恐怕很多人都玩过俄罗斯方块这个游戏。它发源于俄罗斯，最终风靡全球，是史上最成功的游戏之一。
The 'mind game' that took over the world
by Jacopo Prisco
Like many of history's greatest ideas, Tetris came about quite unintentionally.
Tetris /ˈtetrɪs/ n. 俄罗斯方块
come about 发生
unintentionally /ˌʌnɪnˈtenʃ(ə)n(ə)li/ adv. 无意地、意外地
In 1984, Alexey Pajitnov was a software engineer at the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow, tasked with testing a new type of computer, the Electronika 60. To do so, he wrote a simple game based on a puzzle from his childhood. It would help assess how powerful the computer was – and provide a bit of fun. Little did he know that the resulting game would go on to become one of the greatest, most addictive and most successful of all time.
Moscow /ˈmɒskəʊ/ n. 莫斯科
task /tɑːsk/ v. 分配任务
based on 基于
puzzle /ˈpʌz(ə)l/ n. 拼图、拼图游戏
assess /əˈses/ v. 评估
resulting /rɪˈzʌltɪŋ/ adj. 做为结果的
addictive /əˈdɪktɪv/ adj. 让人上瘾的
Tetris is a puzzle game in which geometric（几何图形的） shapes called "tetrominoes" fall down onto a playing field, and the player has to arrange them to form gapless lines. Pajitnov called the game Tetris, combining the Greek numeral（数字符号） "tetra" (meaning four) and tennis, his favorite sport.
gapless /ˈɡæpləs/ adj. 无空隙的（由gap加上表示否定的后缀-less并变成形容词）
combine /kəmˈbaɪn/ v. 合并
Greek /ɡriːk/ adj. 希腊的
Pajitnov himself was immediately hooked. "I couldn't stop myself from playing this prototype（原型） version, because it was very addictive to put the shapes together," he said on the phone from Seattle, where he now lives.
hooked /hʊkt/ adj. 上瘾的
version /ˈvɜːʃ(ə)n/ n. 版本
Seattle /siˈæt(ə)l/ n. 西雅图（美国西北部城市）
The game spread quickly. "It was like a wood fire. Everyone in the Soviet Union who had a PC had Tetris on it," said Pajitnov. In 1988, Tetris was released as a commercial PC title in the UK and the US. It was selling well on computers, but the big money in the games sector was being made elsewhere: consoles（小型游戏机）.
spread /spred/ v. 传播
Soviet Union 苏联（俄罗斯是苏联的一部分）
release /rɪˈliːs/ v. 发布（新产品等）
commercial /kəˈmɜːʃ(ə)l/ adj. 商业的
title /ˈtaɪt(ə)l/ n. 一种书（这里指一款游戏）
sector /ˈsektə(r)/ n. 经济领域、行业
elsewhere /ˌelsˈweə(r)/ adv. 其他地方
Henk Rogers, a Dutch video game developer and businessman living in Japan, was the first to realize that Tetris was a perfect match for the Game Boy, a new handheld system released by Nintendo in Japan in early 1989. The console was about to launch in North America and Europe too, and Rogers convinced the company to bundle a copy of the game in the box, a common practice outside of Japan.
Dutch /dʌtʃ/ adj. 荷兰的（荷兰是西欧国家）
developer /dɪˈveləpə(r)/ n. 开发者、软件开发者（由develop加上表示人的后缀-er）
match /mætʃ/ n. 相配的东西
handheld /ˌhændˈheld/ adj. 手持的
launch /lɔːntʃ/ v. （产品等）上市
convince /kənˈvɪns/ v. 说服
bundle /ˈbʌnd(ə)l/ v. 打包出售、搭售
practice /ˈpræktɪs/ n. 做法
The Game Boy version of Tetris sold 35 million units and helped the console become one of the most successful of all time. It is still considered by many – Pajitnov included – to be the best version of Tetris, and it created an unprecedented synergy（协同效应） between hardware and software, epitomizing（成为…的典范） the gaming mantra "easy to learn, hard to master."
unprecedented /ʌnˈpresɪdentɪd/ adj. 没有先例的
mantra /ˈmæntrə/ n. 经常重复的说法
master /ˈmɑːstə(r)/ v. 精通
To date, Tetris has been released on over 65 platforms, a world record, with more than half a billion downloads on mobile devices, according to the Tetris Company. Pajitnov has personally worked on over 100 variants（变体） of the game.
to date 到目前为止
platform /ˈplætfɔːm/ n. 平台
world record 世界纪录
billion /ˈbɪljən/ n. 十亿
mobile /ˈməʊbaɪl/ adj. 移动的
device /dɪˈvaɪs/ n. 设备（mobile devices指手机、平板电脑等）
personally /ˈpɜːs(ə)n(ə)li/ adv. 亲自
"It hasn't lost any of its play value and nothing has come to replace Tetris," said Rogers, explaining the game's enduring popularity. "It's like 'Happy Birthday.' There have been lots of songs that come and go, but 'Happy Birthday' is still always sung in the same way. Tetris has become the 'Happy Birthday' of computer games."
endure /ɪnˈdʒʊə(r)/ v. 持久
popularity /ˌpɒpjuˈlærəti/ n. 流行（由popular加后缀-ity变成名词）
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