是多样的。马修·高德曼携手Wallaby。他的公司建议人们使用信用卡应基于利率与从他们进入商店所获得的收益。高德曼先生说，该公司已经为无线电话设计应用软件。

"The phone locates you and it communicates with our servers that make up these recommendations and do the intelligence and send back the results to your phone, in virtually real time." Visit the website www.chinavoa.com to get more information!

“手机定位你的位置及它与我们的服务器进行通信，进而提出这些建议，并进行信息分析，然后将结果反馈到你的手机，几乎可以实时进行。”

The Los Angelestech industry spreads from the city to surrounding communities and the Pacific Ocean. Experts say its size is hard to measure. But Silicon Beach is home to many hundreds of tech start-ups and continues to grow.

洛杉矶科技行业从该城市蔓延到周边社区及太平洋地区。专家表示，它的大小很难衡量。但是“硅滩”是数以百计高新科技初创企业的总部，并且它们继续发展壮大。

I'm Jonathan Evans.

我是乔纳森·埃文斯。

VOA's Mike O'Sullivan wrote this story from Los Angeles. Jonathan Evans wrote it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in this Story

diverse– adj. made up of different people or things

rival– n. a competitor or opponent; a person or thing that tries to be more successful than another

sector– n. an area or part of an economy

start-up– n. a new business