VOA常速英语2015--高中生参与机器人设计竞赛（在线收听）

High School Students Compete in Robot Building 高中生参与机器人设计竞赛

Call it the geek Superbowl. Six-hundred and eight teams of high school students from 40 countries competed last week in St. Louis, Missouri, to build robots capable of performing tasks related to recycling. Each team had to use the same set of parts and were given only weeks to build their robots.

A crowd of 40,000 cheered while the competitors nervously watched their robots maneuvering around the field with almost athletic precision, picking up empty recycle bins and stacking them in designated areas, with a trash can balanced on top.

当参赛者紧张的看着他们的机器人的时候，四万名观众一起喝彩，这些机器人在场地周围以几乎准确地进行活动，他们捡起空的可回收易拉罐并且将他们叠在指定的区域，这些垃圾能够平衡地达到顶端。

It’s been like this since 1992, high school teams, robots and their fans gather on Einstein Field, in St. Louis, Missouri, for the annual world championship, known by its acronym, FIRST.

从1992年就开始有这样的竞赛了，高中生队伍，机器人还有他们的粉丝齐聚于爱因斯坦广场，这是在密苏里州的圣路易斯，每年一度的世界锦标赛，其首字母缩写广为人知，FIRST。

Robots had to catch and dispose of plastic pool noodles representing trash.

机器人必须抓住并且将塑料条代表的垃圾放到指定位置。

Like any competition there was the agony of defeat ... breakdowns, with teams working feverishly to repair their robots and get them back on the field.

和任何竞赛一样，都会有凄惨的失败。。。那就是机器人故障，队伍正在心急火燎地维修他们的机器人并且让他们重新上场。

But with championships in eight subdivisions, there were also plenty of winners.

但是八强赛的队伍，他们都有各种胜利。

Christopher Pulicken was the driver for Team 118, “The Robonauts,” a part of the winning alliance.

Christopher Pulicken时118号队伍的操纵员，队伍名字叫“Robonauts”，他们就是胜利联盟的一分子。

“I feel amazing right now," "We have been striving to get this world championship for 18,19, 20 years and counting. It’s always escaped us but now, now it hasn’t.”

“我现在感觉很棒。”“我们在这个比赛中已经奋斗了18，19，20年了，而且还在计数。我们经常错失胜利，但是现在我们赢了。“

The competition began with local and regional events, and the most advanced teams came to the U.S. to compete in different challenges.

竞标赛由当地赛和区域赛开始，最先进的队伍将会去美国挑战不同的任务。

These games got Bethany Rispoli, of Team 225, “Tech Fire,” into science and math.

这些比赛让225号队伍，“科技之火”的Bethany Rispoli热爱起科学和数学。

“It showed me that engineering, technology, science and math can be so much more than just paper doing problems," "It showed me that it can be exciting, it can be just as fun as any sports any time.”

“这个比赛让我看到工程学，技术，科学还有数学可以做更多的事情，而不只是解决书面问题。”“它让我看到它能够非常令人兴奋。它在任何时候和其他任何体育运动一样有趣。”

The technical mentor for Team 254, E.J. Sabathia, started as a member of the same team 15 years ago. He’s now an engineer at Tesla Motors.

254号队伍的技术指导，E.J.Sabathia，十五年前就是这个队伍的一员。他现在是特斯拉汽车的一名工程师。

“I want these kids to be able to see professionals doing those things day in and day out," "See that we’re normal people and see where they can go.”

“我想让这些孩子每天都能够看到专业设计机器人的过程。““看到我们是普通人并且看到我们能走多远。“

Another engineer who started as a teenage robot competitor in FIRST is Mason Markee, who now works at NASA.

另外一个在FIRST作为初始机器人竞赛参赛青年的人是Mason Markee，他现在为美国宇航局工作。

“My whole lab is full of old FIRSTers," "You know, people who have done this before. That makes an incredible thing .. We just got a trophy out here. Isn’t that awesome?”

“我的整个实验室充满了老的FIRST参赛选手。”“你知道，他们之前就是做这个的。这产生了一个不可思议的现象。。。我们在那刚获得了一个奖杯。这难道不美妙吗？“

This year’s coveted FIRST Robotics Competition was won by one team from Texas and three teams from California.

今年的令人眼热的FIRST机器人竞赛的胜利者是一个德克萨斯的队伍和三个加州的队伍。