Foundations Reading 12A

Chap 23

第23章

Reading 12A THE ROBOTS ARE COMING! You have probably seen robots in movies such as Star Wars or Transformers. But soon, robots may be part of our daily lives. Today's scientists are working on robots with various skills. For example, it is likely that robots will soon help take care of children or the elderly, or do dangerous jobs such as fighting fires. Early robots were made to do simple things, mainly in factories. Since then, robots have changed a lot. Humans operated these early robots. Today's robots—like Honda's ASIMO—work on their own. ASIMO can run, climb stairs, and dance. Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot can run fast, jump, and even do backflips—all on two legs! Then there are robots designed to be like humans. These robots have faces and can also talk. Such robots can learn new things, and show us how they "feel." Sophia—a social robot—has a face that looks so human she sometimes makes people feel uncomfortable.

阅读12A 机器人来了！ 你可能在《星球大战》或《变形金刚》等电影中见过机器人。 但很快，机器人可能会成为我们日常生活的一部分。 今天的科学家们正在研究具有各种技能的机器人。 例如，机器人很可能很快就会帮助照顾儿童或老人， 或者从事灭火等危险工作。 早期的机器人主要是在工厂里做简单的事情。 从那以后，机器人发生了很大的变化。 人类操控着这些早期的机器人。 今天的机器人——比如本田的ASIMO——可以自己工作。 阿西莫会跑步、爬楼梯和跳舞。 波士顿动力公司的Atlas机器人可以跑得快、跳，甚至做后空翻——都是用两条腿！ 还有一些机器人被设计成像人类一样。 这些机器人有脸，也能说话。 这样的机器人可以学习新事物，并向我们展示它们的“感受” 索菲亚是一个社交机器人，她的脸看起来很像人，有时会让人感到不舒服。

Animal-bots Scientists aren't just building humanlike robots. They are also making robots that look and act like animals. At NASA, for example, scientists have made a robot snake. These snake-bots can enter holes and move over rough ground. They might one day help scientists look for signs of life on Mars. Other animal robots include the frog-bot, which can jump over objects, and the sticky-bot, which can walk up walls. There are also doglike robots, like SpotMini, which have four legs and can run at high speed. Who knows? Perhaps in the future, we'll all have our own robot pet.

动物机器人 科学家们不仅仅是在制造类人机器人。 他们还在制造外观和行为都像动物的机器人。 例如，在美国国家航空航天局，科学家们已经制造了一种机器人蛇。 这些蛇机器人可以进入洞穴，在粗糙的地面上移动。 有一天，它们可能会帮助科学家寻找火星上的生命迹象。 其他动物机器人包括可以跳过物体的青蛙机器人， 还有可以爬墙的粘性机器人。 还有像SpotMini这样的狗状机器人，它有四条腿，可以高速奔跑。 谁知道呢？也许在未来，我们都会有自己的机器人宠物。

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