VOA慢速英语2021 人们求助于互联网"机器人自动程序"来帮助预约疫苗接种（在线收听）

Many Americans have had trouble getting appointments to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The process for getting vaccinated is different across U.S. states and communities.

许多美国人在预约接种新冠肺炎疫苗时遇到了困难。预约接种程序在美国各州和社区存在不同。

Some older people who lack technology experience have found it difficult to follow the necessary requirements to seek appointments through the internet. To get around this, some people have turned to internet "bots" to help them find a quicker way to get vaccines.

有些缺乏技术经验的老年人发现，他们很难按照必需要求通过互联网寻求预约。为了解决这一问题，一些人开始求助互联网“机器人自动程序”来帮助他们找到获得疫苗的更快方式。

What is a bot?

什么是机器人自动程序？

A bot is a computer program that works automatically to search for different kinds of information on the internet.

机器人自动程序是一种计算机程序，它可以自动在互联网上搜索各种信息。

People seeking vaccinations often have to search several different vaccine provider websites for available appointments. With the demand for vaccines continuing to outweigh supply, people often have to keep checking sites over and over to find an available time. Sometimes the availabilities can disappear before a person has the chance to complete the appointment process.

人们寻求接种疫苗时，通常要在多个不同的疫苗供应商网站上搜索可用预约。由于疫苗需求超过供应的情况持续存在，人们常常不得不一遍又一遍地查看网站，以找到可以预约的时间。有时，在人们有机会完成预约流程之前，可用性可能会消失。

How do vaccine bots work?

疫苗机器人自动程序如何工作？

Bots can be used to continuously search provider sites for the latest availabilities. The bots are often overseen by humans, who can then publicize information about the openings on Twitter or through text messages.

机器人自动程序可用于不断搜索供应商网站的最新可用性。这些机器人自动程序通常由人类监督，之后人类可以通过推特或短信公布可预约时间的相关信息。

A second kind of bot that is more worrisome to health officials is called a "scalper" bot. This kind of bot can automatically book appointments immediately when it finds them. Sometimes these appointments can be offered up for sale. So far, though, there is little evidence that scalper bots are making appointments.

另一种更令卫生官员担忧的机器人自动程序名为“黄牛党”机器人自动程序。这种机器人自动程序可以在找到可用预约后立即自动预约。有时这些预约名额可以出售。不过，到目前为止，几乎没有证据表明“黄牛党”机器人自动程序正在进行预约。

Are vaccine bots helping?

疫苗机器人自动程序有帮助吗？

Vaccine bots are helping some of the people who use them. Benjamin Shover of Stratford, New Jersey, used a bot system to help get his 70-year-old father a vaccine appointment for early March.

疫苗机器人自动程序正在帮助使用它们的人。新泽西州斯特拉特福德市的本杰明·史弗用机器人自动程序系统帮助他70岁的父亲预约了3月初的疫苗接种。

Shover learned of the availability from a message on Twitter. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I GOT MY DAD AN APPOINTMENT! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" he tweeted. The success, through the Twitter account @nj_vaccine, came a month after he registered for New Jersey's official online appointment system.

史弗从推特上得知这一信息。他在推特上写道，“谢谢您！谢谢您！谢谢您！我和我爸约好了！非常感谢！”他在注册新泽西州官方在线预约系统一个月后，通过推特账号@njèu vaccine预约成功。

Shover said his father has limited technical skills and is also physically disabled, making it difficult for him to find an appointment himself online.

史弗表示，他父亲的技术能力有限，身体也有残疾，因此他很难自己在网上找到预约。

The developer of the bot, software engineer Kenneth Hsu, said he first created it to help get an appointment for his wife's parents. Now he and other volunteers are using the bot to assist others who are frustrated by New Jersey's online appointment system.

这个机器人自动程序的开发者、软件工程师Kenneth Hsu表示，他最初创建这个机器人自动程序是为了帮助他妻子的父母预约。现在，他和其他志愿者正在用这个机器人自动程序帮助对新泽西州在线预约系统感到失望的人。

"These are people who just want to know they're on a list somewhere and they are going to be helped," Hsu said. "We want everyone vaccinated. We want to see our grandparents."

Hsu表示，“这些人只想知道他们在某个地方的名单上，他们会得到帮助。我们希望每个人都接种疫苗。我们希望我们的祖父母能接种疫苗。”

What do health officials think?

卫生官员怎么看？

Health officials in some communities have opposed the use of such bots. One bot that recently identified availabilities at a provider in a rural area of Massachusetts led many people who live in the Boston area to register for the spots.

一些社区的卫生官员反对使用这种机器人自动程序。一种机器人自动程序最近在马萨诸塞州的一个农村地区发现了一家供应商可以预约，这使得许多住在波士顿地区的人在这些地点注册。

Local officials chose to cancel all of the appointments. They changed to a private system and started spreading news about availabilities through officials and community centers.

当地官员决定取消所有预约。他们转向私人系统，并开始通过官员和社区中心传播预约可用性的有关消息。

"Our goal was to help our residents get their vaccination," said Tracy Rogers, the head of emergency preparedness for the local Massachusetts government. "But 95 percent of the appointments we had were from outside (the area)."

马萨诸塞州当地政府应急准备负责人特雷西·罗杰斯表示，“我们的目标是帮助我们的居民接种疫苗，但现在非本地人的预约占到了95%。”

One area of New Jersey added a website tool designed to confirm that visitors are human. Officials there said the tool was aimed at blocking efforts "to game" the system with a bot.

新泽西州某地区添加了一个网站工具，旨在确认访问者是人类。当地官员表示，这一工具旨在阻止用机器人自动程序“愚弄”系统的行为。

Noah Marcus created a vaccine bot that is now blocked in New Jersey. The 24-year-old computer programmer says the official appointment system is not fair. He said, "The system was already favoring the tech-savvy and the person who can just sit in front of their computer all day, hitting refresh."

诺亚·马库斯发明了一个疫苗机器人自动程序，该程序目前已被新泽西州禁用。这名24岁的电脑程序员表示，官方预约系统存在不公平。他表示，“这个系统已经向精通技术人群以及整天坐在电脑前刷新的人群倾斜。”

Words in This Story

appointment – n. a time set to meet someone or go somewhere

automatic – adj. something controlled using machines and not people

frustrate – v. make someone feel annoyed because things are not happening the way they want

resident – n. someone who lives in a particular place

savvy – adj. having practical knowledge and abilities relating to certain subjects

refresh – v. to make the most recent information on an internet website appear