選修7 Unit 2 Robots - Reading

SATISFACTION GURANTEED

LarryBelmont worked for a company that made robots. Recently it had begun experimenting with a household robot. It was going to be tested out by Larry's wife, Claire.

Claire didn't want the robot in her house, especially as her husband would be absent for three weeks, but Larry persuaded her that the robot wouldn't harm her or allow her to be harmed. It would be a bonus. However, when she first saw the robot, she felt alarmed. His name was Tony and he seemed more like a human than a machine. He was tall and handsome with smooth hair and a deep voice although his facial expression never changed.

On the second morning Tony, wearing an apron, brought her breakfast and then asked her whether she needed help dressing. She felt embarrassed and quickly told him to go. It was disturbing and frightening that he looked so human.

One day, Claire mentioned that she didn't think she was clever. Tony said that she must feel very unhappy to say that. Claire thought it was ridiculous to be offered sympathy by a robot. But she began to trust him. She told him how she was overweight and this made her feel unhappy. Also she felt her home wasn't elegant enough for someone like Larry who wanted to improve his social position. She wasn't like Gladys Claffern, one of the richest and most powerful women around.

As a favour Tony promised to help Claire make herself smarter and her home more elegant. So Claire borrowed a pile of books from the library for him to read, or rather, scan. She looked at his fingers with wonder as they turned each page and suddenly reached for his hand. She was amazed by his fingernails and the softness and warmth of his skin. How absurd, she thought. He was just a machine.

Tony gave Claire a new haircut and changed the makeup she wore. As he was not allowed to accompany her to the shops, he wrote out a list of items for her. Claire went into the city and bought curtains, cushions, a carpet and bedding. Then she went into a jewellery shop to buy a necklace. When the clerk at the counter was rude to her, she rang Tony up and told the clerk to speak to him. The clerk immediately changed his attitude. Claire thanked Tony, telling him that he was a 'dear'. As she turned around, there stood Gladys Claffern. How awful to be discovered by her, Claire thought. By the amused and surprised look on her face, Claire knew that Gladys thought she was having an affair. After all, she knew Claire's husband's name was Larry, not Tony.

When Claire got home, she wept with anger in her armchair. Gladys was everything Claire wanted to be. 'You can be like her,' Tony told her and suggested that she invite Gladys and her friends to the house the night before he was to leave and Larry was to return. By that time, Tony expected the house to be completely transformed.

Tony worked steadily on the improvements. Claire tried to help once but was too clumsy.She fell off a ladder and even though Tony was in the next room, he managed to catch her in time. He held her firmly in his arms and she felt the warmth of his body. She screamed, pushed him away and ran to her room for the rest of the day.

The night of the party arrived. The clock struck eight. The guests would be arriving soon and Claire told Tony to go into another room.At that moment, Tony folded his arms around her, bending his face close to hers. She cried out 'Tony' and then heard him declare that he didn't want to leave her the next day and that he felt more than just the desire to please her. Then the front door bell rang. Tony freed her and disappeared from sight. It was then that Claire realized that Tony had opened the curtains of the front window. Her guests had seen everything !

The women were impressed by Claire, the house and the delicious cuisine. Just before they left, Claire heard Gladys whispering to another woman that she had never seen anyone so handsome as Tony. What a sweet victory to be envied by those women! She might not be as beautiful as them, but none of them had such a handsome lover.

Then she remembered -Tony was just a machine. She shouted 'Leave me alone' and ran to her bed. She cried all night. The next morning a car drove up and took Tony away.

The company was very pleased with Tony's report on his three weeks with Claire. Tony had protected a human being from harm. He had prevented Claire from harming herself through her own sense of failure. He had opened the curtains that night so that the other women would see him and Claire, knowing that there was no risk to Claire's marriage. But even though Tony had been so clever, he would have to be rebuilt -you cannot have women failing in love with machines.

Unit 2 Robots

拉里·貝爾蒙特努力,這家公司制造的機(jī)器人。最近就已經(jīng)開(kāi)始了實(shí)驗(yàn)一種家居機(jī)器人。這將是檢驗(yàn)被拉里的妻子,克萊兒。

克萊兒不想要那個(gè)機(jī)器人在她的房子,尤其是當(dāng)她的丈夫缺席三周,但是拉里·說(shuō)服她或讓她受到損壞。它將是次要的。然而,當(dāng)她第一次看到這個(gè)機(jī)器人,她感到驚恐。他的名字是托尼和他的情緒看起來(lái)更像人類比機(jī)器。他身材高大英俊的光滑的頭發(fā)和一種低沉的聲音雖然他的面部表情永不改變。

在第二天早晨托尼,穿著圍裙,把早飯,然后問(wèn)她是否需要幫助調(diào)料。她感到很尷尬,立刻告訴他去。這是干擾或可怕的,因?yàn)樗瓷先ツ敲慈梭w。

有一天,克萊兒提到她不認(rèn)為她是很聰明的。托尼說(shuō),她必須感到不悅說(shuō)那種話?？巳R兒認(rèn)為太荒謬了用機(jī)器人得到同情。但她開(kāi)始信任他。她告訴他她是如何超重,這使她感覺(jué)很不高興。她覺(jué)得她的家也不優(yōu)雅的足夠的某球員,像賴瑞想提高他的社會(huì)地位。她根本不喜歡格拉Claffern,其中一個(gè)富裕,最強(qiáng)大的女人身邊。

當(dāng)厚待托尼答應(yīng)幫助克萊兒使自己更聰明,她的家更優(yōu)美。所以Claise借來(lái)一疊圖書(shū)館借書(shū)讓他看,或者更確切地說(shuō),掃描。她看著他的手指奇跡,因?yàn)樗麄儼衙恳豁?yè),突然了他的手。她驚訝的是他的手指甲和疲軟的親切和他的皮膚。太荒謬,她想。他只是一個(gè)機(jī)器。

托尼給克萊兒個(gè)新發(fā)型,改變了妝她戴著。當(dāng)他不被允許陪她到商店去,他開(kāi)列了一列項(xiàng)目?？巳R兒進(jìn)了城,買(mǎi)了窗簾、座墊、地毯到床上用品。然后她走進(jìn)一家珠寶商店買(mǎi)了一條項(xiàng)鏈。當(dāng)職員在柜臺(tái)邊是粗魯無(wú)禮的她,她就響了托尼了起來(lái)對(duì)工作人員與他說(shuō)話。店員立刻改變了他的態(tài)度?？巳R兒感謝托尼,告訴他說(shuō),他是一個(gè)“親愛(ài)的”。她轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái),Claffern格拉站在那里。太可怕了,將會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)了他,克萊兒思想。愉快,讓他的臉上神情詫異,克萊兒知道格拉以為她有外遇。畢竟,她知道克萊兒的丈夫的名字是賴瑞,而不是托尼。

當(dāng)克萊兒一回家,她哭了怒火在扶手椅里。格拉是一切克萊兒想要做的?！澳憧梢韵袼粯印?托尼告訴她,建議她邀請(qǐng)格雷迪斯家和她的朋友們一起前一天晚上他離開(kāi)和拉里·是歸還。到那個(gè)時(shí)候,托尼預(yù)期的房屋被完全改變。

托尼曾穩(wěn)步地改進(jìn)?？巳R兒試圖幫助一次,但太笨了。她從梯子上掉下來(lái)摔,盡管托尼在隔壁房間,他還是設(shè)法逮住了她。他握著她的堅(jiān)信他的手臂和她感到溫暖的他的身體。她尖叫道,把他推開(kāi),跑去她的房間,其余時(shí)間。

聚會(huì)的夜晚來(lái)了。那個(gè)鐘敲了八?？腿藭?huì)快到了,克萊兒告訴托尼去到另一個(gè)房間里。那一刻,托尼胳臂交叉雙臂抱著她,彎曲他的臉接近她的。她大聲呼喊”托尼?！比缓舐?tīng)見(jiàn)他宣布,他不想離開(kāi)她的第二天,他感到很不只是希望取悅她。然后前門(mén)鈴就響了。托尼釋放了她,漸漸消失了。就在那時(shí),克萊兒意識(shí)到托尼開(kāi)了窗簾的櫥窗。她的客人已經(jīng)看見(jiàn)了這一切情景!

婦女們留下深刻的印象,克萊兒,房子和豐富的菜。就在他們走了,克萊兒聽(tīng)到格拉跟另一個(gè)女人,她從未見(jiàn)過(guò)這么英俊,托尼。多可愛(ài)的勝利讓人嫉妒的女人!她很可能不一樣漂亮,但是沒(méi)有一個(gè)有這樣一個(gè)英俊的情人。

然后她記得——托尼只是一個(gè)機(jī)器。她喊道“讓我單獨(dú)”,跑去她的床上。她整晚哭著。第二天早晨,一輛車開(kāi)并把托尼離開(kāi)。

公司非常高興托尼的報(bào)告在他的3周,克萊兒。托尼保護(hù)著人類受到傷害。他妨礙了克萊兒危害自己通過(guò)她自己的失敗感。他就已經(jīng)開(kāi)了窗簾那天晚上,使女性都見(jiàn)他,并且克萊兒,知道沒(méi)有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)克萊兒的婚事。但是,盡管托尼很聰明,他還得被建造-你不能有婦女會(huì)愛(ài)上機(jī)器。