Unit 3
第三单元
Computers
计算机
Reading
阅读
Who Am I?
我是谁？
Over time I have been changed quite a lot.
经过一段时间我已经被改变了很多。
I began as a calculating machine in France in 1642.
1642年我在法国诞生时是一台计算机器。
Although I was young I could simplify difficult sums.
尽管当时我还年轻，但是我能简化一些复杂的数学题。
I developed very slowly and it took nearly two hundred years before I was built as an analytical machine by Charles Babbage.
我发育缓慢，差不多到了两百年之后，查尔斯 巴比奇才把我制成了一台分析机。
After I was programmed by an operator who used cards with holes,
在操作员用穿卡孔为我设计程序后，
I could “think” logically and produce an answer quicker than any person.
我能够进行逻辑“思考”，并且能够比任何人更快地算出答案。
At that time it was considered a technological revolution and the start of my “artificial intelligence”.
那时这被当作是一次技术革命，也是我“人工智能”的开始。
In 1936 my real father, Alan Turing,
在1936年，我真正的父亲艾伦 图灵
wrote a book about how I could be made to work as a “universal machine” to solve any difficult mathematical problem.
写了一本书，讲述了怎样使我成为一台“通用机器”来解决任何数学难题。
From then on, I grew rapidly both in size and in brainpower.
从那时起，我在体积和脑容量方面迅速成长。
By the 1949s, I had grown as large as a room, and I wondered if I would grow any larger.
到二十世纪四十年代，我已经长得像一间屋子那么大，我不知道是否还会长得更大。
However, this reality also worried my designers.
但是，这个现实也使得我的设计者很担心。
As time went by, I was made smaller.
随着时间的推移，我被弄得越来越小。
First as a PC (personal computer) and then as a laptop,
先是用作个人电脑，后来又被做成便携式。
I have been used in offices and homes since the 1970s.
自二十世纪七十年代以来，我一直被用在办公室和家庭里。
These changes only became possible as my memory improved.
这些变化只有随着我的存储能力的不断提高才成为可能。
First it was stored in tubes, then on transistors and later on very small chips.
最初是被存储到电子管中，以后是晶体管上，后来是非常小的芯片上。
As a result I totally changed my shape.
因此，我已经完全改变了我的形状。
As I have grown older, I have also grown smaller.
随着我的年龄越来越大，我也变得越来越小。
Over time my memory has developed so much that, like an elephant,
随着时间的推移，我的记忆能力发展得如此之快，就像一头大象一样，
I never forget anything I have been told!
从来不会忘记告诉我的任何事情！
And my memory became so large that even I couldn't believe it!
我的存储容量变得如此巨大，连我自己都不能相信！
But I was always so lonely standing there by myself, until in the early 1960s they gave me a family connected by a network.
但是我总是孤孤单单地站在那里，直到二十世纪六十年代初，人们才给了我一个用网络联成的家庭。
I was able to share my knowledge with others through the World Wide Web.
我能够通过万维网和其他人分享我的知识。
Since the 1970s, many new applications have been found for me.
从二十世纪七十年代起，我又被开发出了很多新的用途。
I have become very important in communication, finance and trade.
我在通讯、金融和商业领域变得非常重要。
I have also been put into robots and used to make mobile phones as well as help with medical operations.
我还被放在机器人里面，被用来制作移动手机，并且用来帮助作医疗手术。
I have even been put into space rockets and sent to explore the Moon and Mars.
我还被放置在航空火箭里去探测月球和火星。
Anyhow, my goal is to provide humans with a life of high quality.
不管怎样，我的目标是给人类提供高质量得生活。
I am now truly filled with happiness that I am a devoted friend and helper of the human race!
现在我充满了幸福感，因为我是人类忠实的朋友并时时给他们提供帮助。
