机器人指挥人类管弦乐队

孙启禄

在阿拉伯联合酋长国，一个机器人在一场现场表演中指挥着人类音乐家进行演奏。这个名叫Alter 3的机器人有一张类似人类的脸和两条长长的手臂。

难词探意

1. symphony/?s?mf?ni/ n. 交响乐

2. humanoid /?hju?m?n??d/ adj. 有人类特点的

3. involvement /?n?v?lvm?nt/ n. 参与

4. artificial /?ɑ?t??f??l/ adj. 人工的

5. cooperate /k????p?re?t/ v. 合作;协作

The conductor on the podium（指挥台） has no baton （指挥棒）， no tailcoat and no musical score， but Android Alter 3 is kicking up a storm as it guides a symphony orchestras players through their paces.

The robot has a humanoid face， hands and lower arms， which gesture with what could pass for passion as it bounces up and down and rotates during the live performance of Keiichiro Shibuyas opera Scary Beauty in the Emirate of Sharjah.

Video from the recent performance in the Emirate of Sharjah showed the machine turning to face orchestra members and waving its arms. Alter 3 even sang at times.

Shibuya said the involvement of robots in the everyday lives of humans is continually increasing. But， he said he thinks people will need to decide in the future how artificial intelligence can best improve the human experience.

Shibuya added that he believes humans and robots can learn to work together to create beautiful art. “This work is a metaphor （暗喻） of the relations between humans and technology，” he said. Shibuya noted that sometimes the music?leading robot can “get crazy”， making it difficult for the musicians to keep up. But other times， the humans and machines cooperate very well.

Shibuya said the robots and AI that exist today are “far from complete”. He is interested in studying how such incomplete technology can be combined with art.

“I think this is a very exciting idea...We came to see what it looks like and how much is possible，” said Anna Kovacevic. Another audience member， who gave his name only as Billum， said after the show， “You know， a human conductor is so much better.” Although he said he is interested in AI and looks forward to big developments， he noted of the project： “The human touch is lost.”

Reading Check

1. What does the underlined “it” in paragraph 1 refer to？

A. The podium. B. The conductor.

C. The baton. D. The tailcoat.

2. What does Shibuya think of Alter 3？

A. It is not perfect at present.

B. It teams up with humans well.

C. It often makes humans crazy.

D. It is better than human conductors.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph？

A. The performance drew mixed reactions.

B. Billum took no interest in the performance.

C. The audience thought Alter 3 would have a bright future.

D. The audience were fascinated by the performance.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

Shibuya noted that sometimes the music?leading robot can“get crazy”， making it difficult for the musicians to keep up.

【信息提取】本句是一个复合句。Shibuya noted是主句，that引导的是宾语从句， making...to keep up是动词?ing形式构成的动词短语作结果状语，其中it是形式宾语，difficult是宾语补足语，动词不定式的复合结构是真正的宾语。

【句式仿写】中国修建了更多的高速铁路，这使人们的出行更加方便。

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