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Lesson Six
Elite U.S. schools turn the fight for supremacy into online game

Part One

Language Points

I

assemble /əˈsembl/ v. to gather or collect together into a group or into one place 集合,聚集,收集

cafeteria /̩kæfiˈtiəriə/ n. a restaurant where people collect their own food and drink and carry it to the tables,office in a shop,factory,college etc. (常设在商店、工厂、学校中的) 自助餐厅

camaraderie /̩kæməˈrɑːdəri/ n. the friendliness and goodwill shown to each other by friends,esp. people who spend time together at work,in the army etc. 同志(同事)情谊,友情,友爱

candidate /ˈkændidit/ n. 候选人;候补人

commit /kəˈmit/ v. to promise to a certain cause,position,opinion,or course of action 承担义务;承诺

draw /drɔː/ n. a person,thing,or event that attracts especially a paying public 有吸引力的或事物,受欢迎的人或东西

recruit /riˈkruːt/ v. to attract and obtain (sb) as a new member 吸引(某人)为新成员

resemble /riˈzembl/ v. to look like or be like 像,类似,相似

II

1. Columbia allied itself with Yale and occupied Long Island,before getting routed by the Princeton-Cornell alliance. (Par.1)—Columbia University and Yale University united to occupy Long Island University in the online game. After that,it was defeated by the Princeton-Cornell alliance.

2. The game is a riff on classic territorial conquest board games like Risk,and it is sweeping across campuses. (Par.3)—GXC is like a board game in which the players conquer the rival's territory,and it is becoming more and more popular on college and university campuses.

3. GXC teams,made up of hundreds ... in the real world as online. (Par.4)—成百有时甚至是上千人加入GXC 游戏。游戏者各自代表真实的寝室或学校,甚至是总统候选人。他们相互在校园或所在场所的地图上争夺领地的霸权,战斗不仅仅局限于网络上,还延伸到现实中。

4. with the offline aspect as part of the draw (Par.8)—Part of the attraction of the game is that they have some activities offline.

5. ... gives a slight edge to defenders. (Par.9)—gives a small advantage to defenders; gives defenders a little more chance to win

6. “We try to harness the feelings ... in their lives,” (Par.15)—“为了打造真正专注的、有热情的网上玩家团队,我们试图发挥各种各样的竞争团队的在游戏中的感受,特别是那些之前从未玩过网上游戏的人。”

7. “If there is any aspect ... GXC has found it,” (Par.17)—“如果说目前在人们的社会关系网络中还有哪些方面没有完全开发出来,那么,GXC游戏已经找到了。”

8. To make money,they hope to avoid ... like the one coming to Google. (Par.19)—In order to make money,they hope to avoid too many ads on the website. Instead,they tend to depend on selling sponsorships of games and corporate versions.(他们不希望在网站上大量地发布广告来挣钱,而是希望出售游戏的赞助权和公司版游戏,如先前出售给Google的游戏。)

Part Two

Questions and Answers for Your Reference

1. What kind of game is GoCrossCampus? How is it different from the typical online game?

GoCrossCampus,or GXC,is a riff on classic territorial conquest board game. It more closely resembles an intramural or interscholastic sport than the typical online video game,where individuals or small groups are pitted against each other. GXC teams are made up of hundreds and sometimes thousands of players. The teams play on behalf of real dormitories or schools by jostling for hegemony on maps of their campus or locale and conducting their campaigns as much in the real world as online.

2. How is the game played? What is the advantage of playing this game?

Every player is given a number of armies each day and must coordinate attacks,troop movements and defensive maneuvers with teammates. Players can move their armies once each day,and the game software calculates the result of clashes with an algorithm that gives a slight edge to defenders. The game provides players for the possibility of team work,and discussion on strategy and ways to win the hegemony.

3. Why are college students interested in the game?

The game enables players to gather in the real world to elect commanders,recruit other players and discuss strategy and ways of spying on opponents as they formulate their battle plans.

4. If the game continues to be promising,what will the company have to face?

The company will inevitably face challenges if the game continues to show signs of promise. Deep-pocketed video game companies might start amassing on GXC's borders with their own versions.

5. What kind of influence do you think the game has on students' campus life?

GXC creates really intense and enthusiastic groups of online gamers,essentially out of people who have often never played an online game before in their lives. The game also exploits up the social networking to a great extent.

Part Three

Words to Know

algorithm,allied,allocate,alumni,amass,assemble,draw ( n. ),cafeteria,clunky,clutter,code,collaboration,elite,formulate,harness,hegemony,interscholastic,intramural,invade,jostling,locate,maneuver,recruit,residential,rivalry,spawn,sponsorship,supremacy,version SK6sUR9TdGMQLD5xH7YHhMMJNnR3ajUGnnwy8pLy/a89pIKWc9LeLKUKlybltxN8

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