學英文網站推薦12: Ebooks Vs. Paper Books

​Ebooks Vs. Paper Books: The Pros and Cons
電子書與紙本書：優點與缺點
 
What Makes a Book?
什麼東西才是書？

電子書的考題在這幾年的雅思作文考試中屢見不鮮！同學們不妨看看這篇文章，了解一下紙本書跟電子書各自的優缺點。不管是寫作文或跟外國人討論電子書，你們都可以在這篇文章找到一些有趣的梗。

​我的翻譯只是傳達意思，不是逐字翻譯喔！
 
PS. 我把這個網站的文字copy到Word上，然後辛辛苦苦的花了時間編排它，加上一個個的bullet point（因為不知為何copy過來時那些格式都不見了！！）想不到我要把排好的文章貼到這個網站上，它卻完全又走樣了！！！為什麼這些網站都對文字這麼不友善？？所以請大家連到出處去看比較容易。


還有，這篇文章的口氣算是casual的，所以文中用到很多縮寫體，也不斷用到you這個代名詞。切記，學術寫作是不太喜歡you的，所以千萬不要把這篇文章的句子原封不動的超到你的雅思作文中！好歹也要把you換成(modern) people或是one或是an individual can read ebooks .......(後面自己接）。
 

原文出處 Source:  HubPages
 
What Makes a Book? 什麼東西才是書？In essence (基本上), the two formats are very similar. Both allow you to do the most important thing - read a book. The text is the important thing, not the medium. Reading Sumerian legends on clay tablets can feel more "authentic", but doesn't necessarily enhance your understanding of the subject matter - just your experience. （紙本書跟電子書是很類似的。書中的本文是重點，媒介則是配角。讀蘇美人的石碑只是覺得比較「道地」，並不一定會強化你對該主題的了解。）


Depending on the type of material you'd like to read / look at, however, one does have advantages over the other. （但是當然這兩種書各有利弊。）


 
The "Classic" Paper Book.  
Paper books offer multiple advantages: （紙本書的好處）
* They're easily obtainable (Bookstores are everywhere). （易取得）　 
* They're easily portable. （便於攜帶）
* They don't normally cause significant eye-strain. （通常不會造成眼睛疲勞）
* They're cheap. （便宜）
 
Okay, that much was obvious. Specifically, some types of content paper books are better for are:（有些內容紙本書較適合）
* Textbooks (or any books which are generally large-format).
* Picture / Photo books
 
Another factor to bear in mind (要勞記) is that paper books don't need power to function. They can be read anywhere with sufficient light, and are perfect travelling companions for exactly this reason. （書不用電，只要有足夠光線就可以讀，是旅途良伴）
 
The obvious cons are: 古典紙本書的壞處。
* Paper books are bulky and heavy. Carrying more than 2-3 around can become a chore. （又笨又重，帶兩三本就很累人了）

* You need a light source to read them - another thing that you'll probably carry around. （需要光線－所以可能還要帶手電筒）

* If you make notes in them, those notes are there to stay (Yes, even pencil. You can always see the imprints, even if you erase every last shred of graphite). （做筆記會留下痕跡）
 
The eBook  電子書
EBooks offer the following obvious advantages (assuming you have an ebook reader): （電子書的好處）

* They're easily readable. Most readers offer zoom functions, letter resizing, and so forth. （易讀，可放大縮小字的尺寸）

* They're easily portable. You can carry multiple books on one device. （便於攜帶，一個裝置裏可以裝多本書）


* They're much more environmentally friendly. You don't have to kill a few trees for each book, and let's not even talk about the ink. Recycling only goes so far. （環保多了，不需要砍樹，更別說墨水，回收總是有個限度）

* Note-taking is much more powerful, and the notes you write can be found and referenced quickly and easily. And they don't have to be permanent. （做筆記功能強大，而且留下的筆記可以快速容易的找到，而且他們也不用永遠留著－可以刪掉）

* Lighting conditions essentially become meaningless. Many readers incorporate display lighting allowing you to read whenever and wherever you like. （電燈已經沒有意義了，很多電子書本身就是照明裝置了）
 
EBooks are useless without a reader. There are a few on the market, such as Amazon's Kindle, Jinke's Hanlin reader series, Sony's eReader series, and a few others. These are mentioned because they incorporate a technology called e-ink, which resembles paper very closely, and eliminates most eye-strain issues. （電子書如果沒有那台機器就什麼都不是了，現在市場上有蠻多牌子，以上提到的廠牌都是用電子墨水，也就是非常擬真，可以排除眼睛疲勞的問題了）
 
Some types of books especially suited for a reader are:（適合電子書的書籍）
* Novels or non-fiction books without many pictures. （沒很多圖的小說／非小說）
* Web-sites with html links and cross references. （有網站連結或交叉引用的內容）
 
The disadvantages of ebooks generally stem from the hardware you're reading them on. If it's a computer, you've got the normal computer problems which detract from your reading pleasure: （電子書的壞處來自使用的機器－若是電腦，就會有一般電腦會有的問題，這些問題會降低閱讀的樂趣）

* Eye strain (眼睛疲勞) and RSI (重覆動作勞損病－譬如網球肘或媽媽手). Long periods spent in front of a computer are healthy for nobody.

* Power. Your average laptop has 4-6 hours of battery life.

* Portability. Why lug (吃力的背著) a laptop around if you can simply carry a book?
 
The cons of the reader devices are a little more subtle:
* You still have battery life to worry about. （還是有電池壽命的問題）

* Nasty software bugs in the reader can cause it to freeze up. （病毒造成當機）

* They're not very robust (不太堅固). If you spill <insert beverage of choice> on them, chances are that's the end of your reader (若不小心弄倒飲料在上面，你的電子裝置就一命嗚呼了). Not to mention scratches, dropping them, and so on. （更別說刮傷或掉到地上了）
 
 In general, ebooks suffer from other cons as well:
* They're not readily available, and format wars are making the decision to buy a reader very difficult. Will you go for the Amazon one, and buy books (only) there? Or the Sony. (不是很容易買到，而且各家廠牌形式不同，買了Amazon，就只能一直跟他們買)
 
* The pricing model hasn't been worked out yet, causing some major discrepancies. （標價上的型號根本還沒生產，造成一些出入）
 
So What Do I Use? 所以我應該用哪一種？
Personally, I mix and match. I have an old Palm pilot and an ipod touch, and read novels, websites, blogs, and so forth on that. The selection of novels isn't very broad, but as I read public domain books most of the time, this doesn't really matter as I can simply download them.
 
Paper books are still my favorite though. They don't need batteries, and I can read them just about anywhere.
 
Time will tell whether ebooks are a viable alternative (時間會證明電子書能不能是個長久的替代性選擇). At the moment, the whole thing is still in it's infancy, and a decent solution has yet to appear (現在一切都還是嬰兒期，解決辦法還沒出現).
 
更多跟Ebooks有關的有用網頁:
 
The Benefits and Advantages of EbooksThe Benefits of Ebooks - Teachers
 
Top Ten Reasons Why eBooks Are Better Than Printed Books