VOA慢速英语2019 韩国推出机器人冲泡咖啡服务

Are You Ready for a Robot to Serve You Coffee?

At a Dal.komm Coffee shop in Seoul, a robot takes orders from you through a mobile app or a touch screen and then makes fresh coffee. The robot can make up to 14 drinks at a time.

在韩国首尔的Dal.komm咖啡馆，机器人通过手机应用程序或触摸屏接受订单并制作新鲜的咖啡。机器人可一次性制作14杯咖啡。

Choi Eun Jin thinks the process is fun and easy. The 30-year-old office worker said, “The area is crowded with office workers and local residents during lunchtime. So it’s good to have a robot like this ... so you can get your coffee more easily.”

崔恩静（Choi Eun Jin）认为，这一过程既简单又有趣。这位30岁的店员说，“午餐时间，这里总是挤满了上班族和当地居民。所以，有这样的机器人服务很便利，买咖啡也容易多了。”

Coffee is just one of the many industries that use automated² services in this technologically³ forward-thinking nation. Others include restaurants, food stores, banks and manufacturers. The development comes as many Koreans, especially the young, are struggling to find work.

在这个有技术前瞻性国家，咖啡只是众多使用自动化服务的行业之一。其他行业包括餐厅，食品店，银行以及制造商。随着该技术的发展，很多韩国人，尤其是年轻人正在努力找工作。

Just this week, workers who operate about 2,500 large cranes at building sites went on strike. They were protesting the growing use of robotic small cranes for building. Other labor⁴ unions also have protested about the use of automated devices instead of human workers at Emart, South Korea’s biggest food store group.

本周，在建筑工地操作2500台大型起重机的工人举行了罢工。他们抗议建筑工地越来越多地使用小型机械起重机。其他工会也对韩国最大食品商店Emart利用自动化设备取代人工举行了抗议。

South Korean officials also changed plans to completely automate¹ the nation’s road fee collection system. They acted after receiving criticism for cutting 6,700 jobs. Instead, the system will be partly automated and keep all its current human fee collectors.

韩国官员还修改了道路收费系统完全自动化的计划。此前因裁员6700人受到指责，随后他们采取了这一行动。相反，该系统将实现部分自动化，并保留所有现有的人工收费员。

South Korea has been an early adopter of automation. It had the highest percentage of robots to human workers in the world in 2017.

韩国是早期采用自动化的国家。2017年，该国的机器人与人工的比例居世界首位。

The International Federation⁵ of Robotics say South Korea has 710 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers. The international average is 85 robots per 10,000 employees.

国际机器人联合表示，韩国每1万名制造业工人就拥有710台机器人。而国际平均水平是每1万名工人拥有85台机器人。

South Korea’s lowest permitted worker wage has increased by 27.3 percent over the last two years. This has led more businesses to cut labor costs by using automation, says Suh Yong Gu of the Business School at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul.

韩国最低工资标准在过去两年中上涨了27.3%。首尔淑明女子大学商学院的Suh Yong Gu表示，这导致更多企业通过使用自动化来节省劳动力成本。

Even with the job losses, South Korea’s businesses are replacing employees with automation and young people are welcoming the change.

即使会造成失业，韩国企业仍在用自动化代替人工，而年轻人对这一变化表示欢迎。

Suh said, “Currently, Millennials — those who were born after 1980 — are prime consumers. This generation tends to not like meeting other people, so they favor ... technology that enables people to minimize face-to-face interactions...”

Suh Yong Gu称，“目前，千禧一代（1980年后出生的人）是主要消费群体。这代人不喜欢和别人见面，所以他们喜欢……能够让人们尽量减少碰面的技术…”

At the recently opened LAB101 store, customers can open the door with their credit cards 24 hours a day. Once inside, they can try on jeans and pay for the purchase without having to deal with an employee.

在近期开业的LAB101商店里，顾客可24小时用信用卡刷卡进店。一旦进入店内，他们可以试穿牛仔裤，然后付款，无需与店员沟通。

“I can freely look around and try on jeans as much as I like without being bothered,” said Kim Kun Woo who is 29.

29岁的金坤宇(Kim Kun Woo)说：“我可以随意地四处闲逛，试穿中意的牛仔裤，没有旁人打扰。”

Back at Dal.komm Coffee, a robot can make about 300 cups a day at the cost of $2 to $3. While some customers like the robot barista, others do not.

再来看Dal.komm咖啡馆，一台机器人每天可制作300杯咖啡，价格在2到3美元之间。虽然有些顾客喜欢机器人咖啡师，但也有人不喜欢。

“Personally I prefer human baristas,” said Lee Sang Jin. The 30-year-old office worker added that the robot cannot make custom drinks as well as a human. “I like weak coffee, but the robot is unable to control the strength of the coffee well,” Lee said.

李相进（Lee Sang Jin）说：“我个人更喜欢人工咖啡师”。这位30岁的办公室职员补充说，这款机器人无法像人工一样定制饮料。“我喜欢淡咖啡，但机器人无法很好地控制咖啡的浓度，”李说。

Words in This Story

resident - n. someone who lives in a particular place

lunchtime - n. the time in a middle of the day when people usually eat lunch

consumer - n. a person who buys goods and services

minimize - v. to make something not wanted as small as possible

bother - v. to take the time to do something

barista - n. someone who makes and serves coffee

1 automate   

v.自动化；使自动化

参考例句：

• Many banks have begun to automate.许多银行已开始采用自动化技术。
• To automate the control process of the lathes has become very easy today.使机床的控制过程自动化现已变得很容易了。

2 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

3 technologically   

ad.技术上地

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
• Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。

4 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。

5 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。