与冠状病毒一样糟糕的“信息瘟疫”

郭建

Infodemics just as bad as coronavirus

虚假信息是指通过恐惧、猜测和谣言散播的不真实的信息。虚假信息流行使公共卫生危机难以得到控制，也损害了国家经济、政治，甚至安全。更好、更全面的预警系统对于阻止虚假信息的传播是必不可少的。

难词探意

1. speculation /?spekju?le??n/ n. 猜测;推测;推断

2. inflate /?n?fle?t/ v. 鼓吹;吹捧

3. distort /d??st??t/ v. 扭曲;使变形;歪曲

4. disruption /d?s?r?p?n/ n. 妨碍;扰乱

5. manipulation /m??n?pju?le??n/ n. 操纵

COVID?19 is the story of not one epidemic， but two. The second epidemic has impacts that are greater than the disease itself. That is because it is an epidemic not of a virus but of “information”.

COVID?19 has taken a heavy damage， with about 4.3 million reported victims worldwide and about 296 thousand deaths reported so far. The consequences of the other “epidemic”， however， are more far?reaching than the disease itself and， quite possibly， more costly. What is more， the information epidemic—or “infodemic”—has made it difficult to control the public health crisis，where a few facts—mixed with fear， speculation and rumour are inflated and relayed swiftly worldwide by modern information technology.

That， in turn， affects national and international economies， politics and even security in ways that distort the reality. This phenomenon we have seen with greater frequency in recent years： In our response to terrorism and even to relatively minor things like seeing a shark near a swimming area.

If these are not checked， they could bring in a period of new forms of bad， old things： Economic inefficiency， opportunities for irresponsible leaders to practise new forms of social disruption or manipulation， and serious problems for policymakers， everything from public health to international affairs.

Infodemics are emerging as one of the most virus?like phenomena known to men. They can move across continents instantly. In just about every respect they behave just like any other disease， but are an epidemic all their own， with their own symptoms， carriers， and even cures. But， to date， some people seem unable to contain these epidemics or unwilling to acknowledge their existence.

If they were understood and controlled， however， the forces that fuel infodemics could help us create better warning systems for everything from diseases to social unrest. And they could help us respond quickly. Ultimately， they could help us reduce the number of destabilizing outbreaks like those we have seen recently.

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Write a summary for the text with about 60 words.

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Language Study

Difficult sentence

What is more， the information epidemic—or “infodemic”—has made it difficult to control the public health crisis，where a few facts—mixed with fear， speculation and rumour were inflated and relayed swiftly worldwide by modern information technology.

【翻译】_____________________________________

【点石成金】句中has made it difficult to control the public health crisis为“make it+形容词+to do”结构，意为“使得做某事……”;where引导的是一个非限制性定语从句，先行词为crisis.