2016考研英語閱讀熱點：紙牌和掃雷其實是教學游戲？

考研英語來源：英語點津 2015-08-26　

你造嗎?紙牌和掃雷其實是教學游戲

How Solitaire and Minesweeper were created in the 90s to 'trick' users into learning to use a mouse

Before Angry Birds and Candy Crush, there was Solitaire and Minesweeper.

在《憤怒的小鳥》和《糖果粉碎傳奇》流行之前，《紙牌》和《掃雷》才是熱門游戲。

But despite many people believing they were welcome little distractions from whatever task you were supposed to be doing, the makers of Microsoft Windows say they were actually developed to teach people how to use computers.

盡管許多人覺得它們是工作之余怡情的小娛樂，但微軟Windows系統的開發者說這兩個游戲其實是設計來教人們使用電腦的。

While many believe that Solitaire was designed to flaunt an interactive digital deck of cards, the game was actually created to familiarize computer users with the 'drag and drop' feature of the mouse.

許多人以為《紙牌》是Windows用來炫耀交互式數字化紙牌的，其實它的出現是為了讓電腦用戶熟悉鼠標的拖放功能。

Solitaire is a card game that has existed since the late 1700s and is the oldest Windows game and dates back to the 3.0 version released in 1990.

《紙牌》是從18世紀晚期就存在的一種牌戲，也是Windows上最古老的游戲，于1990年和Windows 3.0版本一同發行。

Minesweeper, the logic-based game, originally made its first appearance in the late 1960s but was introduced on the Windows 3.1 version in 1992.

《掃雷》則是一款邏輯游戲，于20世紀60年代后期面世，但直到1992年才在Windows 3.1版本中出現。

Microsoft say that Windows developers wanted users to develop speed and precision when using the mouse and making left and right clicks a natural habit.

微軟公司稱Windows開發者想要用戶在使用鼠標點擊時能做到快而精準，并使點擊鼠標左右鍵成為人們的習慣性動作。

Hearts, introduced on 1992's Windows for Workgroups 3.1 - the first version built for networks - was there to get people introduced in networking: you could communicate with other Hearts clients on a LAN.

《紅心大戰》于1992年在Windows for Workgroups(WFW) 3.1中亮相，WFW是第一個聯網的Windows版本，而《紅心大戰》就是為了讓人們了解聯網功能：在局域網中你可以和《紅心大戰》的其他玩家交流。

According to Mental Floss, the games not only taught people how to use the computer without realizing it, but they also saw users become familiar with the operating system.

美國雜志《Mental Floss》稱，這些游戲不僅在潛移默化之中教會用戶如何使用電腦，還讓他們熟悉了Windows操作系統。

In fact, the games were so successful that every time Microsoft tried to remove them, they were met with protests from testers of the new OS.

事實上，這些游戲大獲成功，以至于微軟公司每次試圖從新版操作系統里移除它們時，就會遭到參與新系統測試的人員的反對。

In 2012 Microsoft released Windows 8, which didn't have the classic games. People could download them, but Solitaire and Minesweeper didn't come bundled.

2012年，微軟公司發行Windows 8，該系統不再自帶這幾款經典游戲。用戶可以自行下載，但《紙牌》和《掃雷》并不是綁定的。

But perhaps Microsoft has realized its mistake because it is bringing back Solitaire for Windows 10.

不過也許微軟公司已經意識到此舉失誤，所以在Windows 10里人們將得以再次看到《紙牌》的身影。

The new Windows 10 is the first iteration that doesn't come with them pre-installed but, you can still download them from the Windows Store, essentially the games way of teaching you how to download software.

新的Windows 10是第一款沒有預裝這些游戲的系統，但你還是可以從Windows應用商店中下載，此時這些游戲的本質使命就是為了教你如何下載軟件。

重點詞匯：

distraction：消遣，娛樂

flaunt：炫耀

precision：精確性