機器人會搶走我們的飯碗嗎？等2則外刊閱讀與訓練-高三英語二輪復習

外刊精讀與練習機器人會搶走我們的飯碗嗎？導讀：人工智能和機器人科技在飛速發(fā)展，很多人都擔心這類技術對工作場所帶來的影響。人工智能技術能以更低的成本和更高的效率工作，這是否意味著機器人將變成各類職業(yè)的主力軍？如果真的會這樣，那么人類的工作是否會岌岌可危？跟《外刊精讀》一同暢想未來工作。一、語篇泛讀Vocabulary:Jobs詞匯:工作Asnewtechnologyisintroduced,therearemanywhoworryaboutitsimpactonourcurrentandfuturelifestyles–particularlywhenitcomestojobs.Itisacurrentbeliefthatwiththeriseofroboticsandartificialintelligence,manypeople’sjobs,andthereforetheir

livelihoods,arelikelytobelosttoautomation.

Thistypeoffearisn’tnew.Inthe19thcentury,theautomatedweavingmachinewasrevolutionizingtheEnglishtextilesindustryandwouldcontributetotheIndustrialRevolution.Whenmanualworkersbecame

redundant,itsparkedprotestsatthelossoftheir

vocation.Automationintheworkplaceisnothingnew.Machineshavebeenperforming

menial

tasksonourbehalfforyears,allowingustoescapethe

drudgery

thataccompaniesmany

repetitive

jobs.Infact,theInternationalFederationofRoboticsstatesthatinmanufacturingonaveragetherearenow74robotsper10,000

employees.Thathasrisenfrom66in2015.GeneralManagerofDigitalCustomerEngagementSolutionsattechfirmNuance,BernardLouvat,believesthat‘AIisabigthreatto

low-skilledjobs,noquestion.’HealsothinksthatAIchatbotswill

oust

mostcallcentre

staff

withinadecade.WhenyouconsiderthatalargetelecomscompanylikeAT&Temploysaround100,000callcentrestaff,that’salotofpeople

onthedole.

Andthat’sjustone

industry.ArecentreportfromtheMcKinseyGlobalInstitute,aprivatesectorthinktank,statesthatnearlytwothirdsofalljobscouldhaveatleast30%oftheiractivitiesautomatedby2030.However,McKinseyalsobelievesthatthisnewtechnologywillalso‘createnew

occupations

thatdonotexisttoday,muchastechnologiesinthepasthavedone.’Asthehorsegavewaytothecar,hostlersbecamemechanicsandmechanisedmanufacturingdroveup

wages

andcreatedmorelong-term

roles

thanitdestroyed.Infact,figuresfromtheWorldBankhaveshownthatdespitea2.2billionriseinpopulationbetween1991and2017,globalunemploymenthasfallenby0.3%.‘It’sanevolutionofwork’saysIanBarkin,co-founderofSymphonyVentures,aroboticprocessautomationspecialist.Aslow-skilledjobsare

takenon

byAI,peoplewillneedtolearnnewskills.‘Thiscallsonustofocuson

up-skilling,Technologycanleadtojobreductionsbutitdoesn’thaveto,’saysBarkin.WhetherornotroboticsandAIwillleaveusall

jobless

remainstobeseen.Currentviewsonthesubjectaremixed.Increasedautomationcouldindeedleadtoalossofsomejobs,butatthesametimeislikelytocreatemanymoreasnewskillsarerequired.Willtheybalanceout?I’llgetmyAIassistanttogetbacktoyouonthatone.二、詞匯表livelihood生計

redundant

失業(yè)的，被裁員的

vocation工作

menial（工作）枯燥的、不體面的，帶貶義

drudgery苦工，辛苦乏味的工作

repetitive單調重復的

employee公司員工，雇員

low-skilledjob低技能工作

oust趕走、奪取

staff全體工作人員

onthedole

（英式表達）靠領取救濟金生活

industry行業(yè)、產(chǎn)業(yè)

occupation職業(yè)

wage（尤指給體力勞動者支付的）工錢、報酬

role

工作

takeon承擔（一份工作）

up-skill

（通過培訓）提升技能

jobless

失業(yè)的三、測試與練習

閱讀課文并回答問題。1.Whathistoricalexampleoftechnologycausingalossofjobsdoesthearticlegive?2.TrueorFalse:

Automationintheworkplaceisaverynewconcept.3.Approximatelyhowmuchautomationacrossalljobsisestimatedby2030?4.InMcKinsey’sopinion,whatwillhappenasjobsarelosttoautomation?5.AccordingtoIanBarkin,whatdothesechangescallustofocuson?

請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。1.Ihatebeingabuilder.It’sthe______ofit.Allthetasksareboringorphysicallyhard!redundant

drudgery

low-skilledjob

wages2.Byavoteofnoconfidence,Phillipis______fromhispositionasCEObyTom.redundant

repetitive

ousted

jobless3.AfterIlostmyjobatthefactory,Iwas______for5years.Ilivedonbenefits.menial

ousted

onthedole

occupation4.I’mreallysorry.I’msobusywithtasks,Idon’tthinkIcan______anymore.oust

takeon

up-skill

jobless5.Thelossofbusinessmeansthatwe’llhavetocut______.Thestaffwon’tbehappy.vocation

employees

wages

drudgery【參考答案】

閱讀課文并回答問題。1.Whathistoricalexampleoftechnologycausingalossofjobsdoesthearticlegive?

Inthe19thcentury,theautomatedweavingmachinecausedmanualworkerstobecomeredundant,sparkingprotestsatthelossoftheirvocation.2.TrueorFalse:

Automationintheworkplaceisaverynewconcept.

False.Automationintheworkplaceisnothingnew.Machineshavebeenperformingmenialtasksonourbehalfforyears.3.Approximatelyhowmuchautomationacrossalljobsisestimatedby2030?

ArecentreportfromtheMcKinseyGlobalInstitutestatesthatnearlytwothirdsofalljobscouldhaveatleast30%oftheiractivitiesautomatedby2030.4.IntheMcKinseyGlobalInstitute’sopinion,whatwillhappenasjobsarelosttoautomation?

McKinseyalsobelievesthatthisnewtechnologywillalso‘createnewoccupationsthatdonotexisttoday,muchastechnologiesinthepasthavedone.5.AccordingtoIanBarkin,whatdothesechangescallustofocuson?

Theycallonustofocusonup-skilling.

請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。1.Ihatebeingabuilder.It’sthe

drudgery

ofit.Allthetasksareboringorphysicallyhard!2.Byavoteofnoconfidence,Phillipis

ousted

fromhispositionasCEObyTom.3.AfterIlostmyjobatthefactory,Iwas

onthedole

for5years.Ilivedonbenefits.4.I’mreallysorry.I’msobusywithtasks,Idon’tthinkIcan

takeon

anymore.5.Thelossofbusinessmeansthatwe’llhavetocut

wages.Thestaffwon’tbehappy.叫車軟件造成的交通擁堵難題導讀：近些年來，通過用手機應用程序叫車上下班已經(jīng)成為很多人常用的通勤方式。然而，隨著使用這類軟件的用戶數(shù)不斷增加，城市內的交通擁堵情況也變得更加嚴重：更多的車輛減慢了車流速度，從而導致道路交通癱瘓。我們可以怎樣解決這個難題？跟隨本集《外刊精讀》了解新出行方式的利弊。一、語篇泛讀Haveyouevertakenataxi?Inthepast,doingsomeantfindingone,

flagging

it

down

andtellingthedriverwhereyouwantedtogo,paying,andpossibly,addingatip.Andwhilethisstillhappens,it’slesscommonthanitusedtobe.Thesedays,it’smucheasiertoopena

ride-hailing

app.Alloftheboringstuffgetstakencareof.It’saperfectsolution!Exceptthatitisn’t.ArecentreportfromurbantransportconsultantBruceSchaller,whospentthelastfouryearsstudying

traffic

flow

inNewYork,concludedthattheuseoftheseapp-basedjourneysiscausing

trafficjams.The81%increaseinthesecity-basedridesmeansthattherearenowfivetimesmoreofthemthantheiconicyellowtaxicab.“It’stheshiftinpatronagefrom

publictransport,”hetoldtheBBC.Forwhateverreason,peopledecidethatit’sjusttoomuchhassle.“Thatmeansmovingpeoplefromlarger

vehicles

intosmallerones,whichmeansmorevehiclestomovethesamepeople.Therefore,moretraffic.”Inaddition,thesheernumberofcarsnowlookingfora

commuter

meansthattheyspend45%oftheirtimeempty,just

cruising

forafare,andinadvertently

clogging

up

thecity’s

infrastructure.“Theyareoutthereinforceattheworstpossibletimes,”saidProfChristoWilson,acomputerscientistatNortheasternUniversity,whohasalsostudiedtheservices.HereferstoUber’strafficdata,which‘perfectlymatchesthepeaksforthe

rushhour.’Healsoaddsthatthelowfaresandconveniencemeanthatpeopleareorderingridestogo

fromAtoB

whentheywouldn’tnormally.Bothhelpcontributetothe

gridlock.Sowhatcanbedonetostoptrafficfrom

backingup

or

bottlenecking?Onesolutioninvolvescombiningride-hailingwithsharing.Manyride-hailingcompanies,suchasUber,DidiChuxinginChinaandOlainIndiaenablecustomersto

carpool.Thisallowstravellerswhosharesimilar

destinations

tosharethejourney.Theappenablesan

enroute

pickup,whichmeansmore

streamlined

traffic,andlesstimespentwithanemptyvehicle.Couldthis

decongest

theworld’s

jam-packed

roads?Itiscertainlyonesolution.Butmaybeweshouldn’tbesoquicktodismissthemoretraditionalpublictransportoptions."Congestionisareallycomplicatedissue,"saidAndrewSalzberg,headofUber'stransportpolicy.But,“Thereisnomoreefficientwaytomovepeoplearoundthanpublictransport,"headded.Sodon’tdoawaywiththatbuspassjustyet.二、詞匯表flagdown揮手攔車

ride-hailing

叫車服務

trafficflow

交通流量

trafficjam交通堵塞

publictransport公共交通

vehicle（車輛等）交通工具

commuter通勤者

cruiseforafare慢行尋找一位出租車乘客

clogup使…堵塞

infrastructure基礎設施

rushhour（上下班）高峰期

fromAtoB從一個地方到另一個地方

gridlock（城市）交通大癱瘓

backup堵車

bottleneck在狹窄路段堵車

carpool拼車

destination目的地

enroute在途中的

pickup接人

streamline高效的

decongest減輕、減緩交通擁堵

jam-packed擁擠不堪的、水泄不通的三、測試與練習閱讀課文并回答問題。1.Howmanymoreride-hailingvehiclesarethereinNewYorkthantraditionalyellowtaxis?2.Howmuchofaride-hailingvehicle’stimeisspentempty?3.Whyarepeopletakingride-hailingvehiclesthantheynormallywould?4.WhatsolutiontoeasecongestiondoUber,DidiChuxingandOlaoffer?5.Trueorfalse:

Publictransportwillneverbeasgoodasride-hailing.請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。1.Ifyou’regoingdowntown,Iwouldn’ttake2ndavenue.It’s______downthere.Youwon’tgetthrough.bottleneck

trafficjam

streamline

gridlock2.MyfriendandIaregoingonadrivingholiday!Wewantto______alongroute66!flagdown

clogup

cruise

backup3.Hewon’tbelong.Hesaidhewas______10minutesagosoanotherfiveminutes?infrastructure

enroute

streamline

jam-packed4.Pleasestopcombingyourhairintheshower!It______thedrain!bottlenecks

gridlock

blocksup

decongests5.Muchofthecountry’s______wasdamagedbythehurricanemeaningroadsareblockedandpowerisdown.publictransport

rushhour

destination

infrastructure【參考答案】閱讀課文并回答問題。1.Howmanymoreride-hailingvehiclesarethereinNewYorkthantraditionalyellowtaxis?

The81%increaseinthesecity-basedridesinmeansthattherearenowfivetimesmoreofthemthantheiconicyellowtaxicab.2.Howmuchofa