新奇事件簿 机器人读报纸

Japanese scientists have created the world's first news-reading robots. They really look and act like human beings. The android newscaster even sounded human and had a sense of humour. The scientists showed two robots to reporters in Tokyo. One of them is called "Kodomoroid". This word joins the Japanese for child, "kodomo," with the English word "android". The other robot is called "Otonoaroid" – the combination¹ of the Japanese word for adult with "android". The first pieces of news read by the robots were on an imaginary² earthquake in Tokyo and a raid³ by the FBI. The robots' creator is a leading robotics professor, Hiroshi Ishiguro. He did not say when robots would read the news for real.

日本科学家已经研发出世界上第一批读报机器人。他们的外表和行为与人类很像。机器人的新闻广播员听起来很像人类，而且还有幽默感。科学家在东京向记者展示了两款机器人。其中一台机器人叫做"Kodomoroid"。这个单词是将日本表达小孩的单词"kodomo"与英语单词"android"结合起来的。另一台机器人叫做"Otonoaroid",是与日本单词中表示成年人的"android"结合起来的。机器人阅读的第一条新闻是在想象中的东京地震，及FBI袭击事件。机器人的创造者，是带头的机器人学教授Hiroshi Ishiguro。他没说何时机器人才能真正阅读新闻给人听。

Robots are big business in Japan. Many companies spend a lot of money on research and development to make robots better and better. The Japanese have a very positive image of robots. They think they are both helpful and cute. In the West, people think of them as a little scary. They worry that robots will take over the world one day and control us. Professor Ishiguro told reporters that robots are very important. He said: "We will have more and more robots in our lives in the future." He added that robots are now not so expensive and so are increasingly⁴ becoming a part of everyday life in Japan: "Robots are now becoming affordable⁵ - no different from owning a laptop," he said.

机器人在日本有广阔的市场。许多公司投资许多钱研发制作更好的机器人。日本人对于机器人有非常美好的想象。他们认为机器人实用又可爱。在西方，人们认为机器人有点吓人。他们担心机器人会在某一天占领世界，统治人类。Ishiguro教授告诉记者，机器人非常重要。他说，将来我们的生活中会有越来越多的机器人。他还说，机器人的价格现在也不是很贵，所以机器人在日本逐渐变成了日常生活的一部分。他说，人们现在买得起机器人，与买电脑没什么区别。

1 combination   

n.组合，合并，联合；

参考例句：

• He carried on the business in combination with his friends.他与朋友们合伙做生意。
• The materials can be used singly or in combination.这些材料可以单独使用也可以混合用。

2 imaginary   

adj.想象中的，假想的，虚构的，幻想的；虚数的

参考例句：

• All the characters in this book are imaginary.此书中的所有人物都是虚构的。
• The boy's fears were only imaginary.这小孩的恐惧只是一种想象。

3 raid   

v.劫掠，攫取，袭击，突击搜捕；n.突然袭击

参考例句：

• Our house was blown up in an air raid.在一次空袭中我们的房子被炸掉了。
• During their raid on the house,the police found a lot of drugs.在对这所房子的搜查中，警方发现了大量的毒品。

4 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。