手机改变非洲人生活方式

    From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report in Special English.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

    The World Bank estimates there are about 650 million mobile phone users in African countries south of the Sahara Desert. That is greater than the number of users in the United States and European Union.
    据世界银行估计,撒哈拉以南非洲国家大约有6.5亿手机用户,高出美国和欧盟的手机用户数量总和。

    Samia Melhem works for the World Bank to increase information technologies in Africa. She says mobile phones are the fastest growing technology on the continent.
    萨米亚·麦海敏(Samia Melhem)在世界银行工作,负责提升非洲的信息技术。她说,手机是非洲大陆增长最快的技术。

    "Faster than TV, definitely faster than electricity. More people have access to mobile phones and hence communication. More people have internet access today in Africa than they have access to water, clean water, or even sanitation. So we can say that this has been the most significant revolution in terms of changing the African landscape and how people live their daily life."
    “手机增长速度比电视、电力还快。越来越多的人有机会获得手机用于通信。如今非越来越多非洲人获得互联网接入比获得清洁的水甚至卫生设备更为容易。所以我们可以说,这已经成为改变非洲前景和人们生活方式的最重要变革。”

    CNN television recently named seven ways of life it says have been revolutionized because of mobile phones. They include political activism, education, entertainment, disaster management, agriculture and health.
    CNN电视最近提到了7种已被手机彻底改变的生活方式,其中包括政治运动、教育、娱乐、灾害管理、农业以及健康。

    Another area is banking. Reports say half or more of the adults in Gabon, Kenya and Sudan use mobile money. Rene Mendy sells goods in the streets of Dakar, Senegal. But he never had enough money to open a bank account.
    另一个领域是银行业。有报道称,加蓬、肯尼亚和苏丹一半以上的成年人使用手机。Rene Mendy在塞内加尔达喀尔市的街道上兜售商品。但他没有足够的钱来开设银行账户。

    Now he uses a mobile phone banking service called Orange Money. With his telephone, he can add or take out as little as one dollar. He can make payments and send money to family members who live far away.
    现在他使用着一家被称为Orange Money的手机银行服务商。通过手机他能存入或提取最低一元钱。他能用它支付,以及给住得很远的家人汇款。

    Orange Money says it serves four million customers in ten countries. The World Bank's Samia Melham notes that the French company is facing competition from other mobile banking services.
    Orange Money表示它在十个国家为4百万客户提供服务。世界银行的Samia Melham指出,这家法国公司正面临其它手机银行服务商的竞争。

    "The mobile banking is a huge trend. And people in the West don't understand it, because most people have bank accounts and they have credit cards. It [mobile banking] is the instantaneous acquisition of cash at a much lower cost. The cost is the cost of sending an SMS, which is almost nothing compared to what traditional transfer agents, like Western Union, would charge - 10 dollars or more for a particular money transfer."
    “手机银行是一股巨大的趋势。西方人对此不了解,因为多数人有银行账户和信用卡。手机银行是一种成本更低的瞬时现金交易。其成本就是发送一条短信的费用,这点成本与传统汇款代理机构相比,几乎不值得一提。像西联汇款一次就会收取10美元甚至更多手续费。

    In education, the United Nations agency UNESCO is holding its second Mobile Learning Week in Paris later this month. Conference delegates are to discuss how mobile phone use can increase the number of people who read. Other issues include how mobile technologies can support teachers, and make it easier for girls and women to receive an education.
    在教育方面,本月晚些时候,联合国教科文组织将在巴黎举办第二届移动技术学习周。会议代表们将讨论手机应用如何提升阅读人群的数量。要讨论的其它问题还包括移动技术如何为教师提供支持,以及如何使女性接受教育更为容易。

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