On-Line Learning
Let us say there is something you don’t know how to do. In the past if you were determined to learn, you might have called a friend or a relative, taken a night class or walked down to the local library for a research term. But now a host of websites are springing up to provide free practical advice on these subjects and actually anything else you can think of.①
In one sense, these “how-to” sites represent the growing world of on-line learning.② This tradition found one of its earliest forms in the FAQs — Frequently Asked Questions files — that began on Usenet, the Internet’s global discussion group. The FAQs, many of which still circulate (go round continuously), took a specific subject and explained it to complete novices.
But “how-to” sites take the FAQs idea in a somewhat different direction by addressing subjects that aren’t necessarily related to discussion forums. These sites take the style of a written tutorial (teaching period) and a tone of friendly advice. Possibly the biggest and best known of these sites is learn2.com (www.learn2.com). It offers nearly 1,000 free tutorials and adds new ones frequently for a job interview. At ehow.com (www.ehow.com) you can learn how to train for your first marathon, how to buy a vacation home, or how to make a movie in eight steps.
［221 words］
行文点评
本文按照总分结构模式对on-line learning进行描述。以假设开头，自然引入正文，首段指出人总会有需要学习的东西。第二段中对过去和现在的学习场所做了对比：以前去图书馆，现在上网。第三段讲上网学习的起源。第四段介绍网上学习的现状。
本文短短200多字，对比了过去和现在的学习方法，并把现在的做法从起源到现状进行清晰明了的介绍，列举了许多实例使文章更加具有信服力，也使内容更加完整。
好文妙译
上网学习
让我们假设有些事你不知道如何去做。在过去如果你决心要学习如何做这些事，可能会给朋友或亲戚打电话，上夜校或到当地图书馆查找。但现在出现了众多网站可以为这些话题、事实上能为你所想到的任何其他事情提供免费实用的建议。
从某种意义上而言，这些“技能”网站代表了网上学习的不断发展的世界。这一传统的最初形式是Usenet，即全球网络讨论组织最先开始使用的FAQs——即常见问题档案。许多FAQs现在仍很流行，这种FAQs就某个话题向新手做解释。
但是这些“技能”网站把FAQs的创意做了少许改动，选择主题不一定和某个论坛有关。这些网站采用书面指导(教学时间)的形式和友好建议的口吻。也许这些网站中最大最有名的就是learn2.com (www.learn2.com)。这个网站提供近千种免费指导，还经常加入新的招聘面试指南。从ehow.com ( www.ehow.com)你可以学到如何在第一次马拉松前进行训练，如何购买度假别墅，如何用八步法制作电影。
词汇斟酌
circulate v. 循环，流通，传播
novice n. 新手
forum n. 论坛
tutorial n. 个人辅导时间手册，辅导班
marathon n. 马拉松
佳句临摹
①【注释】spring up涌现，大量出现
【临摹】New towns are springing up to house the increasing population.许多新的城镇拔地而起，使不断增加的人口有安身之所。
②【注释】in one sense 即in a sense 在某种意义上
【临摹】What you say is true in one sense.在某种意义上你说的是正确的。
思如泉涌
A good head and an industrious hand are worth gold in any land.聪明脑袋勤劳手，走遍天下贵如金。
All roads lead to Rome.条条大路通罗马。
