时间:2018-12-19 作者:英语课 分类:VOA双语新闻 2012年1月


英语课

  Technology is constantly narrowing the gap between science fiction and reality, bringing fundamental changes into our lives.

日新月异的科技不断缩小科幻小说和科学事实间的差距,还给我们的生活带来根本上的改变。

According to IBM researchers, in five years we won’t need passwords, won’t be bothered by junk mail and will be able to control many of our machines with our minds.

根据IBM研究人员的预测,5年内我们就不再需要密码,也不再会被垃圾电邮打搅,我们还能用我们的心操控许多机器。

The American technology company released its 6th annual Five-in-Five, a list of five innovations the firm expects to see within five years.

美国科技公司IBM要进入第两百个年头了,它日前公布了第6次的“未来5年5大科技预测”。

One of them will enable us to generate small amounts of energy to supplement the electric power we use in our homes.

这个名单是IBM预测我们将在未来5年看见的5大科技创新。其中一项将使我们能产生小量能源供给家户电力。

“You can do micro-electronic generation,” says Bernie Meyerson, vice 1 president of Innovation at IBM. “For instance, you can have somebody in the third world who has access to a phone or a smart phone, but doesn’t have access to a power grid 2, which is a very common thing and literally 3 in a shoe has something that recovers energy from walking and can charge the battery to enable that person to actually become connected with the rest of the world.”

IBM创新部门的副主管梅尔森说:“你可以作微观的发电。例如,第三世界国家的某个人有支手机或智慧型手机,但却没有电力供应,这是很常见的事。在他的鞋里头装上靠走路发电的装置,他的手机随时能充电,使这个人实际上跟全世界联结了起来。”

Another innovation will make those hard-to-remember passwords obsolete 4. Soon, in order to access our e-mail or bank account, we'll use a technology known as biometrics. A tiny sensor 5 could confirm your identity by recognizing the unique patterns in the retina of your eye.

另一项科技创新将让那些难记的密码消失。不久,我们将能用一种被称为生物辨识的科技进入电邮信箱或银行帐号。

“Imagine that things recognize you," Meyerson says. "You walk up to an ATM. It takes one look at you and says, ‘Yep, you’re you.’”

梅尔森说:“想象一下东西记得你。你走到一个提款机,机器看了你一眼说,嘿我知道你是谁。”

Within five years, it's possible we'll no longer be inundated 6 with junk mail, because a new electronic device will delete it before we ever see it.

在5年内,我们将不会再被垃圾电邮淹没。梅尔森说,一个新的电子装置将在我们看到垃圾电邮前就把它删了。

“That device, as you act upon it, as you eliminate mail, you don’t read it, you just look at it and kill it," Meyerson says, "after a while it learns your habits and works as your assistant by eliminating stuff you never wanted anyway.”

梅尔森说:“在你删信的时候,你不用读信,你看它一眼然后删掉。如此过一阵子,这个装置就把你的习惯学起来,就象你的助理一样帮你删掉不想看的信。”

IBM also sees us controlling many of our electronic devices telepathically.

IBM还预测,我们将能用心灵能力控制许多电子装置。

“A simple ability to command a system to do something without actually doing or saying anything, literally thinking and having something happen, as a result, that’s accurate," Meyerson says. "Something with deep capability 7 so that a person, for instance, who is paraplegic or quadriplegic, can actually utilize 8 brain waves to make things happen and basically run their own lives independently.”

梅尔森说:“不必实际做或说来指挥一个系统做事、光用想就让事情精确地发生,这其实是很简单的能力。这种深刻的能力使例如瘫痪或四肢麻痹患者能运用脑波让事情发生,独立打理他们的生活。”

The fifth innovation on IBM’s list is the elimination 9 of the so-called “digital divide,” between those who are and aren't connected.

梅尔森说,IBM名单上第5大科技创新是消除所谓的“数字鸿沟”。

"We anticipate that, in five years, better than 80 percent of coverage 10 of the world populations by cellular 11 phones and smart phones," Meyerson says. "At this point, imagine having, for instance, the ability to speak openly with anybody anywhere, anytime and in any language, real-time translation - literally the old Star Trek 12 idea of a universal translator coming to be.”

梅尔森说:“想想看今天的数字鸿沟。世界被分为拥有和缺少数字产品的人,能与不能跟世界联结上的人。我们预期5年内世界超过80%人口都拥用手机和智慧型手机。到时,想象一下例如可以随时随地与随便一种语言的人讲话,这种实时翻译的能力不就是《星舰迷航》的宇宙翻译者的概念!”

IBM’s track record of predictions over the past five years has been mixed. Some predictions are still not reality. In 2006, for example, IBM researchers predicted there would be a 3D Internet by now.

IBM过去5年的预测结果好坏参半。一些预测到现在还没成真。在2006年,IBM研究人员预测,现在会有一个3D因特网。

However, in 2009, they predicted city buildings would “sense and respond” like living organisms. Three years later, that future is here. At a New York art museum, sensors 13 are detecting subtle fluctuations 14 in temperature, humidity, air flow and light levels, and adjusting the building’s environment to help preserve the works of art.

在2009年,他们预测城市建筑会象有机体一样感应与回应。3年后,这个未来果真到来了。纽约一个艺术博物馆,感应器会侦测温度、湿度和光线的细微变化,然后自动调节建筑的环境以维护艺术品的保存。

What’s important about the Five-in-Five list, says IBM’s Meyerson, is it encourages the researchers to turn as much of their innovative 15 imagination as possible into practical realities.

IBM的梅尔森说,“未来5年5大科技预测”名单的重要之处在于,它鼓励那些努力将我们的创新想象变成真实的研究人员。



1 vice
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
2 grid
n.高压输电线路网;地图坐标方格;格栅
  • In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下,要用载体把格栅密封起来。
  • Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。
3 literally
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实
  • He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
  • Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候,她不走到真正要昏厥了,决不肯坐下来。
4 obsolete
adj.已废弃的,过时的
  • These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了,在市场上卖不了高价。
  • They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。
5 sensor
n.传感器,探测设备,感觉器(官)
  • The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
  • He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。
6 inundated
v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 );(洪水般地)涌来;充满;给予或交予(太多事物)使难以应付
  • We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
  • We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 capability
n.能力;才能;(pl)可发展的能力或特性等
  • She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
  • Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。
8 utilize
vt.使用,利用
  • The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
  • You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。
9 elimination
n.排除,消除,消灭
  • Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
  • I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。
10 coverage
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖
  • There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
  • This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。
11 cellular
adj.移动的;细胞的,由细胞组成的
  • She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
  • Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。
12 trek
vi.作长途艰辛的旅行;n.长途艰苦的旅行
  • We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
  • It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。
13 sensors
n.传感器,灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )
  • There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时,有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
14 fluctuations
波动,涨落,起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 )
  • He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table. 他用统计表显示价格的波动。
  • There were so many unpredictable fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. 股票市场瞬息万变。
15 innovative
adj.革新的,新颖的,富有革新精神的
  • Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
  • He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。
学英语单词
a beautiful mind
Actinomycinum
air contaminant
allain
Amazon Appstore
apotropaic imagery
automatic load imiitation
bish bosh
Brent Blend
buckytubes
characterizes
chestinesses
continental differentiation
controllable ballast
cruciform bollard
darboux differential equation
deconfine
diffusion donstant
diurnal pollution
dual-pressure controller
electrolytic hygrometer
Encrypt.
entrechat cinq
enumerabilities
epidotization
euphories
excerpts
extrinsic properties
far-
fernally
fiorani
fishery meteorology
flow integrator
frame lifting
freehand brushwork
full liquid-cooling generator
gapless structure
glow visualization
granule spreading nozzle
Gryllotalpa unispina
guglielmi
Hanadiang fibre
hereinafter described
hermeneuticist
herro
hexagonal nomogram
hydraulic log splitter
Iksil
interdisciplinary lesson
international situation
intraprezygapophyseal
jerseyed
Kalenji
kinetograph
legal affairs department
little ol'
Ludwig's ganglia
malehermaphroditism
mandibular first molar
Mannsberg's sign
MDHV
metastoma
mixer-grinder
monitoring period
Oscan
pacom
park-and-ride system
petanque
photoetching,photoengraving
phyllidia elegans
physical feature
pictorial navigation display
pinspotter
plant area trunk exchange
pneunatic hoist
point motion wheel
polishing stone
pony-size
Propoxychel
Purullena
relieving dyspepsia
Ribesalbes
row-lock arch
sanitary control
sarcine
serum culture-medium
spotted lace
St-Gerard
stereo-zone
structural plain
Takato
tapeworm-shaped
thallium sesquichloride
the lower orders
the silken bond
trichopus
trickled
tywi
U.S.S.B.
unsuits
vowis
yttrium formate