Indeed, it is commonly perceived by the American people that US companies innovate new types of technology and the Chinese steal it through computer hacking. Americans point out that if you look at Chinese military airplanes, they look quite similar to American military planes. It was also discovered in the 1990s that China stole various types of US missile technology.
In the following article, President Obama states that the US will begin taking tough measures against China in order to stop this continual theft of US intellectual property. Some members of the US Congress even want to declare a "cyber war" against China.
The outcome of the war would depend on which country has the best computer geeks. :P I think China might have more geeks than America, since they have 1.5 billion people. Let's hope the outnumbered US geeks are tougher!!!!! :P Fight to the death US computer geeks! Your country depends on you!
Maybe there should be a new US super-hero: Iron Geek! or The Incredible Geek or Super Geek or Bat Geek!
A computer geek:
The article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21772596
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
a geek - a person whose whole life revolves around computers; a person who has not developed into a full human being because he/she is obsessed with computers (see image above). What's the difference between a geek and a nerd? Hmmm. This is a tough question. I think "geeks" are usually people addicted to using computers (they can't stop using their computers). Nerds are very intelligent people who tend to wear glasses and who are focused on reading and studying. The stereotype (common image) of a nerd is someone who is not very athletic, who doesn't worry much about his/her appearance and who doesn't always have great social skills. The characters on the TV show "Big Bang Theory" would be nerds, but not geeks.
cyber - this term refers to anything involving the internet
a battle/to battle: a battle is when two groups representing different governments fight against each other. To battle is the verb form.
to be outnumbered - to be on a side or with a group that does not have as many people as the other side or group
to hack into - to break into a person's computer or internet account
to be perceived by - to be seen by; to be interpreted as being true by; to be understood as being true by
to innovate - to create something new
taking tough measures - a measure is an action; to take tough measures means strong action
to upbraid s/o - to strongly criticize someone; to chastise someone
tough talk - serious talk in which one party/group criticizes actions of the other
alleged - it hasn't been proved true, but it is believed to be true
state sponsored - the government has ok'd the action
he played down - he did not emphasize this; he did not make a big deal out of this; he indicated that this was not important
the scale of attacks - the extent to which something occurs is the scale of an activity; you can have small scale attacks, medium scale attacks or large scale attacks
infrastructure - the structure that supports the economy of a society
to amount to - to be equal to; to be basically the same as
espionage - spying; when one government secretly obtains the secrets of another
a hot war - a war in which people get killed. The Cold War existed from about 1945 to 1989 and was a non-fighting situation of conflict between the USA and the Soviet Union (Russia)
a ramping up of - an increase in; a ramp is a structure used to roll things upwards or downwards
norms - a norm is something morally expected; something everyone would admit is true
to abide by - to follow; to abide by the law means to follow the law or to 'do' legal things
prompting - causing
a digital Pearl Harbor - an internet version of the attack which started World War 2 for the USA.
a bone of contention - an issue both sides disagree about; contention means conflict or struggle, so a bone of contention is like a bone that two dogs might fight over
to supplant - to replace
to mount a raid - to launch a raid, to start a raid. A raid is an attack.
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Whose geeks are better? The USA's Iron Geeks or the Chinese Tiger Geeks?
Do you believe the US government? Do you think the Chinese are hacking into US systems or do you think the US is paranoid (afraid of something that is not really happening)?
If the Chinese are hacking into US systems, what should Obama do? Is tough talk enough? Should there be a cyber war?!!! :P
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Yes, I'm the guy who wrote the very funny ESL book: New York City Sucks, But You'll Wanna Live Here Anyway.
http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS
If this page is useful to you, please buy the book (it's quite inexpensive and useful!!!!). If you don't have an e-reader, drop me a line at djg51qu@gmail.com and I'll send you a free copy via Word file. Let me know whether you have Word 2010 or an earlier version.
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Yes, I'm also the guy who created the scandal in Asia two years ago :P
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682
http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/
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