【7A版】2012年12月英语六级阅读真题及解析.pdf

7A版优质实用文档

20GG年12月大学英语六级考试真题

PassageOne

Questions52to56arebasedonthefollowingpassage.

Amidallthejoblosses,there’sonecategoryofworkerthattheeconomic

disruptionhasbeengoodfor:nonhumans.

Fromself-servicecheckoutlinesatthesupermarkettoindustrialrobotsar

medwithsawsandtaughttocarveupanimalbodiesinslaughter-houses,thes

eever-more-intelligentmachinesarenownotjustassistingworkersbutactual

lykickingthemoutoftheirjobs.

Automationisn’tjustaffectingfactoryworkers,either.Somelawfirmsno

wuseartificialintelligencesoftwaretoscanandreadmountainsoflegaldocu

ments,workthatpreviouslywasperformedbyhighly-paidhumanlawyers.

“Robotscontinuetohaveanimpactonblue-collarjobs,andwhite-collarj

obsareunderattackbymicroprocessors,”sayseconomicsprofessorEdward

Leamer.Therecessionpermanentlywipedout2.5millionjobs.U.S.grossdom

esticproducthasclimbedbacktopre-recessionlevels,meaningwe’reprodu

cingasmuchasbefore,onlywith6%fewerworkers.Tobesure,roboticsarenott

heonlyjobkillersoutthere,withoutsourcin(外

包)stealingfarmorejobsthanautomation.

JeffBurnstein,presidentoftheRoboticsIndustryAssociation,arguesthatrob

otsactuallysaveU.S.jobs.Hislogic:companiesthatembraceautomationmi

htusefewerworkers,butthat’sstillbetterthanfiringeveryoneandmovingth

eworkoverseas.

7A版优质实用文档

7A版优质实用文档

It’snotthatrobotsarecheaperthanhumans,thoughoftentheyare.It’st

hatthey’rebetter.“InsomecasesthequalityrequirementsaresoeGactingt

hatevenifyouwantedtohaveahumandothejob,youcouldn’t,”Burnsteins

ays.

Samegoesforsurgeons,who’reusingroboticsystemstoperformaneve

r-growinglistofoperations—notbecausethemachinessavemoneybutbeca

use,thankstothegreaterprecisionofrobots,thepatientsrecoverinlesstimea

ndhavefewercomplications,saysDr.MyriamCuret.

Surgeonsmaysurvivetherobotinvasion,butothersatthehospitalmightnotb

esolucky,asiRobot,makeroftheRoomba,arobotvacuumcleaner,hasbeensh

owin