2019.01.04

周五 Friday

wrech?/rek/?

n. 失事

Xiaomi?CEO Lei Jun’s presentation of Xiaomi’s virtual assistant Xiao Ai on Nov. 28 was described by some as a train?wreck.
小米的CEO雷軍在11月28號(hào)當(dāng)眾展示了小米的虛擬助手小愛(ài)，而一些人說(shuō)這簡(jiǎn)直就是火車事故現(xiàn)場(chǎng)。

"What?can you do?” Lei asked Xiao Ai.
雷軍當(dāng)時(shí)問(wèn)小愛(ài)：“你能做什么呀？”

"I’m?still too young, this question is too hard," the AI voice assistant said, speaking through a tiny Bluetooth speaker.
然后這個(gè)小助手用自己的人工智能聲音從一個(gè)小小的藍(lán)牙揚(yáng)聲器里說(shuō)：“我還太年輕，這個(gè)問(wèn)題太難了?！?/div>

"Xiao Ai,?what is 125 plus 357 plus 567?” Lei asked again. Xiao Ai kept silent.
然后雷軍又問(wèn)：“小愛(ài)，125+357+567等于多少？”小愛(ài)保持了沉默。

“Xiao Ai,?do you make mistakes every time there’s a demonstration?,” said Lei, laughing after the voice assistant failed to deliver correct answers to an audience gathered at Xiaomi’s AIoT conference in Beijing.
雷軍看著自己的語(yǔ)音助手當(dāng)著滿場(chǎng)觀眾卻不能給出正確答案，笑出了聲，然后他又問(wèn)：“小愛(ài)，你是不是每次表演的時(shí)候都要出錯(cuò)??？”（在場(chǎng)的觀眾都是來(lái)北京參加小米的智聯(lián)網(wǎng)大會(huì)的。）

Despite?not dazzling the audience, Xiao Ai made a pretty good deal for itself that day. The voice assistant will be able to control Ikea's smart devices like lamps, under a new strategic cooperation deal with the Swedish furniture maker.
不過(guò)，雖然小愛(ài)當(dāng)天并沒(méi)能驚艷到觀眾，但卻敲定了一筆不錯(cuò)的生意：由于小米和宜家建立了新的戰(zhàn)略合作關(guān)系，以后小米的語(yǔ)音助手小愛(ài)就能控制這家瑞典家具品牌的智能家居了，比如他們的臺(tái)燈。

Wait,?what? Ikea has smart devices? The trendy furniture seller launched its own connected devices in March 2017 under the name Tr?dfri, including lights and sensors.
等一下，什么？宜家有智能家居？是的，這家新潮的家具商在2017年3月就推出了自己的互聯(lián)式家具，名叫Tr?dfri，其中包括燈具和傳感器。

Despite?its ambitions, Ikea does seem to be lagging behind in the tech department. For one thing, the company still doesn't offer online purchasing in China except in Shanghai.
然而，雖然宜家的野心很大，但它在技術(shù)這個(gè)領(lǐng)域似乎一直比較落后。比如在中國(guó)，這家公司在上海以外的地方依舊不提供網(wǎng)購(gòu)服務(wù)。

On?the other hand, Xiaomi has been churning out goods that are not typical for tech companies, with its online store starting to look a lot like Japanese household goods brand MUJI. The smartphone maker is now offering mattresses, sofas, toothbrushes, and even underwear.
而另一方面，小米則在推出一些一般科技公司不會(huì)推出的東西，這讓它的網(wǎng)店開(kāi)始變得有點(diǎn)像日本的家私品牌無(wú)印良品了。這家原本專門做智能手機(jī)的品牌，現(xiàn)在還賣床墊、沙發(fā)、牙刷甚至內(nèi)衣。

At?this rate, it might even turn into Ikea’s rival.
照這個(gè)速度發(fā)展下去，小米很有可能會(huì)成為宜家的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。

?

今日詞匯

wrech?/rek/?

n. 失事

?

這個(gè)詞表示撞車的“事故”等等，可以是汽車、火車、輪船或者飛機(jī)。

例如：

Two passengers were badly injured in the car wreck.
兩位乘客在那場(chǎng)車禍中受了重傷。

它也可以表示事故的“殘骸”、“事故現(xiàn)場(chǎng)”：

例如：

Those two passengers are still trapped in the wreck.
那兩名乘客依舊被困在事故殘骸中。

此外，在口語(yǔ)環(huán)境中，這個(gè)詞也被用來(lái)形容“身體或精神上收到嚴(yán)重創(chuàng)傷的人”：

Now I feel like a total wreck.
我現(xiàn)在覺(jué)得自己完全就是個(gè)廢物。

它也能直接作動(dòng)詞，單純表示各種“破壞”：

The weather wrecked all our plans.
這天氣把我們的計(jì)劃全毀了。

?