新未来大学英语 视听说教程1（智慧版） 听力脚本 Unit 6

Unit6Smartlife,betterlife?

Experiencetheworld

Listening1

Alice: Hey,John,what’snew?

John: Well…myfamilyjustgotasmartspeakerforourhome.Icanaskitanythinganditalwayshasananswer!

Alice: Wow!That’scool!Doyoulikeit?

John: Idon’tknowyet.It’sdefinitelyfun!Butasit’salwayslistening,Idon’tfeelIhaveanyprivacyanymore.

Alice: Yeah,Iunderstandyourconcern.Smarttechnologiesoftenkeeparecordofpeople’sbehavior.

John: Exactly!Itmakesmewonder:Whocanseeallofthisinformationaboutme?

Alice: That’swhysomecountriesarecreatingdataprivacylaws.Switzerland,forexample,hasverystrictdataprivacylaws.They’vealwaystakenprivacyveryseriouslythere.Butothercountriesarequitebehindondataprivacylaws.

John: Whataboutyou?Areyouworriedaboutprivacyaroundsmarttechnologies?

Alice: I’mnotsurehowIfeelaboutit.Mybiggerconcerniswhetherthesesmarttechnologieswilleverbecometoosmart.

John: Whatdoyoumean?

Alice: Whathappensifthesedevicesbecomesmarterthanweare?Whatiftheylearntothinkforthemselvesandmaketheirowndecisions?Whatmighthappenifwecouldnolongercontrolthem?

John: Huh…Ihadn’tthoughtofthat.

Listening2

Imagineacitywherethestreets,parksandbuildingschangeallthetime.Imagineiftheycouldchangeimmediatelytomeetyourneeds.That’stheideabehindanew“smartcity”project.

Inthesmartcity,therewillbecameraseverywhere.Thesecameraswillcollectinformationabouthowpeopleusepublicspaces.Thenthecitywillusethisdatatoimproveitself.

Taketransportasanexample.Manycitieshavestartedusingsmarttrafficlights.Theselightsrespondimmediatelytotrafficsituations.Butthisprojectgoesastepfurther.Inthissmartcity,theroadsthemselveswillrespondtonewconditions.Theycanquicklychangetheirsigns,andevengetwider!

Inwinter,theweatherbecomesverycold.Todealwiththis,theroadsandpathswillallbeheated.Theprojectevenincludestheideaof“raincoatsforbuildings”.These“raincoats”willappeararoundbuildingsduringpoorweather,andprotectoutsidespacesfromsnowandrain.

Forthisprojecttowork,lotsofpersonaldatawillneedtobecollected.Thisworriesmanywhoareconcernedaboutprotectingtheirprivacy.Thisisaquestionthatstillneedstobesolved.

Understandtheworld

Listening1

At35yearsold,HenryMasanehadneverbeenonline.HisvillageinruralUgandadidnothaveInternetaccess.ButanewprojecthaschangedthingsforHenry.Theprojectbringsmobilestationstoruralareas.Henry’svillagewasoneofthefirst25villagesselectedfortheprogram.Onhearingthenews,hewasveryexcitedtoseewhattheInternetwasallabout.

Themobilestationsprovidesimple,cheapInternetaccessforruralpeople.TheyallowpeoplelikeHenrytoenjoythebenefitsofbeingonline.ThefirsttimehetriedtheInternet,Henrywasamazedbythehugeamountofinformationhecouldget.Hespentmorethanfourhoursreadingthelocalnewsandwatchingagameofhisfavoritesport:football.

InternetaccessinUgandahasbeengrowingrapidlyoverthepast10years.In2010,lessthan10percentofits32.4millionpopulationwasonline.Today,thatnumberhasgrowntoover40percent.Butaccessstilldoesnotexistinmanyruralareas.GovernmentsaretryingtobringtheInternettomoreUgandanvillages.Bigtechnologycompaniesarehelping,too.

Viewing

B=Busker;M=Man;W=Woman

B: Forbuskers,it’sbeenabitofafearthatbuskingwillbecomeakindofdyingart.As,astimegoeson,peoplearecarryinglessandlesscash.Like,whatisthefutureforbuskingifit’snotacceptingcontactlesspaymentanddigitalpayment?

M: WefirststartedworkingwithBuskinLondon,whichisaLondon-focusedorganizationsupportingstreetperformers,acoupleofyearsago.Andwesetaboutsolvingaproblemwiththem,whichwasreallysimplebasically,thatstreetperformers,youknow,(were)practicingtheircraftonthestreetandwerereceivinglessandlesstakings,becauseofthatsimplethingwhicheveryoneknowsabout,whichispeoplecarrylessandlesscash.

M: Whatwashappeningispeoplewereplayingtheirsong,peoplewerewalkingbywantingtomakeapaymentoracontribution,andthestreetperformerwouldhavetostopplaying.Soitwouldkindofdefeatthewholepurpose.Sowhatwe…thisisthekindoffinalmilestoneIthinkforusin,inworkingwithBuskinLondon(is)(to)setthestreetperformerup,sothattheycansetthecardreaderuponasortofset-and-forgetmethod,sothattheycantakepaymentwithouthavingtostopplaying.

B: Iwouldsaythatmy,myearningswerestartingtodip,aspeoplewerecarryinglesscash.AndnowthatI’vegotthisalternativeoption,Icanseeitkindofgrowingalittlebit.IwouldsaynowItakeabout10–15percentofmy,myincomeonafrombuskingisoncard.Whichdoesn’tsoundlikealot,butasyouknow,whowouldturnaway15percentoftheirincome?

W: Thisis(has)beengoingonforabout18months,withreportsfrombuskers,“peoplejustsaying,‘Wedon’thavecashinourpocketsanymore.’”Thisisalovelyalternativethattheydon’thavetohavecashintheirpockets.We’renotgettingridofcash;we’remakingadifferentoptionforpeopletopay.

B: Ithinkthatitis,thereisdefinitelyafearthatbuskingwouldnolongerbepossibleifforpeopletosupportthemselvesmakingtheirartandtheirmusicandtheirperformanceonthestreet.Butnow…thisis,yeah,thisisbringingbuskingtothe21stcentury.

Note:Thisscriptisextractedfromaliveinterview.Therefore,itincludessomecolloquialexpressions.

Listening2

RurallifeinChinaoffersmanyrichexperiences.Butthedetailsofthislifeareoftenunknowntotoday’surbanpopulations.NewsmartphoneappssuchasKuaishouandDouyinarechangingthat.Theseappsallowuserstopostshortvideosonlinefastandeasily,andhavebeenahugesuccessacrossChina,especiallyinthecountryside!

Animportantreasonfortheirpopularityinthecountrysideisthattheseappsareveryeasytouse.Evensmallkidsandelderlypeoplecaneasilyfigureouthowtousethem.

Thepopularityoftheappshasbeenabsolutelyamazing.Kuaishoualonehasahugeamountofusers.Bysharingtheirdailyliveswiththeironlineaudience,individualusersinruralareascanearnmillionsoffollowers,includingmanyfrombigcities.

Theappsdosomuchmorethanteachcitypeopleaboutrurallife.Theyalsoprovideruralpeoplewithawaytoimprovetheirincome.Ruralfarmersareusingtheappstofindcustomers.Theyaresellingtheirproductstotheironlineaudience.Thisishavingapositiveeffect,andraisingtheirlivingstandards.Theseappsarechangingtheirlives.

Furtherlistening

Conversation

Erica: Hey,WangHao,isn’tthistechnologyexhibitionamazing?IjustmetateamfromJapan.Theyareworkingonsomenewsecuritytechnology.

WangHao: Whatisthat?

Erica: It’searprinttechnology!

WangHao: Earprinttechnology?Howdoesthatwork?

Erica: It’ssimilartofingerprinttechnology.Didyouknowthateveryone’searhasitsownshape?Thisshapecanbeusedtoproveyouridentity!Withthistechnology,youjustpressyoursmartphoneagainstyoureartounlockit.

WangHao: Wow!TheJapanesehavesomegreattechideas.EarlierIwastalkingwithaJapaneseteamworkingonrobots.

Erica: Yes,robotsareverypopularthere,aren’tthey?

WangHao: Theyare!Thesenewrobotsaredesignedtoworkinairports.Theycanwelcomepassengersandhelpthemwiththeirbags.Wouldn’titbefuntowalkthroughanairportwithrobots?

Erica: Well,maybe.ButI’mnotsureIlikerobots.

WangHao: That’sbecauseyouhaven’tmettherightrobotyet!Didyouknowthatsomeengineersaredevelopingafriendshiprobot?Youcanhaverealconversationswithit.Isn’tthatcool?

Erica: I’dhavetothinkaboutthat.Isitreallysatisfyingtohaveconversationswithrobots?

WangHao: Youmightbesurprised!

Passage1

Inrecentdecades,technologyhasinfluencedpeople’slivesinimportantways.Let’slookatafewinterestingexamples.

Technologyhaschangeddailylifeinurbansocieties.Forexample,inthecityofDubai,justabouteveryaspectoflifehasmovedonline.Today,peoplefindjobsandhomesonline.Theygettheirfoodandmedicineonline.Infact,thegovernmentplanstomeet90percentofpeople’severydayneedsonline.

Technologyhasalsoinfluencedfarmingsocieties.TakeNigeriaforexample.ThemajorityofNigerianworkershavejobsinthefarmingsector.TheInternetisprovidingthesefarmerswithbetterinformationabouttheweather,theirlocalplants,andnewfarmingmethods.ThesedevelopmentsarechanginghowNigerianfarmersdotheirwork.

Notalloftechnology’sinfluencesarepositive,however.InIceland,technologyhasaroletoplayinthelossoftheIcelandiclanguage.IcelandersspendalotoftimeontheInternet.Online,theyhavetocommunicateinEnglish.Asaresult,theyarelosingtouchwiththeIcelandiclanguage.ResearchersareworriedthattheInternetmaybespeedingupthelossofmanysmallerlanguagesjustlikeIcelandic.

Passage2

Thesedayseveryoneseemstobeonline.Intherichestcountries,likeGreatBritain,thisseemsespeciallytrue.ButanewsurveyofBritonsshowsthatthisisnotthecase.Actually,almostonefifthofBritonsdonotusetheInternet.ThisfindingchallengesourcommonideasaboutInternetuse.So,what’sbehindthesestrangeresults?

Accordingtothesurvey,18percentofBritonsneverusetheInternet.Thisnumberismuchhigherthanresearchersexpected.ThereareanumberoffactorsthatcancontributetopeoplenotusingtheInternet.

Oneofthemainfactorsiswealth.EventhoughtherearemanyplaceslikepubliclibrarieswhichofferInternetaccessforfree,thesepeoplestillhavefeweropportunitiestogoonline.Thisisbecausemanypoorerpeoplemaynotbeabletoaffordcomputersorsmartphones.

Anotherimportantfactorisage.Aftertheageof50,peopletendtoreducetheirInternetuse.Thisisunfortunate,becauseolderpeoplecanbenefitalotfrombeingonline.TheInternetcanprovidethemwithusefulinformationonmedicalissu