【写在前面】

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的词与原文用词的辨析，不需要太多同义词拓展，自己做笔记和总结。实在填不出来的
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填词

Schumpeter

The billionaire _______(斗争、搏斗) for the metaverse

Forget space. The race is ______(发生) to take people beyond reality

[1] You have to _________([词组] 佩服、赞扬) Mark Zuckerberg. When the founder of
Facebook announced in October that he was changing the name of the social-media
network’s parent company to Meta Platforms in order to help create an __________(非
传统的、另类的) digital reality known as the metaverse, he was __________(冷酷无情
地、残忍地) mocked. To some, he was generating a ________（烟幕、障眼法）to distract
attention _____(介词) a political ______(公愤、轰动). To others, he was merely the latest
middle-aged tech billionaire to chase a childhood fantasy, much as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos
and Tesla’s Elon Musk were doing ____(介词) space rockets.

[2] And yet his timing was __________(无可挑剔的、完美的). Since October searches on
Google for “metaverse” have _____( 激增 ). Wall Street is _______( 煽动) the hype.
According to Bernstein, a broker, the term __________([词组] 被提到、出现) 449 times
in third-quarter earnings calls, up ____(介词) 100 in the second quarter. It says markets
with potential annual revenue of at least $2trn could be disrupted by the metaverse.
Jefferies, a bank, says that though the phenomenon may be more than a decade away, it
has the potential to disrupt “almost everything in human life”.

[3] Other tech giants like Microsoft have _______([ 词 组 ] 开 始 、 着 手 ) plans to

______(朝……前进) for the metaverse. But it is big firms still under the control of their
founders that may become the most ardent _________( 狂 热 鼓 吹 者 、 布 道 者 ). Mr
Zuckerberg, with a net worth close ____(介词) $125bn and almost total control of a
company valued _____（介词）$908bn, is the most ________(突出的、显眼的). Others
include Jensen Huang of Nvidia, a maker of graphics ________(处理器) worth $722bn,
and Pony Ma of Tencent, the Chinese tech giant worth $550bn, whose gaming investment
________(投资组合) includes a 40% stake in Epic Games, owner of “Fortnite”, one of the
world’s most popular games. Epic’s founder, Tim Sweeney, is himself a _____(影响力大
的人) to be __________ ([词组] 认真对待、认真考虑). He recently told Bloomberg that
the metaverse was a multitrillion-dollar opportunity, and that companies like his were in a
race to get to a billion users in order to set the metaverse’s standards for the future.

[4] It is _________([词组] 开始成形、有可能发生) to become a billionaire battle similar

____(介词) the Bezos-Musk space race. Instead of rocket science, it will be fought with
reality-bending headsets, blockchains, cryptocurrencies and mind-frazzling amounts of
computing power.
[5] Precisely what these plutocrats mean by the metaverse is as yet unclear. Will it be an
______________(耗尽时间(或精力)的；全身心投入的) futuristic world of virtual reality,
avatars, oceanside mansions and other online razzmatazz that will make the real world a
______(无 聊的 、 乏味的 ) place by comparison? Or will it simply be a richer, more
________（沉浸式虚拟现实的）version of what already exists today: a way to socialise,
work, shop and play online even as life in the everyday world carries on as normal? It is
even less clear whether tomorrow’s internet users will be _______(引诱、诱使) by the
dreams of entitled tech billionaires.

[6] A look at the ambitions of Meta, Nvidia, Epic and Tencent give a sense of the scope of
the _________(任务、事业). Each has their niches. Mr Zuckerberg has _________(指
定…的用途；预先安排) $10bn this year mostly to develop the virtual- and augmented-
reality headsets and glasses that he hopes will provide a dominant access point ____(介
词) the metaverse, much as Apple’s iPhone does with the mobile internet. Nvidia is focused
on what it calls the omniverse, a technology based on its chips that brings engineers,
designers and other creative ______(某种类型的人) together virtually to make things—
mostly, for now, in industrial settings. Epic has been creating virtual worlds for years,
including “Fortnite”. In the metaverse, its _________(（变得极为流行的）技术应用) may
be Unreal Engine, a platform that gives its own and other developers the ability to make
lifelike 3d experiences, including games, films, architectural models and industrial designs.
Tencent has China to crack. Mr Ma is probably wise to play it carefully, given China’s
_______(技术抵制). But his firm’s popular WeChat super-app, including WeChat Pay, is
already a 2d version of what the metaverse could become in 3d.

[7] Behind their futuristic ambitions ____(存在) some common experiences. First, the
mobile internet is reaching the end of an era. In America and Europe, politicians are
threatening tighter rules against monopolies and privacy _____( 滥 用 ), especially
___________([词组] 关于、就……而言) Facebook and Google. In China, the tech
industry is reeling _____( 介 词 ) the government ________( 猛 攻 、 攻 击 ).
_________([ 词 组 ] 有 充 分 理 由 ； 有 正 当 理 由 ) are some first-generation tech
entrepreneurs in America and China ___________([ 词 组 ] 决 定 停 止 ). Those who
remain standing need a __________(令人激动的; 引人入胜的) new story to tell.

[8] Next, they operate in constrained worlds. Apple is a particular ______(使人烦恼[担心]

的 事 物 ) for Mr Zuckerberg and Mr Sweeney. The iPhone-maker is using the privacy
settings in its IOS operating system to control the extent _____(介词) which Facebook can
sell digital adverts. Epic is ________(忙于……，从事于……) in an antitrust battle with
Apple _____(介词) the fees its App Store imposes ____(介词) game developers, which
has so far been fairly unsuccessful. That is why both men _____(发誓、立誓) so vehemently
to promote interoperability—ie, no closed systems—as well as common standards. They,
too, want to be _______(设计师；缔造者；创造者) of the operating systems of the future.
[9] They won’t have the field to themselves. Apple, though so far quiet about the metaverse,
is no doubt preparing an _______(进攻、攻势). Telecoms firms want a sniff, having
invested heavily in ultra-fast, low-latency 5G _______(频谱). Rapidly growing platforms
like Roblox, offering a build-your-own games model that attracts 200m users a month,
have already _______(捕获、俘虏) young hearts. There are ________(摇头族), too,
notably proponents ____(介词) more distributed technologies that are known as Web3,
who argue that blockchains and cryptocurrencies are the next big thing—though as Ben
Thompson, a tech _____(权威、专家), points out, these may find much better use cases in
the metaverse than in the real world.

Moonshots
[10] There is a lot to play for. As Mr Thompson says: “Elon Musk wants to go to the Moon.
Mark Zuckerberg wants to create entirely new moons in digital space.” But just as space is
a race, so is the metaverse. Messrs Zuckerberg, Huang, Sweeney, Ma et al may promise a
future for the internet that is more open, immersive and _________(令人愉快的；有吸
引力的；迷人的) than the mobile one that exists today. But each wants to get there first, so
that they can set the rules ___(介词) their advantage.
原文

Schumpeter
The billionaire battle for the metaverse
Forget space. The race is on to take people beyond reality

来 自 <https://www.economist.com/business/2021/12/17/the-billionaire-battle-for-the-
metaverse>

[1] You have to hand it to Mark Zuckerberg. When the founder of Facebook announced in
October that he was changing the name of the social-media network’s parent company to
Meta Platforms in order to help create an alternative digital reality known as the metaverse,
he was mercilessly mocked. To some, he was generating a smokescreen to distract attention
from a political furore. To others, he was merely the latest middle-aged tech billionaire to
chase a childhood fantasy, much as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Tesla’s Elon Musk were doing
with space rockets.

[2] And yet his timing was impeccable. Since October searches on Google for “metaverse”
have soared. Wall Street is fanning the hype. According to Bernstein, a broker, the term
cropped up 449 times in third-quarter earnings calls, up from 100 in the second quarter.
It says markets with potential annual revenue of at least $2trn could be disrupted by the
metaverse. Jefferies, a bank, says that though the phenomenon may be more than a decade
away, it has the potential to disrupt “almost everything in human life”.

[3] Other tech giants like Microsoft have set out plans to head for the metaverse. But it is
big firms still under the control of their founders that may become the most ardent
evangelists. Mr Zuckerberg, with a net worth close to $125bn and almost total control of a
company valued at $908bn, is the most prominent. Others include Jensen Huang of Nvidia,
a maker of graphics processors worth $722bn, and Pony Ma of Tencent, the Chinese tech
giant worth $550bn, whose gaming investment portfolio includes a 40% stake in Epic
Games, owner of “Fortnite”, one of the world’s most popular games. Epic’s founder, Tim
Sweeney, is himself a force to be reckoned with. He recently told Bloomberg that the
metaverse was a multitrillion-dollar opportunity, and that companies like his were in a race
to get to a billion users in order to set the metaverse’s standards for the future.

[4] It is shaping up to become a billionaire battle similar to the Bezos-Musk space race.
Instead of rocket science, it will be fought with reality-bending headsets, blockchains,
cryptocurrencies and mind-frazzling amounts of computing power.

[5] Precisely what these plutocrats mean by the metaverse is as yet unclear. Will it be an
all-consuming futuristic world of virtual reality, avatars, oceanside mansions and other
online razzmatazz that will make the real world a dull place by comparison? Or will it
simply be a richer, more immersive version of what already exists today: a way to socialise,
work, shop and play online even as life in the everyday world carries on as normal? It is
even less clear whether tomorrow’s internet users will be seduced by the dreams of entitled
tech billionaires.

[6] A look at the ambitions of Meta, Nvidia, Epic and Tencent give a sense of the scope of
the undertaking. Each has their niches. Mr Zuckerberg has earmarked $10bn this year
mostly to develop the virtual- and augmented-reality headsets and glasses that he hopes
will provide a dominant access point to the metaverse, much as Apple’s iPhone does with
the mobile internet. Nvidia is focused on what it calls the omniverse, a technology based
on its chips that brings engineers, designers and other creative types together virtually to
make things—mostly, for now, in industrial settings. Epic has been creating virtual worlds
for years, including “Fortnite”. In the metaverse, its killer app may be Unreal Engine, a
platform that gives its own and other developers the ability to make lifelike 3d experiences,
including games, films, architectural models and industrial designs. Tencent has China to
crack. Mr Ma is probably wise to play it carefully, given China’s techlash. But his firm’s
popular WeChat super-app, including WeChat Pay, is already a 2d version of what the
metaverse could become in 3d.

[7] Behind their futuristic ambitions lie some common experiences. First, the mobile
internet is reaching the end of an era. In America and Europe, politicians are threatening
tighter rules against monopolies and privacy abuses, especially with respect to Facebook
and Google. In China, the tech industry is reeling from the government onslaught. Not for
nothing are some first-generation tech entrepreneurs in America and China calling it quits.
Those who remain standing need a compelling new story to tell.

[8] Next, they operate in constrained worlds. Apple is a particular bugbear for Mr
Zuckerberg and Mr Sweeney. The iPhone-maker is using the privacy settings in its ios
operating system to control the extent to which Facebook can sell digital adverts. Epic is
engaged in an antitrust battle with Apple over the fees its App Store imposes on game
developers, which has so far been fairly unsuccessful. That is why both men vow so
vehemently to promote interoperability—ie, no closed systems—as well as common
standards. They, too, want to be architects of the operating systems of the future.

[9] They won’t have the field to themselves. Apple, though so far quiet about the metaverse,
is no doubt preparing an offensive. Telecoms firms want a sniff, having invested heavily in
ultra-fast, low-latency 5g spectrum. Rapidly growing platforms like Roblox, offering a
build-your-own games model that attracts 200m users a month, have already captured
young hearts. There are naysayers, too, notably proponents of more distributed
technologies that are known as Web3, who argue that blockchains and cryptocurrencies
are the next big thing—though as Ben Thompson, a tech pundit, points out, these may find
much better use cases in the metaverse than in the real world.
Moonshots
[10] There is a lot to play for. As Mr Thompson says: “Elon Musk wants to go to the Moon.
Mark Zuckerberg wants to create entirely new moons in digital space.” But just as space is
a race, so is the metaverse. Messrs Zuckerberg, Huang, Sweeney, Ma et al may promise a
future for the internet that is more open, immersive and engaging than the mobile one that
exists today. But each wants to get there first, so that they can set the rules to their
advantage.

【思考题】
1， 请简要概括文章主旨，并绘制思维导图（图片）。

2， 请自行查阅了解有关「元宇宙」的背景知识。

3， 文中出现很多「插入语」修饰结构，请挑选 2 处你认为写得好的句子，并作简要分析。

4， 文中两次出现「much as」结构，注意体会中英文表达在「句子衔接」上的不同。

5， 总结文中出现的「连字符」表达，并体会其作用。

6， 请在文中挑选 3 个你认为写得好的「动词」，并尝试写一句英文（简单句、复合句都可）、

然后写出中文意思（不要自由创作，以字典例句、外刊例句为模板仿写，请把参考的例

句也写上）。
Part 1 作业

请仔细阅读原文 1-2 段（含标题），并回答下列问题：

1，赏析下列句子：
When the founder of Facebook announced in October that he was changing the name of
the social-media network’s parent company to Meta Platforms in order to help create an
alternative digital reality known as the metaverse, he was mercilessly mocked. To some, he
was generating a smokescreen to distract attention from a political furore. To others, he
was merely the latest middle-aged tech billionaire to chase a childhood fantasy, much as
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Tesla’s Elon Musk were doing with space rockets.

2，请查阅相关背景了解第 1 段③句所说的“political furore”。

3，你是如何理解第 2 段⑥句“the phenomenon may be more than a decade away”？

4，请找出标题-前 2 段中出现的「重复表达」，注意这些表达之间的联系。

5，请找出前 2 段中表示「指代关系」的定冠词 the，并说出所指对象。

6，第 2 段⑤句 It says markets with potential annual revenue of at least $2trn could be
disrupted by the metaverse. 中的「it」指代什么？

7，第 2 段⑥句 it has the potential to disrupt “almost everything in human life” 中的「it」
指代什么？

8，翻译下列句子：
①When the founder of Facebook announced in October that he was changing the name of
the social-media network’s parent company to Meta Platforms in order to help create an
alternative digital reality known as the metaverse, he was mercilessly mocked.

② According to Bernstein, a broker, the term cropped up 449 times in third-quarter

earnings calls, up from 100 in the second quarter. It says markets with potential annual
revenue of at least $2trn could be disrupted by the metaverse.
Part 2 作业

请仔细阅读原文 3-4 段，并回答下列问题：

1，赏析下列句子：
But it is big firms still under the control of their founders that may become the most ardent
evangelists. Mr Zucker berg, with a net worth close to $125bn and almost total control of a
company valued at $908bn, is the most prominent. Others include Jensen Huang of Nvidia,
a maker of graphics processors worth $722bn, and Pony Ma of Tencent, the Chinese tech
giant worth $550bn, whose gaming investment portfolio includes a 40% stake in Epic
Games, owner of “Fortnite”, one of the world’s most popular games.

2，试简要分析第 3 段的论述逻辑。

3，第 4 段①句 It is shaping up to become a billionaire battle similar to the Bezos-Musk

space race.中的「it」指代什么？

4，翻译下列句子：
①Epic’s founder, Tim Sweeney, is himself a force to be reckoned with. He recently told
Bloomberg that the metaverse was a multitrillion-dollar opportunity, and that companies
like his were in a race to get to a billion users in order to set the metaverse’s standards for
the future.

②It is shaping up to become a billionaire battle similar to the Bezos-Musk space race.
Instead of rocket science, it will be fought with reality-bending headsets, blockchains,
cryptocurrencies and mind-frazzling amounts of computing power.
Part 3 作业

请仔细阅读原文 5-6 段，并回答下列问题：

1，赏析下列句子：
Will it be an all-consuming futuristic world of virtual reality, avatars, oceanside mansions
and other online razzmatazz that will make the real world a dull place by comparison?

Mr Zuckerberg has earmarked $10bn this year mostly to develop the virtual- and
augmented-reality headsets and glasses that he hopes will provide a dominant access point
to the metaverse, much as Apple’s iPhone does with the mobile internet.

Nvidia is focused on what it calls the omniverse, a technology based on its chips that brings
engineers, designers and other creative types together virtually to make things—mostly, for
now, in industrial settings.

2，第 6 段①句 A look at the ambitions of Meta, Nvidia, Epic and Tencent give a sense of
the scope of the undertaking.中的「the undertaking」如何理解？

在不查字典的前提下，根据段落结构，
3， 你会如何理解第 6 段②句“Each has their niches.”
？

4，【选做】请在第 6 段提到的公司中挑一个介绍其在元宇宙领域的发展或投入。

5，翻译下列句子：
①Or will it simply be a richer, more immersive version of what already exists today: a way
to socialise, work, shop and play online even as life in the everyday world carries on as
normal? It is even less clear whether tomorrow’s internet users will be seduced by the
dreams of entitled tech billionaires.

② Mr Zuckerberg has earmarked $10bn this year mostly to develop the virtual- and
augmented-reality headsets and glasses that he hopes will provide a dominant access point
to the metaverse, much as Apple’s iPhone does with the mobile internet.
Part 4 作业

请仔细阅读原文 7-8 段，并回答下列问题：

1，赏析下列句子：
Next, they operate in constrained worlds. Apple is a particular bugbear for Mr Zuckerberg
and Mr Sweeney. The iPhone-maker is using the privacy settings in its IOS operating
system to control the extent to which Facebook can sell digital adverts. Epic is engaged in
an antitrust battle with Apple over the fees its App Store imposes on game developers,
which has so far been fairly unsuccessful.

2，第 8 段①句 Next, they operate in constrained worlds.中的「they」指代什么？

3，根据第 8 段所述，你会如何理解第 8 段①句“Next, they operate in constrained worlds.”

？

4，第 8 段⑥句 They, too, want to be architects of the operating systems of the future.中的
「they」指代什么？

5，试分析 7-8 段间的论述逻辑。

6，试分析第 7 段或第 8 段的段内论述逻辑（任选 1 段即可）。

7，翻译下列句子：
①In America and Europe, politicians are threatening tighter rules against monopolies and
privacy abuses, especially with respect to Facebook and Google. In China, the tech industry
is reeling from the government onslaught.

②Not for nothing are some first-generation tech entrepreneurs in America and China
calling it quits. Those who remain standing need a compelling new story to tell.
Part 5 作业

请仔细阅读原文 9-10 段，并回答下列问题：

1，赏析下列句子：
Apple, though so far quiet about the metaverse, is no doubt preparing an offensive.
Telecoms firms want a sniff, having invested heavily in ultra-fast, low-latency 5G spectrum.
Rapidly growing platforms like Roblox, offering a build-your-own games model that
attracts 200m users a month, have already captured young hearts.

2，你是如何理解第 9 段①句“They won’t have the field to themselves.”？

3，第 9 段⑤句 these may find much better use cases in the metaverse than in the real world.
中的「these」指代什么？

4，【选做】请查阅相关背景了解 Web3。

5，谈一谈你对“Elon Musk wants to go to the Moon. Mark Zuckerberg wants to create

entirely new moons in digital space.” 的理解。

6，翻译下列句子：
①There are naysayers, too, notably proponents of more distributed technologies that are
known as Web3, who argue that blockchains and cryptocurrencies are the next big thing—
though as Ben Thompson, a tech pundit, points out, these may find much better use cases
in the metaverse than in the real world.

②Messrs Zuckerberg, Huang, Sweeney, Ma et al may promise a future for the internet that
is more open, immersive and engaging than the mobile one that exists today. But each
wants to get there first, so that they can set the rules to their advantage.