考博英语外刊阅读：Would you like to get chipped

Would you like to get chipped

by Olivia Messer

Three weeks ago, robotics-obsessed Evan Bryer stumbled upon the website of the biohacking(生物黑客技术) company Dangerous Things. Along with advertisements for microchips, the Seattle-based company's site proclaims: "Human, upgrade yourself." And so he has.

robotics /n. 机器人学

obsessed /  adj. 沉迷的、痴迷的

stumble / upon 偶然发现、偶然碰到

along with 伴随、跟…一起

microchip / n. 芯片

Seattle /n. 西雅图(美国西北部城市)

-based 后缀，意思是“总部在某地的”

proclaim /v. 宣告

upgrade /  v. 升级

Now the mild-mannered freshman computer-science student at the University of South Carolina has four microchips in his hands, which he installed himself. "They have made things a bit easier when meeting new people because it lets me give them my contact information instantly," the 18-year-old student said. "The biggest difference is definitely it as a conversation piece, though. It's a great conversation starter, if nothing else."

mild-mannered 温和的

freshman /  n. 大一学生

instantly / adv. 立刻、马上(由instant加后缀-ly变成副词)

In his left hand, Bryer has embedded a radio-frequency identification chip the size of a grain of rice with his USC student ID and phone contact information. In his right hand, he's got a password manager and links to his social media accounts. He also put LED lights in each hand that blink from beneath his skin when a keypad or phone has been connected.

embed /  v. 镶嵌、嵌入

frequency /  n. 频率

identification /n. 识别

chip /n. 芯片

grain / n. 谷粒

student ID 学号

manager / n. 管理器

link /n. 链接

LED 发光二极管(是一种节能的光源)

blink /v. 闪烁

beneath / prep. 在…下面

keypad / n. 小键盘

The chips implement the same technology used for everyday office access cards and contactless payment in stores. "I can rewrite them as many times as I want," said Bryer. "Maybe my workplace will have me scan in with a badge, or I could hook these up to my door lock at home or use it to get into my car."

implement /v. 实施

everyday / adj. 日常的

access /n. 进入

contactless / adj. 非接触式的(由contact加上表示否定的后缀-less并变成形容词)

payment / n. 支付(由pay加后缀-ment变成名词)

rewrite /  v. 重写、改写(由write加上表示重复的前缀re-)

workplace / n. 工作场所(由work和place组成)

scan / v. 扫描(scan in指刷门禁卡进入)

badge / n. 工牌

hook up 连接上(电脑系统等)

The site, Bryer said, recommends that people get the implantation(植入体内) done by a piercing shop, but sends customers "everything you would need to do it yourself." He did it at his desk with a pre-sterilized syringe(针筒).

piercing / ps/ n. (为了佩戴首饰)在身体上打孔(比如打耳洞)

pre- 前缀，意思是“预先”

sterilize /  v. 消毒

"You are putting a needle into your skin so of course it's going to hurt a bit," said Bryer. But in the end, he said, it was no worse than giving blood, and he was guided by members of the forum on the Dangerous Things site.

needle / n. 针

guide /v. 指导、指引

forum / n. 论坛

A company in River Falls, Wisconsin, made headlines in August 2017 when it embedded 40 employees with microchips and gave them "I Got Chipped" T-shirts. The company said that employees would use the device to bypass company badges and computer log-ins.

Wisconsin / n. 威斯康辛(美国北部的州)

headline / n. (报纸的)大字标题

get chipped 指被植入芯片

device /n. 设备、装置

bypass /  v. 绕过(这里指无需使用)

log in 登录

Those headlines were met with mixed responses from some concerned about surveillance – to be clear, the embeds did not have GPS – but Patrick McMullan, President of Three Square Market, said anyone that worried about privacy should probably just take their cellphone "and throw it away."

response /n. 回应、反响

concern /v. 担心、担忧

surveillance / n. 监视

embed / n. 嵌入的东西

president /  n. 总裁

privacy / n. 隐私

cellphone /  n. 手机

Back at the South Carolina campus, Bryer said he was taken aback by the overwhelmingly positive response from friends and fellow students – especially over the LED lights. But his parents were less excited.

campus /n. 校园

take someone aback 使某人大吃一惊

overwhelmingly /  adv. 压倒性的

positive / adj. 正面的、积极的

fellow /  adj. 同类的、相同情况的

"I told them about it once I had gotten written up by the school newspaper; it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission," said Bryer. "They weren't that surprised that I would do something like this, but they were surprised that it was possible."

write up 报道

forgiveness /n. 原谅(由forgive加后缀-ness变成名词)

permission / n. 允许、准许

英文原文节选自The Daily Beas