Ever since the birth of it, the computer has largely changed human being’s life and there has been a hot debate about its effects on humans. Undeniably, computers have taken the place of humans in many areas and it seems that computers begin to think like man, but this does not necessarily lead to the danger that man will think like computers.
The reasons, in my opinion, are as follows. Firstly, when computers release human from repetitive tasks, humans themselves can spend more time on creative works, such as scientific research, which require imagination and cannot be completed by computers. Meanwhile, thanks to computers, humans get more spare time with their friends and family, which enhances their happiness. Moreover, even though computers can work automatically, the premise is that the program, which is written by humans, has been installed in it.
In conclusion, humans, unlike computers, have creative ability, emotional desires and social bounds. Thus, I don’t think that there will be the danger that man will begin to think like the computer.
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On Maintaining Trust
Trust is the most frequently used word when we are talking about interpersonal relationships. However, it is hard to build trust but easy to destroy it. Therefore, how to build and maintain trust is very important for us. In my opinion, some factors play a primary role in it.
First comes honesty. There’s an old saying in Chinese: once bitten, twice shy. Thus, never lie to your partners. If they find out you’re lying or cheating, the existing trust will be broken. Once broken, it’s always hard to rebuild it. Promise-keeping is the second one. If you always break your promise, you will not be trusted by others any more. Another important aspect is attitude. People with good attitude are always welcome. They show their good manners, patience, modesty, willingness to communicate and, most important of all, sincerity to others, which contributes greatly to eliminating apathy and coldness.
There are, still, other influential factors. However, from my perspective, honesty, promise-keeping and good attitude stand out among them.
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Amid all the job losses of the Great Recession, there is one category of worker that the economic disruption has been good for: nonhumans.
From self-service checkout lines at the supermarket to industrial robots armed with saws and taught to carve up animal carcasses in slaughter-houses, these ever-more-intelligent machines are now not just assisting workers but actually kicking them out of their jobs.
Automation isn’t just affecting factory workers, either. Some law firms now use artificial intelligence software to scan and read mountains of legal documents, work that previously was performed by highly paid human lawyers.
“Robots continue to have an impact on blue-collar jobs, and white-collar jobs are under attack by microprocessors,” says Edward Leamer, an economics professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast, a survey of the U.S. and California economies. Leamer says the recession permanently wiped out 2.5 million jobs. U.S. gross domestic product has climbed back to pre-recession levels, meaning we’re producing as much as before, only with 6 percent fewer workers. To be sure, robotics are not the only job killers out there, with outsourcing stealing far more gigs than automation.
Jeff Burnstein, president of the Robotics Industry Association, a trade group in Ann Arbor, Mich., argues that robots actually save U.S. jobs. His logic: companies that embrace automation might use fewer workers, but that’s still better than firing everyone and moving the work overseas.
It’s not that robots are cheaper than humans, though often they are. It’s that they are better. “In some cases the quality requirements are so stringent that even if you wanted to have a human do the job, you couldn’t,” Burnstein says.
Same goes for surgeons, who are using robotic systems to perform an ever-growing list of operations—not because the machines save money but because, thanks to the greater precision of robots, the patients recover in less time and have fewer complications, says Dr. Myriam Curet.
Surgeons may survive the robot invasion, but others at the hospital might not be so lucky, as iRobot, maker of the Roomba, a robot vacuum cleaner, has been showing off Ava, a three-foot-tall droid on wheels that carries a tablet computer. iRobot reckons Ava could be used as a courier in a hospital. And once you’re home, recovering, Ava could let you talk to your doctor, so there’s no need to send someone to your house. That “mobile telepresence” could be useful at the office. If you’re away on a trip, you can still attend a meeting. Just connect via videoconferencing software, so your face appears on Ava’s screen.
Is any job safe? I was hoping to say “journalist,” but researchers are already developing algorithms that can gather facts and write a news story. Which means that a few years from now, a robot could be writing this column. And who will read it? Well, there might be a lot of us hanging around with lots of free time on our hands.
52. What do we learn from the first few paragraphs?
答案:The robotic industry has benefited from the economic recession.
53. What caused the greatest loss of jobs in America?
答案:Moving production to other countries.
54. What does Jeff Burnstein say about robots?
答案:They compete with human workers.
55. What are robotic systems replacing surgeons in more and more operations according to Dr. Myriam Curet?
答案:They beat humans in precision.
56. What does the author imply about robotics?
答案:It will be applied in any field imaginable.
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You've now heard it so many times, you can probably repeat it in your sleep. President Obama will no doubt make the point publicly when he gets to Beijing: the Chinese need to spend more; they need to consume more; they need — believe it or not — to become more like Americans, for the sake of the global economy.
And it's all true. But the other side of that equation is that the U.S. needs