新奇事件簿 亚马逊语音助手可提供健康建议

Technology has taken another step in helping¹ us with our healthcare. We can now ask the digital device Alexa for advice if we are worried about our health. Alexa is a virtual assistant created by the website Amazon.com. It is capable of listening to people and answering their questions. As well as voice interaction capabilities², Alexa can make to-do lists, play music upon voice request, and give us the latest news. Now Alexa can answer our health queries³. Amazon has linked up with the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK to add a health advice capability⁴ to the software. Alexa will be able to search the NHS website for information and find an answer that is agreed on by many health experts.

科技在帮助我们的医疗保健方面又迈出了一步。如果我们担心自己的健康，我们现在向数字设备Alexa寻求建议。Alexa是由Amazon.com创造的一个虚拟助手。它能够倾听并回答人们的问题。Alexa还具备语音交互功能，它可以根据语音要求列任务清单、播放音乐并为我们放送最近新闻。现在Alexa可以回答我们的健康问题。亚马逊公司与英国国民医疗服务体系（NHS）合作为这款软件添加了健康建议功能。Alexa将能够在NHS网站上搜索信息并找到多数健康专家都同意的答案。

Alexa's new health advice capability has been met with a mixed response. The UK Health Secretary said: "Technology like this is a great example of how people can access reliable, world-leading advice from the comfort of their home, reducing the pressure on our hardworking doctors and pharmacists." He added: "We want to empower every patient to take better control of their healthcare." Other people say we need to be careful about trusting the advice of a piece of software. They say we must go to a human doctor if we have serious health problems. Other people are concerned about privacy. The group Big Brother Watch is worried about hacking⁵. It said: "It's a data protection disaster waiting to happen."

Alexa的新健康建议功能得到了不同的回应。英国卫生部长表示：“像这样的科技就是一个很好的例子，说明人们可以在自己的家中获得可靠的、世界顶级的建议，减轻我们辛勤工作的医生和药剂师的压力。”他补充道：“我们想让每位病人都能更好地控制自己的医疗保健。”其他人表示我们需要小心，不要轻易相信一款软件给出的建议。他们表示，如果我们有严重的健康问题，那么我们必须去看医生。其他人担心隐私问题。监察组织Big Brother Watch担心黑客入侵。其表示：“这是一场即将发生的数据保护灾难。”

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 queries   

n.问题( query的名词复数 )；疑问；询问；问号v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 )；询问

参考例句：

• Our assistants will be happy to answer your queries. 我们的助理很乐意回答诸位的问题。
• Her queries were rhetorical,and best ignored. 她的质问只不过是说说而已，最好不予理睬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

5 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。