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Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil. And I’m Beth.
你好。这里是BBC英语六分钟。我是尼尔。 我是贝丝。
Smell-o-vision, a television which allows you to smell things as well as see them; and a miracle pill which cures all diseases.
嗅觉电视是一种可以让你闻到东西并看到它们的电视；还有治愈一切疾病的神奇药丸。
These predictions for the future were made in the 1930s, but so far they haven’t come true.
这些都是20世纪30年代预测的未来，但迄今为止尚未实现。
Making predictions for the future isn’t easy – just ask tech billionaire, Elon Musk, who recently predicted that artificial intelligence will eventually mean that no one will have to work.
预测未来并不容易——问问科技亿万富翁埃隆·马斯克就知道了，他最近预测人工智能最终将导致人们不必工作。
In fact, there have been many predictions about the future of work, for example that robots will take over most jobs, and that everyone will work from home.
事实上，有很多关于工作的预测，比如机器人将接管大部分工作、每个人都将在家工作等。
During Covid, one of these predictions came true. Millions were forced to work from home.
在新冠疫情期间，后者成真了，数百万人被迫在家工作。
So what will work be like in the future? That’s what we'll be discussing in this programme and, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary too.
那么未来的工作会是什么样子呢？这就是我们将在本节目中讨论的内容，并且像往常一样，我们也将学习一些有用的新词汇。
But first I have a question for you, Beth. Another idea for the future is the 'four-day working week' where employees work four days for the same money as five.
但首先我有一个问题要问你，贝丝。有个预测是“四天工作日”，员工工作四天，但工资与五天相同。
After Covid, many British companies gave the idea a go, but out of the sixty companies taking part in a four-day working week trial in 2023, how many said they planned to continue with a shorter work week?
新冠疫情之后，许多英国公司都实践了这个想法，但在2023年实践四天工作日的60家公司中，有多少家表示计划继续缩短每周工作时间？
Was it: a) 52%? b) 72%? or, c) 92%? Hmm, I guess 52% of the companies plan to continue with a four-day week.
52%？72%？还是92%？我猜是52%。
OK, Beth, I’ll reveal the answer later in the programme. Now, whatever Elon Musk thinks, as we’ve seen, it’s difficult to make your predictions accurate.
好的，稍后我将揭晓答案。现在，无论埃隆·马斯克怎么想，正如我们所见，预测并不准确。
Here’s Shaun Ley, presenter of BBC World Service programme, The Real Story, asking University of Cambridge professor, Brendan Burchell, what he thinks about predictions for the future of work:
英国广播公司国际频道节目《真实故事》的主持人肖恩·雷(Shaun Ley)询问剑桥大学教授布伦丹·伯切尔(Brendan Burchell)对未来工作预测的看法：
Brendan Burchell, when you look at all the predictions that have been made, certainly in your working lifetime, do you take some of the things that are being predicted now with a large pinch of salt?
布伦丹·伯切尔教授，当您看到所有已经做出的预测时（当然是在您的工作生涯中），您是否对现在预测的一些事情持怀疑态度？
I do. I think we have to be sceptical. I think the track record for economists and other social scientists isn't good when we look…
确实，我认为必须持怀疑态度。经济学家和其他社会科学家的记录并不好......
you know, for hundreds of years, a hundred years now, people have been predicting that they'll be really quite dramatic reductions in working time, like Elon Musk has just made,
距今一百年以来，人们一直预测工作时间会大幅减少，就像埃隆·马斯克说的那样，
and previously those predictions - although we're heading very gradually in that direction - those predictions of very, very large changes in working time just haven't come to pass.
尽管我们正逐渐朝之前预测的那个方向前进，但那些关于工作时间发生剧变的预测尚未成真。
Shaun asks if we should take predictions with a pinch of salt. To take something with a pinch of salt is an idiom meaning to doubt that what you've been told is accurate or likely to come true.
肖恩问我们是否应该对预测持保留态度。“to take some salt with a shot salt”是一个习语，意思是怀疑你所听到的事情是否准确或是否可能实现。
For example, if your friend always lies, you take what they say with a pinch of salt.
例如，如果你的朋友总是撒谎，你就会对他们说的话持怀疑态度。
Professor Burchell thinks predictions for the future of work have a bad track record. A track record means all the achievements or failures that someone has had in the past.
伯切尔教授认为，对未来工作的预测记录不佳。“track record”是指某人过去取得的所有成就或失败。
When it comes to predicting the future of work, most predictions simply haven’t come to pass, an old-fashioned way of saying ‘happened’ or ‘come true’.
谈到预测工作的未来时，大多数预测根本没有实现，“come to pass”是一种“发生”或“成真”的老式说法。
So, are predictions for a future of leisure, relaxing by the pool while robots do all the work, just a dream?
那么，在泳池边休闲放松，让机器人完成所有工作，这样的预测只是白日梦吗？
Let’s hear from Andrew Palmer, business editor for The Economist magazine, talking to BBC World Service programme, The Real Story:
让我们听听《经济学人》杂志商业编辑安德鲁·帕尔默(Andrew Palmer)在接受 BBC 国际频道节目《真实故事》采访时的发言：
I'm not a tech dystopian, I don't think that machines or AI are going to get rid of all jobs, but I do worry about a sequencing risk.
我不是一个科技反乌托邦主义者，我不认为机器或人工智能会替代所有工作，但我确实担心风险排序。
So, there will be some disruption from AI. Some jobs, some professions are at risk.
人工智能会带来一些干扰。一些工作将面临风险。
And, although economists like to say new jobs will crop up, they won't necessarily be aligned at the same time – there won't be coordination.
尽管经济学家喜欢说会突然出现新的就业机会，但人工智能发展和新工作不一定会同时出现。
Andrew is not a dystopian, someone who imagines a nightmarish future of suffering and injustice. He doesn’t think AI will get rid of all jobs.
安德鲁不是反乌托邦主义者，也没有想象未来会充满痛苦和不公正。他不认为人工智能会取代所有工作。
To get rid of something means to remove it because you no longer want it.
摆脱某物意味着移除它，因为你不再需要它。
Andrew predicts that AI will replace some jobs and those workers will need support, but he also thinks new jobs will crop up, they will appear unexpectedly.
安德鲁预测人工智能将取代一些工作，这些工人需要支持，但他也认为新工作会突然出现，出乎意料。
And that’s exactly the problem – the future is hard to predict because it’s so unexpected! Anyway, I reckon a shorter working week is something we can all agree on right, Neil?
这正是问题所在：未来很难预测，因为它太出乎意料了！不管怎样，我认为缩短每周工作时间是人们乐见其成的，尼尔，你觉得呢？
Absolutely. I think it’s time to reveal the answer to my question about the sixty companies trying out a shorter working week in 2023.
当然，现在是时候揭晓我前面问题的答案了。
I asked how many of them planned to continue a four-day week at the end of the trials. I guessed 52%. So, was I right? That was… the wrong answer, I’m afraid, Beth!
我问60家公司中有多少家计划继续实践四天工作日。我猜是52%，所以是对的吗？可惜是错的，贝丝！
Actually, a whopping 92% of the companies plan on keeping a four-day week because it was so popular, with bosses as well as workers!
事实上，高达92%的公司计划维持每周工作四天，因为这种做法很受老板和员工欢迎！
Right, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this programme starting with the idiom take it with a pinch of salt, meaning don’t completely believe that what you are told is true.
让我们回顾一下本次节目中学到的词汇，从俚语“take it with a pic of salt”开始，意思是不要完全相信听到的事情是真的。
A track record means the achievements or failures of someone’s past performance. To come to pass is an old-fashioned way of saying to take place or happen.
track record是指某人过去的成就或失败。To come to pass是表示发生的老式说法。
A dystopian is someone who foresees a nightmarish future where there is great suffering and injustice in society. If you get rid of something, you remove something that you no longer want.
dystopian是指预见噩梦般的未来的人，那里的社会充满了巨大的痛苦和不公正。get rid of something意味着删除了你不再想要的东西。
And finally, if something crops up, it appears or happens unexpectedly.
最后，crop up表示意外地出现或发生。
Once again our six minutes are up! Join us again soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary, here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now! Bye!
六分钟时间又到了！很快会再见面，想要了解更多热门话题和有用的词汇，请访问六分钟英语。暂时再见了！再见！
