VOA常速英语2020--新冠病毒时期,机器人大放异彩

Starship technologies delivery robots attract the paparazzi everywhere they go. These local celebrities¹ are delivering for broad branch Market in Washington DC. Oh my gosh. Tracy standard is the owner. This is what I do. They just send me this. Like I don't have enough videos of the robots, but everybody loves them look how cute there. The market does not normally deliver, but in March the city issued orders for social distancing to tamp² down the spread of the corona³ virus. It was getting a little too risky⁴ to have so many people in the market because we would get super busy. We want to keep people outside, and then the bots seemed like a great option. The robots can carry about nine kilograms and deliver to about a five kilometer radius⁵. Customer Rob Oaken says it's good for what would normally be a quick trip to the market.

Starship Technologies科技公司研发的送货机器人无论走到哪里都会吸引眼球。这些当地名人正在为华盛顿的分支市场提供服务。哦，天哪。Tracy standard是产品负责人。我就是干这个的。他们给了我这个。就像我没有足够的机器人视频，但是每个人都喜欢它们，看那里多可爱。市场通常不会交货，但今年3月，该市发布了命令，必须保持社交距离以遏制新冠病毒的传播。市场上人流攒动，我们会忙得不可开交，但这有点太冒风险了，我们不想让人们进入市场，然后机器人似乎是一个很好的选择。这些机器人可以携带约9公斤的货物，并能运送到半径约5公里的地方。顾客Rob Oaken说，这通常有利于快速开拓市场。

I love the fact that all come right to my house and that I don't even have to go into the store. It was actually super easy and it makes it a lot safer to keep social distancing. Other companies including Kiwi BOTS postmates and of course Amazon are also doing robot deliveries, but the industry has struggled to make money. Robotics companies in general are having a hard time, according to the trade group Silicon⁶ Valley robotics managing director Andrew Kay. I'm seeing robotics companies shut down even in the last month but particularly in the last year, because they were too early for the market. Where robots are really stepping up is doing dirty and dangerous jobs according to the Association for advancing automation a trade group. Jeff Bernstein is president. Disinfected robots were in distance if you right now are in hospital, office or a warehouse⁷. You probably would like to have a robot to do the disinfecting so that people don't have to go in there and do that makes it safe before the people come in to work. Robots are zapping germs in a Belgian hospital and spraying disinfectant in the Hong Kong subway. They're delivering food and medicine in hospitals in India and Thailand so that health workers can keep their distance, And maybe those are the best places for robots right now, managing deliveries in the outside world is hard and full of pitfalls⁸. Sidewalks are tricky⁹ but people are trickier¹⁰. It'll be easier for the next generation theirs and ours. Steve Baragona VOA news Washington.

我认可这个现状，所有我需要的东西都会送货上门，我甚至不需要去商店。实际上，这会使保持社交距离变得非常容易，并且更加安全。包括Kiwibot公司，Postmates和亚马逊在内的其他公司也在使用机器人配送，但这个行业已经很难赚钱了。机器人技术公司的日子一般都不好过，据硅谷贸易组织机器人公司董事总经理安德鲁·凯所言。我看到机器人公司甚至在上个月就倒闭了，去年更为明显。因为对市场来说发展起来还为时过早了。根据美国先进自动化协会的说法，机器人在做的工作是真的肮脏和危险。杰夫·伯恩斯坦是协会主席。如果你现在在医院、办公室或仓库，消毒过的机器人就在远处。你可能会希望有一个机器人来做消毒工作，这样在人们来上班之前就不必进去做这种消毒工作了，也保证了安全。在比利时的一家医院里，机器人正在清除细菌，在香港地铁里喷洒消毒剂。在印度和泰国的医院里运送食品和药品，这样医务人员就可以与他们保持距离，或许目前的这些地方是最用得着机器人的，管理外界的快递是困难的，而且充满了陷阱。人行道处理起来是棘手的，但与人打交道更加棘手。对我们和他们的下一代来说更容易。美国之音华盛顿新闻。

1 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

2 tamp   

v.捣实，砸实

参考例句：

• Then I tamp down the soil with the back of a rake.然后我用耙子的背将土壤拍实。
• Philpott tamped a wad of tobacco into his pipe.菲尔波特往烟斗里塞了一卷碎烟叶。

3 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

4 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

5 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

6 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。

7 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

8 pitfalls   

（捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误

参考例句：

• the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套
• Several pitfalls remain in the way of an agreement. 在达成协议的进程中还有几个隐藏的困难。

9 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

10 trickier   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的比较级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• This is the general rule, but some cases are trickier than others. 以上是一般规则，但某些案例会比别的案例更为棘手。 来自互联网
• The lower the numbers go, the trickier the problems get. 武器的数量越低，问题就越复杂。 来自互联网