新闻周刊:马斯克的豪赌:特斯拉能为汽车制造带来革新吗?(7)

One would think that as high-tech¹ companies excised² workers from the economy, they would at least treat those they continue to employ with some consideration. But Silicon³ Valley’s famous table tennis and smoothies perks⁴ don’t extend to the blue-collar jobs in the region. Reports have detailed⁵ how Tesla workers have faced safety risks (including injuries that the company didn’t properly report), excessive hours (Red Bulls were reportedly handed out to workers to keep them on their feet) and filthy⁶ conditions (some workers allegedly had to move through a raw sewage spill to keep the assembly lines going). The United Auto⁷ Workers has accused Tesla of union-busting tactics, and in March the National Labor⁸ Relations Board filed a second complaint against the company.

有人会认为，高科技公司随着经济发展不再需要人类员工，至少会对那些继续聘用的员工有所考虑。但硅谷著名的乒乓球和果汁福利并不包括该地区的蓝领工作。报告详细描述了特斯拉员工如何面临安全风险(包括公司没有正确报告的伤害)，工作时间过长(据报道，公司给工人分发红牛以便保持站立)，以及肮脏的环境(据称，一些工人不得不穿过未经处理的污水溢出处，以维持装配线的运转)。美国汽车工人联合会指责特斯拉采取破坏工会的策略，今年3月，美国国家劳资关系委员会对该公司提起了第二起诉讼。

Such erosion of labor standards and job displacement⁹ is a concern across all of America’s industries, of course. But high-tech companies are making the displacement of humans a central mission and executing it with stunning¹⁰ efficiency. “Silicon Valley could be a big contributor to a manufacturing rebirth in the U.S.,” says Chuck Darrah, an anthropology¹¹ professor at San Jose State University in the heart of valley who studies the region’s high-tech industry. “But so much of it now is about automation, and the price of robots in the U.S. is pretty much the same as in China and Mexico.”

当然，这种劳动标准的下降和工作岗位的流失是美国所有行业都关心的问题。但高科技公司正把取代人类作为一项核心任务，并以惊人的效率执行这项任务。“硅谷可能是美国制造业复兴的重要贡献者。位于硅谷中心的圣何塞州立大学研究该地区高科技产业的人类学教授查克?达拉表示。“但现在很多都是自动化，美国的机器人价格与中国和墨西哥差不多。”

In other words, labor may be cheaper overseas, but robots aren’t, so why not just replace workers with smart machines and build it here?

换句话说，海外劳动力可能更便宜，但机器人不是，所以为什么不干脆用智能机器取代工人，在这里生产呢?

So where does that leave American workers who lose their jobs? Many of Silicon Valley’s successful insiders favor a “universal basic income” scheme, in which the government would send everyone in America a monthly check for around $2,000. “People here understand that if they can’t find a solution to the job loss they’re causing, they could face a civil uprising,” says ResetSecurity’s Lackey¹². “They’re so worried about it that they’re also buying houses in the middle of nowhere, like New Zealand or Wyoming.”

那么，那些失去工作的美国工人该怎么办呢? 许多硅谷成功的内部人士支持一项“普遍基本收入”计划，在该计划中，政府每月给每个美国人发一张大约2000美元的支票。ResetSecurity公司的拉基说:“这里的人们明白，如果他们无法找到解决失业问题的办法，他们可能会面临一场国内起义。他们非常担心这个问题，甚至还在新西兰或怀俄明州等偏远地区买房。”

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 excised   

v.切除，删去( excise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Certain passages were excised from the book. 书中某些段落已删去。
• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。 来自辞典例句

3 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

4 perks   

额外津贴，附带福利，外快( perk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perks offered by the firm include a car and free health insurance. 公司给予的额外待遇包括一辆汽车和免费健康保险。
• Are there any perks that go with your job? 你的工作有什么津贴吗？

5 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

6 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

7 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

8 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。

9 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

10 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

11 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

12 lackey   

n.侍从；跟班

参考例句：

• I'm not staying as a paid lackey to act as your yes-man.我不要再做拿钱任你使唤的应声虫。
• Who would have thought that Fredo would become a lackey of women?谁能料到弗烈特竟堕落成女人脚下的哈叭狗？