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)造成的所有失業(yè)中，有一類工人受益于經(jīng)濟動蕩:非人類。 Great Recession大衰退 category n. 種類，范疇 economic disruption 經(jīng)濟動蕩：指由于各種因素（如自然災害、戰(zhàn)爭、金融危機等）導致的經(jīng)濟活動的中斷或混亂。

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. 從超市的自助結(jié)賬隊伍，到配備鋸子并在屠宰場學習切割動物尸體的工業(yè)機器人，這些越來越智能的機器現(xiàn)在不僅在幫助工人，而且實際上把他們趕出了工作崗位。 armed with?裝配 saws n. 鋸片 carve up?分割：將某物分割成小部分。 slaughter-houses?屠宰場 assisting v. 協(xié)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. 自動化影響的也不僅僅是工廠工人。一些律師事務(wù)所現(xiàn)在使用人工智能軟件來掃描和閱讀大量的法律文件，這些工作以前是由高薪的人類律師完成的。 “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. 經(jīng)濟學教授愛德華?利默(Edward Leamer)表示:“機器人繼續(xù)對藍領(lǐng)工作產(chǎn)生影響，而白領(lǐng)工作正受到微處理器的攻擊。”經(jīng)濟衰退永久性地消滅了250萬個工作崗位。美國國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值已經(jīng)回升到衰退前的水平，這意味著我們的生產(chǎn)和以前一樣多，只是工人減少了6%?？梢钥隙ǖ氖?，機器人并不是唯一的工作殺手，外包搶走的工作比自動化搶走的要多得多。 under attack by?受到攻擊 wiped out?消滅抹去 gross domestic product?國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值：一個國家或地區(qū)在一定時間內(nèi)生產(chǎn)的所有最終商品和服務(wù)的總價值。 climbed v. 攀登，攀爬；爬升，升高；上升 back to?回到某個地方、狀態(tài)或時間 outsourcing n. 外包；外購；外部采辦 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業(yè)組織機器人工業(yè)協(xié)會(Robotics Industry Association)主席杰夫·伯恩斯坦(Jeff Burnstein)說。他認為，機器人實際上挽救了美國的就業(yè)機會。他的邏輯是:擁抱自動化的公司可能會使用更少的工人，但這仍然比解雇所有人并將工作轉(zhuǎn)移到海外要好。 embrace v. 擁抱；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. 這并不是說機器人比人類便宜，盡管它們經(jīng)常比人類便宜。而是他們更好。伯恩斯坦說:“在某些情況下，質(zhì)量要求非常嚴格，即使你想讓人來做這項工作，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. 外科醫(yī)生也是如此，他們正在使用機器人系統(tǒng)進行越來越多的手術(shù)——不是因為機器省錢，而是因為，多虧了機器人更高的精度，病人在更短的時間內(nèi)康復，并發(fā)癥也更少，米利亞姆·庫雷特博士說。 Surgeons?外科醫(yī)生 Thank to 由于 precision n. 精確（性），準確（性）；嚴謹 Complications?n. 并發(fā)癥 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. 外科醫(yī)生可能會在機器人入侵中幸存下來，但醫(yī)院里的其他人可能就沒那么幸運了，因為機器人吸塵器Roomba的制造商iRobot公司展示了一個三英尺高的帶輪子的機器人Ava，它攜帶著一臺平板電腦。iRobot公司認為艾娃可以在醫(yī)院里當快遞員。等你回家恢復后，艾娃可以讓你和醫(yī)生談?wù)?，所以沒必要派人去你家。這種“移動遠程呈現(xiàn)”可能在辦公室很有用。如果你外出旅行，你仍然可以參加會議。只要通過視頻會議軟件連接，你的臉就會出現(xiàn)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嗎?我本想說“記者”，但研究人員已經(jīng)在開發(fā)可以收集事實并撰寫新聞報道的軟件了。這意味著幾年后，一個機器人可能會寫這個專欄。誰會讀呢?好吧，可能我們很多人都有很多空閑時間。 Column?n. 圓柱，紀念柱；專欄 hanging around?1．無所事事地度過時間，閑逛或社交 52. What do we learn

from the first

?few paragraphs? D 我們從前幾段中學到了什么? A) The over-use of robots has done damage to American economy. 過度使用機器人對美國經(jīng)濟造成了損害 B) It is hard for robots to replace humans in highly professional work. 在高度專業(yè)化的工作中，機器人很難取代人類 C) Artificial intelligence is key to future technological innovations. 人工智能是未來技術(shù)創(chuàng)新的關(guān)鍵。 D) The robotic industry has

benefited from

?the economic recession. 機器人產(chǎn)業(yè)從經(jīng)濟衰退中受益。 ? 53. What caused the greatest loss of jobs in America? B 是什么導致了美國最大的失業(yè)???結(jié)果是美國有最大的事業(yè)，找原因， A) Using microprocessors extensively. 廣泛使用微處理器。白領(lǐng)工作受到微處理器的攻擊 B) Moving production to other countries. 將生產(chǎn)轉(zhuǎn)移到其他國家。Outsourcing n. 外包；外購 C) The bankruptcy of many companies. 許多公司破產(chǎn)。 D) The invasion of migrant workers. 外來務(wù)工人員的入侵。migrant workers?農(nóng)民工：移居他地工作的農(nóng)民 ? 54. What does Jeff Burnstein say about robots? C 關(guān)于機器人JB說了什么? A) They help companies to revive. They =機器人。他們幫助公司復蘇。 B) They are cheaper than humans. 他們比人類更便宜 C) They prevent job losses in a way. in a way.=在某種程度上，他們防止了失業(yè)。 D) They compete with human workers. 他們與人類工人競爭。 ? 55. Why are robotic systems replacing surgeons in more and more operation according to Dr. Myriam Curet? B 為什么機器人系統(tǒng)在越來越多的手術(shù)中取代了外科醫(yī)生????有結(jié)果，找原因！ A) They save lots of money for the patients. 他們?yōu)椴∪斯?jié)省了很多錢。 B) They beat humans in precision. 它們在精確度上打敗了人類。 C) They take less time to perform a surgery. 他們做手術(shù)的時間更短。 D) They make operations less painful. 它們使手術(shù)不那么痛苦。 56. What does the author

imply

about robotics? D 關(guān)于機器人，作者暗示了什么? A) It will greatly enrich literary creation. 這將極大地豐富文學創(chuàng)作。 B) It will start a new technological revolution. 它將開啟一場新的技術(shù)革命。 C) It will revolutionize scientific research. 它將使科學研究發(fā)生革命性的變化。 D)?It will be applied in any field imaginable. 它將應用于任何可以想象的領(lǐng)域。