本文選自吳應時主編的《大學英語六級閱讀真題精讀——晨讀伴侶》。本書對歷年國家大學英語六級考試（CET-6）的仔細閱讀部分進行了詳盡而精準的分析、翻譯和注釋，對四六級考生有著事半功倍的效果，對提升整體英語能力也很有幫助。
學習導讀：
機器在工業(yè)中的使用歷來被認為是科技的進步，但在人文思潮中，對于機器卻有著不同角度的思考。英文畢竟是文學，是純文科，所以對于這些科技類的關(guān)切也只能是基于人文的視角。這就使得一些本來并沒有感情色彩的客體成為了被討論的對象，而且還能涉及到一系列的道德倫理問題。當然，文章總是跳不出這樣的套路，無非是講講機器有些什么好處，再講講有些什么壞處，最后再中立地討論一下。
[Amid1?all the job losses], there’s one category2?(of worker) that the economic disruption has been good for: nonhumans3.
?在失業(yè)大潮中，只有一種工人從經(jīng)濟衰退中受益，那就是非人類工人（機器人）。
注：1. amid prep.在…中間，被…圍繞。例：
The president began to speak amid the crowd’s acclamation.
總統(tǒng)在人們的歡呼聲中開始演講。
Amid the good signs for the economy, came a worrying trend in manufacturing, however.
在一片經(jīng)濟良好的跡象之中，卻產(chǎn)生了對制造業(yè)感到擔憂的趨勢。
[選自：MSN: Spending, incomes rise as layoffs drop]
2. category n. 種類，類目。例：
There are different categories of books in the library.
圖書館里有各類的書籍。
3. 冒號在這里的作用相當于破折號，把系動詞給省略了。還原的話即the economic disruption has been good for is nonhumans.所以“非人類”實際上是表語。
[From self-service checkout1?lines at the supermarket to industrial robots armed with saws and taught to carve2?up animal bodies in slaughter-houses3], these ever-more-intelligent machines are [now] not [just] assisting workers but [actually] kicking them .
從超市里成排的自助結(jié)賬機到屠宰場里裝有鋸條并被用來屠宰動物肉體的工業(yè)機器人，這些日益智能化的機器人現(xiàn)在不僅僅是在協(xié)助工人工作，事實上也正在將這些工人驅(qū)逐出工作崗位。
注：1. checkout n. 付款臺，結(jié)賬時間。例：
Holman, the analyst, said mobile self-checkout will have a huge impact on the future of retail.
霍爾曼，該分析師表示，移動自助結(jié)賬服務將對零售業(yè)的未來產(chǎn)生巨大的影響。
[選自：MSN: Welcome valued customer ... to more self-checkouts]
2. carve v. 刻, 雕刻; 切; 切開; 開創(chuàng); 做雕刻工作; 切開肉。值得注意的是，雖然carve up是切割之意，但在此語境下須譯為屠宰。例：
Tom carved the figure of Venus from a piece of wood.
湯姆用一塊木頭雕刻出了維納斯雕像。
So it makes no sense to carve out a legal exception for smartphone searches.
所以開拓出智能手機搜索的合法例外領(lǐng)域是沒有意義的。
[選自：CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS]
3. slaughter vt. 屠殺，殺戮，屠宰。例：
Himmler knew a lot about how to terrorize and slaughter civilians, but nothing about military affairs.
希姆萊非常了解如何恐嚇和屠殺平民，但對軍事事務一無所知。
[選自：CNN: Private Ryan was a hero, but there were bums, too]
The workers slaughter thousands of cows each day.
工人們每天屠宰數(shù)千頭牛。
n. 屠宰。例：
The heartless slaughter of animals for food disgusted the vegetarian.
無情地屠宰動物作食物令素食主義者很反感。
slaughter-houses動詞加名詞構(gòu)成，相當于houses for slaughtering
Automation1?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 previously2) was performed [by highly-paid human lawyers].
自動化不僅影響著工廠的工人。一些律師事務所現(xiàn)在也是用人工智能軟件來瀏覽和閱讀堆積如山的法律文件，而這些工作原來是由領(lǐng)著高薪的律師來做的。
注：1. automation n.自動化。例：
Over the years our life has changed a lot with automation.
多年來，自動化給我們的生活帶來了很大的變化。
It hopes to avoid duplication, increase automation and introduce new business and asset management systems.
希望能避免重復，提高自動化程度，并引入新的業(yè)務和資產(chǎn)管理系統(tǒng)。
[選自：BBC: Guernsey States plans to cut 50 jobs to save money]
2. previously adv. 先前，以前；【派】 previous adj. 早先的，在前的；一般來說形容詞作定語修飾名詞，而在這里，that previously整個作定語，表明該工作是之前的，而非現(xiàn)在?？梢赃@樣理解，that previously是一個定語從句，從句里面that充當主語而previously作時間狀語即可。previous 接 to時作副詞，表示“在…之前”的意思。例：
Previous to our being there, there was an earthquake in the area.
在我們?nèi)ツ侵?，該地區(qū)曾經(jīng)發(fā)生過一場地震。
They have opened a previously unimaginable array of possibilities in both developed and developing countries.
他們開啟了在發(fā)達國家和發(fā)展中國家以前可能難以想象的一系列可能性。
[選自：UNCTAD: Office of the Secretary-General]
“Robots continue to have an impact [on blue-collar jobs], and white-collar jobs are under attack [by microprocessors]?1,” says economics professor Edward Leamer. The recession [permanently?2] 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% fewer workers]. [To be sure], robotics are [not] the only job killers (out there), [with outsourcing stealing far more jobs than automation].
經(jīng)濟學教授愛德華·利默爾說：“機器人繼續(xù)影響著藍領(lǐng)崗位，而白領(lǐng)崗位也受到了微處理器的沖擊?！苯?jīng)濟蕭條永久性地消減掉了250萬個工作崗位。美國的國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值已回升到了蕭條前的水平，這意味著我們的生產(chǎn)能力跟從前相同，只是雇傭工人的數(shù)量卻減少了6%?？梢钥隙ǖ氖牵瑱C器人技術(shù)并非是導致工作崗位減少的唯一因素，與自動化相比，外包吞噬了更多的工作崗位。
注：1. microprocessor n. 微處理器，現(xiàn)今手機的處理器也就是用這個詞，比如高通驍龍805是Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor 805，蘋果A8處理器也都是processor。
2. permanently adv. 永存地，不變地；【派】permanent adj. 永久的，持久的。
例：
I hope to get a permanent job here.
我希望能在這里得到一份長期的工作。
Many earthquake survivors worried that the authorities were trying to permanently move them out.
很多地震幸存者擔心，當局試圖要他們永久搬離。
[選自：BBC: Rain hits Haiti as Tropical Storm Tomas approaches]
Jeff Burnstein, {president of the Robotics Industry Association}, argues that robots [actually] save U.S. jobs. His logic: companies (that embrace1?automation) might use fewer workers, but that’s [still] better [than firing everyone and moving the work overseas].
機器人工業(yè)聯(lián)盟的主席杰夫·伯恩施泰因認為，機器人實際上為美國人保住了工作機會。他的邏輯如下：使用自動化的企業(yè)可能會雇傭較少的工人，但這種情況仍比解雇所有工人然后把工廠轉(zhuǎn)移到海外要好。
注：1. embrace v. 擁抱，包含，信奉。例：
The term “mankind” embraces men, women and children.
“人類”包含男人、女人和兒童。
Mr. Lee has repeatedly said North Korea should embrace China's style of economic reform.
李先生曾多次表示，朝鮮應該接受中國經(jīng)濟改革的方式。
[WSJ: Kim Jong Il Meets Chinese Leaders]
It’s [not] that robots are cheaper [than humans], [though often they are.] It’s that they’re better. “[In some cases] the quality requirements are [so] exacting [that [even if you wanted to have a human??1,] you couldn’t,]” Burnstein says.
這并不是因為機器人比人工便宜，盡管有時的確如此。主要是因為機器人能做得更好。伯恩施泰因表示：“在一些質(zhì)量要求非常嚴格的情況下，即使想用工人也不行。”
注：1. Have a human do the job，找別人來做，比如have someone’s hair cut，是找別人幫自己剪頭發(fā)。
Same goes for surgeons?1, (who’re 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?2,] says Dr. Myriam Curet. ?
外科醫(yī)生的情況也是如此，他們正在使用機器人系統(tǒng)來完成越來越多的手術(shù)。馬里亞姆·屈雷博士稱，他們使用機器人并不是為了省錢，而是由于機器人有更高的精確度，這樣患者才能更快地痊愈并減少并發(fā)癥。
注：1. surgeon n. 外科醫(yī)生。
2. complication n. 并發(fā)癥，混亂，復雜。這個單詞的形容詞是complicated，這是大家熟悉的單詞，但名詞表示并發(fā)癥需要掌握。例：
They do not have the capabilities to treat this complication here.
在這，醫(yī)生沒有能力治療這種并發(fā)癥。
Right now, somewhere on our planet, someone's mother is dying from a complication of pregnancy or childbirth.
眼下，在我們星球的某個地方，有些人的母親死于懷孕或分娩。
[CNN: Saving mothers and their babies]
Surgeons may survive the robot invasion?1, but others (at the hospital) might not be [so] lucky, [as iRobot], maker of the Roomba, {a robot vacuum2?cleaner}, has been showing off Ava, (which could be used [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.] 外科醫(yī)生可能會在機器人入侵中幸存下來，但醫(yī)院的其他工作人員可能就沒有這么幸運了，機器人真空吸塵器Roomba的生產(chǎn)商iRobot已經(jīng)展示了Ava，它在醫(yī)院可以充當信使。當你在家中療養(yǎng)的時候，Ava能讓你和你的醫(yī)生交談，這樣一來就沒有必要派人到你家里去了。這種“移動式遠程監(jiān)控”在辦公室里也很有用。即使在外出差，你依然可以參加會議。只需通過視頻會議軟件進行連接，你的臉就會出現(xiàn)在Ava的屏幕上。
注：1. invasion n. 侵入，侵略。例：
Tens of thousands of people have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion of March 2003.
2003年3月，以美國為首的入侵中，成千上萬人死在伊拉克。
[選自：BBC: Iraq violence, in figures]
2. vacuum n. 真空，真空吸塵器。例：Vacuum cleaner 真空吸塵器；v. 收集。例：
The information firm was busy vacuuming up data from the far corners of the world.
那家信息公司忙于收集來自世界各地的數(shù)據(jù)。
He imposed the speed of light in a vacuum as the limit of any speed.
他認為真空中的光速是任何速度的極限。
[選自：MSN: Your tributes to Einstein’s feats]
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?1. And who will read it? [Well], there might be a lot of us (hanging around) [with lots of free time] [on our hands].
還有什么工作安全呢？我本想說“記者”，但研究者已經(jīng)在開發(fā)收集事實然后寫出新聞報道的軟件了。這就意味著在幾年之后，機器人可以寫這個專欄。那么誰會是這些專欄的讀者呢？可能到時候我們當中會有很多人都有大量的空閑時間來讀專欄了。
注：1. column n.專欄，縱隊，圓柱。例：
In his first column, he asked why there was such widespread disillusionment with global free trade.
在他的第一篇專欄中，他問道為什么就國際自由貿(mào)易有如此廣泛的失望。
[選自：NEWYORKER: Inside the Crisis]
