职称英语理工B材料含新增.docx

职称英语理工B材料含新增.docx

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职称英语理工B材料含新增

第二十二篇RealWorldRobots

Whenyouthinkofarobot,doyouenvisionashiny,metallicdevicehavingthesamegeneralshapeasahumanbeing,performinghumanlikefunctions,andrespondingtoyourquestionsinamonotonevoiceaccentuatedbyhigh-pitchedtonesandbeeps?

Thisisthewaymanyofusimaginearobot,butintherealworld,arobotisnothumanoidatall.Insteadarobotoftenisavoiceless,box-shapedmachinethatefficientlycarriesoutrepetitiveordangerousfunctionsusuallyperformedbyhumans.Today’srobotismorethananautomaticmachinethatperformsonetaskagainandagain.Amodernrobotisprogrammedwithvaryingdegreesofartificialintelligence—thatis,arobotcontainsacomputerprogramthattellsithowtoperformtasksassociatedwithhumanintelligence,suchasreasoning,drawingconclusions,andlearningfrompastexperience.

Arobotdoesnotpossessahumanshapeforthesimplereasonthatatwo-leggedrobothasgreatdifficultyremainingbalanced.Arobotdoes,however,movefromplacetoplaceonwheelsandaxlesthatrollandrotate.Arobotevenhaslimbsthatswivelandmoveincombinationwithjointsandmotors.Tofinditswayinitssurroundings1,arobotutilizesvariousbuilt-insensors.Antennaeattachedtotherobot’sbasedetectanythingtheybumpinto.Iftherobotstartstoteeterasitmovesonanincline,agyroscopeorapenduluminsideitsensestheverticaldifferential.Todetermineitsdistancefromanobjectandhowquicklyitwillreachtheobject，therobotbouncesbeamsoflaserlightandultrasonicsoundwavesoffobstructionsinitspath2.Theseandothersensorsconstantlyfeedinformationtothecomputer,whichthenanalyzestheinformationandcorrectsoradjuststherobot’sactions.Asscienceandtechnologyadvance,therobottoowillprogressinitsfunctionsanduseofartificial-intelligenceprograms.

词汇：

envisionv.想象，预想

devicen.装置

accentuatev.强调，重读

artificialintelligencen.人工智能

limbn.臂

antennaen.天线

inclinev.倾斜

pendulumn.钟摆

ultrasonicadj.超声的

metallicadj.金属的

monotonen.单调的

humanoidadj.像人的

axlen.轮轴

rotatev.旋转

swiveln.旋转

teeterv.摇晃

gyroscopen.陀螺仪，回转仪

verticaln.直立的

注释：

1．Tofinditswayinitssurroundings...：

为了在周围找到路……

2．therobotbouncesbeamsoflaserlightandultrasonicsoundwavesoffobstructionsinitspath：

机器人发射激光束和超声波，反射到障碍物上（以此来探知路径）。

练习：

1．Anothergoodtitleforthispassagewouldbe

A　Robots:

TakingthePlaceofHumans.

B　ArtificialIntelligencePrograms.

C　Today’sRobotsandHowTheyFunction.

D　Modern-DaySensors.

2．Artificialintelligenceis

A　theunnaturalwayinwhichrobotsmove.

B　avoiceless,box-shapedmachinethatperformsrepetitivetasks.

C　sensorssuchasantennaeandagyroscope.

D　acomputerprogramthatimitateshumanintellectualprocesses.

3．Thelastparagraphsuggeststhatfuturerobotswillbe

A　morehumanlikeinbehaviorandactions.

B　morelikeautomaticmachines.

C　betterabletomoveoninclines.

D　betterequippedwithlaserlightsensors.

4．Thewriterbeginsthepassagebycomparing

A　theshapeofahumanbeingwithabox.

B　amodemrobotwithafictionalrobot.

C　animaginarymachinewithahuman.

D　acomputerprogramwithartificialintelligence.

5．Thewordhumanoidmeans

A　lackinghumancharacteristics.

B　anythinghavingtheappearanceofahumanoid.

C　beingvoidorvacant.

D　havingahumanformorcharacteristics.

答案与题解：

1．C　从文中得知，文章主要介绍了机器人和它们的运行方式，因此选择C选项。

2．D　Artificial是“人工”的意思，intelligence是“智能”的意思。

另外从文中得知，机器人使用artificialintelligence能够进行与人类类似的推理分析等活动，因此可知它是一种类似人类智能的计算机程序。

3．A　最后一段讲机器人的发展方向是更加智能，能够自己判断并修正行为，而不仅仅是完成重复性的工作。

4．B　文章开头的时候作者让读者描述他们脑海中的机器人概念，并随后介绍了实际的机器人是怎样的，因此选择B选项。

5．D　从humanoid的词根human可看出这个词是形容与人类有关的特征。

另外根据文章对这个词的描述可以得出这个词是表示和人类类似的特征，不管是外形上，还是行为方式上。

第十三篇AffectionateAndroids

Computersarenowpowerfulenoughtoallowtheageofhumanoidrobotstodawn.Anditwon’tbelongbeforewewillseerealisticcybercompanions,completewithskin,dexterity,andintelligence.Theywillbeprogrammedtotendtoyoureveryneed.

Willweeverwanttomarryrobots?

ArtificialintelligenceresearcherDavidLevyhaspublishedabookclaiminghuman-robotrelationshipswillbecomepopularinthenextfewdecades.Andifyouwanttogoaheadandtietheknotwithyourspecialelectronicfriend，Levysaidthatsuchmarriageswillbesociallyacceptablebyaround2050.

Willhumansreallybeabletoformdeepemotionalattachmentstomachines?

Itwill,infact,berelativelyeasytoformthesestrongattachmentsbecausethehumanmindlovestoanthropomorphize:

togivehumanattributestoothercreatures—evenobjects.

Forexample,researchersinSanDiegorecentlyputasmallhumanoidrobotinwithatoddlerplaygroupforseveralmonths.Thebotkneweachchildbecauseitwasprogrammedwithfaceandvoicerecognition，anditgiggledwhentickled.Thechildrenendeduptreatingitasafellowtoddler.Whenitlaydownbecauseitsbatterieswereflat，thekidsevencovereditwithablanket.

Inafewdecades,whenhumanoidrobotswithplasticskinlookandfeelveryreal,willpeoplewanttoformrelationshipswiththem?

Whatifthebotscouldholdaconversation?

Andbeprogrammedtobetheperfectcompanions—soulmates,even?

Maybeyourgenerationcouldresist,buteventuallytherewillbeagenerationofpeoplewhogrowupwithhumanoidrobotsasanormalpartoflife.Andlikethosetoddlersintheexperiment,theywillbeveryacceptingofthem.

Thenextquestion,then,iswhetherthereisanythingwrongwithhavinganemotionalrelationshipwithamachine.Eventodaytherearepeoplewhoformdeepattachmentstotheirpetsandusethemassubstitutesforfriendsorevenchildren.Fewconsiderthatunethical.

Butasophisticatedrobotwillprobablybeevenmoreattractive.Forthosewhoalwaysseemtoendupmarryingthewrongmanorwoman,aroboticMr.orMs.Rightcouldbemightytempting.Asthefatherofartificialintelligence,MarvinMinsky,putitwhenaskedabouttheethicsoflonelyolderpeopleformingcloserelationshipswithrobots:

“Ifarobothadallthevirtuesofapersonandwassmarterandmoreunderstanding,whywouldtheelderlybothertalkingtoothergrumpyoldpeople?

”

Arobotcouldbeprogrammedtobeasdumborsmart,asindependentorsubservient,asanownerdesired.Andthat’sthebigdisadvantage.Havingtheperfectrobotpartnerwilldamagetheabilitytoformequallydeephuman-humanrelationships.Peoplewillalwaysseemimperfectincomparison.Whenyou’rebehavingbadly,agoodfriendwilltellyou.However,fewownerswillprogramtheirrobotstopointouttheirflaws.

Peopleinrelationshipshavetolearntoadapttoeachother:

toenjoytheircommoninterestsandtodealwiththeirdifferences.Itmakesusricher,stronger,andwiser.Arobotcompanionwillbeperfectatthestart.However,therewillbenothingtomovetherelationshiptogrowtogreaterheights.

LighteningStrikes

ThreeyearsagoaboltoflightningallbutdestroyedLynMiller’shouseinAberdeen—withhertwochildreninside.“Therewasahugerainstorm,”shesays,recallingtheterrifyingexperience.“MybrotherandIwereoutsidedesperatelyworkingtostopfloodwaterfromcominginthehouse.SuddenlyIwasthrowntothegroundbyanenormousbang.____1____Thedoorwasblockedbyrubble,butweforcedourwayinandfoundthechildren,thankfullyunharmed.LaterIwastoldtobestruckbylightningisachanceinamillion.”Infact,it’scalculatedatonechancein600,000.Evenso,DrMarkKeysofAERTechnology,anorganisationthatmonitorstheeffectsoflightning,thinksyoushouldbesensible.“Iwouldn’tgooutinastorm—butthenI’mquiteacarefulperson.”Headvisesanyonewhoisunluckyenoughtobecaughtinastormtogetdownonthegroundandcurlupintoaball,makingyourselfassmallaspossible.

Lightningisoneofnature’smostawesomedisplaysofsheerpower.____2____250yearsago,BenjaminFranklin,theAmericanscientistandstatesman，provedthatlightningisaformofelectricity,butscientistsstilllackacompleteunderstandingofhowitworks.

____3____Positiveelectricalchargesstreamingupwardsfromtreesorchurchspiresmayglowandmakeabuzzingnoise,andpeople’shaircanstandonend.Andifyoufearlightning,you’llbegladtoknowthatacompanyinAmericahasmanufacturedahand-heldlightningdetectorwhichcandetectitupto70kmsaway,soundawarningtoneandmonitorthestorm’sapproach.

NancyWilderwasplayinggolfataclubinSurreywhenshewashitbyaboltoflightning.MrsWilder’sheartstoppedbeating,butshewasresuscitatedand,afterafewdaysinhospital,whereshewastreatedforbumstoherhead,handsandfeet,shewaspronouncedfitagain.Sincethattime，shehasbeenastrictlyfairweathergolfer1.____4____Thebestplacetobeisinsideacar!

ThelargestnumberofpeopletobestruckbylightningatonetimewasinSeptember1995when17playersonafootballpitchwerehitsimultaneously.Themostextraordinaryaspectofthestrikewasthefactthat11ofthevictims—sevenadultsandfourchildren—hadburnpatternsoftinyholesat3centimetreintervalsoneachtoeandaroundthesolesoftheirfeet.

HaroldDeal,aretiredelectricianfromSouthCarolina,USA,wasstruckbylightning26yearsago.Hewasapparentlyunhurt,butitlateremergedthatthestrikehaddamagedthepartofthebrainwhichcontrolsthesensationoftemperature.____5____

Animalsarevictimsoflightningtoo2．Hundredsofcowsandsheeparekilledeveryyear,largelybecausetheygoundertrees.InEastAngliain1918,504sheepwerekilledinstantaneouslybythesameboltoflightningthathitthegroundandtravelledthroughtheentireflock.Lightningisalsoresponsibleforstartingmoret