TED会场直击：斯诺登露面

TED, which stands for 'technology, entertainment and design," is almost impossible to characterize beyond that ridiculously broad rubric. Best known for its slick, 18-minute "talks," some of the best speakers on Tuesday read from their typewritten texts.
TED是 “技术、娱乐、设计”三个词的缩写，除了那三个醒目的红色大字以外，还真是难以把它说清。TED大会最出名的就是那些限时18分钟的精彩演讲，本周二，讲台上一些出色的演讲人是照着打印稿念的。
英语句子成分分析：which引导定语从句，beyond 为介词,意为“除…以外”，that 为形容词修饰 rubric，意为 “那个”，18-minute "talks,"是同位语，some of the best speakers是句子主语，read是谓语，on Tuesday是时间状语。

My biggest surprise so far at TED, taking place this week at a convention center on the harbor in Vancouver, is the uneven quality of the talks. Knowing the Steve Jobs-like rehearsal regimen TED's producers impose on presenters, I expected to be wowed by every talk. But upon reflection, that just wasn't realistic on my part. Besides, judging a speech is a highly subjective endeavor. What sings every time is the production value of the entire conference.
今年的TED大会于本周在温哥华港口的一座会展中心召开，这次大会目前最令我惊讶的是演讲的质量参差不齐。据说大会主办方之前让演讲人们反复排练，以求个个讲出乔布斯的范儿，因此我原以为每场演讲都会“震撼”到我。但是再想一想，就觉得我的奢望太不切实际了。另外，评价一场演讲到底好不好也是件非常主观的事。最让我赞叹的是整场大会的制作水准。
句解霸点评：现在分词短语taking place this week at a convention center on the harbor in Vancouver作定语，修饰TED。其中this week , at a convention center 和 on the harbor 都为状语。Knowing…为现在分词作状语。judging 为动名词，在句中作主语。

What sings every time is the production value of the entire conference.

* what 为关系代词，引导主语从句。
* sings 为主语从句的谓语，采用一般现在时。动词采用第三人称单数形式。
* is 为主语的谓语

Edward Snowden was Day 2's surprise highlight. Chris Anderson, TED's "curator," interviewed a robot that moved around the stage with a video screen with Snowden's face broadcast from his undisclosed location in Russia. "Your rights matter because you never know when you're going to need them," he said. "They are part of our cultural identity" as Americans. Snowden also called on big U.S. Internet companies to encrypt web browsing on their sites as a default setting, which would prevent governments, including the U.S., from gaining easy access to the behavior of U.S. citizens.
第二天的一个惊喜就是斯诺登（“棱镜门”的爆料者）出现在大屏幕上。TED大会的负责人克里斯?安德森借助远程视频系统对斯诺登进行了采访，而斯诺登本人则隐身于俄罗斯某地。斯诺登说：“你的权利很重要，因为你永远不知道你什么时候需要它，它也是美国人的文化特性的一部分。”他号召美国的大型网络公司对用户的网站访问进行加密，把它设定为默认设置，以防止包括美国在内的各国政府轻易地获取美国公民的行为信息。

句中TED's "curator,"为同位语。 web browsing (网站访问), browsing 为动名词。 prevent…from （doing sth）意为 “阻止...做某事, 防止...做某事”。
“Your rights matter because you never know when you're going to need them”
(you're = you are)
* matter 为谓语，采用一般现在时。
* because 为连词，引导原因状语从句。
* know 为谓语，采用一般现在时。
* when 为连接副词，引导宾语从句。
* need 为谓语，采用一般将来时。
* you 为人称代词。them 为人称代词宾格。your 为形容词型物主代词。are 为助动词。