随着科学技术的不断发展,机器能做的事情越来越多。它们不仅能帮人类干活,甚至还能给狗减轻负担。
The drone that barks like a dog
by Peter Holley
You have probably read about robots replacing human labor as a new era of automation takes root in one industry after another. But humans are not the only ones who might lose their jobs. In New Zealand, farmers are using drones to herd and monitor livestock, assuming a job that highly intelligent dogs have held for more than a century.
labor /ˈleɪbə(r)/ n. 劳工
era /ˈɪərə/ n. 时代
automation /ˌɔːtəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 自动化
take root 扎根、生根
New Zealand /ˈziːlənd/ 新西兰
drone /drəʊn/ n. 无人机
herd /hɜːd/ v. 放牧
monitor /ˈmɒnɪtə(r)/ v. 监控
livestock /ˈlaɪvstɒk/ n. 家畜、牲畜
assume /əˈsjuːm/ v. 承担(责任)、接管
highly /ˈhaɪli/ adv. 高度地(由high加后缀-ly变成副词)
intelligent /ɪnˈtelɪdʒ(ə)nt/ adj. 聪明的、有智力的
The robots have not replaced the dogs entirely, but they have appropriated one of the animal's most potent tools: barking. The DJI Mavic Enterprise, a $3,500 drone favored by farmers, has a feature that lets the machine record sounds and play them over a loud speaker, giving the machine the ability to mimic its canine counterparts.
entirely /ɪnˈtaɪəli/ adv. 完全地、全部地(由entire加后缀-ly变成副词)
appropriate /əˈprəʊprieɪt/ v. 盗用、挪用
potent /ˈpəʊt(ə)nt/ adj. 强大的、强有力的
tool /tuːl/ n. 工具(引申为手段)
bark /bɑːk/ v. 狗叫、犬吠
DJI 大疆公司(中国无人机制造商)
feature /ˈfiːtʃə(r)/ n. 特点、特性
speaker /ˈspiːkə(r)/ n. 扬声器、喇叭(由speak加上表示人或物的后缀-er)
mimic /ˈmɪmɪk/ v. 模仿
canine /ˈkeɪnaɪn/ adj. 狗的、跟狗有关的
counterpart /ˈkaʊntəpɑːt/ n. 职位相同者
Corey Lambeth, a shepherd on a sheep and beef farm, said the machines are surprisingly effective. "That's the one thing I've noticed when you're moving cows and calves that the old cows stand up to the dogs, but with the drones, they've never done that," he said, noting that means the drones move livestock faster, with less stress, than the dogs do.
shepherd /ˈʃepəd/ n. 牧羊人、放牧者
beef /biːf/ n. 肉牛、菜牛
surprisingly /səˈpraɪzɪŋli/ adv. 令人惊讶地、出乎意料地(由surprise的现在分词加后缀-ly变成副词)
effective /ɪˈfektɪv/ adj. 有效的(由effect加后缀-ive变成形容词)
calf /kɑːf/ n. 小牛、牛犊
stand up to someone 跟某人对峙
stress /stres/ n. 压力、精神压力
Farmers said the drones come in handy for more than just herding cows and sheep. The robots allow farmers to monitor their land from afar, monitoring water and feed levels and checking on livestock health without disturbing the animals.
come in handy /ˈhændi/ 很有用
afar /əˈfɑː(r)/ adv. 远远地
feed /fiːd/ n. 饲料
level /ˈlev(ə)l/ n. 水平、数量
check on 检查、照看
disturb /dɪˈstɜːb/ v. 打扰、干扰
Jason Rentoul, another farmer, said that a two-hour herding job that used to require two people and two teams of dogs could be accomplished in 45 minutes using a single drone. "Being a hilly farm where a lot of stuff is done on foot, the drones really saved a lot of man hours," he said. "The drone does the higher bits that you can't see from the ground, and you would otherwise have to walk half an hour to go and have a look and then go, 'Oh, there was no sheep there.' "
accomplish /əˈkʌmplɪʃ/ v. 完成、实现
single /ˈsɪŋɡ(ə)l/ adj. 单个的(在这里表示强调)
hilly /ˈhɪli/ adj. 有很多小山的(由hill加后缀-y变成形容词)
man hour 是工作量的计量单位,指一个人花一个小时完成的工作量
bit /bɪt/ n. 一部分(这里bits指部分工作)
otherwise /ˈʌðəwaɪz/ adv. 否则
Some dogs are learning to work alongside drones, identifying the machines as more co-worker than foe. "A good herding dog, he's already figured out if the drones are working on that side, I'll go to the other side and work over here," Rentoul said.
alongside /əlɒŋˈsaɪd/ prep. 跟…一起
identify /aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/ v. 识别、认出
co- 前缀,意思是共同(co-worker就是同事)
foe /fəʊ/ n. 敌人
figure out 理解、弄明白
For now, there is still a need for herding dogs, primarily because they have a longer lifespan than drones, can work in bad weather and do not require an electrical socket every few hours to recharge. "There's definitely going to be places for dogs always on farm," Lambeth said. "The one downside of the Mavic drones or anything electronic is you still need to bring them in and charge them."
primarily /praɪˈmer(ə)li/ adv. 主要地(由primary加后缀-ly变成副词)
lifespan /ˈlaɪfspæn/ n. 寿命(由life和span组成)
socket /ˈsɒkɪt/ n. 插座
recharge /riːˈtʃɑːdʒ/ v. 充电
definitely /ˈdefɪnətli/ adv. 肯定地、确定无疑地
downside /ˈdaʊnsaɪd/ n. 缺点
charge /tʃɑːdʒ/ v. 充电(在表达“充电”时,charge和recharge基本可以互换使用)
(如果您使用的是火狐浏览器,可能会发现某些行的最后一个单词被分成两半了,这是简书系统的Bug,换成Chrome或其他浏览器就能正常显示了。)
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