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Encoding the Information Age 小兵立大功－QR码的妙用

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In the past few years, they have appeared everywhere. First, they came to product packaging in supermarkets and tags in department stores. Later they arrived on the backs of books and magazines. ___1___ They are small, square, black-and-white patterns, resembling the writing of an alien civilization. You’ve certainly seen them yourself, probably hundreds of times. So what are they?

它们在过去这几年中随处可见。它们起初出现在超市的产品包装上，还有百货公司的货品标签上。后来它们现身在书本与杂志的封底上。现在它们已经可以在广告与海报中发现。它们是方方小小的黑白图案，状似某种外星文明的文字。你一定亲眼看过它们，也许还有好几百次。那它们到底是什么呢？

___2___ Compared with traditional bar codes, which carry information only horizontally, QR codes carry it in two dimensions, horizontally and vertically. ___3___ What’s more, they can be read in any direction, and the data can be recovered even if the symbol is dirty or damaged.

它们是QR码（二维条形码的一种），在90年代由一家日本公司所发明，用来当作仓储管理信息编码的方式。传统的条形码只能负载水平方向的信息；相较之下，QR码能负载水平与垂直二维的信息。所以在大小相近的空间中，QR码能储存其好几百倍的信息。此外，它们也能以任何方向来读取，如果图案脏了或是损毁了，数据依然能恢复。

Because QR codes can be read by anyone with a smartphone and the right software, many groups are experimenting with them as a way to reach the public, especially via the Internet. ___4___ And the Dutch government even minted a series of coins bearing QR codes that contain a link to a website with some fun activities. ___5___

因为每个人都能用智能型手机与适用的软件来读取QR码，所以许多团体都试着用它们，把它们当成接触群众的方法，尤其是透过网络。例如，韩国的一家连锁超市在海报上放上产品的图片与QR条形码，以此当作虚拟商店，让购物者扫瞄他们想要的东西，并且在在线订购后送货到府。荷兰政府甚至铸造了一系列附有QR条形码的硬币，条形码里面的连结网站有许多有趣的活动。随着这些好用的小图案愈来愈受欢迎，它们的可能性似乎无穷无极。

－by Dmitri Detwyler

(A)   Now they have been spotted in advertisements and on posters.

(B)   As these useful little symbols gain in popularity, their possibilities seem limitless.

(C)   For example, one supermarket chain in Korea uses posters with product images and QR codes as a virtual “store,” letting shoppers scan the items they want and order them online for home delivery.

(D)  As a result, they can store hundreds of times more information in a similar amount of space.

(E)   They are Quick Response (QR) codes, invented by a Japanese company in the early 1990s as a way to encode information for stock management.

Vocabulary

单词发音

alien [ˋelɪən] adj. 外星人的

civilization [͵sɪv!əˋzeʃən] n. 文明

horizontally [͵hɑrəˋzɑnt!ɪ] adv. 水平地

vertically [ˋvɝtɪk!ɪ] adv. 垂直地

experiment [ɪkˋspɛrəmənt] v. 试验；证明

advertisement [͵ædvɚˋtaɪzmənt] n. 广告

popularity [͵pɑpjəˋlærətɪ] n. 普及，流行

limitless [ˋlɪmɪtlɪs] adj. 无限的

delivery [dɪˋlɪvərɪ] n. 投递

More Information

单词发音

tag [tæg] n. 标签

bar code 条形码

dimension [dɪˋmɛnʃən] n.【数】维

even if 即使 no matter whether

mint [mɪnt] v. 铸造（硬币）to produce (money) by stamping metal; coin

symbol [ˋsɪmb!] n. 记号，符号

encode [ɪnˋkod] v. 把…译成电码[密码]

韩国HomePlus QR Code的使用

Answer