BBC听英文｜The rise of drones
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Hello I’m Rob and this is 6 Minute English– a programme that brings you an interesting topic, authentic listening practice and some vocabulary to help you improve your language skills. Joining me today is Neil.
大家好，我是罗伯。这里是六分钟英语，节目将为你带来有趣的话题，地道的听力练习以及一些词汇来帮助提高你的语言技能。今天和我一起的是尼尔。
Hello. And today we’re discussing those pilotless aircraft that we seem to be hearing and reading a lot about at the moment.
大家好。今天我们将要讨论的是当下广为传播的无人驾驶飞机。
You mean drones. And yes, they are in the news quite often for good and bad reasons. They’ve been used for many things from smuggling drugs, detecting water leaks and surveillance.
你指的是无人机。是的，不管是出于好的原因还是坏的原因，它们经常出现在新闻里。它们的用途有走私毒品，检测水泄露及监控。
And surveillance, that means ‘the act of carefully watching someone or something’, perhaps a criminal. But also it means spying, maybe on me and you, Rob. So should we be welcoming the rise of the use of drones?
Surveillance指的是仔细监视某人或某事，或许是一个罪犯。但是它同样也指暗中监视，或许是监视你我，罗伯。所以我们应该愉快地接受无人机的兴起吗？
Well, before our discussion about that ’takes off’, we need to set today’s question for you to answer, Neil.
好吧，在讨论无人机的兴起之前，我们要设置一下你今天需要回答的问题，尼尔。
What are you droning on about, Rob? And by that I don’t mean ‘flying a drone’, I mean ‘talking too much in a very boring way’!
你喋喋不休说些什么呢，罗伯。我那么说并不是指无人机飞行，而是指用很无聊的方式说太多的话。
Thanks Neil. Now just answer this, will you? Drones are sometimes also referred to as UAVs. So, what does UAV stand for? Is it… a) Unidentified aerial vehicle b) Unmanned aerial vehicle or c) Unaided aircraft vehicle
谢谢你，尼尔。现在只回答我的问题，好吗？无人机有时也会被称作UAVs。所以UAV代表什么？是 a) Unidentified aerial vehicle b) Unmanned aerial vehicle 还是 c) Unaided aircraft vehicle
Well, I’m going to go for b) unmanned aerial vehicle.
好吧，我选b) unmanned aerial vehicle。
OK, well, we’ll see if you’re right later on. Now let’s talk more about drones, which apparently seem to be everywhere now.
好的，我们稍后来看你是否正确。现在让我们多谈些关于无人机的吧，显然现在无人机似乎已经到处都是了。
But are they safe and are they necessary? I’ve heard about them being a hazard to aircraft, because they’ve been flown close to airports.
但是它们安全并且必需吗？我听说对飞机来说它们是危险的,因为它们飞得离机场很近。
Well, figures in 2016 showed that in the UK there were 70 near misses involving drones. And that’s more than double the year before. So that is a little worrying.
好吧，2016年的数字显示有70起未遂事故涉及无人机。那是2015年数量的两倍多。所以那就有些让人担忧了。
Yes. And there’s the potential risk of people’s privacy being invaded when a drone is flown over their property with a camera attached to it.
是的，并且当连接有相机的无人机在住宅上空盘旋时，人们的隐私也会有被侵犯的潜在风险。
Ah, but those cameras are also good at capturing some great aerial footage. That’s the film recording of the view from above the ground. So they’re not all bad. And Dr Yoge Patel would agree. She is CEO of Bluebear, which supplies unmanned planes and drones. Here she is speaking about drones on the BBC’s Woman’s Hour programme.
啊，但是这些相机也可以很好地捕捉到一些不错的航拍镜头。那是指空中视角下的影像记录。所以它们并不都是不好的。并且雅格•帕特尔博士表示认同。她是蓝熊公司的首席执行官。蓝熊公司供应无人驾驶飞机和无人机。这是她在BBC的“女性时间”节目中就无人机所谈到的。
They have the potential to be dangerous, agreed. They also have though, on the flip side, the ability to be a game changer in both domestic use and in military use. So, some of our drones are being used for aircraft inspections. We’ve put our drones into Fukushima.
无人机有危险的可能性，我认同这个观点。然而从另一方面来说，它们同样有可能成为家用方面和军用方面的变革力量。所以我们有一些无人机是用于飞机检查。我们已经在福岛投入了无人机。
So there you go, Neil. There are many useful things drones can do.And Dr Patel said they have the ability to be a game changer.
所以这下你懂了，尼尔。无人机能做许多有用的事情。并且帕特尔博士称无人机有可能成为变革力量。
And by that you mean ‘something that completely changes the way something is done or thought about’.
那是指可以彻底改变某些事物的完成方式或思考方式的东西。
Yes. Her company has used drones to inspect the inside of the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Power Station in Japan. And another example of drones being a game changer is UNICEF and the Malawian government testing drones for carrying medical supplies. This could help save lives in remote places.
是的，她的公司已经使用无人机来检测日本受损的福岛核电站的内部情况。无人机作为变革力量的另一个例子是联合国儿童基金会和马拉维政府试验用无人机运送医疗用品。这可以帮助救助偏远地区的人们。
And I have read that in Australia, lifeguards are using drones to help rescue swimmers, who get in trouble in the sea.
而且我还看到新闻称在澳大利亚救生员使用无人机来帮助救援那些在海里遇到麻烦的游泳者。
And have you heard about a Japanese firm that’s planning to use a drone to force employees out of their offices by playing music at them if they stay to work evening overtime?
而且你听说了吗？日本一家公司计划使用无人机来强迫员工离开办公室。如果他们晚上加班工作的话，会朝他们放音乐。
I haven’t, but you’ve convinced me. It seems like the sky’s the limit for the uses of drones! I mean there’s no limit to what they can do. But I am a little concerned about how they are regulated or controlled.
我没听说过，但你确实让我对此深信不疑。看起来无人机似乎无所不能。我是指它们能做的是无限的。但是我有一点担忧如何调节或管理它们。
Well, Dr Yoge Patel says because the technology is new, regulations or legal controls are developing all the time.
好吧，雅格•帕塔尔博士称因为这项技术是新出现的，调节或者是法规管理一直在变化。
As technology progresses, regulation and operational use needs to then be harmonised with it. And we are, as a community, going through that whole process of saying what is proportionate and appropriate regulation to go with different uses of drones.
随着科技进步，无人机的管理与使用需要和科技相协调。并且作为一个群体，我们要经历整个过程来确定什么是和无人机用途相协调的管理办法。
So she talked about regulations being harmonised as technology progresses.
所以她是说管理要和科技进步相协调。
So I think she means ‘making regulations suitable and appropriate for what the drones are being used for’. So they need some control, but not so they can’t be useful and effective.
所以我想她是指管理要和无人机用途相适应。所以无人机需要一定的管控，不那样的话，无人机就没办法高效使用了。
Like flying drones to stop you working late! Now Rob, I’m dying to know what the other name for a drone is.
就像无人机阻止你工作到很晚！现在罗伯，我很想知道无人机的另一个名字。
OK, let me tell you. So earlier I asked what does UAV stand for? Was it… a) Unidentified aerial vehicle b) Unmanned aerial vehicle or c) Unaided aircraft vehicle
好的，让我告诉你答案吧。之前我问你UAV代表什么？是a) Unidentified aerial vehicle b) Unmanned aerial vehicle 还是c) Unaided aircraft vehicle
And I said b), was that correct?
我选的B，正确吗？
Yes Neil, you know your drones. That’s correct. Well done. UAVs or drones have been around for quite a while in different forms.It’s thought they were first used for providing practice targets for training military personnel. OK Neil, let’s quickly go over some of the vocabulary we have mentioned today, starting with surveillance.
正确，尼尔，你很了解无人机啊。那是正确的。做得不错。UAVs或者无人机以不同形式问世有一阵子了。人们认为无人机初次使用是给军事人员训练当练习靶。好的，尼尔，现在让我们快速浏览一下今天提到的单词，从surveillance开始。
"The police kept the jewellery shop under surveillance, because they had a tip-off about a robbery."So that means ‘carefully watching someone or something, usually to try to stop something illegal’.
警察使珠宝店处于监控之中,因为他们得到消息会有人来抢劫。所以那指的是仔细监视某人或某事，通常是为了阻止某些非法事件。
Then we mentioned aerial footage – that’s film recording made from the sky. "The aerial footage on TV of the dolphin swimming was spectacular."
然后我们提到了aerial footage-那是在空中拍摄到的影像记录。电视上海豚游泳的航拍画面非常壮观。
Yes, drones have been a game changer for wildlife programmes on TV. That means ‘something that completely changes the way something is done or thought about’.
是的，无人机已经成为野生动物电视节目的变革力量。那指的是可以彻底改变某些事物的完成方式或思考方式的东西。
We also mentioned the phrase ’the sky’s the limit’, meaning ‘there’s no limit to something’. "The sky is the limit to what professional footballers can earn these days."
我们同样提到了'the sky's the limit'词组，指的是某事物没有限制。职业足球运动员现在挣得没数了。
Then we discussed harmonised – that describes two things being suitable for each other to allow them to work properly."The garden has been designed to harmonise with the natural landscape."
然后我们讨论了harmonised，描述的是两事物为了彼此正常工作相协调。这个公园的设计与自然景观相协调。
Very useful vocabulary, Neil. But let’s stop droning on.And that means ‘talking too much in a boring way’. See you next time. Goodbye.
非常有用的词汇，尼尔。但是我们停止喋喋不休吧。那是指用无聊的方式说太多的话。下次见。再见。
Goodbye.
再见。