英语听力精选进阶版 14320

UN discusses 'killer¹ robots'

Summary

15 November 2013

Countries are meeting in Geneva to decide whether to consider banning 'killer robots' which can make decisions by themselves about when to kill people. Human rights groups claim weapons like these raise serious moral questions about how we conduct war.

Reporter:

Imogen Foulkes

Report

Drones have already raised questions about 21st century warfare²  but while they have no pilots, they are controlled by humans on the ground. Lethal³ autonomous⁴ weapons, or 'killer robots', are programmed in advance; on the battlefield it could be the robot, not the human, which decides who to kill. 

The United States, Britain and Israel are all developing lethal autonomous weapons, although all three countries say they dont plan to take humans out of the decision-making loop. 

Supporters of the new technology say it could save lives, by reducing the number of soldiers on the battlefield, but human rights groups question the ethics⁵ of allowing machines to take decisions over life and death. 

Now the 50 countries which have ratified⁶ the convention on conventional weapons  the countries which have already approved a ban on blinding laser weapons  will consider whether to begin talks on banning killer robots.

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

3 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

4 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

5 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

6 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。