VOA慢速英语2016 越来越多人类因为机器人失去工作

AS IT IS 2016-09-05 Humans Increasingly Losing Jobs to Robots 越来越多人类因为机器人失去工作

Driverless vehicles could threaten the jobs of millions of Americans who drive trucks and taxis. Some experts believe driverless trucks will be deployed¹ throughout the United States soon. Others believe it will not happen for years.

无人驾驶汽车可能会威胁到数以百万的美国人卡车司机和出租车司机。一些专家认为，无人驾驶卡车很快将普及到全美国。其他人认为几年内不会发生这样的事。

In Australia and other countries, driverless trucks move large loads of dirt and ore in mines. The trucks can operate in the mines because there are few other vehicles there. But it will be more difficult for vehicles to operate on roads where there are many other vehicles.

在澳大利亚和其他国家，无人驾驶卡车用来运载矿山和矿石的污垢。卡车可以开进矿山，因为很少有其他车辆去那。但车辆在有很多其他车辆的道路上还是很难行走的。

Ted² Scott is the head of engineering at the American Trucking Association. He says it will be years before rules are written, testing is completed and other drivers accept driverless vehicles.

特德·斯科特是美国卡车运输协会的工程负责人。他说要再过几年规则才会被编写出来、测试才会被完成、其他司机才能接受无人驾驶车辆。

The carmaker Volvo and the ride-sharing company Uber have announced a plan to test self-driving cars in the eastern city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

这家汽车制造商沃尔沃和拥有权公司优步宣布了在宾西法尼亚东部城市匹兹堡进行无人驾驶汽车测试的计划。

The Ford³ Motor Company recently announced it would work with a Chinese company to research self-driving vehicle technology.

福特汽车公司最近宣布，它将与中国公司合作，研究无人驾驶汽车技术。

Carmaker Audi and other companies are testing robot drivers in more complex environments. These include mountain roads in the United States and in large American cities.

汽车制造商奥迪和其他公司正在更复杂的环境中测试机器人司机。这些包括美国的山路和美国的大型城市。

Chan Leiu is a former official at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. He says these tests may help speed up the deployment⁴ of driverless vehicles.

陈·雷友是国家公路交通安全管理局的前官员。他说，这些测试可以有助于加快无人驾驶车辆的进程。

Leiu says self-driving vehicles may help save lives. He says 94 percent of vehicle crashes are caused by human mistakes. These include driving while tired, writing on a digital device or after drinking too much alcohol.

雷友说自动驾驶汽车可以拯救生命。他说94%的汽车事故是人为造成的。这些包括疲劳驾驶、驾车时使用电子设备或酒后驾驶。

Tim Carone is a professor at Notre Dame⁵ University. He says tens of thousands of lives could be saved if self-driving vehicles are deployed.

蒂姆·卡是圣母大学的教授。他说如果无人驾驶车辆得以使用，可以挽救成千上万的生命。

Rogelio Rada has been driving a truck for 16 years. He believes it will be a long time before robots take his job.

罗赫略·拉达开了16年的卡车。他认为，机器人取代他的工作还需要一段很长的时间。

Barry Waters is also a truck driver. He believes robots will not be driving trucks for 20 or 30 years.

巴里·沃特斯也是一名卡车司机。他认为机器人不会开卡车20或30年。

The Bureau of Labor⁶ Statistics says more than 1.7 million people worked in the trucking industry in 2014.

美国劳工统计局表示，在2014年有超过170万人从事卡车运输业。

Many people are concerned about the effect of driverless cars on employment because manufacturing in the United States has been decreasing for years. The car manufacturing industry is no exception. American carmakers sold a record number of vehicles in 2015, but had far fewer workers than ever.

许多人都担心无人驾驶汽车对就业造成的影响，因为多年来美国的制造业一直再减少。汽车制造行业也不例外。美国汽车制造商在2015年出售了创纪录数量的车辆，但与以往相比工人更少了。

Carmakers now use robots to weld, paint and perform other tasks, often better than humans.

与使用人工相比，现在汽车制造商更多的使用机器人来完成焊接、油漆和执行其他工作。

That is bad news for millions of workers like Holly⁷ Stover. She worked in steel mills for many years.

这对于像好来·石东文这样的数以百万计的工人来说，是坏消息。她在钢铁厂工作了许多年。

“Well I hope to end up working a good, a decent job, making a decent living.”

“我希望最后能得到一份好的、体面的工作，生活得更体面。”

Stover is working with an employment counselor⁸ to explore new kinds of work. She is also considering going back to school to learn new skills.

石东文与就业顾问合作寻找新型的工作。她也在考虑回到学校学习新技能。

Anthony Carnavale is a workforce⁹ expert at Georgetown University. He says an increase in industrial robots means fewer humans will have high-paying manufacturing jobs.

安东尼·卡纳维奥是乔治敦大学的劳动力专家。他说工业机器人的增加意味着更少的人能得到高薪的制造业工作岗位。

“Probably 75 percent of the job loss is technology-based, which is to say robots -- machines in general -- are substituting for people.”

“失业中有75%可能是技术基础性的工作，也就是说机器人——一般机器——代替了人类。”

Does the new technology offer new opportunities?

新技术提供了新的机会吗?

Chris Lu is the Deputy Secretary at the United States Department of Labor. He says the changing economy is creating new opportunities for workers if they have the skills.

克里斯·卢副是美国劳工部的部长。他说，经济的变化为工人创造了新的机会，如果他们有能力的话。

Some employers in the United States complain that they cannot find enough workers who have the ability to operate advanced machines or program computers.

美国的一些雇主抱怨说，他们找不到足够的有能力操作先进机器或计算机编程的工人。

“We've also in this country had a remarkable¹⁰ transition to a service economy and really wonderful high-paying jobs in IT, for instance. Those are industries that didn't exist 20 or 30 years ago.”

“例如，我们这个国家已经完成了非凡的向服务经济转型，并且有很棒的高薪IT工作。这些都是20或30年前没有的工业。”

Greg Pitoniak is the head of the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance. He says his organization closely records the skills employers need and helps displaced workers meet those demands.

格雷格·匹顿尼克是密歇根东南部社区联盟的领导人。他说他的组织密切记录雇主需要的技能，帮助失业工人满足这些要求。

“Many job seekers look at it as ‘I can't afford to go to school for a couple of years and not have an income,'” he says. He explains that employers are seeking workers they can train for high-paying jobs like electrician, plumber¹¹, carpenter, millwright and pipefitter.

“许多求职者认为‘我负担不起上好几年学，并且没有收入，’”他说。他解释说，雇主们寻求可以训练以担任高薪工作的工人，像电工、水管工、木工、技工和管道安装工。

Pitoniak says the American education system does not do enough to prepare some students for technical jobs.

匹顿尼克说美国的教育系统没有好工作，让一些学生适应技术工作。

Words in This Story

weld – v. to join pieces of metal together by heating the edges until they begin to melt and then pressing them together

counselor – n. a person who provides advice as a job; a person who counsels people

transition – n. a change from one state or condition to another

1 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

4 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

5 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

8 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

9 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

10 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

11 plumber   

n.(装修水管的)管子工

参考例句：

• Have you asked the plumber to come and look at the leaking pipe?你叫管道工来检查漏水的管子了吗？
• The plumber screwed up the tap by means of a spanner.管子工用板手把龙头旋紧。