机器人 Robots

Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English and with me in the studio is Michelle. Hi Michelle.
欢迎来到6分钟英语BBC英语学习栏目，今天参与我们节目的还有米歇尔。你好米歇尔。
Hello Rob.
你好罗伯。
Today we’re talking about robots and a new exhibition at London’s Science museum which is showing some of the amazing developments in robotic technology.
今天我们会谈论一下机器人和伦敦科学博物馆的一个新展览，它展示了机器人技术中的一些惊人进展。
Robots are amazing machines that can really help do a lot of the physical work that we used to do as humans.
机器人是十分神奇的机器，它们可以协助做很多人们需要做的体力工作。
Of course robots are not a new invention, they’ve been around for quite a while, which brings me to today’s question. Are you ready?
当然，机器人并不是一项新发明，它已有一段历史了，这也正是我们今天的问题。准备好了吗？
I think so!
准备好了！
OK, well I wonder if you know when the word robot was first used to describe a machine that does the work for humans? Was it in:a) 1880b) 1900c) 1920
我的问题是，机器人这个词汇是何时被用以描述为人类工作的机器的？它是在：a) 1880b) 1900c) 1920
That’s a bit of a tricky one. They’re all earlier than I would have expected. But 1880 seems too early for me. So I think it’s between 1900 or 1920 but I’m going to play it safe and go for 1900, the middle one.
这个问题是有些棘手的。它们都比我预期的要早。1880年似乎太早了。所以我认为正确答案应该是在1900和1920这两个选项里，我选择保险一点的，中间位置的1900年。
That’s the beginning of the 20th Century. Well, I’ll reveal the correct answer at the end of the programme. But let’s get back to this new exhibition called the Robotville Festival. It celebrates the most cutting-edge robot designs in the world, and it features 20 robots from laboratories across Europe.
这是20世纪的开始。我们将在节目的最后公布正确答案。我们接下来继续谈谈机器人展览。它是为了庆祝世界上最尖端的机器人设计，并突出展示全欧洲实验室的20台机器人。
By cutting edge we mean the most up-to-date or latest, and at the exhibition you can see some of the latest inventions such as a robot that finds things in your house, a robotic hand, and a robot designed to read and mimic - or copy – human expressions.
使用尖端这一词汇我们指的是最新发明，在展会上，你可以看到一些最新发明，例如可以在你屋里帮忙找东西的机器人，机器人手臂，可以阅读模仿人类表情的机器人。
Robots have already proven to be useful in industry. In car factories, for example, one-armed robots lift, weld, and spray-paint cars.
机器人在工业中十分有用。例如在汽车制造厂里，单臂机器人可以将汽车举起，并焊接、喷漆。
But their domestic use is still a long way off according to Katrina Nilsson from the Science Museum, as we can hear. Listen out for the word she uses to describe jobs around the house…
但据科技博物馆的尼尔森所言，但要投入家庭使用仍需很大的努力。注意她用来描述房子周围工作的单词。
I think everybody dreams of having a robot to help them out and doing domestic chores. I think it’s a long way off. Robotics has come on a huge amount in recent years because of the money that research funds like the European Commission have put into robotics across Europe.
我想每个人都梦想能有一个机器人来帮助他们出去并做家务活。我认为这还有很长一段路要走。机器人技术今年发展十分迅速由于拥有大量研究基金如欧盟委员会对全欧洲机器人技术的资金投入。
So she thinks robotics – that’s the science of designing and operating robots – has developed a lot in Europe in the past few years. This is due to an increase in funding for research.
所以她认为机器人技术，即设计和操作机器人的科技，过去几年在欧洲发展迅速。这是由于研究资金的增加。
So there’s more money available. But despite that, having robots helping us around the home to do domestic chores, like the cleaning or washing, is still a long way off.
有很多可利用资金。但尽管如此，拥有机器人帮助我们在家做家务比如清洁或洗衣服仍有很长的一段路要走。
What a shame, I could really do with someone helping me with the ironing!
真可惜，我真的需要人帮我熨烫衣服！
Well you may have a bit of a wait! But let’s now talk about artificial intelligence– or A.I. for short. This technology now means robots can learn things for themselves. They don’t have to be controlled or programmed by humans.
你可能还需等待一段时间！那现在让我们谈谈人工智能，简称“A.I.”。这项技术意味着机器人可以学到自己的东西。他们不需要被控制或被人类编程。
This means robots are not only getting smaller and faster they have the intelligence to be curious, to explore and to learn things.
这意味着机器人不仅在变的越来越小、越来越快，它们也拥有了好奇、探索、学习的智能。
They’re almost becoming human!
它们几乎变成了人类！
Well one of the common features of the robots in this exhibition is that a lot of them have human features. The robotic hand is a close replica of a human hand, for example, and many of the robots are meant to mimic human looks and behaviour.
这项展览中机器人最普遍的特征是它们中很多拥有人类特征。有的机器人的手是接近人手的复制品，例如，许多机器人是为了模仿人类的外貌和行为。
But it’s actually quite strange to have these robots which are quite human, but not exactly human.
但实际上拥有这些很像人但并不是人的机器人十分奇怪。
Yes, it’s a bit like that robot C-3PO in the Star Wars movies! Some people say this makes the exhibition a bit creepy. Let’s hear from the BBC’s Tim Muffett speaking to Katrina Nilsson again. She agrees that robots with human features can be quite unsettling:
是的，这有点像《星球大战》中的c-3po机器人！有些人说这使得展览有点吓人。让我们再次听听BBC记者蒂姆与尼尔森的交谈。她认为有人类特征的机器人可令人相当不安。
Do we want them to look like humans? Because some of them here do look kind of, a bit humanlike.But that gets a bit awkward for some people, doesn’t it? It gets a bit tricky.Yes, some of them look quite creepy. The more human they look, the creepier they look. And that’s one of the things the roboticists are exploring; how human do you want your robot to look?
我们想让他们看上去像人类吗?因为它们中的一些看起来确实有点像人类。但这对一些人来说有些尴尬，不是吗？这变的有点复杂。是的，其中一些看起来很恐怖。它们看上去越像人类便越令人毛骨悚然。这正是机器人专家正在探索的一项，你想让你的机器人看起来多像人类？
I know what she means by creepy! If a robot looks so realistic that it seems almost human it can be quite unnerving - and you’re not sure what it’s thinking!
我明白她所说的恐怖意味着什么！如果一个机器人看起来太像人类了它会相当令人不安，你不能确定它正在想什么！
Katrina Nilsson says that roboticists – the people who design robots – are exploring how human we want robots to look. As long as they can help me with the ironing, I don’t mind how they look!
尼尔森说设计机器人的机器人专家正在探索我们想让机器人看起来多像人类。只要他能帮我熨烫衣服，我不在乎它长什么样！
Well as long as they don’t become cleverer than us humans otherwise they could be taking over the world!
只要他们不要比我们人类更聪明，否则他们可能有一天会掌控世界！
It’s the stuff of science fiction at the moment. Unlike today’s question which is about something in the past. Earlier I asked you if you knew when the word robot was first used to describe a machine that does the work for humans? Was it:a) 1880b) 1900c) 1920
目前这是科幻小说中的情节。不像是关于过去某事的现在的问题。之前我问过你一个问题，机器人这个词汇是何时被用以描述为人类工作的机器的？它是在：a) 1880b) 1900c) 1920
And my answer was 1900.
我的答案是1900。
And you are wrong. The word robot was first used in a 1920 Czech play called RUR (Rossum’s Universal Robots) in which mechanical slaves rebel against their human masters. The playwright, Karel Capek, borrowed the word robot from the Slavic word robota, meaning a forced labourer. OK Michelle, we’ve just time for you to remind us of some of the vocabulary that we’ve heard in today’s programme.
你是错误的。机器人这个词最初是在1920用在叫做RUR的剧本中，它讲述了奴隶反抗主人的故事。剧作家卡雷尔从意为强迫劳动者的斯拉夫语robota中借用了该词汇。米歇尔，你提示一下今天我们节目中提及的词汇吧。
OK, we had:exhibitioncutting-edgelaboratoriesmimicroboticsdomestic choresartifical intelligencereplicacreepyscience fiction
好的，我们有：展览尖端实验室模仿机器人技术家务琐事人工智能复制品令人毛骨悚然的科幻小说
Thanks Michelle. It’s time to go now but please join us again for another 6 MinuteEnglish soon. Bye.
谢谢你，米歇尔。节目即将结束，下期节目请您继续关注。再见。
Bye!
再见！