2018年考研英语一阅读 Text 1 原文翻译及答案解析

Among the annoying challenges facing the middle class is one that will probably go unmentioned in the next presidential campaign: What happens when the robots come for their jobs?

中产阶级面临的令人烦恼的挑战之一，很可能在下一届总统竞选中被忽略：当机器人来抢他们的工作时，会发生什么？

Don't dismiss that possibility entirely. About half of U.S. jobs are at high risk of being automated, according to a University of Oxford study, with the middle class disproportionately squeezed. Lower-income jobs like gardening or day care don't appeal to robots. But many middle-class occupations - trucking, financial advice, software engineering - have aroused their interest, or soon will. The rich own the robots, so they will be fine.

不要完全忽视这种可能性。根据牛津大学的一项研究，大约一半的美国工作面临高风险被自动化，中产阶级受到不成比例的挤压。像园艺或日托这样的低收入工作对机器人没有吸引力。但许多中产阶级职业——卡车运输、财务咨询、软件工程——已经引起了它们的兴趣，或者很快就会。富人拥有机器人，所以他们会没事的。

This isn't to be alarmist. Optimists point out that technological upheaval has benefited workers in the past. The Industrial Revolution didn't go so well for Luddites whose jobs were displaced by mechanized looms, but it eventually raised living standards and created more jobs than it destroyed. Likewise, automation should eventually boost productivity, stimulate demand by driving down prices, and free workers from hard, boring work. But in the medium term, middle-class workers may need a lot of help adjusting.

这不是危言耸听。乐观主义者指出，过去的技术剧变使工人受益。工业革命对卢德分子来说并不顺利，他们的工作被机械化织布机取代，但它最终提高了生活水平，创造的工作岗位比摧毁的多。同样，自动化最终应该提高生产力，通过降低价格刺激需求，并将工人从繁重、无聊的工作中解放出来。但在中期，中产阶级工人可能需要大量帮助来调整。

The first step, as Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee argue in The Second Machine Age, should be rethinking education and job training. Curriculums - from grammar school to college - should evolve to focus less on memorizing facts and more on creativity and complex communication. Vocational schools should do a better job of fostering problem-solving skills and helping students work alongside robots. Online education can supplement the traditional kind. It could make extra training and instruction affordable. Professionals trying to acquire new skills will be able to do so without going into debt.

正如埃里克·布林约尔松和安德鲁·麦卡菲在《第二机器时代》中所主张的，第一步应该是重新思考教育和职业培训。课程——从小学到大学——应该演变，减少对记忆事实的重视，更多关注创造力和复杂沟通。职业学校应该更好地培养解决问题技能，并帮助学生与机器人一起工作。在线教育可以补充传统教育。它可以使额外培训和指导变得负担得起。试图获取新技能的专业人士将能够在不负债的情况下做到这一点。

The challenge of coping with automation underlines the need for the U.S. to revive its fading business dynamism: Starting new companies must be made easier. In previous eras of drastic technological change, entrepreneurs smoothed the transition by dreaming up ways to combine labor and machines. The best uses of 3D printers and virtual reality haven't been invented yet. The U.S. needs the new companies that will invent them.

应对自动化的挑战突显了美国需要重振其日益衰落的商业活力：必须使创办新公司变得更容易。在之前的技术剧变时代，企业家通过设想结合劳动力和机器的方式来平滑过渡。3D打印机和虚拟现实的最佳用途尚未被发明。美国需要那些将发明它们的新公司。

Finally, because automation threatens to widen the gap between capital income and labor income, taxes and the safety net will have to be rethought. Taxes on low-wage labor need to be cut, and wage subsidies such as the earned income tax credit should be expanded: This would boost incomes, encourage work, reward companies for job creation, and reduce inequality.

最后，由于自动化威胁到扩大资本收入和劳动收入之间的差距，税收和安全网必须被重新考虑。低工资劳动的税收需要削减，工资补贴如劳动所得税抵免应该扩大：这将提高收入，鼓励工作，奖励公司创造就业，并减少不平等。

Technology will improve society in ways big and small over the next few years, yet this will be little comfort to those who find their lives and careers upended by automation. Destroying the machines that are coming for our jobs would be nuts. But policies to help workers adapt will be indispensable.

未来几年，技术将在大大小小的方面改善社会，但这对于那些生活和职业被自动化颠覆的人来说几乎没有安慰。摧毁那些来抢我们工作的机器将是愚蠢的。但帮助工人适应的政策将是必不可少的。