Digital Realm

　　In the digital realm, the next big advance will be voice recognition¹. The rudiments² are already here but in primitive form. Ask a computer to “recognize speech,” and it is likely to think you want it to “wreck a nice beach.”³ But in a decade or so we’ll be able to chat away⁴ and machines will soak it all in⁵. Microchips will be truly embedded in our lives when we can talk to them. Not only to our computers; we’ll also able to chat our automobile navigation systems, telephone consoles⁶, browsers, thermostats, VCRs, microwaves and any other devices we want to boss around⁷.
　　That will open the way to the next phase of the digital age: artificial intelligence⁸. By our providing so many thoughts and preferences to our machines each day, they’ll accumulate enough information about how we think so that they’ll be able to mimic our minds and act as our agents. Scary, huh⁹? But potentially quite useful. At least until they don’t need us anymore and start building even smarter machines they can boss around.
　　The law powering¹⁰ the digital age up until now has been Gordon Moore’s¹¹: that microchips will double in power and halve in price every 18 months or so. Bill Gates rules because early on he acted on the assumption that computing power—the capacity of microprocessors and memory chips—would become nearly free; his company kept churning out¹² more and more lines¹³ of complex software to make use of the cheap bounty¹⁴. The law that will power the next few decades is that the bandwidth (the capacity of fiber-optic and other pipelines to carry digital communications) will become nearly free.
　　Along with¹⁵ the recent advances in digital switching and storage technologies, this¹⁶ means a future in which all forms of content—movies, music, shows, books, data, magazines, newspapers, your aunt’s recipes and home videos—will be instantly available anywhere on demand. Anyone will be able to be a producer of any content; you’ll be able to create a movie or magazine, make it available to the world and charge for it, just like Time Warner¹⁷!
　　The result will be a transition from a mass-market¹⁸ world to a personalized one. Instead of centralized factories and studios that distribute or broadcast the same product to millions, technology is already allowing products to be tailored to each user. You can subscribe to news sources that serve up¹⁹ only topics and opinions that fit your fancy. Everything from shoes to steel can be customized to meet individual wishes.

词汇：

microchip / ˈmaɪkrə(ʊ)tʃɪp / n.微芯片；集成电路 bandwidth / "bændwɪdθ / n.（频）带宽
fiber-pitic  光纤

personalized / "pɜ:sənəlaɪz / v. 使个体化 

centralize / "sentrəlaɪz /  v. 集中；成为中心
customize / "kʌstəmaɪz /  v. 按顾客要求定做 

tailor / "teɪlə(r) /  v. 按要求制作
bounty / "baʊntɪ /  n. 慷慨；赠予物；奖金 

embed / ɪm"bed /  v.埋置；扎牢，扎人
browser / "braʊzə(r) /  n. 浏览器

scary / skeərɪ  / adj. 引起惊慌的；害怕的
thermostat / ˈθɜ:məstæt /  n. 恒温器 

churn out 机械地大量生产；粗制滥造

注释：

1. voice recognition:语音识别

2. rudiments:处于早期或未发展阶段的东西，常用复数形式。如： the rudiments of a plan of action （一个行动计划的雏形）。
3. Ask a computer to “ recognize speech.” and it is likely to think you want it to “ wreck It nice beach.”:你要求计算机“识别语音”，而它很可能认为你要它去“毁坏一个美丽的海滩”。这是一个翻译成中文后就无法反映的文字游戏。以较快的语速读“ recognize speech“，其声音效果很像“ wreck a nice”。使用这一文字游戏，旨在说明语音识别技术的难度。
4. chat away: 不停地聊。 away:意为“continuously”（连续地），如: It is raining away.雨不停地下着。
5. soak it all in:全部理解，这里的意思是 :能没有差错地识别语音，理解意思。
6. telephone consoles:电话机座。 console:意为“a cabinet for a radio, television set, or phonograph, designed to stand on the floor” (用来放置收音机、电视机或留声机的机箱或机柜；机座 )。
7. boss around:意为“ to give orders to, especially in a domineering manner”(发号施令 )。
8. artificial intelligence:人工智能
9. huh:语气词：用于表示疑问、吃惊、轻蔑或冷漠等，这里用于疑问。
10. power:动词，意为“激励”。
11. Gordon Moore：戈登·穆尔，英国英特尔公司创始人之一， Moore’s Law (穆尔定律)以他的名字命名。穆尔定律即是第三段中他的预言。
12. churning out:意为“to produce in an abundant and automatic manner”(大量产出 )，如: He churns out four novels a year.他一年出四本小说。

The techniques of voice recognition

A:are mature enough for extensive use. B:are in its initial stage of development. C:will aid people to chat through computers. D:will assist people to recognize each other’s voice.

Have you ever heard your own voice "Of course," you say.
Has anyone else ever heard your voice Again you say, "Of course. "
But that’ s not quite true. Nobody else has ever heard your voice—the way you hear it. When you talk, you set up sound waves. The air outside your head carries the sound waves to your outer ears. But, of course, the sound of your voice begins inside your head. The bones of your head pick up the sound waves, too. They carry the sound waves straight to your inner ears. You get the sound from the outside and the inside too. Other people get just the sound waves from the outside. That’s why they don’t hear your voice the way you do.
Sound travels in the form of ______.

A:bones B:air C:waves D:voice

Have you ever heard your own voice "Of course," you say.
Has anyone else ever heard your voice Again you say, "Of course. "
But that’ s not quite true. Nobody else has ever heard your voice—the way you hear it. When you talk, you set up sound waves. The air outside your head carries the sound waves to your outer ears. But, of course, the sound of your voice begins inside your head. The bones of your head pick up the sound waves, too. They carry the sound waves straight to your inner ears. You get the sound from the outside and the inside too. Other people get just the sound waves from the outside. That’s why they don’t hear your voice the way you do.
The passage is mainly about ______.

A:waves in the air B:the way you hear your own voice C:voice gets around far and wide D:the different ways you and others hear your voice

Have you ever heard your own voice "Of course," you say.
Has anyone else ever heard your voice Again you say, "Of course. "
But that’ s not quite true. Nobody else has ever heard your voice—the way you hear it. When you talk, you set up sound waves. The air outside your head carries the sound waves to your outer ears. But, of course, the sound of your voice begins inside your head. The bones of your head pick up the sound waves, too. They carry the sound waves straight to your inner ears. You get the sound from the outside and the inside too. Other people get just the sound waves from the outside. That’s why they don’t hear your voice the way you do.
The passage is mainly about ______.

A:waves in the air B:the way you hear your own voice C:voice gets around far and wide D:the different ways you and others hear your voice

Have you ever heard your own voice "Of course," you say.
Has anyone else ever heard your voice Again you say, "Of course. "
But that’ s not quite true. Nobody else has ever heard your voice—the way you hear it. When you talk, you set up sound waves. The air outside your head carries the sound waves to your outer ears. But, of course, the sound of your voice begins inside your head. The bones of your head pick up the sound waves, too. They carry the sound waves straight to your inner ears. You get the sound from the outside and the inside too. Other people get just the sound waves from the outside. That’s why they don’t hear your voice the way you do.
Sound travels in the form of ______.

A:bones B:air C:waves D:voice

Have you ever heard your own voice "Of course," you say.
Has anyone else ever heard your voice Again you say, "Of course. "
But that’ s not quite true. Nobody else has ever heard your voice—the way you hear it. When you talk, you set up sound waves. The air outside your head carries the sound waves to your outer ears. But, of course, the sound of your voice begins inside your head. The bones of your head pick up the sound waves, too. They carry the sound waves straight to your inner ears. You get the sound from the outside and the inside too. Other people get just the sound waves from the outside. That’s why they don’t hear your voice the way you do.
The passage is mainly about ______.

A:waves in the air B:the way you hear your own voice C:voice gets around far and wide D:the different ways you and others hear your voice