科技英语阅读(李健版)翻译u4

科技英语阅读教材ESTreadingunit4原文及译文高教出版Unite4 Electronic Information(robots)Remote-controlled Robot Surrogate Could Attend Your Next Meeting. for You(译文见下端)1It may look like a floor lamp mounted on a vacuum claener , but Anybots Inc.'s new QB is actually the latest in surrogate robotics . QB is designed to serve as your eyes ,ears and voice when you can't be there in person ,Even better , it's mobile , rolls around on two wheels like Rosie and can be navigated remotely via the Web and a Wi-Fi connection .2Telecommuting workers and traveling executives alike could us QB (so named because it is the next in line after the company's prototype QB bot) as a virtual extension of themselves. allowing them to attend meetings , tour facilities or perform walk-throughs of real estate properties , all while controlling the robot from a computer keyboard.3Anybots formally unveiled the remotely controlled robot on Tuesday and plans to start selling QBs by the end of the year .A five-megapixel vedio camera serves as one eye, whlie the other is a laser pointer. A speaker on the crown of QB's head gives it a mouthpiece, a touch-screen monitor on on its forehead enables software maintenance and other input , and a ring of protective rubber around its head makes it look a bit like Olivia Newton-John circa 1981.4Along with the wheels,a self-balancing system and a motor with a top speed of five kilometers per our make the robot mobile . The two-wheel-as opposed to a tricycle or quad-design makes it more maneuverable in tight spaces and helps keep its weight down to about 16 kilograms . The area between the QB'shead and base consists of a length of telescoping plastic that can be adjusted to let the QB stand as tall as 175 centimeters or as short as 81 centimeter.5Although it's unclear if the capacity for remote operation. willUS$15,000 Price tag .Anybots believe its technology will appeal to a new generation of workers who expect to be in contact at all times and in all places .The QB is designed to enable this connectivity without sacrificing “presence”,says Bob Christopher,president and chief operating officer of Anybots ,based in Moutain View,Calif . Bandwidth speed and vedio qu ality continue to improve , but they can’t replace being there , he adds .A test-drive reveals valuable Wi-Fi lesson6 To see how this might work in practice , Scientific American test-drove (from our editorial offices in New York) a QB located at Anybots’s facility in California . Our mossion was to drive across the building’s lobby and ask a second QB (remotely controlled by an Anybots employee) where we could find Erin Rapacki , who does product development for the company , and then proceed to Erin’s l ocation. The session began with logging on to a website set up by Anybots and selecting the IP address of the QB we were to inhabit.7 Once our robot “woke up” and connected to Anybots’s local Wi-Fi network, we used the arrow keys on our keyboard to navigate the QB across the lobby. The controls take some getting used to. Particularly because rugs and other materials on the floor may prevent the Qb from travelling a completely straight line . We easily found the other QB but had difficulty aligning our came ra so that we were staring directly into the other QB’s camera. This wasn’t necessary , because we could hearthe person controlling the other QB loud and clear through the microphone on our robot. Using the arrow keys,we were able to swivel our QB to the left and follow the relatively basic directions we had been given to our destination.8 With a bit more practice, navigation would have been smoother, THE QB features a buit-in lidar(light detection and ranging) system that warns the robot when it is getting too close to an object and slows the robot down to avoid(or at least reduce the impact of) a collision. The QB also has a camera located on the bottom of its “”chin” that points down at its wheels so you can see whether you’re about to drive over a lowe r obstacle(such as someone’s foot).9 The QB’s laser-pointer eye turned out to be useful when greeting people we encountered, including Anybots founder and CEO Trevor Blackwell, who accepted a laser beam in the palm of his hand in lieu of a handshake (a relief ,since the QB has no hands).10 By the time we were ready to leave , we were able to drive our QB back to the Anybots lobby and out the front door. Just past the building’s threshold, we learned a valuable lesson in surrogate navigation: never drive outside the range of your Wi-Fi network. A dropped connection means no cameras and no control over the robot’s navigation, which was especially unfortunate in our case because we were approaching the top ofa ramp down to the parking lot when we lost the signal.11 Danger,Will Robinson.Unit4译文今后远程控制的代理机器人可以为您参加的会议它可能看起来像装在一个真空吸尘器落地灯，但实际上它是Anybots公司最新的代理机器人的QB。

Unit 4 Electronic Information (Robots)Part I EST ReadingReading 1Section A Pre-reading TaskWarm-up Questions: Work in pairs and discuss the following questions.1.How does a QB work?QB has a speaker, microphone, camera, and video screen. It connects to the internet over Wi-Fi. You control it from your computer in a web browser, using a headset and screen. If you have a camera you can show live video of yourself, or you can show a still picture on bad hair days.2.Is driving a QB difficult? Is there a hand-held control device I can use with mycomputer to control the Anybot?It's pretty easy. You use the 4 arrow keys to make it turn, go forward or back. Its built-in guidance system takes care of the rest by avoiding furniture and people, and gliding straight through doorways. All the time you’re seeing real-time video from the robot’s head, so you know where you are. Most people get used to it in a few minutes.Not necessary, all you need is your keyboard.3.Is a Wi-Fi network in the home or business needed?Yes. You should have 802.11g access points for best results. You should use encryption –WPA2 is easiest. We find Meraki business-class access points work well and are affordable and easy to set up. They have long-range and outdoor models too.4.What kind of sensors does the Anybot have, and what is the resolution on the Anybotcamera?Two cameras, 3 microphones, lidar, a 3-axis gyroscope and encoders on the wheels. The main camera is 5 megapixels.5.How do you control or drive the Anybot?You should control or drive it through a web browser. You don't need any special equipment, but you’ll sound better with a headset.Section C Post-reading TaskReading Comprehension1. Directions: Work on your own and fill in the blanks with the main idea.Part 1 (Paras. 1-5): Brief introduction to the QBPara. 1: The appearance and advantages of the QB.Para. 2: The fields in which the QB will be applied.Para. 3: The composition of the QB.Para. 4: Useful designing makes the QB mobile and height-adjustable.Para. 5: The QB is designed for those who expect to be in contact at all times and in all places without sacrificing presence.Part 2 (Paras. 6-11): The test drive of the QBPara. 6: The objective and planned procedure of the test drive.Para. 7: The actual performance of the QB in completing the planned mission.Para. 8: The built-in lidar system and the camera enable the QB move smoothly.Para. 9: The Q B’s laser-pointer eye turned out to be useful when greeting people.Para. 10: A valuable lesson has been learned through the test drive: never drive outside the range of the Wi-Fi network.Para. 11: The QB slips down along the ramp when the Wi-Fi connection drops.2. Directions: Work in pairs and discuss the following questions.1)What can a robot do in your daily life?They can move materials, parts, tools, or other specialized devices to perform a variety of tasks. Nowadays, they are also capable of attending meetings for you.2)What does a robot look like?Undoubtedly, different robots look differently. The QB just looks like a floor lamp mounted on a vacuum cleaner.3)Can a robot be remotely controlled? How?Yes, through a web browser.4)Have you ever heard of the QB?5)Have you seen any movies related to robots, do you believe that these robots will be createdand applied in the real life?6)Suppose that you were a businessman, how will you use it to bring customers in?7)Do you desire to have a QB of your own?3. Directions: Read the following passage carefully and fill in the blanks with the wordsyou’ve learned in the text.QB —Anybots, Inc.’s newly unveiled surrogate robot will be available to the public soon. Despite its $15,000 price tag and its not-so-handsome appearance: it looks like a floor lamp mounted on a vacuum cleaner, the company believes that its high-tech will appeal to a new generation of workers who’d like to be in contact without sacrificing ―presence‖. The QB has a speaker, microphone, camera, laser pointer, lidar system and video screen. It connects to the internet over Wi-Fi, thus can be navigated remotely by an operator via his computer in a web browser, using a headset and screen. Although the operator cannot be there in person, if the operator has a camera he can show live video of himself, or he can show a still picture on bad hair days.Vocabulary and Structure1. Directions: Give the correct form of the word according to the indication in the brackets. Then complete the sentences using the right form for each word. Use each word once.1)Collision avoidance, traditionally considered a high level planning problem, can beeffectively distributed between different levels of control, allowing real-time robot operations in a complex environment.2)It covers the higher level techniques of illumination, perspective projection, analyticalphotogrammetry, motion, image matching, consistent labeling, model matching, and knowledge-based vision systems.3)In 2006 Anybots unveiled a humanoid robot that walks like people do, without dependingon large feet for stability.4)An alternative is here put forward to counterbalance the present-day preoccupation withanthropomorphic series-actuated robot-arms.5)Criteria for avoiding undesirable robot-arm-configurations are touched upon, and certainaspects of the performance of in-parallel-actuated robot-arms are compared and contrasted with those of series-actuated arms.6)We have experimented with the planner using several computer-simulated robots,including rigid objects with 3 DOFs (in 2D work space) and 6 DOFs (in 3D work space) and manipulator arms with 8, 10, and 31 DOFs (in 2D and 3D work spaces).7)Robotics is concerned with the study of those machines that can replace human beings inthe execution of a task, as regards to both physical activity and decision making.8)In the course of centuries, human being have constantly attempted to seek substitutes thatwould be able to mimic their behavior in the various instances of interaction with the surrounding environment.9)By its usual meaning, the term automation interaction a technology aimed at replacinghuman being with machines in a manufacturing process, as regard not only the execution of physical operations but also the intelligent processing of information on the status of the process. (denotes)10) By virtue of its programmability, the industrial robot is a typical component ofprogrammable automated systems. Nonetheless, robots can be entrusted with tasks both in rigid automated systems and in flexible automated systems.2. Directions: Complete the sentences with the words given in the brackets. Change the form if necessary.1)This is significant because it is not obvious that the theory can be extended to include anaccount of quantifier scope without an appeal to additional representational levels. A full account is clearly beyond the scope of the work, but this reviewer would have liked some reassurance that one is possible.2) A question that always arises when dealing with temporal information is the granularity ofthe values in the domain type.3)This paper shows how to compute linear and quadratic estimates to the variation of theloading margin with respect to any power system parameter or control.4)We have constructed an in vitro movement system in which purified single action filamentslabeled with fluorescent phalloidin are observed to move on myosin filaments fixed to a glass surface.5)It did not make sense for established companies to invest early in the disruptivetechnologies, because the margins tended to be much lower and the market was unproven.6)Although these studies and scores like them depend upon ecological correlations, it is notbecause their authors are interested in correlations between the properties of areas as such.7)They suggest that having an expressive face and indicating attention with movement both makea robot more compelling to interact with.8) A total of 56 adults with diabetes were randomized to receive diabetes education in person(control group) or via telemedicine (telemedicine group) and were followed prospectively.9)Since in many applications, enormous amounts of unlabeled data are available with littlecost, it is therefore natural to ask the question that in addition to human labeled data, whether one can also take advantage of the unlabeled data in order to improve the effectiveness of a of a machine-learned categorizer.10)If two bursts of equal priority contend with each other, then the tail segments of the originalburst are dropped.3. Directions: Reorder the disordered parts of sentences to make a complete sentence.1)Given that robots generally lack muscles, they can't rely on muscle memory (the trick thatallows our bodies to become familiar over time with movements such as walking orbreathing) to help them more easily complete repetitive tasks.2)For autonomous robots, this can be a bit of a problem, since they may have toaccommodate changing terrain in real time or risk getting stuck or losing their balance.3)One way around this is to create a robot that can process information from a variety ofsensors positioned near its ―legs‖ and identify different patterns as it moves, a team of researchers report Sunday in Nature Physics.4)Some scientists rely on small neural circuits called "central pattern generators" (CPG) tocreate walking robots that are aware of their surroundings.5)Some researchers are leading a project that has created a six-legged robot with one CPGthat can switch gaits depending upon the obstacles it encounters.4. Directions: Change the following sentences into the passive-voice ones.1) A novel twist is introduced on this traditional approach (by the new field of experimentalphilosophy).2)The search to understand peopl e’s ordinary intuitions is continued (by experimentalphilosophers).3)This is accomplished by using the methods of contemporary cognitive science —experimental studies, statistical analyses, cognitive models, and so forth.4)Just in the past year or so, this new approach has been being applied (by a number ofresearchers) to the study of intuitions about consciousness.5)How people think about the mind can be better understood by studying how people thinkabout three different types of abstract entities.Discourse Understanding1. G.2. F.3. E.4. D.5. C.Reading 2Section A Pre-reading TaskWarm-up Questions: Work in pairs and discuss the following questions.1. Do you have any idea about the Middle Ages? And the Dark Ages in human history?The Middle Ages (adjectival form: medieval) is a period of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The period followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, and preceded the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period in a three-period division of history: Classical, Medieval, and Modern. The term "Middle Ages" (medium aevum) was coined in the 15th century and reflects the view that this period was a deviation from the path of classical learning, a path supposedly reconnected by Renaissance scholarship.The concept of a Dark Age originated with the Italian scholar Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) in the 1330s, and was originally intended as a sweeping criticism of the character of Late Latin literature.Petrarch regarded the post-Roman centuries as "dark" compared to the light of classical antiquity. Later historians expanded the term to refer to the transitional period between Roman times and the High Middle Ages, including not only the lack of Latin literature, but also a lack of contemporary written history, general demographic decline, limited building activity and material cultural achievements in general. Popular culture has further expanded on the term as a vehicle to depict the Middle Ages as a time of backwardness, extending its pejorative use and expanding its scope.2. How does the term Dark Ages relate to the Middle Ages?Dark Ages is a term referring to the perceived period of both cultural and economic deterioration as well as disruption that took place in Western Europe following the decline of the Roman Empire.The word is derived from Latin saeculum obscurum (dark age), a phrase first recorded in 1602.The label employs traditional light-versus-darkness imagery to contrast the "darkness" of the period with earlier and later periods of "light". Originally, the term characterized the bulk of the Middle Ages as a period of intellectual darkness between the extinguishing of the light of Rome, and the Renaissance or rebirth from the 14th century onwards.This definition is still found in popular usage,but increased recognition of the accomplishments of the Middle Ages since the 19th century has led to the label being restricted in application. Today it is frequently applied only to the earlier part of the era, the Early Middle Ages. However, most modern scholars who study the era tend to avoid the term altogether for its negative connotations, finding it misleading and inaccurate for any part of the Middle Ages.3. What do you imagine a Digital Dark Age refer to?(Open)4. Are there any observations indicating that we are living in a digital dark age?Any one or two of the following observations will be acceptable.Enormous amounts of digital information are already lost forever. Digital history cannot be recreated by individuals and organizations cannot recreate a digital history because it was not archived or managed properly or it resides in formats that cannot be accessed because the information is on out-dated word-processor files, old database formats, or saved on readable media. Many large data-sets in governments and universities world-wide have been made obsolete by changing technologies (think punch cards and 12‖ floppy disks) and will either be lost or subject to expensive ―rescue‖ operations to save the information. Unsurprisingly, the Report of the Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information has identified in itsrecommendations, the development of ―effective fail-safe mechanisms to support the aggressive rescue of endangered digital information.‖There will be a demographic bulge of electronic materials coming into libraries and archives as the Baby Boom generation of authors and academics begin to wind down their careers and begin off-loading their materials to various libraries and archives. These materials will come to libraries on a wide-variety of storage devices, perhaps even in entire computer systems, and will probably have equally significant paper collections associated with them. To assist the archivist of 2015, we need to find methods for helping organize this information today.Information technologies are essentially obsolete every 18 months. This dynamic creates an unstable and retrieve unpredictable environment for the continuance of hardware and software over a long period of time and represents a greater challenge than the deterioration of the physical medium. Many technologies and devices disappear as the companies that provide them move on to new product lines, often without backwards compatibility and ability to handle older technologies, or the companies themselves disappear.There is a proliferation of document and media formats, each one potentially carrying their own hardware and software dependencies. Copying these formats from one storage device to another is simple. However, merely copying bits is not sufficient for preservation purposes: if the software for making sense of the bits (that is for retrieving, displaying, or printing) is not available, then the information will be, for all practical purposes, lost. Libraries will have to contend with this wide variety of digital formats. Many digital library collections will not have originated in digital form but come from materials that were digitized for particular purposes. Those digital resources which come to libraries from creators or other content providers will be wildly heterogeneous in their storage media, retrieval technologies and data formats. Libraries which seek out materials on the Internet will quickly discover the complexity of maintaining the integrity of links and dealing with dynamic documents that have multimedia contents, back-end script support, and embedded objects and programming.Financial resources available for libraries and archives continue to decrease and will likely do so for the near future. The argument for preserving digital information has not effectively made it into public policy. There is little enthusiasm for spending resources on preservation at the best of times and without a concerted effort to bring the issues into the public eye, the preservation of digital information will remain a cloistered issue. The importance of libraries has been diminished in the popular press as the pressures from industry encourage consumers to see libraries as anachronistic while the Internet and electronic products such as Microsoft Encarta are promoted as inevitable replacements. Until this situation changes, libraries and archives will continue to be asked to do more with less both in terms of providing traditional library services, as well as new digital library services: preservation will have to encompass both kinds of collections.Increasingly restrictive intellectual property and licensing regimes will ensure that many materials never make it into library collections for preservation. These will be corporate assets and will not be deposited into public collections without substantive financial and licensing arrangements that few libraries will be able to afford. From a positive perspective, this fact will allow libraries to essential ignore the preservation question for many kinds of key informationresources (examples will include newspapers, electronic serials, directories) as these may be preserved by their corporate owners. The flip-side of this argument is whether corporate owners will develop a public-spirited interest in providing this archival role for future generations and whether the resources will be accessible to the public.The archiving and preservation functions within a digital environment will become increasingly privatized as information continues to be commodified. Companies will be the place where the most valuable information is retained and preserved, and this will be done only suffice as there is a corporate recognition of the information as an asset. But companies have no binding commitment to making information available over a long-term. Those librarians that suggest legal deposit is the means for addressing this issue are not likely to be successful. As a full discussion of this topic is beyond the scope of this paper, let it suffice to state that libraries would have a very limited ability to cope with the volume and variety of digital resources that publishers could potentially dump on them. Still more problematic are the rights management and access control issues that content providers will require demands which strongly argue that legal deposit in a digital era will have limited effectiveness. Libraries will be the archive of last resort and will b e repositories of ephemera and ―public domain‖ information those materials considered as largely without commercial value.The Commission on Preservation and Access suggests that the first line of defense against the loss of valuable digital information rests with the creators, providers and owners of digital information. This fact is a critical one for preservation purposes as it strongly suggests that the role that librarians and archivists must play will be an increasingly public one. Preservation is a desktop issue, not merely an institutional one. The role of preservationists must be to interact with users and to address preservation and information management issues on their desktops, not the archivists desktop.Standards will not emerge to solve fundamental issues with respect to digital information. The challenge in preserving electronic information is not primarily a technological one, it is a sociological one. The dynamism of the market for information technologies and products ensures the fundamental instability of hardware and software primarily because product obsolescence is often key to corporate survival in a competitive capitalist democracy. Product differentiation manifests itself at the very level of the document standard. Proprietary systems provide commercial enterprises with profitable products whereas static (i.e. preservable) formats do not create a continuing need for upgrading which software and hardware companies depend upon. This situation conspires against standards that create a stable nexus of hardware, software, and administration.Libraries and archives will be required to continue their existing archival and preservation practices as the current paper publishing boom continues. Clearly, digital collections are not going to be a substitute for existing and future library collections and plans must be made to accommodate both. A significant concern of libraries and archives is that the financial resources necessary to address expensive IT upgrades, embark on data rescue operations, and undertake digital preservation will have detrimental impacts on other aspects of library and archival operations such as building collections and providing services for the public.Section C Post-reading TaskReading and Understanding1. Choose the best summary of the passage.C2. Complete the sentences based on the text.1) Within this hyperbolic environment of technology euphoria, there is a constant, albeitweaker, call among information professionals for a more sustained thinking about the impacts of the new technologies on society.2) Many large data-sets in governments and universities world-wide have been made obsoleteby changing technologies and will either be lost or subject to expensive ―rescue‖ opera tions to save the information.3) There is a proliferation of document and media formats, each one potentially carrying theirown hardware and software dependencies.4) Those digital resources which come to libraries from creators or other content providers willbe wildly heterogeneous in their storage media, retrieval technologies and data formats.5) Libraries which seek out materials on the Internet will quickly discover the complexity ofmaintaining the integrity of links and dealing with dynamic documents that have multimedia contents, back-end script support, and embedded objects and programming.6) Increasingly restrictive intellectual property and licensing regimes will ensure that manymaterials never make it into library collections for preservation.7) Companies will be the place where the most valuable information is retained and preserved,and this will be done only suffice as there is a corporate recognition of the information as an asset.8) Libraries and archives will be required to continue their existing archival and preservationpractices as the current paper publishing boom continues.Language in Use1.Match the Chinese in the left column with the English in the right column.2. Join the following short sentences into longer ones.1)The only way to resolve these questions conclusively would be to engage in seriousscientific inquiry—but even before studying the scientific literature, many people have pretty clear intuitions about what the answers are going to be.2) A person might just look at a computer and feel certain that it couldn’t possibly be feelingpleasure, pain or anything at all; that’s why we don’t mind throwing a broken computer in the trash.3)In the jargon of philosophy, these intuitions we have about whether a creature or thing iscapable of feelings or subjective experiences—such as the experience of seeing red or tasting a peach—are called ―intuitions about phenomenal consciousness.‖4)This approach was taken up in experimental work by Justin Sytsma, a graduate student,and experimental philosopher Edouard Machery at the University of Pittsburgh and in work by Larry (Bryce) Huebner, a graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill, and all of the experiments arrived at the same basic answer.5)To test this hypothesis, we can look to other kinds of entities that might have mental statesbut do not have bodies that look anything like the bodies that human beings have.3. Translate the sentences into Chinese.1)众多技术权威声称因特网具有革命性，改变着一切；随着这种言论，我们这个时代的一般趋势似乎认为历史已经停滞不前。

科技英语阅读李健答案【篇一：科技英语阅读(李健版)翻译u3】物的适应性植物为了生存也必须像人类和动物一样适应周边的环境。

生存就意味着竞争，我们很难想象植物之间的竞争，但它往往又存在的。

首先，不同的植物之间会争夺阳光、空气、土壤和水。

其次，植物也会与那些吃它或者威胁到它生存环境的人类和动物竞争。

再次，植物所处的环境也可能也是有敌对性的或者不利于植物生长的。

怎样才能有足够的阳光、水分、空气和土壤？气温的冷热就是植物生长的主要因素吗？光对于植物来说是最基本的，尤其是对于绿色植物来说。

绿色植物在光下能制造养分——这是一种被称为光合作用的过程，而光也能影响水分蒸发的速率和花的形成。

温度也是必须考虑的因素。

对于大多数植物来说，所处的温度低于一度或者高于四十三度都将对其造成严重的损伤甚至死亡。

而温度也直接影响了种子的萌芽以及开花，当然温度也决定了它们的地理分布。

没有水植物也是无法生存的。

有些植物的生长过程需要大量的水分，因此潮湿的空气、大量的降水以及溪流湖泊和湿润的土壤对于植物都是重要的。

大多数植物需要有足够空气。

大气中所包含的一些必要的气体包括：氧气、二氧化碳、水蒸气和氮气。

空气移动所产生的风对于植物也有很大影响。

风有助于传播花粉、孢子和种子从而将它们播种在各种地方，但强风也有可能折断或者损害植物，尤其是大树。

而大风吹走了一些有养分的土壤，也会加快水分的蒸发甚至使植物缺水。

土壤对于陆生植物来说是必不可少的。

大部分植物生长在自然土壤里：其中包含着它的湿度、酸度、矿物成分、含氧量。

植物生长也会受到其他竞争生物的影响。

它必须能适应寄生菌、饥饿的鸟类、牛羊等食用叶子的动物，但植物也需要动物帮助传播花粉以及播洒种子。

有树叶和枝干的树以及灌木向我们展示了它们的适应性，这也告诉了我们植物是怎样获得最大量的光和空气的。

和那些山毛榉树、榆树、橡树、苹果树和栗子树一样，它们有一些芽最初是垂直生长的然而另一些却变成了水平生长。

为了能得到最多的阳光，一些垂直生长的枝芽会螺旋缠绕生长以至于不会遮挡到自己下边的叶子。

U n i t1E n v i r o n m e n tEarth’s Health in Sharp Decline, Massive Study Finds大规模研究发现：地球的“健康”每况愈下The report card has arrived from the largest ever scientific Earth analysis, and many of the planet’s ecosystems are simply not making the grade.有史以来对地球进行的最大规模的科学分析结果表明，地球上的许多生态系统都达不到标准。

The UN-backed Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report found that nearly two-thirds of Earth’s life-supporting ecosystems, including clean water, pure air, and stable climate, are being degraded by unsustainable use.由联合国主持的《千年生态系统评估综合报告》指出，由于不可持续的使用，地球上将近三分之二的用来维持生命的生态系统（包括干净的水源、纯净的空气以及稳定的气候）正遭受破坏。

Human has caused much of this damage during the past half century. Soaring demand for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel have led to dramatic environmental changes, from deforestation to chemical pollution, the report says. The already grim situation may worsen dramatically during the first half of the 21st century, the report’s authors warn.以上大部分的破坏都是人类在过去的半个世纪里造成的。

科技英语阅读与翻译（李健）第二章设想一下:在一个新的产业诞生之际, 你目=睹见证了这一切! 这个产业是在前所未有的新技术基础上发展起来的, 其中包括一些实力雄厚企业销售的高度专业化商务设备, 还有越来越多的新兴公司生产的新奇玩具、为玩具藏家青睐的机巧装置, 以及其他一些奇特有趣的特殊产品。

但同时, 这还是一个缺乏行业标准和平台的、尚不成规模的产业。

项目复杂, 进步缓慢, 实际应用更是少之有少。

事实上, 尽管对这个产业的未来充满热情和希望,但是没有人能明确地说出什么时间- 或究竟是否有可能-它能取得关键性的规模发展。

但是,若真能实现发展, 那么,它很可能改变整个世界。

当然, 上述描述可算是上世纪70 年代中期计算机产业的写照, 也就在那时, 保罗·艾伦和我成立了微软公司。

当时,部分大企业、政府部门和其他一些机构都在使用笨重、昂贵的主计算机进行后台运算。

知名大学和大型工业实验室的研究人员正试图建造出最基本的构件, 以使信息化时代的到来成为可能。

当时英特尔公司刚刚推出他们的8080 微处理器,雅达利公司正在销售一款流行电子游戏“乒乓”。

而在国产计算机俱乐部里,爱好者急切地努力探索这种新技术带来的好处究竟是什么。

但当时我脑海中所萦绕的则是更具前瞻性的问题:机器人产业即将作为一项新兴的产业而崛起,其当时的发展同30 年前计算机的发展如出一辙。

想想看, 目前汽车组装线上使用的制造型机器人已替代了昔日的主计算机。

这个产业其他的典型产品包括可进行外科手术的机器手, 在伊拉克和阿富汗用于路边及地面排雷的侦察机器人, 以及可以进行地板吸尘的家用机器人。

电子产品公司还推出了可模仿人类、或是狗、恐龙等的机器人玩具, 而玩具收藏者们正迫不及待地想要猎取一套乐高公司生产的最新机器人系列玩具。

与此同时, 世界尖端科技人员正试图解决机器人技术中最棘手的难题, 诸如视觉识别、远程操控、以及学习型机器等问题, 而且他们正在不断获得成功。

正在消失的计算机到2010年，我们将被计算机包围吗？是的，但我们却觉察不出来。

—比尔•盖茨（微软公司总裁和首席软件设计师）几年后，普通家庭娱乐系统可能与现在并没有太大的区别，但它很可能具有网络连接功能，用来下载和播放数字音乐和视频，在电视上显示艺术作品集和歌曲的名字，甚至收到重要邮件时打断正在播放的内容来提示你。

它将拥有一个中央处理器、磁盘存储器、制图硬件和某种直观的计算机用户界面。

如果再在加上一个无线鼠标和键盘，这个家庭娱乐系统看起来便很像是一台个人电脑。

人们会大量购买和使用这些系统吗？当然会。

他们会认为这种系统就是电脑吗？也许不会。

根据格特纳信息咨询公司（一家美国研究公司）的统计，世界计算机业在2002年销售了第10亿台个人电脑，而还有10亿台电脑预计在此后的6年中生产出来。

第一批的10亿台电脑几乎都是传统的台式机和笔记本电脑，但第二批的10亿台电脑将会明显不同，人们对它们进行了尽可能的完善，使它们能更好的按照人们的期望运作，例如便签大小的电脑，开会时我们可以用它来做笔记，或是躺在床上阅读电子邮件；娱乐型电脑，用来在客厅电视上播放音乐和电影；袖珍型电脑，用它无论在哪都能与他人保持联系。

除此之外，还有各种数量庞大的嵌入式计算机（如在手机、加油站和零售终端设备中使用的计算机），在功能和复杂性方面正迅速赶上台式电脑。

据估计，有意无意美国人每天会接触到大约150个嵌入式计算机系统。

这些系统使用了现在生产的90% ％的微处理器，它们将不可避免地呈现出更多个人电脑的特点，而且能够与传统PC机进行无缝对接。

这一系统将无处不在。

根据半导体工业协会的调查，在2001年，世界芯片业为地球上的每位个男士人，女士妇女和儿童生产了大约6千万个晶体管，这一数字到2010年将上升为10亿。

与此同时，今天的多功能PC机将继续在大多数人的生活中发挥重要（而且是越来越重要）的作用，但其中心地位将体现在今天大部分人不认为是“电脑”的各类智能设备中。

替代能源的‎前景据美国能源‎部预测，至2025‎年美国的家‎用耗电将增‎加百分之二‎十五，增加的电量‎中将有一小‎部分来源于‎再生能源（如风、阳光、水、地热），而且这部分‎还会不断增‎大。

据美国能源‎部统计，去年替代能‎源的供电比‎例占百分之‎六。

美国太阳能‎协会（该协会是一‎个位于科罗‎拉多州博德‎市的非盈利‎性组织）的主管布拉‎德•柯林斯说：“未来属于可‎再生能源。

尽管就世界‎石油和天然‎气可以持续‎多久，科学家和工‎业专家可能‎有不同观点‎，但是油气资‎源终将耗尽‎。

”尽管可再生‎能源通常比‎传统能源更‎昂贵，但是替代能‎源有助于减‎少污染、保护矿物燃‎料。

美国能源部‎国家再生能‎源实验室（位于科罗拉‎多州戈尔登‎市）的一位高级‎工程师保罗‎•陶塞列尼说‎：“有时人们考‎虑的只是节‎省成本的问‎题，但是这可能‎是一个价值‎观念的问题‎，一个我们把‎钱用于何处‎的问题。

”接下来我们‎一起了解关‎于可再生能‎源技术的新‎发展太阳能光电系统获‎取太阳光线‎的光能并将‎其转化成电‎。

现在这些太‎阳能设备可‎以为各种建‎筑供电，小到家庭大‎到办公楼。

技术进步使‎得光电设备‎更加划算。

20世纪8‎0年代，光电系统供‎电的平均价‎格为每千瓦‎时95美分‎；而根据美国‎太阳能协会‎的统计，如今这一价‎格已降至每‎千瓦时20‎美分左右。

即使略微便‎宜的光电价‎格仍然高于‎全国电价的‎平均价格，据美国能源‎部发行的《能源周刊》统计，2003年‎每千瓦时的‎电价均价略‎高于8美分‎。

其他最新的‎发展包括薄‎膜光电技术‎，这种高科技‎的涂层能够‎将任何覆盖‎此类薄膜的‎表面转化成‎一种光电电‎源。

使用这种薄‎膜技术的轮‎船和娱乐用‎车目前已上‎市销售。

工程师们也‎研究出一种‎涂有发电薄‎膜的屋顶材‎料，这种屋顶材‎料耐严寒，而且在阳光‎明媚的时候‎可以利用太‎阳光发电。

与此同时，美国可再生‎能源实验室‎的研究人员‎正在研发更‎为高效、价格更低的‎光电系统。

科技英语课文阅读P22—P24文章翻译参考（这里是原文的全文翻译，我们的是使用的是文章节选。

）Can a Small Start-up Build America's Next Spaceship?小型航天器能取代航天飞机吗？这次试验是2004年8月3日、由转型太空公司（t/Space公司）在美国加利福尼州的沿岸进行的。

这家小公司也许将为美国航空航天局的太空计划指明一个新的方向，为他们找到一个比最初的方案（见60页《美国航空航天局的大手笔》一文）更快、更经济地将航天员送入太空轨道的方法。

尽管“发现号”航天飞机成功地发射并安全返回，但成功的光环也无法掩饰低效、拖沓的美国航空航天局无法解决航天飞机设计时就留下的众多缺陷和安全隐患这一事实，“发现号”由于燃料箱外隔热材料脱落的隐患而一再推迟发射时间就很好地说明了这一点。

尽管航天飞机什么时候进行下次发射还是个未知数，但是毫无疑问这种老迈的航天器将会被淘汰。

美国航空航天局正斥巨资开发一种名为“太空探索飞船（CEV）”的全新载人航天器，这种航天器将能完成从低轨道飞行到飞往月球等各种任务。

不过，CEV最早也要在2011年才都投入使用，在这之前，美国航空航天局不得不继续依靠老迈的航天飞机，并为之投入大量的资金，所以美国航空航天局很可能会面临资金不足的窘境。

很多人都认为，美国航空航天局现在需要一种从未拥有过的新式航天器：一种没有机翼、能在航天飞机或者CEV 出现问题时能将航天员迅速送往国际太空站或执行其他低轨道任务的“备用”载人航天器。

“发现号”航天飞机接连不断的问题使美国航空航天局认识到，不能再像以往那样“把所有的鸡蛋都放在一个篮子里”。

就在这样一个背景下，t/Space公司进行了这次试验，它所设计的太空舱成为航天飞机替代方案中一匹极有潜力的黑马。

在去年春天，t/Space公司还仅有两个人和对低成本太空飞行的一些见解，公司的创始人大卫·甘普和加里·哈德森对于公司应该如何运行也有着不同的想法。

U n i t1E n v i r o n m e n tEarth’s Health in Sharp Decline, Massive Study Finds大规模研究发现：地球的“健康”每况愈下The report card has arrived from the largest ever scientific Earth analysis, and many of the planet’s ecosystems are simply not making the grade.有史以来对地球进行的最大规模的科学分析结果表明，地球上的许多生态系统都达不到标准。

The UN-backed Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report found that nearly two-thirds of Earth’slife-supporting ecosystems, including clean water, pure air, and stable climate, are being degraded by unsustainable use.由联合国主持的《千年生态系统评估综合报告》指出，由于不可持续的使用，地球上将近三分之二的用来维持生命的生态系统（包括干净的水源、纯净的空气以及稳定的气候）正遭受破坏。

Human has caused much of this damage during the past half century. Soaring demand for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel have led to dramatic environmental changes, from deforestation to chemical pollution, the report says. The already grim situation may worsen dramatically during the first half of the 21st century, the report’s authors warn.以上大部分的破坏都是人类在过去的半个世纪里造成的。

U n i t1E n v i r o n m e n tEarth’s Health in Sharp Decline, Massive Study Finds大规模研究发现：地球的“健康”每况愈下The report card has arrived from the largest ever scientific Earth analysis, and many of the planet’s ecosystems are simply not making the grade.有史以来对地球进行的最大规模的科学分析结果表明，地球上的许多生态系统都达不到标准。

The UN-backed Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report found that nearly two-thirds of Earth’s life-supporting ecosystems, including clean water, pure air, and stable climate, are being degraded by unsustainable use.由联合国主持的《千年生态系统评估综合报告》指出，由于不可持续的使用，地球上将近三分之二的用来维持生命的生态系统（包括干净的水源、纯净的空气以及稳定的气候）正遭受破坏。

Human has caused much of this damage during the past half century. Soaring demand for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel have led to dramatic environmental changes, from deforestation to chemical pollution, the report says. The already grim situation may worsen dramatically during the first half of the 21st century, the report’s authors warn.以上大部分的破坏都是人类在过去的半个世纪里造成的。