2021考研英語：紐約時報精選·疫情期間,你的網速慢了嗎?

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WASHINGTON — In late January, as China locked down some provinces to contain the spread of the coronavirus, average internet speeds in the country slowed as people who were stuck inside went online more and clogged the networks. In Hubei Province, the epicenter of infections, mobile broadband speeds fell by more than half.

華盛頓——1月下旬，正值中國封鎖一些省份以遏制冠狀病毒的時候，全國的平均網速慢了下來，因為被困在室內的人們開始更多地上網，導致網絡堵塞。在疫情暴發的湖北省，移動寬帶速度下降了一半以上。

In mid-February, when the virus hit Italy, Germany and Spain, internet speeds in those countries also began to deteriorate.

2月中旬，當病毒襲擊意大利、德國和西班牙時，這些國家的網速同樣開始下降。

Quarantines around the world have made people more reliant on the internet to communicate, work, learn and stay entertained. But as the use of YouTube, Netflix, Zoom videoconferencing, Facebook calls and videogaming has surged to new highs, the stress on internet infrastructure is starting to show in Europe and the United States — and the traffic is probably far from its peak.

世界各地的隔離使得人們更加依賴網絡來進行交流、工作、學習和娛樂。但隨著YouTube、Netflix、Zoom視頻會議、Facebook通話和電子游戲的使用飆升至新高，互聯網基礎設施所承受的壓力開始在歐洲和美國顯現——而這個流量可能還遠未達到峰值。

Some tech companies have responded to the call to ease internet traffic. YouTube, which is owned by Google, said this week that it would reduce the quality of its videos from high to standard definition across the globe.

一些科技公司已對緩解互聯網壓力的號召作出回應。谷歌旗下的YouTube本周表示，將在全球范圍內將其視頻質量從高清降至標清。

Internet service providers said they could handle the deluge of traffic but were adding capacity. Verizon, Cox and AT&T said they were building more cell sites to strengthen mobile networks, increasing the number of fiber connections on their network backbones, and upgrading the routing and switching technology that lets devices talk to one another and share an internet connection.

互聯網服務提供商表示，他們可以處理大量的流量，但也在擴容。威瑞森、考克斯(Cox)和AT&T表示，他們正在建設更多蜂窩站，以加強移動網絡，增加其網絡主干上的光纖連接數量，并升級路由和交換技術，使設備之間能夠相互通信并共享互聯網連接。

To prevent clogged networks, Europe has taken the most aggressive steps.

為了防止網絡擁堵，歐洲已經采取了一些激烈的措施。