四級長篇閱讀專項訓練題原文

　　Robot Management

　　A. Robots have been the stuff of science fiction for so long that it is surprisingly hard to see them as the stuff of management fact. A Czech playwright, Karel Capek, gave them their name in 1920 (from the Slavonic word for "work" ). An American writer, Isaac Asimov, confronted them with their most memorable dilemmas.

　　Hollywood turned them into superheroes and supervillains. When some film critics drew up lists of Hollywood's 50 greatest good guys and 50 greatest baddies, the only character to appear on both lists was a robot, the Terminator.

　　B. It is time for management thinkers to catch up with science-fiction writers. Robots have been doing auxiliary jobs on production lines since the 1960s. The world already has more than lm industrial robots. There is now an acceleration in the rates at which they are becoming both cleverer and cheaper: an explosive combination.

　　Robots are learning to interact with the world around them. Their ability to see things is getting ever closer to that of humans, as is their capacity to ingest information and act on it. Tomorrow's robots will increasingly take on delicate, complex tasks. And instead of being imprisoned in cages to stop them colliding with people, they will be free to wander.

　　C. America's armed forces have blazed a trail here. They now have no fewer than 12,000 robots serving in their ranks. Peter Singer, of the Brookings Institution, a think-tank (智囊團), says mankind's 5,000-year monopoly on the fighting of war is breaking down. Recent additions to the battlefield include tiny "insects" that perform reconnaissance (偵查) missions and giant "dogs" to terrify enemies. The Pentagon is also working on the EATR, a robot that fuels itself by eating whatever biomass (生物量) it finds around it.

　　D. But the civilian world cannot be far behind. Who better to clean sewers or suck up nuclear waste than these remarkable machines? The Japanese have made surprisingly little use of robots to clear up after the recent earthquake, given their world leadership in this area. They say that they had the wrong sort of robots in the wrong places. But they have issued a global call for robotic assistance and are likely to put more robots to work shortly.

　　E. As robots advance into the service industries they are starting to look less like machines and more like living creatures. The Paro (made by AIST, a Japanese research agency) is shaped like a baby seal and responds to attention. Honda's robot, ASIMO, is humanoid and can walk, talk and respond to commands.

　　F.Until now executives have largely ignored robots, regarding them as an engineering rather than a management problem. This cannot go on: robots are becoming too powerful and ubiquitous (無處不在的). Companies may need to rethink their strategies as they gain access to these new sorts of workers. Do they really need to outsource production to China, for example, when they have clever machines that work ceaselessly without pay? They certainly need to rethink their human-resources policies--starting by questioning whether they should have departments devoted to purely human resources.

　　G.The first issue is how to manage the robots themselves. Asimov laid down the basic rule in 1942: no robot should harm a human. This rule has been reinforced by recent technological improvements: robots are now much more sensitive to their surroundings and can be instructed to avoid hitting people. But the Pentagon's plans make all this a bit more complicated: many of its robots will be, in essence, killing machines.

　　H. A second question is how to manage the homo side of homo-robo relations. Workers have always worried that new technologies will take away their livelihoods, ever since the original Luddites' fears about mechanised looms. That worry takes on a particularly intense form when the machines come with a human face: Capek's play that gave robots their name depicted a world in which they initially brought lots of benefits but eventually led to mass unemployment and discontent. Now, the arrival of increasingly humanoid automatons in workplaces, in an era of high unemployment, is bound to provoke a reaction.

　　I.So, companies will need to work hard to persuade workers that robots are productivity-enhancers, not just job- eating aliens. They need to show employees that the robot sitting alongside them can be more of a helpmate than a threat. Audi has been particularly successful in introducing industrial robots because the carmaker asked workers to identify areas where robots could improve performance and then gave those workers jobs overseeing the robots. Employers also need to explain that robots can help preserve manufacturing jobs in the rich world: one reason why Germany has lost fewer such jobs than Britain is that it has five times as many robots for every 10,000 workers.

　　J.These two principles--don't let robots hurt or frighten people--are relatively simple. Robot scientists are tackling more complicated problems as robots become more sophisticated. They are keen to avoid hierarchies (層級) among rescue-robots (because the loss of the leader would render the rest redundant). So they are using game theory to make sure the robots can communicate with each other in egalitarian (平等) ways. They are keen to avoid duplication between robots and their human handlers. So they are producing more complicated mathematical formulae in order that robots can constantly adjust themselves to human intentions.

　　This suggests that the world could be on the verge of a great management revolution: making robots behave like humans rather than the 20th century's preferred option, making humans behave like robots.

　　四級長篇閱讀專項訓練題選項

　　46. Tomorrow's robots will be free to move around rather than being locked up in cages so as not to hurt people.

　　47. It is not easy for people to regard robots as management stuff, for the later are mostly seen in science fictions.

　　48. Robots appear more like living creatures as they enter into the service industry.

　　49. According to the Pentagon's plans, many of its robots will essentially become killing machines.

　　50. The Japanese didn't use a lot of robots to clear up after the recent earthquake, considering their world leadership in the robot field.

　　51. Companies should show their workers that robots can be more of a helper rather than a threat to them.

　　52. The fact that more and more human-like robots are used in workplaces will surely arouse reaction in a time of high unemployment.

　　53. Robots, who are considered as an engineering instead of a management problem, have been largely neglected by executives.

　　54. Scientists are trying to enable robots to constantly adjust themselves to people's intenlions.

　　55. The example that Germany has lost fewer manufacturing jobs than Britain shows that robots can help preserve manufacturing jobs in the rich world.

　　四級長篇閱讀專項訓練題答案

　　46.B

　　解析：題干意為，未來的機器人將能夠自由活動，而不是被關起來以防止傷害人類。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息tomorrow’s robots、free to move around和hurt people。文中論及機器人未來發展趨勢的內容出 現在B段，該段末句提到，機器人將不會再被關起來以防止發生人機之間的沖突，它們將可以自由移動。由此可知，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為B。

　　47.A

　　解析：題于意為，人們很難想象機器人是能夠被管理的事物，因為它們一直都是出現在科幻小說中。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息not easy、management stuff和science fictions。文中A段首句提到，很久以來，機器人都被認為是科幻小說里的東西，因此人們很難想象它們能夠被管理。由此可知，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為A。

　　48.E

　　解析：題干意為，當機器人進入服務產業時，它們往往看起來更像生物。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息more like living creatures和enter into the service industry。文中論及機器人在服務業中表現的內容出現在E段，該段首句提到，隨著機器人進入到服務產業，它們開始變得不那么像機器，而更像生物了。接下來的第二句和第三句用兩個例子來證明這一觀點。由此可知，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為E。

　　49.G

　　解析：題干意為，依據五角大樓的計劃，它們所制造的很多機器人在本質上都會成為殺人機器。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息Pentagon’s plans、many of its robots和killing machines。文中G段論述了與五角大樓的計劃相關的內容，該段提到了機器人管理的基本原則，即機器人不能傷害人類，該段末句提到，但是五角大樓的計劃使得這一切變得更為復雜：從本質上來說，它們所制造的機器人有很多將成為殺人機器。由此可知，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為G。

　　50.D

　　解析：題干意為，鑒于其在機器人領域的世界領先地位，日本在近期的一次地震后并沒有大量使用機器人來完成清理工作。注意抓住題千中的關鍵信息Japanese、clear up after the recent earthquake和world leadershipinthe robotfield。文中論及日本使用清潔機器人的內容出現在D段，該段第三句提到，日本人在近期的一次震后清理中所用的機器人數量驚人地少，即使他們在這一領域一直處于世界領先地位。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為D。

　　51.I

　　解析：題干意為，企業應該向員工們展示，機器人對他們來說，更多的是起到幫手的作用，而不是威脅。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息Companies、workers和a helper ratherthan athreat。文中論及企業、員工和機器人關系的內容出現在1段，該段第二句提到，它們需要展現給員工們看：坐在他們身邊的機器人更多的是他們的幫手，而不是威脅。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為I。

　　52.H

　　解析：題干意為，在目前這樣一個高失業率的年代，越來越多的類人機器人被用于工作場所的事實必然會引起一些反對。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息human.1ike robots are used in workplaces和arouse reactionin atimeofhigh unemployment。文中論及高失業率以及機器人在工作場所的使用的內容出現在H段，該段末句提到，在現在這樣一個高失業率的時代，工作場所越來越多地使用類人機器人必然會激起反對。原文中的humanoid automatons對應題干中的human—like robots。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為H。

　　53.F

　　解析：題干意為，管理人員在很大程度上忽視了機器人，他們把機器人當做工程問題而不是管理問題。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息anengineeringinsteadofamanagementproblem和largelyneglectedbyexecutives。

　　文中第F段對機器人管理問題進行論述，該段首句提到，時至今日，管理人員一直在很大程度上忽視了機器人，把它們當做工程問題而不是管理問題。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為F。

　　54.J

　　解析：題干意為，科學家們正在試圖使機器人可以根據人們的意愿不斷地進行自我調節。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息scientists和constantly adjustthemselves。文中提及機器人可以進行自我調節的內容出現在J段，該段第六句提到科學家們正在計算更多復雜的數學公式以使機器人能夠依照人類的意愿不斷地進行自我調節。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為J。

　　55.I

　　解析：題干意為，德國失去的生產崗位比英國要少的例子表明，機器人能夠幫助保留富裕國家的生產崗位。注意抓住題干中的關鍵信息Germany、Britain、fewer manufacturingjobs和help preserve manufacturingjobs。文中對比英德兩國制造業崗位的內容出現在1段，該段末句提到，企業還需要闡明機器人有助于保留富裕國家的生產崗位：德國之所以沒有像英國一樣喪失如此之多的生產崗位，原因之一就是，在德國每一萬名工人所對應的機器人數量是英國的5倍。由此可見，題干是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為I。