VOA慢速英语--波斯尼亚摇滚乐队引入机器人新成员

Bosnia's most popular rock music band, Dubioza Kolektiv, has a new member who sings and plays musical instruments — a humanoid robot called Robby Megabyte.

The band wanted a robot designed to fit the idea for their new group of songs called #fakenews, which was released¹ last year. Students from Sarajevo University's electrical engineering² school agreed to build Robby for them.

"Our robot...likes to eat, drink, shout, he likes music," said Vedran Mujagic, the band's bass³ guitar player. He was most involved in designing the idea for Robby.

In a video for the #fakenews album, one band member thinks it would be fun to have a robot do his work while he has fun. So, he orders one and puts it together.

Soon, the whole band is replaced by robots in the video. That permits the men to go and party. But, they then get locked out of their music recording⁴ space. The robots then invite young women to dance and drink as the men look on from outside.

"Every little thing is under machine control," Robby sings in a song called "Take My Job Away."

The message - about "evil⁵ artificial⁶ intelligence which takes jobs away from good people" - is meant to be ironic⁷, Mujagic said.

Almir Besic is one of the students who helped build Robby. He said the project had been difficult because they knew nothing at first about the 3D printing needed to build the robot. They also lacked the necessary equipment.

The students used recycled materials to make the platform on which Robby moves. It took them about two years to complete the project. Besic said, when Robby finally came to life, it was very exciting "after so much effort, so many hours spent working in the school to see that it works⁸."

The band Dubioza Kolektiv is known for its wide mix of musical styles and social and political song lyrics⁹.

Robby took part in the band's weekly online performances called "Quarantine Show" during restrictions¹⁰ put in place last year to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Words in This Story

ironic –adj. using words to mean the opposite of what you really think, especially to be humorous

recycled –adj. something that is made from things that have been used before

platform –n. the base of a structure that lifts it above the ground

style –n. an identifiable way in which something like music, writing or any art is carried out or performed

lyrics –n. (pl.) the words of a song or poem

1 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

2 engineering   

n.工程，工程学，管理，操纵

参考例句：

• The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
• It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。

3 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

6 artificial   

adj.人工的，人造的，人为的；做作的，假装的

参考例句：

• The new dam will form a large artificial lake behind it.新筑的水坝将会在后面形成一个人工湖。
• We don't use any artificial flavourings in our products.我们的产品不使用任何人工调味剂。

7 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

8 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

9 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制