2020新译林版高中英语选择性必修二unit4课文及翻译(英汉对照)

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2020新牛津译林版高中英语选择性必修二unit4课文原文及翻译

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Artificial intelligence:

friendly or frightening?

人工智能:友好还是可怕?

Imagine waking up one morning with the option of staying in bed and pressing a

button to send a robot to do all the work for you. How cool that would be! It may

seem like building castles in the air, but given the rate at which artificial intelligence,

or AI, is being developed, in the future such dreams may actually come true.

想象一下，某天早上醒来，你选择躺在床上，下一个按钮，让机器人来为你做所有的工作。那该多酷啊!这看上去可能像建造空中楼一样(不切实际)，但是考虑到目前人工智能(AI)的发展速度，将来这样的梦想很可能会真的实现。

At the basic level, artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that aims

to develop intelligent machines. One of the essential aims of AI is to develop

computer intelligence capable of learning from experience, adjusting to new inputs

and performing tasks like humans. To achieve this aim, many approaches to creating

true AI have been put forward, including “deep learning”, which enables a machine

to improve its own performance by learning from the results of its previous actions.

Deep-learning AI has the capacity to analyse massive amounts of data through

multiple layers, imitating the complex networks of the human brain.

基本上，人工智能是计算机科学的一个分支，旨在开发智能机器。人工智能基本的目标之一是开发计算机智能，它能够从经验中学习适应新输入的信息并像人类一样执行任务。为了实现这一目标，人们提出了许多创建真正的人工智能的方法，包括“深度学习”，这种方法可以让机器通过学习先前行为的结果来提高自身的性能。深度学习人工智能能够通过多层分析大量数据，模拟人类大脑的复杂网络。

The dream of AI has been around for centuries, and the development of

computers since the 1940s has finally made it a reality. Years before the term

“artificial intelligence” was coined in the mid-1950s, the theory had been explored

by Alan Turing, one of the pioneers in the field of computer science. However, for a

long time, AI technology developed very slowly. A major breakthrough in AI came in

1997, when Deep Blue, a chess-playing computer, beat the world chess champion

Garry Kasparov. Then in 2017, a computer program named AlphaGo defeated Ke Jie,

arguably the best human Go player, which demonstrated a significant advance in

deep-learning AI systems.

人工智能的梦想已经存在了几个世纪，自20世纪40年代以来，计算机的发展终于使它成为现实。早在“人工智能”这个术语于20世纪50年代中期被创造出来的许多年前，计算机科学城的先驱之一艾伦・图灵就已探索了人工智能理论。然而，在很长一段时间里，人工智能技术发展非常缓。1997年，人工智能才有了重大突破，当时“深蓝”击败了国际象棋世界

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2020新牛津译林版高中英语选择性必修二unit4课文原文及翻译

冠军加里・卡斯帕罗夫。之后在2017年，一个叫作阿尔法围棋的计算机程序打败了可能是人类最强的国棋棋手柯洁，这显示了深度学习人工智能系统的一大显著进展。

Nowadays, AI is already being applied in many fields: finance, health care,

natural language processing and art, to name but a few. From autonomous vehicles

to domestic robots, from recommendation systems to computers writing novels, AI

has an unlimited number of applications. Ordinary people are now using AI to get

instant translations of text in foreign languages, and machines can recognize

fingerprints and even faces.

如今，工智能已经应用于许多领域:金融、医疗、自然语言处理和艺术，不一而足。从自动驾驶汽车到家用机器人，从推荐系统到电脑写小说，人工智能有着无限的应用场景。老百姓现在正使用人工智能进行外语文本的即时翻译，而且计算机可以识别指纹甚至人脸。

In short, this technology is transforming the way we live. It is clear that we are

at a turning point in history. With machines like AlphaGo now capable of thinking and

learning from their mistakes, we are getting closer to the dividing line between

humans and machines. The question is, where will all this lead? While AI enthusiasts

promise us a bright future where intelligent robots will be working to our advantage,

these undoubted benefits also bring concerns and fears. Could machines really

develop human-like intelligence? And what would happen if they did? Would

thinking machines work alongside humans or threaten the existence of humans?

How would they be punished if they committed crimes or even murdered humans?

As we become more and more dependent on computers, some scientists are urging

us to think about the dangers posed by the advances in AI. Stephen Hawking, for

example, warned, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end

of the human race.”

简而言之，这一技术正在改变我们的生活方式。很明显，我们正处在历史的转折点上。现在随着像阿尔法国棋这样能从错误中思考和学习的机器出现，人类和机器之间的分界线越来越不明显。问题是，这一切将走向何方?人工智能的热烈支持者许诺智能机器人将为我们带来一个光明的未来，到时智能机器人将对我们有利，但这些毋庸置疑的好处也带来了担忧和恐惧。机器真的能发展出类似人类的智能吗?如果真是这样会发生什么?有思想的机器会和人类并肩作战，还是会成胁到人类的生存?如果他们犯罪甚至谋杀人类，他们会受到怎样的惩罚?随着我们越来越依赖于电脑，一些科学家正敦促我们思考人工智能发展带来的危险。例如，斯蒂芬·霍金曾警告说:“人工智能的全面发展可能意味着人类的终结。”

Apparently, such warnings demand our attention. We need to make sure that

we will not fall victim to AI. We may still think it would be fantastic to relax all day

and allow autonomous machines to do all the work for us—but perhaps we should

not be too greedy and rather be careful what we wish for!

显然，这样的警告需要我们的关注。我们需要确保我们不会成为人工智能的受害者。我们可能仍然会想，让自动机器为我们做所有的工作，自己可以整天休闲，那样就太棒了。但也许我们不应该太贪婪，而是对我们的愿望以谨慎的态度!

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2020新牛津译林版高中英语选择性必修二unit4课文原文及翻译

Extended reading

Virtual reality

虚拟现实

SUSAN: Frank, you’ve been working at the forefront of developments in virtual

reality for many years. Can you tell us what virtual reality is and how it works?

苏珊:弗兰克，你已经在虚拟现实技术开发的最前沿工作了很多年。你能告诉我们什么是虚拟现实以及它的工作原理吗?

FRANK: Of course. The basic definition of VR lies in the name itself, which means

“reality that is not real”. When you wear a VR headset equipped with cameras and

sensors, you are surrounded by three-D images, sounds and other sensory

information, which creates a super-realistic effect called “presence”. Though you

know the sensory information surrounding you is not real, part of your brain believes

it is—and acts accordingly.

弗兰克:当然可以。虚拟现实的基本定义在于其名字本身，意思是“不真实的现实”。当你戴上装有摄像头和传感器的虚拟现实头盔时，你就被3D图像、声音和其他感官信息包围了，它们营造出一种被称为“在场”的超现实效果。虽然你知道你周围的感官信息不是真实的，但你大脑的一部分相信它是真实的，并作出相应的反应。

SUSAN: Thanks, Frank. Can you give some examples of the practical applications VR

has?

苏珊;谢谢你，弗兰克。你能举例说明虚拟现实的实际应用吗?

FRANK: I’d love to. There are a host of educational applications. Academic VR

enables students to interact with others in a three-D environment. There are endless

possibilities for the subject matter that can be created in a VR system. Imagine

studying the solar system or the human body in a fully immersive environment. By

delivering the content in a meaningful way, this new approach to learning manages

to engage students’ interest and enhance learning efficiency. The applications can

be expanded to make it easier to visualize data such as engineering projects and a

variety of other design developments. It’s pretty exciting!

弗兰克:我很乐意。(虚拟现实)在教育领域有大量应用。学校虚拟现实使学生能够在3D环境中与他人互动。在虚拟现实系统中创造出的主题有无限可能。想象一下在一个完全沉浸式的环境中研究太阳系人体。这种新的学习方法通过一种富有意义的方式来呈现内容，成功地吸引了学生的兴趣提高了学习效率。其应用范围还可以得到扩展，从而更容易地使数据可视化，例如工程项目和各种其他的设计 开发(的数据)。这是非常令人兴奋的!

SUSAN: This sounds like it has a lot of constructive applications. What about its uses

for highly developed technical industries such as medicine?

苏珊:听起来虚拟现实有很多建设性的应用。那么虚拟现实在医药等高度发达的技术产业中

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2020新牛津译林版高中英语选择性必修二unit4课文原文及翻译

的应用是怎么样的?

FRANK: Surgeons are already using robotic technology with VR to perform complex

surgeries. What if I told you that doctors could create a virtual “twin” in order to

practise delicate surgery before attempting it on the patient? This technology can be

applied to train new surgeons; it also enables experts to test new techniques safely

before trying them on human subjects. Treatments of anxiety and drug addiction are

other valuable and cost-effective applications of VR.

弗兰克:外科医生已经在使用结合虚拟现实的机器人技术来完成复杂的手术了。如果我告诉你，医生可以创造一个虚拟的患者“双胞胎”，先进行精确的手术练习，然后才在病人身上做手术，你觉得怎么样? 这项技术可以用于培训新的外科医生，还能让专家在将新技术用于人体之前安全地进行测试。虚拟现实还可以用于治疗焦虑和药物依赖，这些应用都极具价值和成本效益。

SUSAN: That is amazing! It sounds like VR will be a life-changing technology as well as

a life-saving one. How will it affect the different aspects of our everyday lives, such as

entertainment, shopping and travelling?

苏珊:太棒了！听起来虚现实技术将会改变生活，也可拯生命。它将如何影响我们日常生活的方方面面呢?包括娱乐、购物和旅游等。

FRANK: The entertainment industry is one of the most enthusiastic advocates of VR.

Current game systems come with headsets so that players can enter virtual

environments and play against either real or virtual opponents. It won’t be long

before virtual museums and interactive three-D exhibitions become common. In

shopping, you can look forward to being able to have your own virtual reality clone

try on clothes and to see products with 360-degree views. Also, people who want to

go on holiday will have the opportunity to take a virtual tour of several destinations

before deciding where to go. In either case, this technology will help people make

more informed choices.

弗兰克:娱乐业是虚现实最热衷的倡导者之一。目前的游戏系统都带有耳机，所以玩家可以进入虚拟环境，与真实或虚拟的对手进行比赛。虚拟博物馆和交互式3D展览很就会普及。在购物方面，你可以期待虚拟试衣和在360°視角下观看产品。此外，想去度假的人将有机会在决定去哪里之前进行几个目的地的虚拟旅行。无论哪种情况，这项技术都将帮助人们做出更明智的选择。

SUSAN: I can’t wait! However, as with any technology, there must be some barriers

to the development of VR, I guess?

苏珊:我都迫不及待了!但是，我想，和任何技术一样，虚拟现实的发展一定也有一些因难，对吗?

FRANK: It really boils down to three things—time, cost and technical limitations. We

will need time to develop and fine-tune the hardware and software. The initial cost

will discourage most people in the beginning but that should be fixed over time. The

last issue is our own technical limitations. Just trying to figure out how to do what we

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2020新牛津译林版高中英语选择性必修二unit4课文原文及翻译

want in terms of technology will prove challenging in some areas.

弗兰克:实际上就归结为三件事————时间、成本和技术局限。我们需要时间来开发和调整硬件和软件。一开始的成本会让大多数人望而却步，但随着时间的推移，这一问题应该会得到解决。最后个问题是我们自身的技术局限?在某些领城，仅仅是试图弄清楚如何从技术上实现我们想做的事情，都是具有挑战性的。

SUSAN: Considering there are so many challenges to deal with, are you still optimistic

about the future of VR?

苏珊:考虑到还有很多难题需要解决，你对虚拟现实的未来还持乐观态度吗?

FRANK: Sure. When talking about VR, we should keep in mind its quick rate of

evolution. The possibilities seem endless. For example, 5G technology, with its

potential to serve up more stable mobile connectivity at faster speed, will make it

possible for people to enjoy a more immersive VR experience wherever they are.

Indeed we are only limited by our imagination. What excites me the most is that

young people today are digital citizens who are comfortable with technology. They’re well equipped to become part of a technological generation that will develop and

use VR to do things we might think impossible today.

弗兰克:当然。当我们谈论虚拟现实时，我们应该记住它的速发展，其可能性似乎无穷尽也。例如，5G技术有潜力以更快的速度提供更稳定的移动网连接，这可以让人们无论在哪都能享受更加沉浸式的虚拟现实体验。事实上，我们只是受于我们的想象力。最让我激动的是，现在的年轻入都是数字公民，对科技感到很自在。他们完全有能力成为技术时代的一员，开发并使用虚拟现实去做我们今天也许认为不可能的事情。

SUSAN: Thank you, Frank. It all sounds wonderful.

苏珊:谢谢你，弗兰克。这一切听起来都很棒。

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