VOA慢速英语:China's Tianhe-2 Supercomputer Takes No. 1 Ranking on TOP500 List

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer has just been rated No. 1 on the top 500 -- a respected list of the world's most powerful computers. Experts measured the supercomputer's performance at 33.86 petaflop or quadrillion of operations per second.

中国的天河2号超级计算机刚刚被问鼎全球最强大计算机五百强，这是一个受人尊敬的名单。专家测到，该超级计算机的性能达到每秒33.86千万亿次运算。

China's National University of Defense Technology developed the supercomputer, which runs twice as fast as the No. 2 rated Titan super computer. It belongs to the United States Government's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Both Tianhe-2 and Titan are part of an ongoing race to make supercomputers faster and more powerful.

中国国防科技大学研制了这台超级计算机，其运行速度是排名第二的泰坦超级计算机的两倍。泰坦超级计算机隶属于位于田纳西州的美国政府旗下的橡树岭国家实验室。天河2号和泰坦都是使得超级计算机更快更强的一场进行中的竞赛的一部分。

So what is a supercomputer? A basic personal computer has one microchip at the center of its operations. This Central Processing Unit, or CPU, executes a set of commands contained in a predesigned program.

那么，什么是超级计算机呢?一台普通个人电脑的运行中心都有一个微芯片，这个被称为CPU的中央处理器执行预先设定程序中包含的控制命令。

The first supercomputers had a few more CPUs. That number grew as microprocessors became cheaper and faster. Andrew Grimshaw, a computer science professor at the University of Virginia explains:

第一台超级计算机只有一些中央处理器(CPU)。这一数字随着微处理器变得更快更便宜而增长。弗吉尼亚大学计算机科学教授安德鲁·格里姆肖(Andrew Grimshaw)解释说：

"Today, supercomputers are all what we call parallel machines. Instead of one CPU - central processing unit - they have thousands and thousands. And in the case of the Chinese machine, depending on how you count, millions of the central processing units."

“今天，超级计算机被我们称为并行机器。它不止一个中央处理器，而是有成千上万个。在中国这台超级计算机中，根据统计就有数百万计的中央处理器。”

These parallel machines are made up of many individual computers called nodes. They are all positioned in one block. They used a lot of power, create a lot of heat, and require huge cooling systems. They also use programs different from those used by ordinary computers.

这些并行机器由很多被称为节点的独立计算机组成。他们被定位在一个块上，使用大量电能，制造大量的热，并需要巨大的冷却系统。他们还使用和普通电脑不同的程序。

Professor Grimshaw says anyone with enough resources can build a supercomputer to solve problems that require millions of mathematical calculations.

格里姆肖教授说，任何人有足够资源都可以制造一台超级计算机，用来解决需要数以百万计数学运算的问题。

But that's not always necessary. A virtual supercomputer can be created by networking individual computers within a university campus or company. These machines then process data during down time, when no one is using them.

但是这并非总有必要。可以通过大学校园或公司的个人电脑联网来制造虚拟超级计算机。这些机器在无人使用时可以处理数据。

"Those are very easy to run on virtual supercomputers because each problem is independent of all the others and I can scatter these jobs out all around the place. We run these all the time at UVA."

“在虚拟超级计算机上运行这些很简单。因为每个问题都相互独立，可以分散到各个地方进行。我们在弗吉尼亚大学一直这么做。”

Professor Grimshaw says that entire ten years ago, engineers worked on making computers faster. Since then, he says, they have worked to create more powerful parallel machines.

格里姆肖教授说，整整十年前，工程师们致力于使得计算机更快。他说，从那时起，他们一直在努力制造更强大的并行机。

"It's transforming science and engineering, and it's going to continue to transform it in ways I think most people don't fully grasp - how well we can model and simulate the world now."

“这是在转换科学和工程，它还将用我认为多数人未能完全掌握的方法继续转换。这种方法就是现在我们可以对世界进行建模和仿真。”

Professor Grimshaw says the increasing computing ability of supercomputers makes the future of research very bright.

格里姆肖教授说，超级计算机计算能力的不断增加使得研究的未来一片光明。