Who Needs Humans?人类还有何用?

Amid all the job losses of the Great Recession, there is one category of worker that the economic disruption has been

good for

: nonhumans. 在“大衰退”(Great Recession)造成的所有失业中，有一类工人受益于经济动荡:非人类。 Great Recession大衰退 category n. 种类，范畴 economic disruption 经济动荡：指由于各种因素（如自然灾害、战争、金融危机等）导致的经济活动的中断或混乱。

From

 self-service checkout lines at the supermarket

 to

 industrial robots armed with saws and taught to carve up animal carcasses in slaughter-houses, these ever-more-intelligent machines

are

now

not just

 assisting workers

but

actually

kicking

them

out of

 their jobs. 从超市的自助结账队伍，到配备锯子并在屠宰场学习切割动物尸体的工业机器人，这些越来越智能的机器现在不仅在帮助工人，而且实际上把他们赶出了工作岗位。 armed with 装配 saws n. 锯片 carve up 分割：将某物分割成小部分。 slaughter-houses 屠宰场 assisting v. 协助 Automation

isn’t just

 affecting factory workers,

either

. Some law firms now use artificial intelligence software to scan and read mountains of legal documents, work that previously was performed by highly paid human lawyers. 自动化影响的也不仅仅是工厂工人。一些律师事务所现在使用人工智能软件来扫描和阅读大量的法律文件，这些工作以前是由高薪的人类律师完成的。 “Robots continue to have an impact on blue-collar jobs, and white-collar jobs are under attack by microprocessors,” says economics professor Edward Leamer. the recession permanently

wiped out

 2.5 million jobs. U.S. gross domestic product has climbed back to pre-recession levels, meaning we’re producing as much as before, only with 6 percent fewer workers. To be sure, robotics are

 not

 the

only

job killers out there, with outsourcing stealing

far more

 jobs 

than

automation. 经济学教授爱德华•利默(Edward Leamer)表示:“机器人继续对蓝领工作产生影响，而白领工作正受到微处理器的攻击。”经济衰退永久性地消灭了250万个工作岗位。美国国内生产总值已经回升到衰退前的水平，这意味着我们的生产和以前一样多，只是工人减少了6%。可以肯定的是，机器人并不是唯一的工作杀手，外包抢走的工作比自动化抢走的要多得多。 under attack by 受到攻击 wiped out 消灭抹去 gross domestic product 国内生产总值：一个国家或地区在一定时间内生产的所有最终商品和服务的总价值。 climbed v. 攀登，攀爬；爬升，升高；上升 back to 回到某个地方、状态或时间 outsourcing n. 外包；外购；外部采办 Jeff Burnstein, president of the Robotics Industry Association, a trade group in Ann Arbor, Mich., argues that robots actually

save

U.S. jobs. His logic: companies that embrace automation might use fewer workers, but that’s still better than firing everyone and moving the work overseas. 密歇根州安娜堡市的行业组织机器人工业协会(Robotics Industry Association)主席杰夫·伯恩斯坦(Jeff Burnstein)说。他认为，机器人实际上挽救了美国的就业机会。他的逻辑是:拥抱自动化的公司可能会使用更少的工人，但这仍然比解雇所有人并将工作转移到海外要好。 embrace v. 拥抱；欣然接受

It’s not that

 robots are cheaper than humans, though often they are.

 It’s that

 they are better. “In some cases the quality requirements are so exacting that even if you wanted to have a human do the job, you couldn’t,” Burnstein says. 这并不是说机器人比人类便宜，尽管它们经常比人类便宜。而是他们更好。伯恩斯坦说:“在某些情况下，质量要求非常严格，即使你想让人来做这项工作，你也做不到。” The Same goes for surgeons, who are using robotic systems to perform an ever-growing list of operations—

not because

 the machines save money but

because

,

thanks to

 the greater precision of robots, the patients recover in less time and have fewer complications, says Dr. Myriam Curet. 外科医生也是如此，他们正在使用机器人系统进行越来越多的手术——不是因为机器省钱，而是因为，多亏了机器人更高的精度，病人在更短的时间内康复，并发症也更少，米利亚姆·库雷特博士说。 Surgeons 外科医生 Thank to 由于 precision n. 精确（性），准确（性）；严谨 Complications n. 并发症 Surgeons may

survive

the robot invasion, but others at the hospital might not be so lucky, as iRobot, maker of the Roomba, a robot vacuum cleaner, has been

showing off

 Ava, a three-foot-tall droid on wheels that carries a tablet computer. iRobot reckons Ava could be used as a courier in a hospital. And once you’re home, recovering, Ava could let you

talk to

 your doctor, so there’s no need to send someone to your house. That “mobile telepresence” could be useful at the office. If you’re away on a trip, you can still attend a meeting. Just connect via videoconferencing software, so your face appears on Ava’s screen. 外科医生可能会在机器人入侵中幸存下来，但医院里的其他人可能就没那么幸运了，因为机器人吸尘器Roomba的制造商iRobot公司展示了一个三英尺高的带轮子的机器人Ava，它携带着一台平板电脑。iRobot公司认为艾娃可以在医院里当快递员。等你回家恢复后，艾娃可以让你和医生谈谈，所以没必要派人去你家。这种“移动远程呈现”可能在办公室很有用。如果你外出旅行，你仍然可以参加会议。只要通过视频会议软件连接，你的脸就会出现在艾娃的屏幕上。 Is any job safe? I was hoping to say “journalist,” but researchers are already developing software that can gather facts and write a news story. Which means that a few years from now, a robot could be writing this column. And who will read it? Well, there might be

a lot of

us hanging around with lots of free time on our hands. 有什么工作是安全的吗?我本想说“记者”，但研究人员已经在开发可以收集事实并撰写新闻报道的软件了。这意味着几年后，一个机器人可能会写这个专栏。谁会读呢?好吧，可能我们很多人都有很多空闲时间。 Column n. 圆柱，纪念柱；专栏 hanging around 1．无所事事地度过时间，闲逛或社交 52. What do we learn

from the first

 few paragraphs? D 我们从前几段中学到了什么? A) The over-use of robots has done damage to American economy. 过度使用机器人对美国经济造成了损害 B) It is hard for robots to replace humans in highly professional work. 在高度专业化的工作中，机器人很难取代人类 C) Artificial intelligence is key to future technological innovations. 人工智能是未来技术创新的关键。 D) The robotic industry has

benefited from

 the economic recession. 机器人产业从经济衰退中受益。   53. What caused the greatest loss of jobs in America? B 是什么导致了美国最大的失业?  结果是美国有最大的事业，找原因， A) Using microprocessors extensively. 广泛使用微处理器。白领工作受到微处理器的攻击 B) Moving production to other countries. 将生产转移到其他国家。Outsourcing n. 外包；外购 C) The bankruptcy of many companies. 许多公司破产。 D) The invasion of migrant workers. 外来务工人员的入侵。migrant workers 农民工：移居他地工作的农民   54. What does Jeff Burnstein say about robots? C 关于机器人JB说了什么? A) They help companies to revive. They =机器人。他们帮助公司复苏。 B) They are cheaper than humans. 他们比人类更便宜 C) They prevent job losses in a way. in a way.=在某种程度上，他们防止了失业。 D) They compete with human workers. 他们与人类工人竞争。   55. Why are robotic systems replacing surgeons in more and more operation according to Dr. Myriam Curet? B 为什么机器人系统在越来越多的手术中取代了外科医生?   有结果，找原因！ A) They save lots of money for the patients. 他们为病人节省了很多钱。 B) They beat humans in precision. 它们在精确度上打败了人类。 C) They take less time to perform a surgery. 他们做手术的时间更短。 D) They make operations less painful. 它们使手术不那么痛苦。 56. What does the author

imply

about robotics? D 关于机器人，作者暗示了什么? A) It will greatly enrich literary creation. 这将极大地丰富文学创作。 B) It will start a new technological revolution. 它将开启一场新的技术革命。 C) It will revolutionize scientific research. 它将使科学研究发生革命性的变化。 D) It will be applied in any field imaginable. 它将应用于任何可以想象的领域。