Unit Six
Reading Comprehension
Ⅰ.Questions for discussion
1.The chart“% Chance of Automation”lists a dozen jobs that Frey and Osborne consider least likely to be replaced by machines and software.Can the present human holders of these jobs feel justifiably secure?
Answer:That dozen of jobs are related to either health care and safety or managerial work,positions where people constantly make diagnoses and complicated directional decisions,to which computers are found to be inadequate.That's why at the present stage they may appear securely protected by moats(a social-intelligence moat,for one).However,Brynjolfsson and McAfee tell us that robots are crossing those moats protecting both high-and low-skill jobs,and there have already been cases where computers or robots take over some of those high-and low-skill jobs(Amazon using robots to work its warehouses,driverless cars,etc.).This new development should reduce people's confidence concerning those jobs in question.
2.Why does the author comment that it is a most remarkable thing that the idea of computers driving cars went from impossible to boring within a decade?
Answer:The author has pointed out that while predictions about the future are generally based on an understanding of the past,when and how breakthroughs may occur is often unpredictable.Breakthroughs in computer technology are an essential factor affecting the workforce.Ten years ago,people would generally rejected the idea of driverless cars,as driving involves special awareness,soft focus and constant anticipation,which are far beyond the routine-based tasks of computers.The obvious lesson to draw from the case of computer-driving cars might be the high unpredictability of breakthroughs in computer technology and hence the high unpredictability of the changes they may bring about to the workforce.
3.Imagine a situation where all jobs are taken over by robots and AI.How would human beings survive this take-over?
Answer:open for discussion
4.How will you think of a proposal to put some brake on the development of robots and AI?What ethical hypothesis is behind your objection or support?Whatever your stand,discuss what might serve as that brake.
Answer:open for discussion
Ⅱ.Judge,according to the text,whether the following statements are true(T)or false(F).
1.In the past 30 years,a particular kind of occupation:the average-wage,high-skill,routine-heavy worker,especially in manufacturing and office admin has been replaced by software and robots.(F)
2.According to Frey and Osborne,human work like manufacturing,administrative support,retail,and transportation will be influenced by the next wave of computer progress.(T)
3.The jobs which are most probably being replaced by robots are mainly routine-based jobs.(T)
4.In the past 30 years the middle-,high-and low-skill jobs have actually decreased because of the development of robots and AI.(F)
5.According to Hans Moravec,menial work done by people without much education(like home healthcare workers,or fast-food attendants)will be replaced by robots soon.(F)
Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks with words that best complete the sentences.
1.B 2.B 3.A 4.C 5.B 6.D 7.A 8.B 9.C 10.C
Cloze
Of the four choices given below for each blank,choose the one that best fits into the passage.
1.A 2.A 3.B 4.D 5.C 6.A 7.D 8.A 9.D 10.A 11.B 12.D 13.A 14.D 15.B 16.C 17.C 18.B 19.A 20.B
Translation Exercises
A.Translate the following sentences into Chinese,making necessary structural adjustments.
1.During all his years in general practice he possessed only small bits of science,used solely for the purpose of diagnosis,and almost no science at all for therapy.What he did,for treating disease,was to“look after”people.作为普通医师,他在整个职业生涯中只具备很少一点医学基础,而且仅用于诊断,至于治疗,几乎谈不到有什么科学性,只不过是“看护”病人。
2.Despair seized him at the thought of her setting out alone to renew the weary quest for work.一想到她孤身一人重新踏上找工作的艰辛路途,他就觉得万念俱灰。
3.Rockets research has confirmed a strange fact,which had already been suspected,that there is a“high temperature belt”in the atmosphere with its center roughly thirty miles above the ground.人们早就怀疑大气层中有一个“高温带”,其中心在距地面约30英里的高空,火箭研究证实了这一奇特的事实。
4.There is an equilibrium between the liquid and its vapor,as many molecules being lost from the surface of the liquid and then existing as vapor,as reenter the liquid in a given time.在一定时间内,分子从液体表面逸出成为蒸汽,又有等量的分子回到液体,这样,液体和蒸汽之间就达成了平衡。
5.Computer languages may range from detailed low level close to that immediately understood by the particular computer,to the sophisticated high level which can be rendered automatically acceptable to a wide range of computers.计算机语言有低级的也有高级的。前者比较繁琐,类似某种特定的计算机能直接理解的语言;后者比较复杂,适用范围广,很多计算机能自动接受。
6.Up to the present time,throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,this new tendency placed the home in the immediate suburbs,but concentrated manufacturing activity,business relations,government,and pleasure in the centers of the cities.从整个18、19世纪直到现在,这种新的趋势就使人们居住在城市的近郊,而把生产活动、商业往来、政府部门以及娱乐场所都集中在城市的中心地区。
7.Executives at Audi and other automakers say the driver,in any case,must remain engaged and attentive,ready to take over in the event of the unexpected:a car travelling the wrong way out of control,for example.奥迪和其他汽车品牌的高管表示,驾驶者必须始终保持警觉,如果发生开错道而汽车失控这类意外,能够随时重新控制车辆。
8.Federal regulators are finally releasing a huge trove of pricing and network data they've spent months collecting on the massive $40 billion market for business broadband,part of an effort to determine whether Internet providers such as Verizon and AT＆T are charging hospitals,universities and other enterprises fairly for data and communications services.联邦监管机构正在调查Verizon和AT＆T等互联网供应商向医院、高校和其他一些客户提供数据和通讯服务时收费是否合理,这项工作包括数月来针对价值高达400亿美元的商业宽带市场大量搜集有关定价和网络数据方面的资料,目前监管机构终于开始公布这些资料。
B.Translate the following sentences from Text A into Chinese.
1.In the past 30 years,software and robots have thrived at replacing a particular kind of occupation:the average-wage,middle-skill,routine-heavy worker,especially in manufacturing and office admin.在过去30年当中,软件和机器人很大程度上取代了一种特定的职业:中等收入、中等技能、承担繁重的常规工作的人员,尤其是其中从事制造业和行政办公的人员。
2.It's precisely those unpredictable breakthroughs in computing that could have the biggest impact on the workforce.能给就业人口带来最大冲击的,恰恰是计算机领域取得的那些无法预测的突破。
3.Although the past 30 years have hollowed out the middle-,high-and low-skill jobs have actually increased,as if protected from the invading armies of robots by their own moats.虽然在过去的30年中,中等技能的工作消失了,但实际上高低两端技能的工作却增加了,仿佛其自身优势的壁垒为之抵御住了机器人大军的入侵。
4.I don't need to tell you about Google's self-driving cars,because they're one of the most over-covered stories in tech today.谷歌自动驾驶汽车是当前科技报道最为密集的内容之一,无需我多说。
5.While computerization has been historically confined to routine tasks involving explicit rule-based activities,algorithms for big data are now rapidly entering domains reliant upon pattern recognition and can readily substitute for labor in a wide range of non-routine cognitive tasks.过去的电脑化局限于那些以基于准则的显性活动为内容的常规任务,而今天的大数据运算却正在迅速进入基于模式识别的领域,能够轻而易举地大范围取代非常规的认知任务。