VOA慢速英语2014 世界杯后开始机器人杯

 

AS IT IS 2014-07-13 Move over World Cup, Time for RoboCup 世界杯后开始机器人杯

The end of the World Cup does not mean the end of international competition in Brazil this year.  A major football event will happen in the South American country later this month, but with teams of robots playing the game -- which is known¹ as soccer in the United² States.  The robot teams are guided by teams of humans from around the world.  The event is known as RoboCup.

Technology students at the University of Pennsylvania are trying for their fourth victory³ at the competition, which is held this year in the coastal⁴ city Joao Pessoa. The students have won the last three RoboCup competitions.

Watching robots play football is similar to watching children play the game -- the kicks are not good, there is a lot of falling down, and people are there to guide and support the team members.

Jian Qiao Li is one of the leaders of the University of Pennsylvania team.  He says one goal he has for the robot team is to make sure the machines can find the goal and the ball.  He also wants the robots to be able to know where they are on the playing field.  And he wants the team to be able to better-control the walking and kicking abilities of the robots.

Qin He is another leader of the robot team.  She says the abilities of the robots increase every year.  Ms. He says the U.S. team is meeting its goals: the robots know the difference between the colors green and red, and they can decide where to go and where the ball is on the playing field.  She says the robots are self-learning and do not need to be told what to do.  She says if there are three robot players on the field at the same time, they will communicate with each other to decide the different responsibilities⁵ for each robot.

U.S. team member Christopher Akatsuka hopes for another victory in Brazil. The team has won the RoboCup the past three years, in the Netherlands, Mexico and Turkey.

“They have very good team play right now.  As long as their detection⁶ is good, I think they’ll be very competitive⁷, we just hope to compete against real good German teams, because the Germans always do very well.”

Mr. Akatsuka says Robocup is an exciting technology competition.

“Each team develops their own software -- basically⁸ it’s a competition of who has the best software, who has the best decision-making at a given point. It’s really exciting.”

The event begins July 19th and ends July 25th. Some RoboCup participants⁹ hope to develop a team of robots that can play against humans by 2050.

1 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

2 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

3 victory   

n.胜利，成功

参考例句：

• Victory will never come if we only wait for it.如果我们光是等待，胜利永远不会到来。
• It can't be questioned that we will win the final victory.我们将最终取得胜利，这是确定无疑的。

4 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

5 responsibilities   

责任( responsibility的名词复数 )； 职责； 责任感； 责任心

参考例句：

• the disproportion between the extra responsibilities and the small salary increase 额外的责任与小幅增加的薪金之间的不相称
• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。

6 detection   

n.察觉，发觉；侦查，探测

参考例句：

• He tried to escape detection by disguising himself as an old man.他企图乔装一老人逃过侦察者的耳目。
• The nose is a remarkable sensitive detection device.嗅觉是一种非常灵敏的控测器官。

7 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

8 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

9 participants   

参加者，参与者； 参加者，参与者( participant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Participants were categorized according to age. 参加者按年龄分组。
• However, there were two disagreements among some Asian and European participants at the colloquium. 然而，与会的亚洲和欧洲代表在两方面出现意见分歧。