VOA慢速英语2021--希腊使用机器人引导游客穿越洞穴

Robot Guides Visitors Through Greek Cave

A culture guide named Persephone welcomes travelers to Greece and takes them through a famous cave in the north. The guide moves smoothly¹ around the underground area and can talk about it in 33 languages.

Persephone is very intelligent. It also is a human-sized robot.

The robot has been in operation for about a month at the Alistrati Cave, 135 kilometers northeast of the city of Thessaloniki.

Persephone guides visitors through the first 150 meters of the cave that is open to the public. For the remaining 750 meters, a human guide takes over.

The robot can give its part of the tour in 33 languages. It can also answer 33 questions, but only in the Greek language.

Nikos Kartalis is the scientific director at the Alistrati site. He had the idea of creating the robot when he saw one on television guiding visitors at an art show. Persephone was built by the National Technology and Research Foundation² and cost about 118,000 euros, or 139,000 U.S. dollars.

"People who had visited in the past are coming back to see the robot guide," said Kartalis. He added, "Many foreign visitors couldn't believe Greece had the capacity³ to build a robot and use it as a guide in the cave."

The robot moves along a walkway in the cave system. Mineral formations⁴ within the cave can reach 15 meters long. "This cave is one of the most beautiful, not only in Greece but in Europe, as well," Kartalis said. "It has stalactites and stalagmites in many shapes and colors, even red."

Kartalis said the cave is 3 million years old and was first explored in 1974. It opened to visitors in 1998.

Persephone, with a white body, black head, and two bright eyes, moves on wheels. It guides visitors to the first three of eight stops along the walkway. It can do two more stops, but it is too slow for the tour. Persephone's creators are considering ways to increase her speed.

The robot begins the tour by saying: "My name is Persephone, I am the daughter of the goddess Demeter and the wife of Pluto⁵, the god of the underworld. I welcome you to my under Earth kingdom, the Alistrati Cave."

Many visitors are interested in the robot guide.

Patrick Markes traveled to Greece from the Czech Republic.

"It was surprising for me," he said. "I've never experienced⁶ such a thing." He added he enjoyed the slower speed of the robot guide. "It goes slower, so I can look around," Markes said.

Markes listened to the machine in his native Czech language for the first three stops. He heard the rest in English from a human tour guide.

Evdokia Karafera is a human guide who partners with Persephone.

"It is helpful, because it speaks many languages," she said. "There's just a little delay in the touring." She added, "Most find it fascinating, especially the children, and find it interesting that it speaks many languages."

Karafera noted⁷, however, that human tour guides must remain part of the operation.

"Robots, at some point in the future, will take over many jobs," she said. "But I believe they cannot replace humans everywhere."

"(Visitors say) ‘the robot is interesting, original, but can't substitute⁸ for the human contact with the guide and the conversation we can have on the way back."

Words in This Story

cave - n. a large hole that was formed by natural processes in the side of a cliff⁹ or hill or under the ground

capacity - n. the ability to do something

stalagmite - n. a pointed¹⁰ piece of rock that sticks up from the floor of a cave and that is formed by dripping¹¹ water which contains minerals

stalactites - n. a pointed piece of rock that hangs down from the roof of a cave and that is formed by dripping water which contains minerals

fascinating - adj. very interesting or appealing

kingdom - n. the spiritual world of which God is king

conversation - n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people : the act of talking in an informal way

1 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

2 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

3 capacity   

n.能力，力量，接受力；容量，能量，容积

参考例句：

• She is employed by the president in an advisory capacity.她被总裁聘为顾问。
• This carriage has a seating capacity of 120 people.这节车厢定员120人。

4 formations   

n.形成( formation的名词复数 )；构成；形成物；编队

参考例句：

• Clouds are formations of condensed water vapour. 云是由凝聚的水蒸气构成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• New word formations have not regularity. 新词的构成没有规律。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

6 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 substitute   

n.代理，代理人，代用品，代替物；vt.代替；vi.替代，取代

参考例句：

• Can you substitute for the singer who is ill?你能替一下那位得了病的歌手吗？
• Yogurt is a perfectly acceptable substitute for cream in cooking.酸奶是烹饪用的特别受欢迎的奶油替代品。

9 cliff   

n.悬崖，峭壁

参考例句：

• The cliff edge is dangerous and should be railed.崖边危险，应该用栏杆围起来。
• He took the measure of the cliff before he climbed it.他把悬崖的高度估量一下后再攀登。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 dripping   

n.滴；滴下；滴下物；油滴v.（使）滴下( drip的现在分词 )；滴出；含有；充满

参考例句：

• Her face was dripping with sweat. 她脸上汗水淋淋。
• His hand was dripping blood. 他的手在滴血。 来自《简明英汉词典》