2015-2016年职称英语考试理工类B级新增文章及译文

1RealWorldRobots............................................................................................................................1WhenOurEyesServeOurStomach.................................................................................................2MusicalRobotCompanionEnhancesListenerExperience..............................................................3ResearchersDiscoverWhyHumansBeganWalkingUpright..........................................................5GiantStructures.................................................................................................................................6WhyIndiaNeedsItsDyingVultures................................................................................................8BetterSolarEnergySystems:MoreHeat,MoreLight.....................................................................9WhatIsaDream?............................................................................................................................10TheBiologyofMusic.....................................................................................................................12TheApgarTest................................................................................................................................13IceCreamTasterHasSweetJob.....................................................................................................14RealWorldRobots..........................................................................................................................16LighteningStrikes...........................................................................................................................17RealWorldRobotsWhenyouthinkofarobot,doyouenvisionashiny,metallicdevicehavingthesamegeneralshapeasahumanbeing,performinghumanlikefunctions,andrespondingtoyourquestionsinamonotonevoiceaccentuatedbyhigh-pitchedtonesandbeeps?Thisisthewaymanyofusimaginearobot,butintherealworld,arobotisnothumanoidatall.Insteadarobotoftenisavoiceless,box-shapedmachinethatefficientlycarriesoutrepetitiveordangerousfunctionsusuallyperformedbyhumans.Today’srobotismorethananautomaticmachinethatperformsonetaskagainandagain.Amodernrobotisprogrammedwithvaryingdegreesofartificialintelligence—thatis,arobotcontainsacomputerprogramthattellsithowtoperformtasksassociatedwithhumanintelligence,suchasreasoning,drawingconclusions,andlearningfrompastexperience.Arobotdoesnotpossessahumanshapeforthesimplereasonthatatwo-leggedrobothasgreatdifficultyremainingbalanced.Arobotdoes,however,movefromplacetoplaceonwheelsandaxlesthatrollandrotate.Arobotevenhaslimbsthatswivelandmoveincombinationwithjointsandmotors.Tofinditswayinitssurroundings1,arobotutilizesvariousbuilt-insensors.Antennaeattachedtotherobot’sbasedetectanythingtheybumpinto.Iftherobotstartstoteeterasitmovesonanincline,agyroscopeorapenduluminsideitsensestheverticaldifferential.Todetermineitsdistancefromanobjectandhowquicklyitwillreachtheobject，therobotbouncesbeamsoflaserlightandultrasonicsoundwavesoffobstructionsinitspath2.Theseandothersensorsconstantlyfeedinformationtothecomputer,whichthenanalyzestheinformationandcorrectsoradjuststherobot’sactions.Asscienceandtechnologyadvance,therobottoowillprogressinitsfunctionsanduseofartificial-intelligenceprograms.当你想到机器人的时候，你脑海中浮现的是不是一个有着大致人类轮廓的、能够发挥像人类一样的功能，并且能用夹着高音的单调音调回答你的问题的有光泽的金属装置？很多人想象中的机器人都是这个样子的，但是，在现实世界中，机器人和人类长得一点都不像。与之相反，机器人通常是一个不会说话的盒子状机器，能够代替人类高效率地完成一些重复性的或2者危险的工作。现在的机器人不仅仅是一台能够重复同一任务的自动工具，而是具有不同程度的人工智能，也就是说，机器人内置了一个计算机程序，能够指导机器人完成与人类智能有关的任务，比如推理、得出结论，以及从过去的经验中学习。机器人不具备人形的原因是，如果机器人有两条腿的话，保持平衡会很困难。机器人的移动主要依靠轮轴结构旋转来实现。有的机器人甚至还能够通过接合点和发动机旋转和移动的臂。机器人依靠多种内置的感觉器来帮助寻找路径。连接在机器人底部的天线能够探测到机器人撞到的任何物体。在斜坡上移动的时候，如果机器人开始摇晃，机器人内部的陀螺仪和钟摆仪就会探测到水平方向的变化。机器人探测自己与其他物体的距离以及到达该物体的时间的方法是发射激光束和超声波，通过反射的信号来判断这些信息。这些探测器不断地向计算机提供信息，计算机将这些信息进行分析，从而纠正或调整机器人的进一步动作。随着科技的进步，机器人也会在功能和人工智能程序等方面上取得发展。WhenOurEyesServeOurStomachOursensesaren’tjustdelivering汪strictviewofwhat’sgoingonintheworld;they’reaffectedbywhat’sgoingoninourheads.Anewstudyfindsthathungrypeopleseefood-relatedwordsmoreclearlythanpeoplewho’vejusteaten.Psychologistshaveknownfordecadesthatwhat’sgoingon,insideourheadaffectsoursenses.Forexample,poorerchildrenthinkcoinsarelargerthantheyare,andhungrypeoplethinkpicturesoffoodarebrighter.RemiRadelofUniversityofNiceSophia-Antipolis，France，wantedtoinvestigatehowthishappens.Doesithappenrightawayasthebrainreceivessignalsfromtheeyesoralittlelaterasthebrain’shigh-levelthinkingprocessesgetinvolved.Radelrecruited42studentswithanormalbodymassindex.Onthedayofhisorhertest,eachstudentwastoldtoarriveatthelabatnoonafterthreeorfourhoursofnoteating.Thentheyweretoldtherewasadelay.Someweretoldtocomebackin10minutes;othersweregivenanhourtogetlunchfirst.Sohalfthestudentswerehungrywhentheydidtheexperimentandtheotherhalfhadjusteaten.Fortheexperiment,theparticipantlookedatacomputerscreen.Onebyone,80wordsflashedonthescreenforaboutl/300thofasecondeach.Theyflashedatsosmallasizethatthestudentscouldonlyconsciouslyperceive.Aquarterofthewordswer