科学美国人60秒:未来虚拟宠物受热捧-托福听力下载

　　科学美国人60秒中文翻译：

　　The advent of smartphones, social media and other technologies have altered the way people interact with each other. 智能手机、社交媒体及其它科技已使人们相互交流的方式发生了变化。

　　Just watch a group of people out for a meal together, all on their phones texting people who aren’t there. 只需观察下一群人外出就餐时的状态揭开—所有人都攥着手机给不在场的人发着信息。

　　Technology may also be poised to change the way we relate to animals—by removing the living, breathing ones from our homes. 科技可能也使得人类与动物的相处方式发生变化—将那些活蹦乱跳，在耳旁喘气的宠物赶出我们的家门。

　　The main threat to pets is not social media, per se, but rather robots and virtual FarmVille-like animals. 对于宠物而言主要的威胁不是社交媒体本身，而是机器人和类似于乡村度假那样的虚拟动物。

　　These inanimate objects of our affection are certainly easier to care for than are the real ones. 很显然关爱这些虚拟动物比关爱真正的动物要容易得多。

　　And they still might someday meet their owners'needs for companionship, love, obedience and dependence. 而且很可能在未来它们还能满足自己主人在陪伴、友爱、服从及依赖方面的需求。

　　That’s according to University of Melbourne animal behavior researcher Jean-Loup Rault, writing in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 这是根据墨尔本大学动物行为研究员珍尼·洛普罗特发表在《兽医科学前沿》杂志的研究得出的结论。

　　The infiltration of fake pets is already happening to a small degree. 虚拟宠物已经在很小的方面融入到人们的生活当中。

　　In Japan, some owners of Sony’s AIBO robotic dog even hold funerals when these devices are beyond repair. 在日本一些AIBO机器狗的主人甚至会在这些爱宠无法进行修复时为其举行葬礼。

　　Our concept of a pet gets shaped at an early age. 人类对于宠物的概念在幼年时期就形成了。

　　Previous generations born and bred with dogs and cats might dismiss robopets as mere toys. 前几代在真猫实狗陪伴下长大的人可能会将虚拟宠物当作玩具丢掉。

　　But children of the digital age, raised on touchscreens and online games, might see things differently. 但生于数字时代、在触摸屏和在线游戏陪伴下长大的孩子可能会有独特的眼光。

　　One can imagine a future fake-dog owner breathlessly asking his vet technician:is Fido dead, or is it just his battery? 可以想象一下，未来某个虚拟宠物狗的主人焦急询问他的兽医：是它死了，还是电池没电了?

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